EP 121: "Truth" with strategic communications expert, master storyteller and author Hector MacDonald

“There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times” – Voltaire

True or false? It’s rarely that simple.

This episode aims to equip us to spot misleading truths that are all around us and to communicate more effectively with friends & family.

There is more than one truth about most things. Eating meat is nutritious but it’s also damaging to the environment. The Internet disseminates knowledge but it also spreads hatred. When we communicate we naturally select the truths that are most helpful to our agenda.

We can select truths constructively to inspire organisations, encourage children, and drive progressive change. Or we can select truths that give a false impression of reality, misleading people without actually lying. Others can do the same, motivating or deceiving us with the truth. Truths are neutral but highly versatile tools that we can use for good or ill.

Today we will explore how truth is used and abused in politics, business, the media and everyday life. We will explore how a clearer understanding of truth’s many faces renders us better able to navigate our world and more influential within it.

We welcome strategic communications expert, master storyteller and author of “TRUTH How the Many Sides to Every Story Shape Our Reality”, Hector MacDonald

More about Hector here: https://www.hectormacdonald.com/about/

EP 120: The Ten Types of Human: A New Understanding of Who We Are, and Who We Can Be with Dexter Dias

“How does one fashion a book of resistance, a book of truth in an empire of falsehood? Is it possible for freedom and independence to arise in new ways under new conditions?”    – Philip K. Dick

The argument of the book is that we’ve evolved a number of mental modules. They are associated with characteristic types of human behaviour.

This show introduces ten people. In a way, we already know them. Only we don’t – not really. In a sense, they are us. Only they’re not entirely. They inform and shape the most important decisions in our lives. But you’re almost certainly unaware of their intervention. They are the Ten Types of Human. Who are they? What are they for? How did they get into your head?

We want to believe that there are some things we would never do. We want to believe that there are others we always would. But how can we be sure? What are our limits? Do we have limits?

The answer lies in the Ten Types of Human: the people we become when we are faced with life’s most difficult decisions. But who or what are these Types? Where do they come from? How did they get into our heads?

The Ten Types of Human is a pioneering examination of human nature. It looks at the best and worst that human beings are capable of and asks why. It explores the frontiers of the human experience, excavating the forces that shape our thoughts and actions in extreme situations. It explores people undaunted in the face of unimaginable conditions, people who have stolen, people who have killed, people who have spoken out at enormous personal risk, people who have performed feats of unimaginable heroism.

Mixing cutting-edge neuroscience, social psychology and human rights research, The Ten Types of Human is at once a provocation and a map to our hidden selves. It provides a new understanding of who we are – and who we can become.

Ultimately that is what The Ten Types of Human is about: finding fresh ways to be free.

We welcome Dexter Dias, human rights barrister who as Queen’s Counsel has been instructed in some of the biggest cases of recent years involving murder, terrorism, civil liberties, war crimes, human rights and genocide. He has been instrumental in changing the law to better protect young women and girls at risk of FGM and works pro bono internationally with survivors of modern day slavery, human trafficking and Violence Against Women and Girls.

Dexter gives us an in-depth account of the concept of the book and shares some of the stories which informed the book.

We get through a handful of the ten types and intend to follow up with a part 2 in 2019.

More about Dexter here: https://thetentypesofhuman.com/about-dexter-dias/

EP 119: Trustology: The Art and Science of Leading High-Trust Teams with Speaker, Author, Consultant, Richard Fagerlin

“Trust is not what we “do”—it is what results from what we do.”

 

Of the thousands of books published each year on leadership, management, self-help, and motivation, very few offer practical tools and solutions to the number one challenge in business: trust.

 

With trust, our relationships flourish, our productivity rises, and we have high personal and professional satisfaction. A trust-filled atmosphere lets people take risks, allowing innovation and creativity to thrive. Your team’s collective sense of self-worth and purpose becomes a beacon of light for others to follow. The healthy, dynamic atmosphere is contagious, and it raises the bar for your entire organisation. Higher productivity and lower turnover create a more profitable business. High trust is the currency of greatness.

We welcome founder and president of Peak Solutions, globally renowned speaker, consultant and author of Trustology Richard Fagerlin.

In this episode, we address questions like:

What is trust?

