Facilitation Lab Podcast

Author: Douglas Ferguson

Welcome to the Facilitation Lab Podcast, where Douglas Ferguson, founder of facilitation academy Voltage Control, speaks with Voltage Control Certification Alumni and other facilitation experts about the remarkable impact they're making. These discussions embrace a method-agnostic approach, so you can enjoy a wide range of topics and perspectives as we examine all the nuances of enabling meaningful group experiences. This series is dedicated to helping you navigate the realities of facilitating collaboration, ensuring every session you lead becomes truly transformative. If you'd like to join a live session sometime, you can join our Facilitation Lab Community. It's an ideal space to apply what you learn in the podcast in real time with peers. Sign up today at voltagecontrol.com/facilitation-lab.
Be a guest on this podcast

Language: en

Genres: Business, Education, Management, Self-Improvement

Contact email: Get it

Feed URL: Get it

iTunes ID: Get it

Get all podcast data

Listen Now...

New Friction 2: What Higher Education Knows About AI That Industry Doesn't
Tuesday, 16 June, 2026

In this episode of the New Friction podcast, host Douglas Ferguson speaks with Jeff Grabill, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Buffalo, recorded in the immediate aftermath of the IHE US AI Summit 2026, which both men attended. Grabill recounts what emerged from that two-day working convening — the foundation of the Buffalo Statement, a collective public agenda for AI in higher education — and reflects on why the room's patience, grounded confidence, and willingness to question prior assumptions exceeded his expectations. The conversation explores why universities, often criticized for moving slowly, may possess exactly the right instincts for AI transformation: designing conversations intentionally, engineering productive friction, and moving fast and slow at the same time. Ferguson and Grabill dig into how AI has relocated rather than eliminated friction — particularly in learning environments, where effortless output now threatens the productive struggle that actually builds expertise and ideas. They close on a librarian's insight from the summit — "I don't care if AI created it, I care if it's true" — and Grabill's call for businesses and universities to actively seek one another out as partners in working through this moment.