Responsive Conference (Oakland Museum) — Eric joins the September 23–24 leadership convening

“Dart Lindsley led us through a great exercise at Work in Progress this week in the lead up to Responsive Conference Means ——————————— Ends …this is what he wrote on the board. In the simplest and shortest way of honoring the conversation we explored that language and mindset many use in the workplace treats humans as a means to an end (a means of production, headcount, assets, employees). Then Eric Ries came on stage to talk about incorruptible… and how good companies slide into bad companies.”

“Yesterday at Responsive Conference, Jamie Lynn White hosted a fantastic closing keynote by Eric Ries. My favorite part? His points about the need to rethink performance management, of course! Some key themes: > Trust is an asset. Ries called it the “Culture Bank”: every time a company does the right thing at a real cost to itself, it makes a deposit. Every short-term, spreadsheet-driven compromise makes a withdrawal. > Mission needs infrastructure, not posters. We build serious systems to ensure financial compliance. If mission is truly core, it should have real accountability, rituals, and decision-making weight too.”

“You know an event is truly special when you come home with 30 pages of notes and ideas, along with some amazing new connections. Gianna Driver, Eric Ries, Tim Casasola, and Tony Levitan were just some of the speakers who have me reviewing my notes, inspired to act, and a little bit worried on how I can pick my "1 thing" to focus on Monday!”

“Which is how I ended up closing our conversation by asking a room full of people to repeat after me: I have power. I don't want my organization to become corrupt. I will do something about it.”

“One conversation I particularly enjoyed was Jamie Lynn White's discussion with Eric Ries. Thoughtful, practical, and one of those sessions that could have easily gone another hour.”

“What a treat! Last week, I got to record a presentation by Eric Ries, lean startup expert at the Responsive Conference in Oakland. Check out his new book "Incorruptible"!”

“At the Responsive Conference last week, I heard Eric Reis talk about Incorruptible, his book on why good companies drift from their mission once they succeed. There was a lot happening in that room -- his words were provocative, honest and data driven. His focus is on structure: how governance and ownership that can hold a mission steady when the pressure comes. This nods back to a piece Daniel Goleman and I published earlier in the month on the AI race. Knowing your values and acting on them when money, speed and competition are bearing down are two different capacities. The second one takes emotional work: noticing what's actually driving a decision, staying steady when fear shows up, making it safe for someone to say "stop." Put together, we could say structures protect a mission when people are tired or afraid AND people with inner steadiness are what keep structures from becoming theater.”