Session One: 8 – 9:45 a.m.

Situational Leadership – Mark Rounds, MSOE

Managers and leaders are put in situations that require appropriate actions. This class dives into the correct leadership style based on two factors: 1) The development of those being led; and 2) The situation you are in. This course is based on an interactive discussion of the Hersey-Blanchard theory of situational leadership. The class uses clips from the movie Apollo 13 to demonstrate the effects of leadership styles in certain situations.

Top 5 Reasons:

1.    Understand your natural leadership style and how this contributes to the results you are currently experiencing.
2.    How to identify the development level of the people around you
3.    Learn how to “flex” your leadership style to increase effective communication with others
4.    Understand the difference between “assignment” and “delegation”
5.    Appreciation of how teams affect the individual’s development level

Session Two: 10 – 11:45 a.m.

How and Why to Use Collaborative AI for Product Innovation - Gene Wright, MSOE

Are you interested in using collaborative AI for product innovation? Tools like ChatGPT, The Bard, and (New) BING can be incredibly useful in aiding innovators to create new and improved products, which in turn can generate greater value for customers. Our workshop aims to showcase and explore how these tools can be used to assist innovators. We will actually collaborate with an AI to innovate an idea and touch on some of the issues associated with using AI in the innovation process. 

By attending this workshop, you will learn:

•    How to get started using AI in product innovation
•    Specific examples of how AI can be used in product and service innovation
•    Why innovators should use collaborative AI 
•    How to work with an AI as a collaborating team member
•    What NOT to do when using AI in product innovation

12:00 – 12:50 PM

• Lunch break

Session Three: 1 – 2:45 p.m.

Introduction to Systems Thinking – LaTasha Langdon, MSOE 

The business environment is becoming increasingly complex; so too are the decisions today’s business leaders are being asked to make. As a result, many decisions are made without a thorough knowledge of those complexities and without understanding their consequences. Too often, they fail to produce the desired results. Systems thinking can help leaders make better decisions. Systems thinking is based in the tenet of connection: nothing stands alone, it is always part of a system that influences how it behaves. To understand the true result of decisions, leaders must understand the connections and system in which the part exists. 

Participants will learn:

•    Define systems that exist in the workplace, look at system archetypes, discuss how systems behave, and consider their counter intuitive behavior.
•    Discuss and participate in experiential activities focusing on the application of systems thinking tools and analysis in the workplace.
•    Tips and methods to use to uncover and understand root cause. 
•    Learn how to apply your communication style towards improved performance.  

Session Four: 3 – 4:45 p.m.

Agile Architecture for Business Agility - Diana Rivera, MSOE 

In this digitally driven era, it is highly important to adopt the basic practices and principles of Lean, Agile and DevSecOps to accelerate our value delivery to the market and the customers we serve. More importantly, there is an urgent need to keep up with our competitors who have already adopted these practices and have implemented automation, centralized data centers with Cloud-based systems, and API development practices. All roles in business and IT are required to support an agile environment to achieve faster time to market. In this interactive session, we will explore the basic principles, practices and mindset that you can begin to quickly apply in your role and organization to support an agile environment with Architects as key collaborators by scaling basic lean and agile practices to achieve Business Agility.

Participants will learn:

•    An overview of Business Agility and Agile Architecture
•    Agile Architecture roles and enabling a continuous learning culture
•    Leading by example through the adoption of a set of Lean and Agile values and principles (ethics).