So how do we, as OD practitioners, help our organizations stay focused, healthy and connected to what is really happening?

Our answer: pamper your middle managers.

Middle managers sit at the intersection of almost everything happening in an organization. They hear the frustrations employees may never tell senior leaders. They feel the pressure coming down from above and the anxiety coming up from below. If you want the real pulse of your organization, this is where you should be listening.

In today’s episode, we make the case for connecting with, supporting—and yes, pampering—middle managers more than ever. Listen to them. Learn from them. And make sure their voices reach the people making the decisions.

Because in the chaos of today’s workplace, your middle managers may be your best early-warning system for what’s really going on.

Rather than pretending we know, we argue that embracing the not knowing may be exactly the right place to start. Not knowing can provoke curiosity, inquiry, and learning—the very things OD practitioners will need if we are going to help our organizations navigate what’s ahead.

The stakes are high. AI has the potential to fundamentally reshape how organizations operate, how work gets done, how performance is measured, and what leadership looks like. So how knowledgeable do we need to become—and where do we begin?

We offer some practical first steps for moving beyond uncertainty: getting curious, asking better questions, experimenting, and educating ourselves about what AI is today and what it might become.

We don’t have the answers. But perhaps our willingness to enter the unknown is the first step toward finding them.