APX Insights

Back of the Napkin

The conversations that improve organizations rarely begin with polished answers. Sometimes they begin with an honest question, a blank napkin, and enough room to think.

Direct perspectives on organizational performance, decision making, communication, learning, and the systems that produce results.

Napkin diagram mapping organizational learning, the learning organization, organizational knowledge, and knowledge management across theory, practice, process, and content.

Organizational Learning September 4, 2026 3 min read

We Talk About “Learning” Like It’s One Thing. It Isn’t.

Learning, knowledge, theory, and practice are related—but they are not interchangeable. A four-part framework helps leaders understand what they are actually trying to improve.

Organizational Learning
Learning Organization
Knowledge Management
Organizational Performance

Napkin on a dark wooden table reading Meetings Are Not Communication beside a coffee mug and pen.

Back of the Napkin July 21, 2026 4 min read

Meetings Are Not Communication

Too many organizations confuse meetings with communication. Learn how the PACER framework helps leaders create meetings that produce decisions, accountability, and meaningful progress.

Meeting Facilitation
Leadership
Organizational Performance
PACER

Back of the Napkin illustration: symptoms are expensive, root causes are profitable.

Systems Thinking July 9, 2026 3 min read

Symptoms Are Expensive. Root Causes Are Profitable.

As organizations grow more complex, treating symptoms wastes time and trust—while finding root causes improves performance and profitability.

Root Cause Analysis
Organizational Complexity
Performance Improvement

Back of the Napkin illustration: same stimulus, different perceptions, different responses.

Communication June 23, 2026 2 min read

Same Stimulus. Different Perceptions. Different Responses.

Why the same meeting, data, and behavior can produce different conclusions—and why perception must be understood before solutions are prescribed.

Perception
Decision Making
Organizational Performance

Napkin on a desk with coffee and pen, handwritten: Learn HOW to think, rather than WHAT to think.

Learning June 11, 2026 5 min read

Learn “How” to Think, Rather Than “What” to Think

Why learning how to think—through variables, assumptions, and unintended consequences—matters more than collecting ready-made answers.

Critical Thinking
Human Performance Technology
Organizational Performance

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