In this episode, we’re offering another way to consume our written work by turning the article The Operating Model Shift No One Planned For into an AI-driven conversation.
Execution no longer lives primarily in people or meetings. It lives in systems. Workflows, automation, metrics, and defaults now shape behavior, enforce priorities, and carry operational authority, often without clear ownership.
This conversation explores why leadership models have not kept pace with this shift, why organizations are not under-led but under-aligned, and why execution breaks long before resistance becomes visible.
If execution feels fragile despite capable teams and modern tools, this episode reframes the problem. Execution does not fail because people resist change. It fails when decisions are embedded into systems without being validated first.
Article Link: https://aiadvisorygroup.com/2025/12/08/the-operating-model-shift-no-one-planned-for/
In this AI Deep Dive, I turn a long-form leadership article into a live conversation with AI to explore a question most organizations avoid asking. Why do smart teams with high awareness still make fragile decisions?
This episode breaks down the quiet gap between noticing risk and governing action. We examine why “be aware” sounds responsible but breaks down in practice, how consensus creates false clarity, and why intelligence is no longer scarce but disciplined judgment is.
Using real research, leadership examples, and AI-era decision dynamics, this conversation reframes awareness as an outcome, not a capability. The missing skill is decision validation. Making assumptions explicit. Testing reasoning before execution. Creating shared mental models that hold under pressure.
If you are leading AI initiatives, navigating complexity, or responsible for decisions that must withstand scrutiny over time, this episode offers a clearer lens for how to move from confidence to clarity and from awareness to decisions that actually hold up.
This is one of our AI Deep Dives. In this special edition of Smidgen of Proof, we utilize advanced synthetic dialogue to bring you a new, highly analytical way of consuming our written content.
AI execution is approaching instantaneous, yet organizational output remains stuck in a crawl. Episode 39 is a "synthetic deep dive" into the physics of work. Two AI models dissect the "Velocity Paradox," exploring why $10M tech stacks are currently being sabotaged by "polite paralysis" and "cautious braking."
Listen as the machines go under the hood to explain exactly how human "Decision Memory" creates a phantom traffic jam in the modern enterprise.
In this deep dive, we explore:
The Brake Light Effect: How a single cautious decision miles ahead creates a paralyzing shockwave miles behind.
Speed vs. Velocity: Why having a faster engine doesn't matter if your steering signal is noisy.
The Intentional Pause: Why the fastest companies are learning to move "slow" to achieve "smooth."
Polite Paralysis: How to identify the "ghosts" in your gearbox that prevent AI from reaching full throttle.
Stop widening the road. Start fixing the signal.
In an era where AI tools and platforms promise to optimize, streamline, and automate every aspect of business, we have become obsessed with the idea of "frictionless" change. But there is a hidden cost to removing all the obstacles: when we eliminate friction, we often eliminate the opportunity for human growth and ownership.
In this episode, we challenge the conventional wisdom of digital transformation. We explore why "resistance" is rarely about the change itself; after all, people constantly seek variety in life, but it is actually a reaction to uncertainty and a loss of agency.
Growth is often treated like a performance problem. Try harder. Move faster. Add pressure.
But real growth works more like biology than business.
In this episode, Laura Lewis joins the conversation to explore what plants, people, and organizations have in common. We talk about why most growth efforts fail quietly, how environment shapes behavior, and why training, culture, and trust matter more than motivation alone.
From onboarding and retention to systems, leadership, and scale, this conversation challenges the idea that growth is about effort. Instead, it reframes growth as something that must be cultivated intentionally.
If your team feels stuck, burned out, or inconsistent, this episode offers a different lens for understanding what’s actually holding growth back.
In this episode, we explore a provocative theory by Christopher Donaleski: that AI operates on the exact same addictive mechanism as pornography. Just as porn offers desire without intimacy, AI feeds our hunger for "endless answers without wisdom". We dive into the neuroscience behind this addiction, explaining how confident AI responses provide dopamine hits that train us to value the feeling of being right over the discipline of actual reasoning.
