Today’s guest is previously best known for his position as the head coach of the English national rugby union team from 2011 until 2015, In 2016, he joined the backroom team of the Ireland provincial side, Leinster Rugby and has been instrumental in their success.

I have asked our guest on to the show to discuss leadership lessons from sport, focus on a business context. In this episode we will talk about: creating a purpose, a why, a vision, values and behaviours and people-led leadership to achieve success.

We discuss:

• The benefits of failure and the necessity of resilience.
• The desired characteristics of organisational achievement.
• The individual characteristics needed to achieve in any field.
• The elements of mind, body and soul.
• How to build a high-performing culture.

We create human-centred interactions and experiences in our field. Empathetic purpose drives our every decision. Mobile First? In reality, it’s humans first. This same mentality turned inward, forms the cornerstone of something amazing: a creative culture.

Designers and front-enders have a unique advantage in solving the cultural problems in business that are sucking the life out of us. Several, in fact. The principles discussed in this book derive from the perspectives and skillsets we already use daily: empathy, objectivity and, yes, ample creativity.

We discuss:

• The Sunday Night Work “Dreadies”
• Agency work burnout
• 100% Billable Time
• The need for Mental White Space
• Examples of Great Cultures
• Toxic Meetings
• Poor Feedback
• Ego as the Enemy
• Humility
• Redesigning Day One for New Hires
• When to Leave a Company
• How to Ensure You Find the Right Cultural Fit

Do you feel restricted by your career, by your workplace identity?

Do you feel you are not doing what you would really like to do?

Are you good at many things, but feel you cannot do them for fear of appearing odd or going against the grain?

You may just be a polymath and that is a major gift!

Every human is born with multifarious potential.

Why, then, do parents, schools and employers insist that we restrict our many talents and interests; that we ‘specialise’ in just one?

We’ve been sold a myth, that to ‘specialise’ is the only way to pursue truth, identity, or even a livelihood. Yet specialisation is nothing but an outdated system that fosters ignorance, exploitation and disillusionment and thwarts creativity, opportunity and progress.

Following a series of exchanges with the world’s greatest historians, futurists, philosophers and scientists, Waqas Ahmed has weaved together a narrative of history and a vision for the future that seeks to disrupt this prevailing system of unwarranted ‘hyper-specialisation.’

In The Polymath, Waqas shows us that there is another way of thinking and being. Through an approach that is both philosophical and practical, he sets out a cognitive journey towards reclaiming your innate polymathic state. Going further, he proposes nothing less than a cultural revolution in our education and professional structures, whereby everyone is encouraged to express themselves in multiple ways and fulfil their many-sided potential. Not only does this enhance individual fulfilment, but in doing so, facilitates a conscious and creative society that is both highly motivated and well equipped to address the complexity of 21st-century challenges

We discuss:

• What is a Polymath?
• How did we get to this age of specialisation?
• Polymaths through time
• Polymathy as a gift
• Polymaths in an age of Artificial Intelligence
• Educational Reform
• Workplace Reform
• Social Reform
• A cognitive Revolution?

More about Waqās here: https://www.the-polymath.com/author/

From 1990 to 1995 our guest conducted DEA-approved clinical research at the University of New Mexico in which he injected sixty volunteers with DMT, one of the most powerful psychedelics known. His detailed account of those sessions is an extraordinarily riveting inquiry into the nature of the human mind and the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. DMT, a plant-derived chemical that is also manufactured by the human brain, consistently produced near-death and mystical experiences. Many volunteers reported convincing encounters with intelligent nonhuman presences. Nearly all felt that the sessions were among the most profound experiences of their lives.

Our guests’ research connects DMT with the pineal gland, considered by Hindus to be the site of the seventh chakra and by René Descartes to be the seat of the soul.

His book “DMT: The Spirit Molecule” makes the bold case that DMT, naturally released by the pineal gland, facilitates the soul’s movement in and out of the body and is an integral part of the birth and death experiences, as well as the highest states of meditation and even sexual transcendence. Our guest also believes that alien abduction experiences are brought on by accidental releases of DMT. If used wisely, DMT could trigger a period of remarkable progress in the scientific exploration of the most mystical regions of the human mind and soul.

We welcome:

Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and author of  “DMT: The Spirit Molecule” Dr Rick Strassman welcome to the show.

“The new normal is perpetual change” –

Scott D. Anthony

Innovation may be the hottest discipline around today – in business circles and beyond. And for good reason. Innovation transforms companies and markets. It’s the key to solving vexing social problems. And it makes or breaks professional careers. For all the enthusiasm the topic inspires, however, the practice of innovation remains stubbornly impenetrable. 

In The Little Black Book of Innovation, long-time innovation expert Scott D. Anthony draws on stories from his research and field work with companies like P&G to demystify innovation. In his trademark conversational and lively style, Anthony presents a simple definition of innovation, breaks down the essential differences between types of innovation, and illuminates innovation’s vital role in organisational success and personal growth.

We talk:

• Why Innovation is so hard
• The definition of Innovation
• Innovation in the eye of the beholder
• Living at the Intersections
• Heroes of Innovation
• Innovation Mindsets
• Customer-First Mindset
• The 7 Deadly Sins of Innovation
• Sustaining Innovation
• Psychological Safety
• Bridging the gap between the established business and the emergent concept 
• The language innovators should use
• The  Innovators Pledge

More about Scott here:

https://www.innosight.com/