Laura Putnam

Building a Workplace Where People — and Performance — Thrive

Burnout is at an all-time high. Engagement is at an all-time low. Despite a $7 trillion wellness industry, people are less well, and that’s costing every bottom line.

What if the problem isn't the people — It's the water they’re swimming in?

In her flagship keynote, Laura Putnam introduces the Fix the Water framework — a new way of understanding why systems, not individual behaviors, drive sustainable performance. Using the metaphor of fish who don't know what water is, she shows how organizations can move from solving the wrong problem to the right one.

Drawing on nearly two decades of work with 500+ organizations and 50,000+ leaders — and a personal story of living in a Ghanaian village where wellbeing was simply woven into daily life — she names the forces that are shaping the water against human flourishing and makes the case that changing it is both possible and urgent.

Audiences leave with a new question — not “why aren’t people well?” but “what kind of water are we creating?”

Audiences will walk away with:

See the Water. A new mental model — the water, not the fish — that shows why culture, not individual behavior, is the real driver of wellbeing and performance.

Study the Currents. Assess the day-to-day experiences shaping the culture before they turn up as turnover, absenteeism, or crisis.

Shape the Water. Apply three organizational levers — environment, policy, and job design — that change the culture with asking people to try harder.

Start the Ripple. Leave knowing the single most powerful action you can take, given your role within the organization.

Proof That It Works. Real-world case study demonstrating that by changing the conditions, you can elevate performance & wellbeing across an entire state.