Beyond his role on CNN, I have been a fan of Van Jones as I followed his “Messy Truth” travels across the United States, during which he engaged people across the political spectrum, with a focus on building bridges between opposing sides.
At this year’s Transform conference, I learned that Jones has also written three bestselling books and championed legislation in both Republican and Democratic administrations, among other accomplishments. But what struck me at the conference was Jones’ interest in using AI to increase EQ (emotional intelligence) in the workplace.
(Photo: Van Jones and Shartia Brantley Speaking at Transform, 2026)
In his conversation, Jones spoke about how managers today are navigating 3-D workplaces – diverse, distributed, and divided. Often, they’re doing this from a distance, over Zoom. This environment is bound to generate misperceptions, misunderstandings, and hurt feelings, all of which erode trust at work.
Jones framed this dynamic very succinctly and helpfully as “blind spots” and “sore spots.” Blind spots are conditions, situations, and feelings that we overlook more from ignorance or inattention than from malice. Our blind spots often come out when we’re one-up in a power dynamic.
Sore spots happen when you feel your condition, situation, or feelings have been overlooked. Often, we’re vulnerable when we’re one-down in a power dynamic.
His antidote for blind spots and sore spots was equally helpful and succinct: grace and space. If someone pokes our sore spot, we benefit from having the space to share our hurt and ask for repair. If someone calls out our blind spot, we benefit from grace while repairing the relationship. Since we each have our own blind spots and sore spots, we all benefit from grace and space over time.
Jones calls this framework of blind spots and sore spots, space and grace, a “social operating system.” Throughout my career, I’ve been focused on improving workplace operating systems, but I’ve rarely heard such a concise yet practical insight.
Jones is doing more than just talking about relationships at work. Along with Tadzio Smith, Jones has co-founded Rapport, a company combining employee surveys and AI coaching to help organizations “turn everyday team signals into better leadership, faster coordination, and healthier teams.” Employee pulse surveys help uncover sore spots and blind spots in the team. AI coaching helps managers and teammates extend space and grace.
If, like me, you are navigating these divided times and wondering what you can do to improve relationships at work (and beyond), extending each other more grace and space feels like a place to start.
Jodi Starkman is Executive Director of the Innovation Resource Center for Human Resources.
