Reclaiming Agility: When Teams Grow Slow
As teams grow, agility often fades — meetings multiply, decisions slow, and alignment turns into routine. This article explores how facilitation-driven collaboration, inspired by LEGO® Serious Play, Design Thinking, and Agile principles, can help organizations restore flow, trust, and clarity without adding bureaucracy.
Measuring Innovation Speed Without Sacrificing Quality
Faster innovation doesn’t always mean better results. In this article, strategist and facilitator Chris Vernaschi explains how organizations can increase innovation speed without losing quality. Learn how to replace chaotic output metrics with structured portfolio management, measure learning velocity, and build trust as a driver of smarter, faster decisions. Discover how to turn your innovation pipeline into lasting impact through rhythm, discipline, and continuous learning.
Leading Innovation with Trust in AI
AI can spark ideas, but only human judgment and vision create meaningful innovation. Chris explores how leaders can balance critical thinking, creativity, and AI to build trust and drive responsible innovation.
What Each Belt Taught Me About Facilitation, Strategy, and Life (at 47)
I earned my brown belt at 47. Here’s how belt-by-belt BJJ lessons become strategy: pace over panic, technique over muscle, finding your game, and refining relentlessly.
Summer Strategy Reset: Visionary Planning for Q4
Use the August slowdown to zoom out, reset priorities, and prepare your team for a powerful Q4. This article offers 3 practical strategies to reflect, realign, and lead with clarity before the year-end sprint begins.
Fuel Your Leader Edge with a Stronger Founder Mindset
How tech founders can use the quiet of summer as a powerful opportunity to reset? Instead of pushing through the August slowdown, leaders are invited to pause, reflect on their purpose, and renew their founder mindset. Through practical tips and mindset shifts, it highlights how intentional rest fosters resilience, clarity, and strategic focus—setting the stage for meaningful leadership and growth in the months ahead.
Engaging Teams in Remote and In-Person Workshops
Hybrid workshops are fast becoming the norm, but making them effective takes more than just a video call. In this practical guide, strategist and facilitator Chris shares tools, techniques, and real-world insights to help you design inclusive, engaging sessions that connect remote and in-person participants alike. Learn how to eliminate “second-class participant” dynamics, empower your leaders, and make hybrid collaboration a true strength in ongoing consultations and team innovation.
Customer-Centric Innovation: Designing With People, Not Just for Them
Customer-centric innovation means designing with people, not just for them. This article explores how practical tools like Design Thinking, stakeholder mapping, and LEGO® SeriousPlay® can help businesses co-create meaningful, user-driven solutions. Learn how focusing on real human needs leads to loyal customers, engaged teams, and long-term impact.
Solving Business Challenges with LEGO® SeriousPlay®
Imagine a group of professionals from different sectors gathered around a white table, not to examine spreadsheets, but to play with LEGO® bricks. The LEGO® SeriousPlay® methodology transforms abstract business challenges into tangible models and engaging narratives. This innovative approach fosters active participation, creating a psychologically safe environment where every voice matters. Discover how “serious play” can enhance communication, align strategies, and stimulate creativity, leading to remarkable outcomes and greater team cohesion. Want to learn more?
Operational Empathy in Agile Workflows: How Emotion Drives Real Innovation
In today’s fast-paced business world, frameworks like Agile and Lean promise speed and structure, but often miss a crucial ingredient: empathy. In this article, strategist Chris introduces the Operational Empathy Loop, a 4-step framework designed to bring emotional intelligence into how teams work, innovate, and collaborate. Learn how to move beyond efficiency and embed empathy into retrospectives, sprints, and product development—boosting alignment, trust, and impact across your organization.
If your team delivers fast but misses connection, it might be time to rethink how you feel your way to better outcomes.