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Fight Fear, Embrace Change: Run the Experiment

Is your week made up of endless meetings that lead nowhere? Has your team given up on bringing new ideas to the table? With this talk, learn how you can move your organization from one of "that won't work here" to "let's run the experiment." Find out how this simple change can ignite a culture of action and learning like you've never seen before.

Rich Sheridan, CEO and Chief Storyteller at Menlo Innovations, is a successful entrepreneur and author of two best-selling books—Joy Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love and Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear. Rich’s passion for inspiring organizations to create their own joy-filled cultures has led him to

address audiences across the world—through four continents and 18 countries (and counting) as well as throughout the United States.

What motivates Rich to speak to tens of thousands of people around the world in nearly every setting imaginable? What does he share with his audiences that makes them jump to their feet with enthusiasm and return to their organizations on fire with inspiration?

Simply this: joy. More specifically, that joy in your organization is not just possible but essential—essential to profitability, to productivity, to every measure of success.

Rich and his message of joyful leadership have been featured in press outlets ranging from Inc, Forbes and New York magazines to Bloomberg, U.S. News & World Report, NPR’s On Point podcast, NPR’s All Things Considered, and the Harvard Business Review. His videos for organizations such as Gemba Academy, VitalSmarts, and the Arbinger Institute continue to inspire audiences around the world. Rich was also inducted into the Shingo Academy in 2022 for his work supporting the principles of organizational excellence.

Rich doesn’t just talk about joy in the workplace. He lives it every day at Menlo, the custom

software and consulting company he co-founded in 2001 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since then, Menlo has received worldwide notice for its unique culture, including recognition by Inc. Magazine as the most joyful company in America. Menlo has also been recognized by

the Alfred P. Sloan award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility for 11 straight years and has received a lifetime achievement award for Freedom at Work from WorldBlu, as well as five revenue awards from Inc. magazine. Today people come to Menlo from all over the world—nearly 20,000 in the past seven years alone—to learn about Menlo and how they can create a culture of joy in their own organizations.

Navigating Difficult Team Members

If you want to build a great team it’s especially important to know when you’re dealing with truly toxic personalities. This can be tough to do because toxic people often hide in plain sight, and even kind well-intentioned people can be challenging to deal with at times. In this talk I'll share what I've learned from my studies of organizational dynamics and my 20+ years of work with leaders and teams. I also hope to learn from you and your experience. 

Bob Gower is Principal for Organizational Effectiveness at changeforce.ai and a sought-after expert on high-performing teams. Early in his career, Bob witnessed firsthand how poorly constructed organizations can turn toxic quickly, which resulted in bad products, financial ruin, and a negative impact on fellow members. Expertise in what he’s coined “Radical Alignment” stems directly from this experience and has driven his impassioned work influencing systemic change. As a leading voice on agile development, lean theory, and responsive organizational design, Bob has authored two books: “Agile Business: A Leader’s Guide to Harnessing Complexity” and “Radical Alignment: How to Have Game-Changing Conversations That Will Transform Your Business and Your Life.” He has advised leaders at numerous globally recognized companies, including the New York Public Radio, General Assembly, Salesforce, Ericsson, General Electric, Ford, and Spotify. Bob holds an MBA in Sustainable Management and frequently keynotes conferences and lectures at educational institutions on what it takes to ethically build great teams and organizations.