Shauna Moerke is…

Yeah, no. Pull your minds out of the gutter, darlings. I know some people have been wondering what this whole Talent Camp thing has been about. Well, I think I’ve finally caught up on enough sleep to be coherent enough to oblige. To put it simply, the purpose behind Talent Camp is to transform the talent function in a fundamental way. Simple, right? Hmmm, not so much. On a deeper level, Talent Camp was an opportunity for a diverse group to get together and collaborate on what this transformational change needs to be. Did we come away with an answer? No. Did we leave with more questions? Yes. Are we going to be hearing more from Talent Camp? Most definitely.

Here are the highlights of my trip:

– Finally getting to meet Michael Krupa in person! I didn’t have much time to spend with him, but we did get to grab lunch and chat.
– Getting to meet everyone else in person! They are a smart, insightful, and lively bunch of people and it was worth the trip alone just to participate in the conversation.
– Feeling spoiled by the lovely beach house and Mike’s awesome cooking. That, and playing in the sand and surf.
– The conversation. While we didn’t come up with a final answer, I didn’t expect us to. Two days just isn’t enough time, no matter how smart the group, to come up with something as big as a fundamental shift in not only how talent operates, but how people even think about it and the language they use to describe it. But the potential is there, and I think this first foray was a great start.
– The opportunity to learn so much. I’m so excited by the conversations and points that everyone made. Freedom, what if’s, and a push for more humanizing language are just a few of the concepts that challenged my perceptions and spurred my imagination.

So, where do we go from here? This certainly isn’t the end of Talent Camp, or even my own involvement in it. Talent Camp will move forward and build off the groundwork that was created. Greater collaboration from the community, advancing the dialogue, and maybe even publication are all possibilities. Please look forward to more information soon, get to know the group (Susan, Lance, Franny, Joe, Steve, Mike, Suzy, and Ron), and be sure to check out the pictures I took of the event here.