Blog Archives

Practical AI for Efficiency

As AI accelerates across industries, professionals need more than basic prompting skills—they need a working understanding of how AI systems function, how data shapes their output, and how intelligent workflows can transform operations.

Description

This program provides a practical and modern foundation in applied AI, blending accessible technical explanations with hands-on demonstrations of automation and real-world use cases.

Participants explore a range of applied capabilities, including how to identify the right tasks for automation, when to deploy agentic workflows, and how to structure work so humans and AI systems complement one another effectively. The session covers how to leverage data for advanced analysis, how to design intelligent processes that scale, and how to recognize the jagged edge of AI intelligence—where systems perform exceptionally well and where they fail in predictable ways. These topics are introduced through practical exercises and demonstrations that help participants build confidence using AI in real workflows. From automating routine tasks to augmenting complex analytical work, the session illustrates how AI can radically increase productivity across diverse roles.

By connecting concepts from classical machine learning, data analytics, and modern Generative AI, participants gain a cohesive understanding of how these technologies fit together—and how to deploy them responsibly, efficiently, and at scale within their organizations.

Audience

Professionals in any industry who want to explore and gain knowledge about artificial intelligence.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Understand the core building blocks of modern AI and how machine learning, data pipelines, and GenAI fit into today’s tech stacks.
  • Build technical fluency to collaborate effectively with data teams, engineers, and analysts.
  • Evaluate how data structure, quality, and format impact AI and machine learning performance.
  • Identify tasks suitable for AI, anticipate the “jagged edge” of intelligence, and avoid misuse.
  • Gain hands-on skills in designing intelligent workflows that blend human oversight with automation.
  • Apply Generative AI to analytics tasks—from summarization and pattern detection to advanced augmentation.

Strategic AI for Business

The rise of Generative AI is reshaping not only how organizations operate, but how they think, compete, and innovate in an environment defined by rapid technological change.

Description

The session begins with a practical, holistic overview of prompting and context engineering—the core disciplines that allow today’s leading generative AI systems to support work across every level of an organization. Participants will learn how to work effectively with the best Generative AI tools on the market, understanding both the art and science behind high-quality outputs.

From there, the focus expands to leadership in the modern enterprise: how AI is altering competitive dynamics, how innovation pipelines must evolve, and how managers can guide individuals, teams, and cross-functional groups through transformation. The program blends research-driven insights with real-world examples, illustrating how organizations create value with AI, how teams integrate AI into workflows, and how to shape culture, accountability, and decision-making in an era of intelligent agents.

Audience

Professionals in any industry who want to explore and gain knowledge about artificial intelligence.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Master prompting and context engineering to work effectively with today’s top AI systems.
  • Evaluate emerging AI trends and separate true breakthroughs from short-lived hype.
  • Understand how AI reshapes competitive advantage, business models, and long-term strategy.
  • Learn why individual AI productivity gains don’t always scale and how organizations can close the gap.
  • Grasp disruptive innovation in the AI era and identify inflection points for organizational adaptation.
  • Analyze practical frameworks for leading individuals, teams, and cross-functional groups as they adopt AI tools and automations.
  • Apply techniques for AI-driven experimentation, rapid iteration, and data-informed innovation.

Influencing and Persuading for Results

When ideas are met with hesitation, influence bridges the gap between being heard and making things happen.

Description

In today’s dynamic work environment, success depends on engaging others, building trust, and moving forward together. Influence is the ability to guide people through credibility and integrity, while persuasion turns ideas into cooperation by connecting logic and emotion to shared values.

This one-day program equips you to influence and persuade ethically and effectively. You’ll learn how to strengthen relationships, communicate with purpose, and navigate resistance with confidence, enabling collaboration and meaningful results.

Audience

Employees at all levels who need to effectively influence others up, down, and over in order to achieve personal, team, and organizational goals.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Build credibility and trust that encourages others to listen and follow.
  • Adjust your approach to influence different audiences and situations.
  • Listen to understand, not just to respond, so you can address real needs.
  • Present ideas in ways that motivate action and support.
  • Handle resistance constructively, transforming disagreement into progress.

