April Rinne

AI models announce new features at a mind-boggling pace and make frequent leaps in quality and scope. AI agents are moving out of pilot projects and into everyday work… and outnumbering humans. As organizations shift to measure human productivity in terms of AI, many individuals and teams are struggling with cognitive overload, decision fatigue, and the aptly-named “AI psychosis. ” As if all that weren’t enough, the pace of change in AI isn’t slowing down – so however unsettled people feel about AI today may be the most settled they ever will feel.

Leading oneself and others through this era is distinctly different. For decades, many leaders worked in a world that felt fairly stable and predictable. Not any more. The coming decade will flip that reality upside-down, with AI driving a wave of flux larger than anything we've seen. Great leadership will be fluent in ambiguity and embrace constant change in ways that would seem counter-intuitive (or even outlandish) to prior generations. But when the world flips upside down, you have to learn to see differently.

Being ready for an AI-abundant world isn’t just about understanding AI. Far more, it’s about understanding how you – and your colleagues, partners, friends, and everyone you care about – show up for ongoing change, uncertainty, and a future full of unknowns. It’s time for a Flux Mindset!

What does the shape of a successful, meaningful career look like in today’s workplaces full of change – and how can you (and HR departments) design the best ones? Across the professional spectrum, people are reassessing what they want from their careers – and lives. Organizations across-the-board are struggling to attract, engage, and retain top talent. We’ve seen unprecedented job-hopping, freelancing, quiet quitting, and career pivots as well as layoffs, reorganizations, and incessant debates about hybrid work. What’s more: All of this was happening before the breakneck ascent of generative AI and the uncharted territory into which it takes humans and the future of work. Taken together, it’s a lot.

One of the keys to future-ready professional development and sustainable, thriving work cultures is to rethink the shape of our careers. The one-way, up-or-out 20th century “career ladder” isn’t just creaky. It’s breaking. For talent and HR alike, this has profound implications – and represents a new world of opportunity for more useful career shapes and dynamics.

April Rinne has been working on “career portfolios” for more than 25 years, including her own. She helps organizations update how they think about talent, HR, and career development and she helps individuals unleash their best, full selves. This isn’t about outsourcing one’s job or concealing side hustles. Rather, a portfolio approach is about seeing talent and career development with a fresh lens. Whether you’re a Fortune 100 company, series A (or E) startup, venture capital fund, association, agency, think tank, or government, this is a key tool for future-ready hiring, optimized performance, loyalty, and thriving organizational cultures. It’s how to identify and nurture all of the skills on a team. Moreover, a career portfolio is essential for success in a world in which skills are evolving and changing fast. Creating your career portfolio is also one of the 8 Flux Superpowers in April’s bestselling book Flux.

How might we learn from Finland about happiness, a skill they seem to possess in abundance? April’s Finnish roots put her in a unique position to share wisdom from the land of sisu — inner strength — and satisfaction.

For the past six years running, Finland has been ranked the happiest country in the world. Not only that, their lead over #2 Denmark and other countries appears to be growing. How is that possible? In this talk, April guides you through Finland’s culture and pillars of happiness, drawing on her personal Finnish heritage, global perspective, and unique experiences as a Finnish happiness coach and advising the Finnish government. Prepare to be surprised, refreshed, inspired – and able to find and maintain your own happiness better than ever before!

Key Takeaways

• Deeply understand the dynamics of individual and collective happiness, what it is (and is not)
• Discover how to design aspects of Finnish happiness into your life, wherever you are
• Create a happiness plan for your future

There’s an epidemic of change exhaustion, yet more change and uncertainty are ahead. When – and how – will this ever improve? Being adaptable and flexible have always been hallmarks of effective leadership, well-being, and a fulfilling life. But in a world of ever-more change, an ever-faster pace of change, and relentless uncertainty, flexibility and resilience can be stretched to their breaking points. The quest becomes how to find calm and lasting meaning in the midst of enduring chaos.

A world in flux calls for a new mindset, one that treats constant change and uncertainty as a feature, not a bug. In this talk, April Rinne helps you open this mindset — a Flux Mindset — and develop eight “Flux Superpowers” that flip conventional ideas about leadership, success, and well-being on their heads. You’ll learn to see change in new ways, craft new responses, and ultimately reshape your relationship to uncertainty from the inside out.

Whether you’re leading a team, building strategy, pioneering innovation, strengthening your culture, inspiring engagement, managing transformation, or simply want to be future-ready and show up more fully in the world, opening a Flux Mindset and activating your Flux Superpowers will keep you grounded even when everything around you is shifting. You’ll learn to see that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel… and it’s not an oncoming train.

Key Takeaways

• Learn how to open a Flux Mindset, cultivate the 8 Flux Superpowers, and boost your “fluxiness”
• Improve your relationship to constant change, uncertainty, and unknowns
• See the future – including your future – with fresh perspective and clarity
• Show up more fully for work, your team, and organizational changes as well as your family, friends, and community – every part of life, better every day

Just because the future looks really chaotic doesn’t mean your approach to it has to be. Your ability to lead others fundamentally begins with leading yourself – through uncertainty and beyond. For leaders of all stripes, success hinges not only on understanding the macro forces that will affect your business and team, but even more so on how you see these forces: Your mindset towards change and uncertainty and your tolerance of the unknown. Imagine the time, effort, or resources you could’ve saved if you’d seen the full implications of smartphones back in 2006, hybrid work back in 2015, the covid pandemic before it hit, or generative AI today? Today, you can develop this mindset and vision moving forward. Not only can you: Given the relentless pace of change, it’s safe to say you ought to.

April Rinne’s gift is to see key shifts early amid chaos and disruption, and to help leaders and teams navigate the unknown in ways that catalyze inner peace, growth, and future-fit perspective. As a trusted advisor and “humanist futurist,” April speaks with both head and heart. Drawing on nearly 30 years of experience in 100+ countries as well as insights from her bestselling book Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change, she’s your #1 guide to today’s uncertain world. She helps you see what you’ve been missing and boost your capacity to harness uncertainty to your advantage. For yourself, with your team, and at your organization: Learn how to stop fighting uncertainty, transform not-knowing into wisdom, and be the flux – inspired, alert to, and ready for whatever changes are ahead.

Key Takeaways

• Learn how to open a Flux Mindset, cultivate the 8 Flux Superpowers, and boost your “fluxiness”
• Understand the surprising (and often unspoken) ways many leaders get uncertainty and the future wrong – and how to get them right
• Apply insights and fresh perspectives for navigating change from different global cultures
• Get future-ready tools for you and your team to truly be in control