Is trust earned?

Who is responsible for trust?

How do you grow trust with others?

What does it mean to be trustworthy?

How can I lead my team to be a high-trust team?

How do I find out how much trust my team has now?

How can team members hold each other accountable for high-trust behaviour?

Any high-trust relationship involves at least two people, so there are always two things to think about regarding trust: Do you trust them? Do they trust you?

How do you build trust in your children?

 

The premise is that both are your responsibility.

 

A high-trust relationship requires that you trust the other person and that they trust you back.

 

More about Richard and his work here:

https://richardfagerlin.com

http://www.trustologybook.com

https://www.peaksol.com

EP 118 – Mapping Innovation: A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age with Greg Satell

“Every Square-Peg Business Eventually Meets Its Round-Hole World.” – Greg Satell

On this episode author, speaker and consultant Greg Satell shares with us the principles of his latest book: Mapping Innovation.

In this show we discuss:

  • How so-called geniuses Einstein, Darwin and Fleming needed more than their individual genius to bring their ideas to life
  • Why innovation fails
  • A better understanding of innovation by dispelling myths
  • How Blockbuster, Kodak and others were well aware of the threats that disrupted them
  • How Air BnB and Hotels serve different market needs
  • New tools to frame problems
  • How innovation in the digital age has evolved from previous times
  • How collaboration is king
  • Highlight that you need to re-energise your human capital not just your technological resources
  • Why we need a personalised portfolio approach to our innovation efforts
  • How Google, Amazon and others prepare for their eventual cash cow disruption

 

You can learn more about Greg here:

https://www.digitaltonto.com

https://www.gregsatell.com

 

Ep 117: The Science behind Science Fiction: Augmented Humanity, AI, Super intelligence

Today’s show is with one of the leading global writers of hard science fiction and indeed cyber fiction. He is author of over 18 titles and what we hope is fascinating for followers of this show is the science he puts behind the fiction. As opposed to fantasy writing, science fiction is based on possible realities and that fact is often lost on many of us.

 

A physicist and computer scientist, he toiled in the vineyards of high tech for thirty years, as everything from engineer to senior vice president. Once suitably intoxicated, he began writing full time.

We welcome Edward M. Lerner.

The focus of this show is themes from his book: ‘Trope-ing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction’.

We discuss:

  • Augmented Humanity
  • Cyborgs
  • Robots
  • Genetic Therapy
  • Brain Machine Interfaces
  • Autonomous Weapons
  • AI, Artificial Intelligence
  • Super intelligence
  • Neural Networks
  • Dystopia
  • The future skills of humanity
  • What we do when everything automated

More about Edward here: https://www.edwardmlerner.com/

EP 116: How Porn Conditions us and Shapes our Brains with author of "The Porn Trap" Wendy Maltz

We are joined by relationship therapist and author of The Porn Trap: The Essential Guide to Overcoming Problems Caused by Pornography Wendy Maltz.

The 14th-century Sufi poet, Hafiz wrote:

“Learn to recognize the counterfeit coins

that may buy you just a moment of pleasure,

but then drag you for days

like a broken man

behind a farting camel.”

Pornography is not only an individual problem, it’s a social and cultural problem.

It is impacting many relationships, individuals and in the dawn of virtual reality pornography and easy access, it is conditioning our future generations, how they think and how they interact in society and in interpersonal relationships.

How, you may wonder, can something that isn’t a drug, isn’t an extramarital affair, isn’t actually sex with someone else, cause such devastating problems as divorce, getting fired, and not being able to get sexually aroused by a real live partner? 

On this episode, we hope to help you (as a user or a partner or friend of a regular user) to:

  • Understand why this is a societal and cultural problem
  • Understand how the porn habit is formed and how it can rewire our brains
  • Evaluate the impact of porn on children, society and relationships 

You can find out more about Wendy and her books at:

http://healthysex.com/

EP 115: The End of the Firm-Based Strategy and Rise of New Models for Explosive Growth with Ralph Welborn, Ph.D

The business logic of the past decades no longer applies. A changed competitive world requires a new strategic question: “Where is the value being created — and destroyed — in the ecosystem in which you’re engaged, and what do you do about it?”