Social Skills for Professional Success

Harnessing social and emotional intelligence to strengthen leadership, relationships, and team collaboration.

Description

Social and Emotional Intelligence (SEI) is a cornerstone of professional and personal success, promoting enhanced self-awareness, improved communication, stronger relationships, and improved personal health. This program leverages a four-quadrant SEI model based off of Daniel Goleman’s research to explore how SEI fosters inclusive leadership, encourages conflict resolution, and builds trust and rapport within teams. Participants will discover how SEI impacts essential skills like stress management, resiliency, empathy, and effective teamwork, driving both personal and team growth.

Through a comprehensive assessment, participants will identify their SEI strengths and areas for growth. The program offers actionable strategies and tools for improvement, empowering participants to promote team engagement and create a culture of collaboration. Optional follow-up coaching is available to support ongoing development and success.

Audience

Appropriate for any professional who wants to enhance their creative problem-solving skills.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Gain an in-depth understanding of the four-quadrant SEI model.
  • Explore the business case and health benefits of strengthening SEI.
  • Learn how SEI fosters improved communication, inclusive leadership, and team engagement.
  • Develop actionable plans for stress management, resiliency, empathy, and teamwork.
  • Enhance skills to encourage personal and team growth while promoting effective conflict resolution.

One-Hour Virtual Coaching Session

This one-hour virtual coaching session provides tailored guidance to help you navigate your workplace interactions, build strong professional relationships, and communicate with confidence.

Influencing in a Business Environment

Professionals become frustrated, aggravated, and discouraged when they feel like they are limited in what they can do, are not being heard, or their ideas are not grasped or appreciated.

Description

Organizations oftentimes have many different departments that work together to achieve the overall mission and vision. However, these departments can become siloed and develop agendas of their own. How does a professional get buy-in from colleagues at all levels of the organization in this type of business environment?

The key is influencing. This one-day program will provide strategies to influence others no matter their position or title to achieve common goals that will propel the overall organization toward success. Goal setting, preparation to be persuasive, and crafting an effective message for specific audiences will all be discussed through conversations and experiential activities.

Audience

Employees at all levels who need to effectively influence others up, down, and over in order to achieve personal, team, and organizational goals.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Understanding and leveraging various ways to be influential
  • Creating a plan to become a trusted advisor that colleagues seek out for guidance
  • Strengthening the ability to have a voice that is heard
  • Defining clear outcomes and identifying objectives, obstacles, strategies, and tactics
  • Responding to concerns and hesitations in an impactful way
  • Maintaining commitments to earn trust and credibility

Venue

Cintas Center
1624 Musketeer Drive
Cincinnati, 45207 United States + Google Map
Phone
513-745-1094

Design Thinking

In this one-day program, you will have a hands-on experience while learning both the mindset and method of Design Thinking. Covering the principles of empathy, problem framing, ideation, prototyping, and testing, you will leave with tools and stories you can take back to your business for immediate application.

Description

Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that is 100% focused on people. You begin by examining the needs, dreams, and behaviors of people you want to affect with your solution. This is the ‘Desirability’ lens, and you will continue to view the world through this lens throughout the design process. Then, you begin to view solutions through the lenses of ‘Feasibility’ (what is technically and organizationally feasible) and ‘Viability’ (what is financially viable). These two lenses are introduced carefully during the later phases of the design thinking process. Finally, the program will stress that true breakthrough solutions will overlap all three lenses.

Audience

Professionals at all levels in any industry who want to learn more about Design Thinking.

Outcome

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • See new opportunities in a consistent manner
  • Connect deeply with customers
  • Use the needs and wants of customers to guide ideation and solution-making
  • Transform insights and data into actionable ideas
  • Create and implement new solutions with business impact in a faster and more effective way
  • Discover solutions through three different lenses

Venue

Cintas Center
1624 Musketeer Drive
Cincinnati, 45207 United States + Google Map
Phone
513-745-1094

Business Innovation Certificate

In this inspiring and highly interactive program, we will share innovation methods and tools across the areas of Design Thinking, Storytelling, and Creativity/Improvisation.

