Charter

At 88, Jared Diamond has spent a career asking why some societies flourish and others collapse. In his new book, Profits, Prophets, Coaches, and Kings, the MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel turns that same evidence-driven approach to a question that preoccupies every boardroom: whether individual leaders actually change outcomes, and whether we’re too quick to credit—or blame—the person at the top for forces outside their control. Diamond’s answer isn’t a simple yes or no—instead, he identifies the conditions under which leaders are more likely to make a real difference. Read our Q&A with him at the link in the comments.

Most return-to-office memos rely on the same two words: connection and culture. This summer, those memos got new ammunition as a rash of headlines pointed to remote work as a cause for the loneliness epidemic. Leaders looking to justify mandates had new ammo. But a newly released study—combined with research headlines that made waves this summer—are reminders that the location of people’s desks is not always what drives their sense of loneliness or belonging at work. Rather, there are usually other factors at play, and an office mandate rarely fixes the problem. More from Charter's Brian Elliott in this morning's Charter Pro newsletter. Link in the comments below.

For the first time, a majority of young adults said they’re more concerned than excited about AI, according to new data from the Pew Research Center. In classrooms, “our students are already feeling the impacts of this disruption," Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers said in a speech earlier this summer. Weingarten has called on schools to ban student-facing AI tools for elementary students, while investing in active learning that develops foundational skills at all ages. But the union itself isn’t made up of luddites, she says, recognizing that AI fluency will be critical for students preparing to enter the workforce—and for the teachers equipping them with those technical skills. The trick is to “make sure that human beings control technology, not the other way around,” she tells Charter. With millions of American students returning to classrooms this month, we reached out to Weingarten to learn more about the current state of the labor movement, the role AI should play in teaching and learning, and the critical skills students need for an AI economy.

Summer may be winding down, but there’s still time to get in some great reads, whether at the beach, on a plane to your vacation destination, or simply as you carve out time to reset for the busy fall ahead. We recently asked chief people officers to send us their summer reading recommendations—whether a traditional business book or one that has simply helped them manage their time, think about their next chapter, or develop as a stronger person or leader. As you plan your last two weeks of summer, here are a few leaders’ book recommendations to consider Rread the full lists of recs from leaders including Ken Cooper, Katya Laviolette, Amy Reichanadter, Tracy Layney, and Laura Fuentes in the link below.): A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern - Katie Burke, COO of Harvey, recommended this memoir from former PM of New Zealand as well as Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi - Betty Larson, CHRO of Merck, recommended this novel. "“While not a business book, it is a beautiful and highly impactful story reminding us of the power of inclusion—of truly seeing one another and taking the time to listen and to learn about one another," she said. Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman - “This book helped me think differently about where I spend my time,” said Jennie Rogerson, CPO of Canva. "It's also reshaped how I lead and live life: letting go of hyper-optimized routines around ‘getting the to-do list done’ and instead focusing on what will genuinely move the needle." Leading Lightly by Jody Michael - "The book offers a simple and practical framework for cultivating the kind of mental and emotional agility that allows you to stay grounded under pressure, shift perspective quickly, and show up fully for the moments that matter most," says Doniel Sutton (she/her), CPO of Pinterest

74% of employees say learning happens in the flow of work. Only 56% say their organization has a clear learning strategy. New research from employees across North America and Europe reveals four gaps between how learning is experienced and how it's designed, including a massive divide between what managers and individual contributors report. Want to learn more? Join Bradley Wilson, Ph.D., Jayney Howson and Charter's Jena McGregor on Sept 30, 12–1pm ET. Register: https://lnkd.in/gpXv7HBq

Workers and leaders are constantly bombarded with endless predictions about how our AI future will play out: AI will wipe out knowledge work, or maybe all paid work in the economy. No, only entry level jobs will disappear. Or: those jobs will be safe. It’s only middle managers who have to worry. What all of these predictions have in common, argues philosopher Carissa Véliz, is that none of them are really true statements about the world. “Predictions are not facts,” she writes in Prophecy. “An assertion about the future can be many things—an estimate, a desire, a warning—but never a fact.” Véliz, a professor of philosophy and AI ethics at Oxford University, argues that from ancient times to the present day, prophecy has been a powerful balm against uncertainty, allowing prognosticators to accrue status, wealth, and power while those who receive their predictions face unintended consequences. Artificial intelligence, she writes, “is the new Oracle of Delphi.” Not only do algorithms predict everything from crime to a job candidate’s future performance, AI CEOs are themselves becoming prophets, making predictions about the technology’s effect on jobs, work, and society that have their own ripple effects across the economy. We reached out to Véliz to understand more about our current age of AI, how workers and leaders alike can break their reliance on predictions, and the role of philosophy in navigating today’s business challenges. Check out the link in the comments for the Q&A.

Worker pessimism about AI adoption has never been higher, and at the center of many Americans' distrust is the fear that progress from AI will benefit only a few. In a new poll from Groundwork Collaborative, a left-leaning think tank, more than half of workers predict AI adoption at work will only or mostly benefit business owners and executives, while just 6% say all or most of the benefits will go to workers. That doesn’t have to be the case, argue MIT professors Tom Kochan and Erin Kelly, co-authors of a new research report on AI negotiations at Kaiser Permanente. While recent years have seen labor productivity rise to record highs while workers’ share of GDP has fallen to record lows, “AI is an opportunity that can [bring the] movement of productivity and worker income back together,” says Kochan. The key, he says, is to write a better “social contract” for the workplace, where workers’ expertise shapes how new technology is adopted and the gains are spread fairly between the c-suite and the frontline. Read about how leaders can do that at the link in the comments.

As individual contributors increasingly manage AI agents, “it's a total upending of the traditional structures” for setting pay, Maria Colacurcio, the CEO of pay equity and analytics firm Syndio, tells Charter. “What do we value? How do we value people managers?” Charter spoke with Colacurcio about what flatter organizations mean for compensation, how that impacts workers' appetite for becoming managers, and why the fundamentals of pay strategy matter more than ever in an age of AI. Charter Pro members can read excerpts of our conversation in the link below.

Take the August vacation. Then come back ready to build. Join Charter and Kenneth Matos on September 16 for a practical session on building AI operating models people actually trust. Because if AI is on your fall roadmap, the question waiting for you is whether your workforce trusts how you plan to use it. Adoption is accelerating, but trust determines whether any of it delivers. Employees aren't only asking whether AI works. They're asking what it means for their privacy, their autonomy, and their ability to push back on a decision a system just made about them. Set the intention now: https://lnkd.in/gfUeRAFR

This new era of burnout is different, writes Charter's Brian Elliott. It's what happens when old systems meet the “machine pace.” Across a series of forums for chief people officers, one worry surfaces more than any other: the people we most want to keep are the ones running out of gas the fastest. One CPO put it this way: "I feel like our top performers are trying to outrace irrelevance." What follows is why this moment is different from the disruptions that have come before, how pressure builds from the boardroom down, and what the leaders holding onto their best people are doing differently. Read Brian's advice for this moment at the link in the comments.