Technical leadership lessons with Shantha Mohan

On this episode of Navigating Forward, Melanie Roberson and Kevin McCall from Launch Consulting walk through ten of the top misperceptions or myths about AI. From bias and hallucinations to data readiness and cost, they chat about some of the top concerns as organizations think about delving into AI projects. Plus, they discuss some of the top questions Kevin hears from friends and business leaders alike: Is AI creative? Is AI conscious? Will AI replace people? Listen in for answers to these questions and more. 

Find Kevin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-mccall-74b66/
Find Melanie at https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-roberson-55a0a23/

Learn more about Launch Consulting and AI at https://www.launchconsulting.com/ai-first

On this episode of Navigating Forward, Lisa Thee from Launch Consulting sits down with Jamie Fiore Higgins, author and ex-Goldman Sachs Managing Director. They discuss how company culture — and the differences between the version espoused by leadership and the actual version that employees experience — can impact both employee engagement and innovation. They touch on how having a vision isn't enough because it takes leadership curiosity to ensure it's being followed in practice. The pair also chats about some of the topics from Jamie's book, Bully Market, including how marginalization is hiding right in plain sight most of the time. 

Find Lisa at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisathee/

Find Jamie at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiefiorehiggins/
https://jamiefiorehiggins.com/

Learn more about Launch Consulting at https://www.launchconsulting.com/

On this episode of Navigating Forward, Launch Consulting's Kevin McCall, Managing Director of AI, and Melanie Roberson, Director of Organizational Effectiveness, talk about the 5 Ds of AI: dull, dirty, dangerous, difficult, and double-time. The 5 Ds framework is a way of thinking about the type of tasks where AI can complement and augment human capabilities at work. With examples of each of the 5 Ds, they delve into how AI that's guided by humans can empower and support us in our roles, so that we have more time to spend on more meaningful tasks. Listen in to hear about how the collaboration between AI and humans plays into the future of work.  

Find Kevin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-mccall-74b66/
Find Melanie at https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-roberson-55a0a23/

Learn more about Launch Consulting and AI at https://www.launchconsulting.com/ai-first

On this episode of Navigating Forward, Lisa Thee sits down with Shantha Mohan, who is an author, mentor, and Executive in Residence at Carnegie Mellon University. They chat about the challenges that people can face when making the jump from a technical individual contributor role to technical leadership. Shantha shares stories of her own career path from an individual role to eventually leading teams around the world — including some of the challenges she faced and how she overcame them. Hear some of the advice she gives her students, including what you should be doing every day and how to know when it's time to find something else to do. 

Find Lisa at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisathee/
Find Shantha at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanthamohan/ 
https://shanthamohan.com/

On this episode of Navigating Forward, Lisa Thee chats with Lynda Grindstaff, VP of Engineering at McAfee, and Creighton Adams, Senior Director of Cybersecurity at Launch Consulting. In the cybersecurity realm, they discuss personal cybersecurity posture, how to stay aware of what's important for your own situation, and how personal posture can impact enterprise security when working from home. Also, they give great ideas for people looking to break into (or pivot into) a cybersecurity career and they encourage anyone to go ahead and take the risk and try it out. 

Find Lisa at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisathee/
Find Lynda at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyndagrindstaff/
Find Creighton at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/creighton-adams/

Learn more about Launch Consulting at https://www.launchconsulting.com/

On this episode of Navigating Forward, Lisa Thee sits down with Mita Mallick, Head of Inclusion, Equity and Impact at Carta and also the author of "Reimagine Inclusion: Debunking 13 Myths to Transform Your Workplace." Also joining Lisa is Melanie Roberson, Director of Organizational Effectiveness at Launch Consulting. 

The trio discusses how inclusivity issues can impact employee engagement and performance — and how the solution really starts at the kitchen table, not the conference room table. Along the way, Mita shares the 13 myths that she covers in her book, including which one seems to be sparking the most conversation. Complete with personal stories and reflections, it's an enlightening conversation that's sure to make you stop and think about your own workplace, leaders, and coworkers. 

Find Lisa at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisathee/
Find Mita at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mita-mallick-2b165822/
Find Melanie at https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-roberson-55a0a23/

Learn more about Launch Consulting at https://www.launchconsulting.com/

On this episode of Navigating Forward, Lisa Thee from Launch Consulting chats with author, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Aaron Hurst. In a wide-ranging conversation, they touch on topics from scaling innovation in the nonprofit sector, to the differences in how AI is perceived globally, and to the importance of lifelong learning for both today's leaders and the next generation of leaders.

They also delve into the concept of the purpose mindset (including how it differs from "finding your purpose") and how it can help you create meaning on a daily basis. Plus, Aaron explains why work is changing from being like a high school band to being more like a jazz ensemble — and how that's related to the rise of AI in the workplace. 

Find Lisa at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisathee/

Find Aaron at https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronhurst/ and https://purposeeconomy.com/

Learn more about Launch Consulting at https://www.launchconsulting.com/

On this episode of Navigating Forward, Lisa Thee, Managing Director of Data & AI at Launch Consulting, sits down with Russ Whitman, Chief Strategy Officer for The Planet Group to discuss the AI imperative. They discuss  what makes this AI moment different from other technological advancements that have come before and why it just might be the largest change management challenge in our lifetimes. 

The pair cover some key topics and trends that executives and leaders should consider as they think about their strategies for 2024 and beyond. Listen in for Russ's three main takeaways, including why he thinks NOW is the time to be bold and what could happen if you're not.


Find Lisa at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisathee/
Find Russ at https://www.linkedin.com/in/russwhitman/

Take the Launch Consulting AI Readiness self-assessment at https://www.launchconsulting.com/aiready

On this episode of Navigating Forward, Mike Halstead and Creighton Adams from Launch Consulting share highlights from the special Cybersecurity series. From trends and predictions to the benefits and potential challenges of AI and machine learning, and from best practices to getting the basics nailed down, listen in for tidbits from the season. Then be sure to check out the full episodes with Matthew Rosenquist, Rami Zreikat and Trinh Ngo, Mike Bochniarz, Jiong Liu, Clement King, and Bruce Hembree — along with a crew of internal Launch experts. 

To learn more about how to develop your organization's Future State of Cybersecurity, go to launchconsulting.com/cyber.

Follow Mike Halstead at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-halstead-77bb6018/
Follow Creighton Adams at https://www.linkedin.com/in/creighton-adams/

On this episode of Navigating Forward, Mike Halstead and Creighton Adams from Launch Consulting host Bruce Hembree, Field CTO for the Cortex division of Palo Alto Networks, in a wide-ranging discussion about cyber hygiene. They highlight how thoughtful automation and quality machine learning can enhance scalability of security efforts and allow engineers to spend time on creative pursuits that can ultimately increase the maturity level of the organization. They also touch on how AI will change the development and testing of products — and how humans will still be absolutely necessary for those tasks. Finally, they reflect on whether or not anything has changed since the SolarWinds attack and if it shifted the perceptions of cybersecurity teams.

To learn more about how to develop your organization's Future State of Cybersecurity, go to launchconsulting.com/cyber.

To download the Unit 42 report referenced in the podcast, go to https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/resources/research/2023-unit42-ransomware-extortion-report

Follow Bruce Hembree at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-hembree-4679a6a5/
Follow Mike Halstead at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-halstead-77bb6018/
Follow Creighton Adams at https://www.linkedin.com/in/creighton-adams/