Ralph Welborn, PhD is today’s guest. Ralph has held a variety of leadership positions, including CEO of Imaginatik, where he received the European CEO award in 2016; he has been leader of IBM’s Strategy & Transformation business in the Middle East and Africa; and senior vice president of KPMG Consulting and is also co-founder of an e-commerce company, today’s focus is his truly excellent book: Topple – The End of the Firm-Based Strategy and Rise of New Models for Explosive Growth.

Ralph will share specific lessons and insights for every sized organization to make sense of the changed competitive environment, including:

What is your ecosystem? — Who comprises it, and what is driving the shifts in value?

How, instead of pushing products, do you own a problem, meet a specific customer need and/or tackle specific friction?

What are the implications of the new strategic questions on where you play and, most importantly, how you execute?

What are the new capabilities critical to do so?

Who and how do you engage to orchestrate capabilities to capture the new sources of value in new ways?

EP 114: ADHD Nation: Children, Doctors, Big Pharma, Amphetamine Abuse and the Making of an Epidemic with Pulitzer Prize Nominated author and journalist, Alan Schwarz

“I struck a match and I didn’t know how much tinder was around” – Keith Conners 

At the current rate, in 2017, half a million American children will be taken to their doctors and be newly diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Many of them will receive thoughtful and reasonable evaluations and benefit from medication. Another sizable number will be seen by casual clinicians who either bypass the child’s real problems or give in to his frustrated parents and teachers.

Some of the adolescents will be faking ADHD just to get Adderall for themselves or others. Whatever the actual breakdown, there will be 500,000 new diagnostic visits, millions of follow-ups, tens of millions of pills, and hundreds of millions in sales. Lots of business for everyone. 

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) will soon be the most frequently diagnosed chronic condition among children, surpassing asthma. Yet research shows that ADHD can’t be that prevalent.

On this week’s show, we talk to the author of ADHD Nation, acclaimed New York Times journalist, Pulitzer prize nominee Alan Schwarz.

Alan takes us behind the scenes to tell the full story of this billion-dollar industry.

We talk about the history of ADHD, the history of diagnosis, the marketing of drugs and the mishandling of diagnosis. We also discuss the fake diagnosis problem where pressurized college students are taking ADHD drugs as amphetamines to get through high-pressure college exams.

You can find out more about Alan here:

https://www.alanschwarz.net/

EP 113: Build It: The Rebel Playbook for World-Class Employee Engagement with Debra Corey

The current way of treating people at work has failed. Globally, only 30% of employees are engaged in their jobs, and in this fast-paced world, that’s just not enough. The world’s best companies understand this and have been quietly treating people differently for nearly two decades. 

Now you can learn their secrets and discover The Engagement Bridge™ model, proven to build bottom-line value for companies through sustainable employee engagement.

Debra Corey is the author of Effective HR Communication and the co-author of “The Rebel Playbook for Employee Engagement,” with the founder of Reward Gateway Glenn Elliott.

We discuss:

Stats on employee engagement

How new data has led to more investment in this field

The Engagement Bridge™ model

Open honest feedback

Purpose mission values

Leadership

Management

Job design

Learning

Recognition

3 underpinning elements

Pay benefits

Wellbeing

Workspace

The 5 generations in the workplace

The iceberg of ignorance

4% front Line problems are known by management

9% are known by team management

74% known by managers

100% by employees

Monkey Fairness Experiment we mention is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KSryJXDpZo 

You can find out more about Debra here:

https://www.rewardgateway.com/blog/author/debra-corey 

More about Debra here:

https://www.rewardgateway.com/blog/author/debra-corey

EP 112 – Creating a Digital Currency Brand founder of digital currency DNotes Global, Alan Yong.

Author of “The Four Pillars of Success” and DNotes Co-Founder Alan Yong Offers Insights on how to create a Digital Currency by sharing the DNotes’ Vision and Strategy.

We discuss everything you need to know about the formation of digital currency from the financial crisis to the rapid rise of Bitcoin.

Alan shares the need for trust in a new industry riddled with bad actors and Ponzi schemes.

This is a must listen for novice and expert wanting to learn more about cryptocurrencies, digital currencies, Bitcoin and initial coin offerings (ICOs).

Learn more about Alan and Dnotes here: https://dnotesglobal.com

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