From idea to handoff—and every point in between.
Stack of colorful books COE Summer Reading List 2026

Hannah Conklin

Marketing & Communications Associate, The Ohio State University Center for Operational Excellence
COE ForumsBooks, Leadership, StrategyThe summer season has a way of inviting us to slow down. The longer, hotter days are often accompanied by lighter schedules and changes of pace. It’s the perfect time to pick up a book, explore new ideas, and invest in your personal and professional growth.4593 min read /blogs/opex/2026/06/11/coe-summer-reading-list-2026
Author Julia Geisman leading a COE Summit 2026 workshop The Human Infrastructure™ Beneath Operational Excellence

Julia Geisman

Speaker, Author, Coach, and Human Infrastructure Architect, HiWorks Solutions
CultureCulture, Communication, StrategyIt was a privilege facilitating "The Art of Building an Adaptive Culture" at last month's COE Summit. The theme of the workshop was the relationship between sustainable operational excellence and an adaptable Human Infrastructure™, one that aligns with COE's mission and with the challenges members are navigating today. What emerged from those four hours was a recognition that the two are more deeply connected than most organizations currently appreciate.4573 min read /blogs/opex/2026/06/01/human-infrastructuretm-beneath-operational-excellence
Audience seated in theater style seating at COE Summit 2026 The Best of Excellence Rewired: Top Recordings from the COE Summit 2026

Kelly Reo

Executive Director, The Ohio State University Center for Operational Excellence
COE ForumsCOE Summit 2026, Digital Content Archive, Artificial IntelligenceWhat does it mean to rewire excellence in an age of AI? This question guided our conversations at the COE Summit 2026, as we explored how companies are adapting in the face of rapid technological and organizational change.  Each year, the COE Summit is the culmination of months of thoughtful planning, collaboration, and anticipation. It means so much to our team to see the conference come to life and impact our community of members, friends, and partner organizations. 4584 min read /blogs/opex/2026/06/01/best-excellence-rewired-top-recordings-coe-summit-2026
Side profile of marble sculpture with black background The Art of Building an Adaptive and Resilient Culture

Julia Geisman

Speaker, Author, Coach, and Human Infrastructure Architect, HiWorks Solutions
CultureCommunication, Collaboration, CultureMichelangelo once said that a sculpture already exists inside the marble. His work was simply freeing it by chiseling away the superfluous. The same is true of organizational culture. The adaptive, resilient culture your organization is capable of is already there. The question is whether you have the courage to chisel away what is blocking it. 4534 min read /blogs/opex/2026/04/20/art-building-adaptive-and-resilient-culture
Human face representing AI concept AI Is Everywhere, Value Is Elusive

Sandeep Chennikara

Director, RPA & Automation Operations, HUB International
ITCOE Summit 2026, Artificial Intelligence, StrategyThe race to deploy AI is outpacing the strategic work required to create business value. Artificial intelligence is now a standing agenda item in boardrooms. Executives across industries are asking the same questions. What is our AI strategy? Where are we using AI today? How quickly are we moving?4524 min read /blogs/opex/2026/03/26/ai-everywhere-value-elusive
Stack of books with one book full of paper shreds Leadership ReDEFYned: Why We Need to Shred the Rulebook

Tami Chapek

Founder and Head Coach, WeInspireWe
Leadership DevelopmentCOE Summit 2026, LeadershipLet’s face it – the way we’ve been approaching leadership development is not working any more.  We’ve been churning out leaders from the same cookie-cutter mold for far too long, and it's just not cutting it in today's dynamic, complex world. This “business as usual” approach just isn’t going to cut it anymore, so we need to reDEFYne leadership as a whole.4503 min read /blogs/opex/2026/03/16/leadership-redefyned-why-we-need-shred-rulebook
Network of human icons The Infrastructure Problem Leaders Overlook

Julia Geisman

Speaker, Author, Coach, and Human Infrastructure Architect, HiWorks Solutions
CultureCOE Summit 2026As a leader, you likely have no hesitation investing heavily in your technical infrastructure: servers, software, cloud platforms, AI tools. But are you fully maximizing their value? After 30 years on the people side of business, I have learned that technical infrastructure is only as strong as the human infrastructure™ supporting it.4482 min read /blogs/opex/2026/03/16/infrastructure-problem-leaders-overlook
Illustration of office worker and remote worker Designing Hybrid Work for Clarity, Contribution and Performance

Elisabeth Galperin

Owner and Certified Executive Coach, Peak Productivity
CultureCOE Summit 2026, Communication, CollaborationHybrid work is often framed as a debate about location. Office or remote? Three days in or two?Core hours or full flexibility? Yet leaders focused on operational excellence know the real issue isn’t geography. It’s design.4473 min read /blogs/opex/2026/03/05/designing-hybrid-work-clarity-contribution-and-performance
Hand holding lightbulb that represents ideation In an AI World, the Hard Problem Isn’t Ideas...It’s Deciding What’s Worth Working On

Michael Fruhling

CEO and Founder, BFS Innovations, Inc.
Problem SolvingCOE Summit 2026As we all know, most organizations are not short on ideas. They already have long lists of improvement opportunities, initiatives, and problems that “should be fixed.” AI is only accelerating this. It can generate tons of appealing sounding options instantly and make almost any issue appear reasonable and urgent.4422 min read /blogs/opex/2026/01/29/ai-world-hard-problem-isnt-ideas...its-deciding-whats-worth-working