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Irina Mirkina, a global expert in AI governance, data ethics, and high-stakes decision making. We explore why today’s AI systems are often “generally right” but not always genuinely true—and why experts still matter more than ever.Dr. Mirkina unpacks:The difference between outcomes vs. impact in AI projectsHow over-reliance on AI can quietly erode expert judgmentWhy accuracy thresholds are not enough in healthcare, infrastructure, and humanitarian workHow trust, bias, and “my truth” narratives are reshaping our relationship with expertiseWhy governance doesn’t slow you down—it actually protects speed and long-term valueWhat shared accountability between AI developers, vendors, and businesses could look likeIf you’re a founder, executive, or advisor trying to move fast with AI without betting the company (or people) on hype, this conversation will give you language and frameworks to think more clearly about risk, trust, and responsibility.
Welcome to another AI-powered deep dive, where we turn our most impactful articles into short, insight-dense audio sessions for your walk, drive, or workday.
Today’s episode unpacks a truth every leader feels but rarely confronts:
Speed is destroying progress.
Not because technology is broken, but because organizations are moving faster than people, processes, and culture can absorb.
We explore:
Why acceleration without alignment multiplies risk
How AI exposes your culture more than your code
The hidden debts created when teams move too fast
Why most AI failures aren’t technical — they’re human
The question mature leaders ask before they automate:
“Are we ready to move at the speed we’re demanding?”
If you feel the pressure to deliver AI results yesterday, this deep dive will give you the clarity and language to push back with purpose.
Speed wins races.Validation wins decades.Let’s get into the deep dive.
AI Deep Dive: You Can’t Save Your Way to 10X — Why Value Creation Is the Real ROI
Welcome to another AI-powered deep dive—where we take our most impactful articles and translate them into short, insight-dense audio sessions for your walk, drive, or workday.
Today’s episode breaks down a truth most leaders feel but rarely say out loud:
You can’t cut your way to 10X.
Skipping Starbucks won’t scale your business, and tightening budgets without creating new value only slows momentum.
Cost discipline keeps the lights on.
Value creation turns the lights into a lighthouse.
In this episode, you’ll explore:
Why reducing waste is necessary but never enough
The mindset shift that separates “Quarter Savers” from “Value Builders”
How AI becomes a tool for creating new demand, not just efficiency
The simple question winning leaders ask:
“What will customers gladly pay for because it saves time, adds certainty, or makes work easier?”
If you’re ready to rethink growth, this one’s for you.
Cost is fuel.Value is the destination.Growth is the engine.
Let’s get into the deep dive.
In this episode of The Validated Mind, Christopher Donaleski sits down with Michelle Pauk, executive coach, facilitator, and author of Build a Golden Bridge: How to Lead Change When You’re Not in Charge.
Michelle brings over 20 years of experience in global organizations, high-growth startups, and nonprofits. Together, we unpack what it really takes to lead change with confidence and humanity, especially when authority isn’t on your side.
We discuss:
How to create trust and alignment during complex transformations
The role of emotional intelligence in influence and follow-through
Why the most powerful change often starts from the middle
How to bridge data, emotion, and strategy without losing yourself in the process
This is an episode for every leader navigating uncertainty—where clarity, not control, becomes the real advantage.
🎧 Listen now on Smidgen of Proof—where we explore how decisions actually get made.
What if the biggest barriers to change aren’t what we can see — but what we can’t?
In this episode, Christopher Donaleski sits down with Erica Wexler, Change Architect and Founder of Transformational Guidance, to explore what she calls “the alchemy of the invisible.” Together, they unpack how the validation of our thinking patterns shapes culture, readiness, and the way leaders guide transformation.
Erica shares insights from her work across insurance, manufacturing, healthcare, and higher education — showing how neuroscience, systems thinking, and leadership all intersect when companies face AI disruption, organizational fatigue, and the pressure to adapt faster than ever.
In this season’s first episode of Smidgen of Proof, host Christopher Donaleski sits down with Camila Ferreira, a global customer experience leader who’s lived in six countries, led international teams, and ran Uber Eats operations during the pandemic.
Together, they explore what it really means to “serve first” in business—how speaking your client’s language builds trust, why finance and CX are two sides of the same coin, and how data and empathy must coexist for real leadership to emerge.
Camila shares powerful stories from her career, from transitioning out of finance to leading CX transformations at scale, and reveals why most companies never make it across the bridge between what they say and what customers actually feel.
This conversation dives deep into courage, leadership, and decision-making with only a smidgen of proof.
Key themes:
Seeing the world through your customer’s eyes
The bridge between finance and customer experience
How fear and courage shape leadership decisions
Why authentic connection can’t be automated—even by AI
Building trust before technology
This episode explores a behavior that often looks like leadership but quietly undermines it, the compulsion to act without clarity.