Our internationally recognized facilitators have more than 75 years of experience between them in innovation and have touched hundreds of companies and brands.

To obtain a Business Innovation Certificate, participants will attend the following one-day programs:

Program Dates

  • April 4, 2023 (8:30am-4:00pm)
  • April 18, 2023 (8:30am-4:00pm)
  • May 2, 2023 (8:30am-4:00pm)
  • May 16, 2023 (8:30am-4:00pm)

Description

Creative Problem Solving

This highly-interactive, fun, and fast-paced session provides a framework for understanding and applying tools to meet real business needs. You will walk away from this session with increased confidence to generate creative ideas, techniques to recognize/replace unproductive thinking patterns, and a methodology to foster creative potential and innovation. Participants are encouraged to think about real-life organizational problems and bring these situations to the program to discuss and brainstorm together. By walking through these problems together, participants will learn the steps to creatively solve problems.

Customer Experience

In this program, participants will learn how to strategically deliver customer experiences with purpose. Delivering exceptional customer service is all about the details. In order to exceed expectations, you need to create systems and processes to make sure that nothing is left to luck. Learn ways to be intentional to create memorable experiences. Discover unique ways to make sure your customers are telling others about their excellent experience with your organization.

Design Thinking

In this one-day program, you will have a hands-on experience while learning both the mindset and method of Design Thinking. Covering the principles of empathy, problem framing, ideation, prototyping, and testing, you will leave with tools and stories you can take back to your business for immediate application.

Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that is 100% focused on people. You begin by examining the needs, dreams, and behaviors of people you want to affect with your solution. This is the ‘Desirability’ lens, and you will continue to view the world through this lens throughout the design process. Then, you begin to view solutions through the lenses of  ‘Feasibility’ (what is technically and organizationally feasible) and ‘Viability’ (what is financially viable). These two lenses are introduced carefully during the later phases of the design thinking process. Finally, the program will stress that true breakthrough solutions will overlap all three lenses.

Storytelling for Innovation

More than ever, there is one thing that truly separates many brands and companies today—that one thing is STORY. When it comes to creating powerful brand connections, engaging innovations, and inspirational business strategies, a good story can make whatever brands share more impactful. For this full-day workshop, presentations include surprising insights, engaging personal stories, fun movie references, hands-on exercises, and “Hollywood-esque” tools. Participants will leave with a series of inspiring story fundamentals, examples, and methods that can be applied by ANY role within an organization and in ANY industry. Using the building blocks of storytelling, participants will be able to develop strategies to bring innovative ideas and methodologies back to the organization.

Audience

Individuals that strive to bring design thinking and creativity to their organization’s daily practice and are looking to build a culture of innovation within the organization.

Outcome

Creative Problem Solving:

  • How to define and unleash creativity
  • Understand the myths of creativity
  • Learn to identify problems with effective brainstorming
  • Gain skills to strengthen creativity
  • Capture ways to think differently
  • Learn The Three-Legged Stool of Innovation
  • Tackle actual organizational problems

Customer Experience:

  • Learn what makes a great customer experience
  • Unlock deep customer understanding to reveal customer pain points
  • Map the customer’s journey to reveal emotions and insights
  • Develop customer personas and segmentation
  • Turn insights into actions
  • Pursue customer-centered innovation

Design Thinking:

  • See new opportunities in a consistent manner
  • Connect deeply with customers
  • Use the needs and wants of customers to guide ideation and solution-making
  • Transform insights and data into actionable ideas
  • Create and implement new solutions with business impact in a faster and more effective way
  • Discover solutions through three different lenses

Storytelling for Innovation:

