Jenni brought five stories this week — a first for the show — and they line up into one uncomfortable theme: the tools got faster, the talking got harder.

Chuck and Jenni open on Patrick Lencioni's The Advantage and the case for chasing organizational health instead of employee engagement. Then the Spellbook CEO who told 200-plus employees he wants their "D+ version" and insists customer comms stay "hand-written" — from an AI company. They walk Stephen Waddington's Wadds Inc. summer report and test whether its UK read holds up in the US (Chuck: it's a mirror).

They dig into new Predictive Index data showing 74% of CEOs think their managers are great at tough conversations while only 20% of managers would go in without a safety net. And they close on Priya Parker's claim that Slack turbocharged workplace conflict — with Jenni asking the fair question: why Slack, when Yammer was first?

Straight-talking, a little snarky, and more honest about leadership than most leaders manage.

TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — Intro: five stories, and Chuck's three weeks on the road 01:50 — The Advantage: organizational health over engagement (Lencioni) 08:40 — The 'D+ version': Spellbook's hand-written AI memo 15:10 — Wadds Inc. summer report: does it track in the US? 22:10 — The work got automated, the talking didn't (Predictive Index) 26:50 — Did Slack turbocharge conflict? (Priya Parker) 30:40 — Freq-outs: college tuition and packing lists

LINKS & MENTIONS - The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni: https://www.tablegroup.com/product/the-advantage/ - Spellbook CEO's AI writing memo (Business Insider): https://www.businessinsider.com/spellbook-ceo-ai-policy-employee-writing-2026-9 - Wadds Inc. summer report, Stephen Waddington: [drop in the report link] - "Doing the work got automated. Talking about it didn't" (HRD): https://www.hcamag.com/us/specialization/corporate-wellness/doing-the-work-got-automated-talking-about-it-didnt/588222 - Priya Parker on The Interview (NYT), via TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theinterview_nyt/video/7683495206485789965 - The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker

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