Host Christopher Donaleski opens with the story of JFK’s early misstep at the Bay of Pigs to reveal how urgency, pressure, and fear can drive poor decisions disguised as decisive action. From boardrooms to battlefields, we explore how the bias for action manifests, why stillness can feel risky, and how the best leaders learn to pause before taking action.
If you’ve ever felt the pressure to “just do something,” this episode offers the perspective and the questions you need to lead with intention, not reaction.
Episode 7: The Sunk Cost Trap (And Why You Stay Too Long) explores the powerful pull to keep going simply because you've already come so far. Host Christopher Donaleski opens with a personal story from a family hike at Enchanted Rock, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of why letting go can feel like failure, even when it’s the most sensible move.
From the boardroom to war rooms, we examine real-world examples, such as the Vietnam War and BlackBerry’s fall from relevance, to illustrate how sunk costs can distort our judgment.
You'll learn why we stay in jobs, projects, or relationships past their prime, and how to spot the signs when you're stuck. If you’ve ever wrestled with whether to keep going or call it, this episode gives you the questions and the permission to pivot with purpose.
In this episode, Christopher Donaleski unpacks one of the most persistent myths in business and leadership: the belief that emotion and logic are at odds. Drawing on the research of neurologist Antonio Damasio, he reveals that emotion isn’t a distraction from rational thinking—it’s a necessary part of it. From gut feelings to executive decision-making, you'll hear how emotion helps guide focus, create meaning, and drive action in ways data alone cannot. If you’ve ever been told to “leave emotion out of it,” this conversation will challenge that idea and show how the best leaders use emotion as a source of clarity and insight.
You don’t run out of time. You run out of clarity.
In this episode of Smidgen of Proof, Christopher Donaleski unpacks decision fatigue, what it is, how it quietly erodes your judgment, and why even leaders like Jeff Bezos build their schedules around protecting mental energy.
You'll learn how to recognize the signs, guard your best thinking, and design smarter systems that help you protect your most valuable decisions, before your brain hits empty.
In this episode of Smidgen of Proof, Christopher Donaleski explores the tension between instinct and data in decision-making. What if both are valid? One feels right. One looks right. Each is a form of validation, and each has its place. Learn how to spot the signals from your gut, pressure test them with data, and make smarter decisions in complex situations. It's not about choosing one over the other. It's about knowing when and how to use both.
We like to think we’re rational thinkers. Logical. Objective. But today’s episode explores a harder truth: your brain isn’t wired for truth—it’s wired for comfort. And that wiring? It influences everything from the feedback you ignore to the decisions you justify.
In this episode, we dig into how discomfort avoidance silently shapes our leadership, decision-making, and the stories we tell ourselves. You'll learn:
If you're someone who wants to see clearly, challenge assumptions, and grow past the comfort zone, this one’s for you.
We hear it all the time: “I’m a data-driven leader.”
But what if that’s just a myth?
In this episode of Smidgen of Proof, Christopher Donaleski breaks down the illusion of objectivity in leadership and explores the real force behind high-stakes decisions: how we validate what’s true, not just what’s measurable.
From executive boardrooms to team huddles, we look at:
Why even the most analytical leaders still use emotional filters
How data can become a delay tactic instead of a decision driver
The difference between data literacy and decision maturity
A story of two executives who looked at the same numbers, and saw completely different paths
If you’re serious about improving how you lead, decide, and influence others, this one’s for you.
It’s not about having more data. It’s about having the right framework to use it.
Follow, rate, and share the show with leaders who want to make better decisions, not just data-driven ones.
We like to believe that intelligence protects us from bad decisions.
But what if it actually blinds us to them?
In this episode of Smidgen of Proof, Christopher Donaleski explores how smart, capable people can still make costly choices—not because they lack information, but because their reasoning outpaces reality.
From the Challenger disaster to the Titan sub implosion, we examine two high-profile decisions where confidence crowded out caution, and why the real danger isn’t ignorance, but unchecked logic.
Here’s what we cover:
Why intelligence doesn’t prevent bad decisions—it can mask them
How logical thinking can still lead you in the wrong direction
The hidden cost of systems with no friction or feedback
How to slow down decisions that feel automatic and bring context back into focus
This episode is for anyone who’s ever wondered how a smart choice still went sideways, and what you can do to prevent it from happening again.