Future London conversation
AI at work
Four Corners Club
For people creating better places to work.
A professional community for People and Culture Leaders.
Last conversation
What if we're wrong about performance?
29 September 2026 · London
Charles Jennings and Alex Boulting opened a conversation about whether organisations are too quick to diagnose performance issues as skills problems.
Our belief
Better conversations
lead to better decisions.
Better decisions create better organisations.
Better organisations create a better society.
Why Four Corners
How are other organisations approaching this?
Organisations repeatedly face similar challenges. Yet there are relatively few places where practitioners can openly compare what they tried, what worked, what didn’t and what they would do differently.
Peer discussion can introduce another way of working. It can equally confirm that the current approach is sound.
- leadership
- culture
- performance
- technology
- communication
- change
- helping people thrive
Now
What we’re thinking about
A few questions shaping our thinking at the moment.
When does AI adoption actually improve work rather than just activity?
Are organisations diagnosing performance problems properly before prescribing learning?
What are we really asking managers to carry now?
Looking ahead
Future Conversations
Some of the questions we want to keep exploring.
Planned conversation
Change
Are we getting better at change, or just doing more of it?
Returning theme
Performance
What if the problem isn’t learning?
Future conversation
Leadership
What are organisations expecting from managers now?
Dates and locations are shared with the community first.
What has already happened
Previous Conversations
Conversations that have already taken place.
Previous conversationLondon
29 September 2026 · 15:00 – 17:30
What if we're wrong about performance?
Charles Jennings and Alex Boulting opened a conversation about whether organisations are too quick to diagnose performance issues as skills problems.
- when learning is the answer
- when it is not
- diagnosis before intervention
- what organisations are learning about performance
Charles Jennings · Alex Boulting
Chiswell Street Dining Rooms
Between conversations
Worth Your Time
Things we think are genuinely worth reading, watching or thinking about.
Read
2026 Global Human Capital Trends
Deloitte · 30 April 2026
Only 8% of respondents described their traditional change management and learning efforts as highly effective in helping their workforce remain relevant.
Why we picked it
This feels particularly relevant to our September conversation. Organisations invest heavily in programmes designed to change skills and behaviour. But the uncomfortable question is whether the programme itself is always the right intervention. The finding doesn't tell us to stop investing in learning. It gives us a good reason to question how quickly we reach for a programme as the solution.
Related to the 29 September 2026 conversation.
Read
Key UK findings from the 2026 Deloitte Human Capital Trends report
Deloitte UK · 8 June 2026
Only 18% of UK respondents think organisations manage change effectively.
Why we picked it
There is an interesting contradiction here. Organisations need to adapt faster, yet people may already be exhausted by constant change. Perhaps the challenge isn't simply getting people to change more quickly. It may also be getting better at deciding what actually needs to change, what doesn't, and how much change an organisation can absorb.
Read
Skills for AI: What Works for AI Upskilling in the UK
Department for Work and Pensions / Skills England · 10 June 2026 · Updated 27 July 2026
The report moves beyond simply identifying an AI skills gap and considers how organisations can actually develop AI capability effectively.
Why we picked it
There's no shortage of people telling organisations that everyone needs AI training. We're more interested in the next question: what actually works? This is useful because it moves the conversation away from AI anxiety and towards evidence about implementation and organisational practice.
How it works
Conversations deepen understanding. Reflection creates learning. Learning enables improvement.
Events begin conversations. Corners are designed to keep the worthwhile ones going.
01
Conversations
Short contributions introduce an issue, idea or challenge.
02
Reflection
People doing the work compare experiences, question assumptions and explore different perspectives.
03
Learning
Useful insight emerges from experience, reflection and research.
04
Corners
Small peer groups designed to continue conversations worth continuing.
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Join Four Corners
Four Corners is a curated professional community for people working across Learning, People, Talent and Organisational Development.
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