  • Defining and leveraging the most distinctive quality of the brand idea in the stories
  • Understanding how empathy serves as the foundation for both the story and innovation strategy
  • Knowing where to look to find the best “stories” to learn from
  • Utilizing story principles to ensure data and analytics are delivered in the most powerful and compelling way
  • How to use a story sequel plan for the brand’s strategy and long-term pipeline
  • Creating focused and clear presentations by leveraging a powerful story theme
  • Crafting and using an elevator pitch to leave the audience wanting more

Venue

Cintas Center
1624 Musketeer Drive
Cincinnati, 45207 United States + Google Map
Phone
513-745-1094

Business Storytelling

More than ever, there is one thing that truly separates many brands and companies today—that one thing is STORY. When it comes to creating powerful brand connections, engaging innovations, and inspirational business strategies, a good story can make whatever brands share more impactful.

Description

For this full-day workshop, presentations include surprising insights, engaging personal stories, fun movie references, hands-on exercises, and “Hollywood-esque” tools. Participants will leave with a series of inspiring story fundamentals, examples, and methods that can be applied by ANY role within an organization and in ANY industry. Using the building blocks of storytelling, participants will be able to develop strategies to bring innovative ideas and methodologies back to the organization.

Audience

Any professional within any industry can benefit from developing storytelling skills.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Defining and leveraging the most distinctive quality of the brand idea in the stories
  • Understanding how empathy serves as the foundation for both the story and innovation strategy
  • Knowing where to look to find the best “stories” to learn from
  • Utilizing story principles to ensure data and analytics are delivered in the most powerful and compelling way
  • How to use a story sequel plan for the brand’s strategy and long-term pipeline
  • Creating focused and clear presentations by leveraging a powerful story theme
  • Crafting and using an elevator pitch to leave the audience wanting more

Venue

Cintas Center
1624 Musketeer Drive
Cincinnati, 45207 United States + Google Map
Phone
513-745-1094

Customer Experience

It’s more important than ever to know, understand, and delight your customers. However, this is often easier said than done. Growth comes from providing solutions and experiences to differentiate your company from your competition.

Description

In this program, participants will learn how to strategically deliver customer experiences with purpose. Delivering exceptional customer service is all about the details. In order to exceed expectations, you need to create systems and processes to make sure that nothing is left to luck. Learn ways to be intentional to create memorable experiences.

Discover unique ways to make sure your customers are telling others about their excellent experience with your organization.

Audience

Anyone that works with internal or external facing customers. Leaders who want to create processes for increasing customer experience.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Learn what makes a great customer experience
  • Unlock deep customer understanding to reveal customer pain points
  • Map the customer’s journey to reveal emotions and insights
  • Develop customer personas and segmentation
  • Turn insights into actions
  • Pursue customer-centered innovation

Venue

Cintas Center
1624 Musketeer Drive
Cincinnati, 45207 United States + Google Map
Phone
513-745-1094

Creative Problem Solving

In the current volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, solving problems in unique ways and thinking outside of the box are becoming increasingly important for an organization’s success.

Description

This highly-interactive, fun, and fast-paced session provides a framework for understanding and applying tools to meet real business needs. You will walk away from this session with increased confidence to generate creative ideas, techniques to recognize/replace unproductive thinking
patterns, and a methodology to foster creative potential and innovation.

Participants are encouraged to think about real-life organizational problems and bring these situations to the program to discuss and brainstorm together. By walking through these problems together, participants will learn the steps to creatively solve problems.

Finally, participants will complete an assessment prior to the program to discover their natural tendencies when thinking creatively and where they can shift their attention to yield better results.

Audience

Appropriate for any professional who wants to enhance their creative problem-solving skills.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • How to define and unleash creativity
  • Understand the myths of creativity
  • Learn to identify problems with effective brainstorming
  • Gain skills to strengthen creativity
  • Capture ways to think differently
  • Learn The Three-Legged Stool of Innovation
  • Tackle actual organizational problems

Venue

Cintas Center
1624 Musketeer Drive
Cincinnati, 45207 United States + Google Map
Phone
513-745-1094