Create X Change

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭.”

This line from Adam Grant stayed with me.

For a long time, knowledge itself created an advantage at work.

But when information is instantly accessible — and AI can analyze, summarize and generate at extraordinary speed — knowing the answer is no longer enough.

The value shifts to what happens 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 the answer arrives.

Can you question it?

Interpret it?

Connect it to a larger context?

Recognize what’s missing?

Know when not to follow it?

That’s why I believe judgment, curiosity, discernment and creativity are becoming more important — not less — as AI becomes more capable.

The question I keep coming back to is:

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡?

Adam explores this shift in a recent The Wall Street Journal conversation. Worth reading.

Read the article:
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘞𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘥𝘢𝘮 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/the-new-ways-to-thrive-at-work-now-according-to-adam-grant-4d3ad022

𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫.

Not simply how much of it AI can do.

But what parts of work we actually want to keep human.

Ethan Mollick recently put it this way:

“𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 ... 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐛.”

That distinction matters.

Judgment. Curiosity. Creativity. Relationships. The opportunity to make decisions, solve problems and become better at what we do.

As organizations move from experimenting with AI toward increasingly autonomous systems, the question may no longer be simply 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞?

It may be:

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫?

Something worth considering this Labor Day.

—

At CreateXChange, we follow the authors and ideas shaping how leaders think about work, technology and what comes next.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦?

It’s rarely just the topic. And it’s definitely not just the biggest name.

The right speaker has to fit the audience, the moment, the business context, and what you want people to walk away thinking or doing differently.

Over time, we’ve found there are a few questions that consistently lead to stronger choices.

𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 → for 5 things worth considering before putting anyone on stage.

And #5 is one I think gets overlooked far too often: 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞?

Because the best ideas shouldn’t disappear when the keynote ends.

📚 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 2026: 3 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 & 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

This month’s releases point to a challenge every leader is facing in some form: 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝?

These three authors approach that question from very different angles, but together they offer a powerful lens on misinformation, belief, leadership, and human connection.

📚 On the shelves this August:

𝐀 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐠𝐞 — Melanie Trecek-King
A practical guide to recognizing misinformation, questioning what we see and hear, and building the critical-thinking habits needed to make better decisions in a complex information environment.

𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚: 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 — Owen Fitzpatrick
An exploration of how beliefs are formed, reinforced, and changed — and what leaders need to understand about influence, persuasion, and the stories people tell themselves.

𝐀𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 — Gina London
A practical approach to communicating with greater confidence, clarity, and presence, with an especially timely focus on the value of authentic human connection in an AI-shaped world.

What connects all three is something we’re thinking about a lot at CreateXChange:

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞.

𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

For 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺, the Committee of Seventy created an ambitious two-day gathering around a very big question: what will American democracy require from us as we enter the next 250 years?

Our job at CreateXChange was to help translate that ambition into the experience.

The right voices. Different perspectives. Speaker preparation. Arrivals and departures. Book signings. Green rooms. Moderator conversations. VIP moments. Stage timing. And all of the little things happening behind the scenes that hopefully no one in the audience ever has to think about.

Because the goal is never simply to put impressive people on a stage.

It is to create a room where the ideas, the audience and the experience all make sense together.

A few things we took away from two very memorable days in Philadelphia.

𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐧.

In this quiet pre-event moment with Cherri Gregg, David was doing what thoughtful speakers do best: listening, testing ideas and getting a feel for the room before the microphones were turned on.

David’s work has long explored the forces that hold people together—trust, character, belonging, community and our responsibility to one another. Those ideas were especially relevant at 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵, where the conversation was not only about institutions, but about the relationships and shared commitments that make democratic life possible.

What I appreciate about David is that he does not treat big civic questions as abstract. He brings them back to how people live, connect and choose to show up for one another.

This was the conversation before the conversation—and a reminder that the most meaningful moments onstage often begin well before anyone sees them.

Brooks Gregg of Seventy

𝐑𝐨𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐠, 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭.

At 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵, her conversation with Cherri Gregg moved beyond democracy as a system and into the harder questions of how it is actually experienced.

Who is heard?
Who is protected?
Who feels represented?
And who is still being asked to wait?

Roxane brought the kind of clarity that does not make a complicated subject simpler than it is. Instead, she made the stakes more human.

With Cherri guiding the conversation so thoughtfully, the discussion created space for honesty, nuance and a deeper examination of what a stronger, more inclusive democracy really requires.

That was exactly why Roxane’s voice belonged in this room.

And yes, after a conversation that serious, I still remembered to get the photo.

Gay Gregg of Seventy