Being Human

#177 Patreon Poetry - with David Chislett

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/We're back with much loved former guest, David Chislett.David is a South African punk rocker-turned-creativity consultant, now living deep in a Dutch forest.As well as helping companies to unleash his weapons of mass creation, David is a poet supported by a band of loyal Patreon subscribers.David shares with us his journey to create a virtual community around his poetry and the steps he took to achieve it.In this episode, we talk:Discipline in creativityWe are what we doDealing with psychological triggersCan art truly impact culture?Managing tour bandsLinks:David's Poetry PatreonWith All Of You - The BookDavid's Personal Website

#176 To Be Honest - with Ron Carucci

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/What if being honest with ourselves and others made us be better business leaders?That is the issue this week's guest, Ron Carucci, addresses in his book, To Be Honest.The origins of his book are fascinating. He put hundreds of his firm's past client interviews through IBM Watson's AI engine to uncover patterns associated with business success.He found that honesty was crucial. He discovered that just four factors could make organisations 16 times more likely to have people tell the truth, behave fairly, and serve a greater good.In this episode, we talk:How BS slowly kills businessesHow honesty is a muscleGoing beyond engagement surveysThe secret of Microsoft's turnaroundRon's path to getting more honestLinks:Ron's BookTo Be Honest - The WebsiteNavalent - Ron's Consultancy

#175 Why Meditate? - with Jillian Lavender

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/Jillian Lavender used to run a large division of an international publisher, always between two planes and walking right up to the line of major burnout.On the recommendation of a friend, and with some scepticism, she took a meditation course. From that point, things changed for her in a big way. She could handle her fast-paced life.After a complete career change, she now teaches meditation in London and New York and has written a book called Why Meditate? Because it Works.In this episode, we talk how meditation:- Can be easy and non-wierd - Improves your sleep    - Can be done anywhere - Enhances your clarity of thought- Doesn't require you become a hippy!Links:Jillian's BookLondon Meditation CentreNew York Meditation Center

#174 Surfing Rogue Waves - with Eric Pilon-Bignell

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/Over the next few years, we will experience more disruption than in the previous 100 years. Yet are things changing too fast and too regularly to notice? Futurist Eric Pilon-Bignell sees modern change presents as a giant, rogue wave emerging on the horizon. He asks, will we surf these waves with mastery? Or will we let them swallow us whole?In his book Surfing Rogue Waves, Eric shows us how to gain from the greatest period of opportunity in all of human history.In this episode, we talk:The Six D's of the Fourth Industrial RevolutionThinking in exponentialsWhy improv is the crucial 21st-century skillEverlasting wormsLearning to surf complexityLinks:Surfing Rogue WavesEric's Website

#173 Radical Uncertainty - with John Kay

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this episode of Being Human, I speak with John Kay, one of Britain's leading economists, whose career has spanned the academic world, business and public affairsIn his recent book, Radical Uncertainty with Mervyn King, he describes how, as a society, we regularly crave certainties which cannot exist and invent knowledge we cannot have. We forget that humans are successful because we have adapted to an environment that we understand only imperfectly and that, throughout history we have developed a variety of ways of coping with the radical uncertainty that defines our lives. In this episode, we talk:The problem with bias-obsessed behavioural economicsThe power of abductive reasoningUnderstanding economics' failing recordOur love for doomsday scenariosThe folly of misapplying probabilistic reasoningLinks:Radical UncertaintyJohn's Website

#172 The Future of Capitalism - with Paul Collier

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this episode of Being Human, I speak with Paul Collier, the author of the barn-storming new economic treatise 'The Future of Capitalism'.From humble beginnings in Sheffield, England, to life as an Oxford don, Paul understands the power and limitations of capitalism from both sides of the tracks. In our conversation, Paul reflects on the role businesses must play in creating a more sustainable version of capitalism.Packed with great anecdotes and some sobering insights, I really enjoyed this oneWe talk:From England's poorest city to celebrated academicWhy 'oughts' trump 'wants'How General Motors failed at LeanHow the capitalism that has brought us closer is now pushing us apartWhy we can't treat humans like catsLinks:Paul's The Future of CapitalismNicholas A. Christakis - Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good SocietyMichael J. Sandel - The Tyranny of MeritRobert D. Putnam - The UpswingPaul Collier, John Kay - Greed Is Dead: Politics After Individualism 

Bonus Episode - Tom van der Lubbe - Self Management

This is an interview with Tom van der Lubbe around the theme of self-management. We get into the history of his founding of Viisi on self-management principles. We also take several practical questions for the webinar audience members. Well worth a watch/listen if you want to learn more about this topic.

#170 Self-Work Meets Complexity - with Gabriel Jurj

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this episode of Being Human, I speak with Gabriel Jurj, who is a complexity practitioner and seasoned executive working in Romania. He didn't take the standard path, dropping out of University to join a monastic order, running hostels in Budapest.Still practising some of his monkish disciplines, Gabriel leans on these to help him lead. He also sees the strong links between a spiritual appreciation and the ability to embrace and work in an uncertain world.In this episode, we talk:What he learnt being a monkRetrospective cohesionThe links between self-work and complexity thinkingSpiritual practice in business lifeLetting go of goalsLinks:Cynefin at 21 - The BookAnanda Marga

#169 Graceful Extensibility - with David Woods

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this episode of Being Human, I speak with David Woods, a professor at Ohio State University who discovered and pioneered the concept of Graceful Extensibility.As the opposite of brittleness, graceful extensibility is the ability of a system to extend its capacity to adapt when surprise events challenge its boundaries.In this episode, we talk:Dealing with shockThe need to stretch at the boundariesHow all systems are fragileStaying alive to 'weak signals'How viability requires extensibilityLinks:The Theory of Graceful Extensibility: basic rulesGraceful Extensibility - short presentationThe Strategic Agility Gap

#168 Embracing Flow - with Nigel Thurlow

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week on Being Human, I speak with Nigel Thurlow, ex-Chief of Agile at Toyota and co-author of The Flow System.Tired of the framework merchants and the over-commercialisation of the Agile movement, Nigel could see that a new approach was needed. A philosophy that went beyond Lean and Agile to embrace complexity thinking, team science and the critical question of leadership.He believes, first and foremost, in education as the driver of change. Present people with the science and trust them to apply it in their context.In this episode, we talk:The holy triad of complexity, team science and distributed leadershipWhy leadership training must changeGoing beyond Systems ThinkingNew physicsHow information is upstream of energyLinks:The Flow System - Read the BookThe Flow System - Buy the BookFlow Guides