“I DIDN’T EXPECT TO LEARN SO MUCH ABOUT THINGS I ASSUMED I ALREADY UNDERSTOOD.”
PARTNER, AMLAW 50 LAW FIRM
“I DIDN’T EXPECT TO LEARN SO MUCH ABOUT THINGS I ASSUMED I ALREADY UNDERSTOOD.”
PARTNER, AMLAW 50 LAW FIRM
SPEAKING
THE RESEARCH CAME FIRST.
James didn’t develop ideas to become a speaker. He became a speaker because nearly thirty years of research gave him something worth talking about. His presentations are compelling because the work is compelling, not the other way around.
A highlight reel can show you that James can hold a room. It can’t show you what happens when he has one. His clients, stages, testimonials, and the people he’s shared them with provide a better record of that.
Most organizations try to change results. James studies the five things that produce them: the relationships people keep, the environments that shape them, the constraints that hold them, the possibilities they can’t see, and the games that determine how they act.
Bloomberg New Economy Forum
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SXSW
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Aspen Ideas Conference
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Festival of Dangerous Ideas
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Chicago Ideas Week
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Bloomberg New Economy Forum ° SXSW ° Aspen Ideas Conference ° Festival of Dangerous Ideas ° Chicago Ideas Week °
WHERE TO BEGIN.
Start with the questions that sounds most like yours.
SAFER. EASIER. BETTER.
Build relationships worth keeping.
Am I better off with you than without you?
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THE BLUE FROG PROBLEM
Build environments that produce what you need.
What if the behavior makes perfect sense in the forest we’ve built?
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UNSTUCK
Remove what keeps you where you are.
What if this isn’t holding us up? What if it’s holding us here?
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AGE OF IGNORANCE
Explore what you cannot yet see.
What becomes valuable when answers become abundant?
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GAMEMAKERS
Design the conditions that turn effort into progress.
Have you designed the game—or only the scoreboard?
KEYNOTE
ONLY
One hour. A single idea, built to stand on its own.
60 MIN · STICKY KEYNOTE
Safer. Easier. Better
The three drivers behind every connection that endures — and why organizations that chase "easier" first put everything else at risk.
60 MIN · STICKY KEYNOTE
The Blue Frog Problem
People become what their environment requires of them, often without realizing it. To change what people become, change the conditions they’re adapting to.
60 MIN · STUCK KEYNOTE
Unstuck
Why stuck is the default — for people, organizations, and civilizations — and the three questions that reliably move a room out of it.
60 MIN · STUCK KEYNOTE
Age of Ignorance: The Other AI
What comes after the Information Age, and why our greatest advantage will shift from knowing more to discovering what no one knows yet.
60 MIN · STUCK KEYNOTE
Gamemakers
What seven principles of game design reveal about how the best teams stay curious, engaged, and hard to beat.
(For leaders and managers)
The idea, then the room puts it to work together.
KEYNOTE
+ WORKSHOP
60 MIN · KEYNOTE + 90 MINUTE BREAKOUT
Safer. Easier. Better + Sticky by Design
The three drivers behind every connection that endures — and why organizations that chase "easier" first put everything else at risk.
60 MIN · KEYNOTE + 90 MINUTE BREAKOUT
Unstuck + Black Cat Challenge
Why stuck is the default — for people, organizations, and civilizations — and the three questions that reliably move a room out of it.
60 MIN · KEYNOTE + 60 MINUTE BREAKOUT
Age of Ignorance + Gamemakers
Why stuck is the default — for people, organizations, and civilizations — and the three questions that reliably move a room out of it.
MULTI-DAY
& RETREATS
For leadership teams who want to build something, not just hear something.
2-DAY RETREAT
Sticky & Stuck: Building the Conditions
A working retreat that moves from diagnosis to construction — teams leave with real mechanisms for safety, time, and support, not just a framework.
PROOF
What rooms actually say afterward.
“From the content to the structure to the design and the delivery, this was, by far, the best presentation I've ever seen.”
— Public Relations Society of America
"Prepare for a TedTalk on Steroids"
— Aspen Ideas Conference
“When a speaker is so good you are transfixed and unable to look away.”
— Silicon Valley Community Foundation
"I've never seen a speaker make complex ideas feel this simple and actionable."
— SR. Event Planner, L'ORÃEAL
Not sure which format fits your event?
A short conversation is faster than guessing from a page.