Being Human
Being Human is for people who want go deep on what it means to be a human making a difference. We’ll discover how to be better humans at work and in life. We’ll explore leadership, relationships and how to make changes in ourselves and our environments. Nothing will be off limits. Welcome.
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Episodes
Tuesday May 23, 2023
Tuesday May 23, 2023
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This week I speak with Niels Pflaeging, researcher and author on organisational leadership and transformation.Niels is a tour de force on a mission to create a world of 'Beta' organisations. He borrows the 'beta' concept from software development, where 'beta' systems are constantly being iterated. Beta organisations are decentralised and comprise small, self-sustaining autonomous teams in the mould of Handelsbanken or Buurtzorg. Niels claims his beta model is the best a company can adopt to thrive in complexity and to enable human flourishing. Niels pulls no punches in describing our present management paradigm, nor his views on applying complexity science in business.Niels shares:
Why command and control 'Alpha' organisations stink
The difference between Blue (complicated) and Red (complex) systems
Why complexity frameworks are BS
The issue with consent-based decisions making
How to transform to a decentralised 'Beta' organisation in 90 days
Links:Organize for Complexity - The BookNiels' Websitegomenius
Saturday May 13, 2023
Saturday May 13, 2023
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This week I speak with Andrew Thorp King, author of the book "FAILURE RULES!: The 5 Rules of Failure for Entrepreneurs, Creatives, and Authentics".Andrew has had a wild ride - from working a steel production line, to managing a hard rock label, to owning gyms and finance companies.We talk:
How failure purifies
Love meaning, not money
The 'Thing One/Thing Two' strategy living your dream
A soul on fire is a soul alive
Soulful resilience
Links:Failure Rules! - The BookAndrew's Website
Friday May 05, 2023
Friday May 05, 2023
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This week I speak with Phil Simon, author, speaker and recognized authority on technology, collaboration, and the future of work.Phil predicts a growing gap between the workplace of the future and how we operated pre-COVID. In his latest book, The Nine, he outlines the major interlocking trends that will shape this new world. We talk:
Addressing the mental health crisis
We're not going back 5 days a week
Optimism for the impacts of Generative AI
Combating Zoom fatigue
Options for moving forward
Links:
Phil's WebsiteThe Nine - The Book
Sunday Apr 30, 2023
Sunday Apr 30, 2023
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This week’s Being Human episode is with James Priest, exploring Sociocracy 3.0, the liberating approach to business based on the consent, not consensus, process.
James combines extensive experience in sociocracy with 15 years of practice in the fields of holistic organizational development, facilitative leadership and personal and relational transformation across a variety of sectors, from corporations to non-profits, children and communities.We talk:
Becoming a leader of a spiritual community at 27
First forays in using Sociocracy
Preventing teenage pregnancies
Developing Sociocracy 3.0 for use in business
The unexamined drivers of our behaviour
Links:Sociocracy 3.0
Monday Apr 24, 2023
Monday Apr 24, 2023
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This week I speak with Dr. Gerald Pollack, a man who is on a mission to challenge everything we know about water.We've always been told that water has three states: Solid, Liquid, and Vapor. Dr. Pollack's laboratory findings imply the presence of a surprisingly extensive fourth phase that occurs near certain surfaces. The formal name for this fourth phase is exclusion-zone water, aka EZ water, with its discovery opening the way for new and profound implications in chemistry, physics, and biology.We talk:
Getting inspired to study water
First discovering 'EZ water'
How it makes all of biology wrong
Health implications for EZ water
Does water have memory?
Links:The Pollack LabProfessor Gerald Pollack Facebook Page
Monday Apr 17, 2023
Monday Apr 17, 2023
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This week I speak with Neil Markey, a man with a remarkable story.After serving in the US Army Rangers and doing three tours in Iraq and twice in Afghanistan, he was discharged suffering from depression and PTSD. This led him to alternative well-being practices and he began a profound healing journey with mindfulness and psychedelics. Via the prestigious consulting firm McKinsey and a stint in private equity, he now leads healing retreats across Jamaica and the Netherlands.We talk:
Recovering from PTSD
Experiencing psilocybin for the first time
Relating to Nature
The psilocybin risk/reward
Neil's new vision for capitalism
Links:Beckley Retreats
Monday Apr 10, 2023
Monday Apr 10, 2023
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This week I speak with author, speaker, and therapist Tom Fortes Mayer. In 2000, after a chance encounter with a holy man at the wind down of a rave in Goa, Tom experienced a profound event that changed how he viewed himself and his life. Since that moment, he has been obsessed with how these moments happen and has dedicated his life to learning how to engineer them for others in the most powerful ways possible.We talk:
Experiencing epiphany
From nightclub impresario to seeker
Unpicking self-sabotage
Fusing music and therapy
Finding sober joy
Links:Tom's WebsiteTom's TedX Talk
Friday Mar 31, 2023
Friday Mar 31, 2023
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This week I speak with Lisa Bragg, author of the upcoming book Bragging Rights: How to Talk About Your Work Using Purposeful Self-Promotion. Personally, I have had blocks around self-promotion, and it's something I still work on. However, it's a skill more and more of us will need as jobs become more abstract and people choose to follow more independent career paths.We talk:
Why we need to brag
Pride vs bragging
Where to start in telling people who you are
Just get it out there
Getting teams to shine
Links:Lisa's Website
Tuesday Mar 28, 2023
Tuesday Mar 28, 2023
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This week I speak with Peter G. Klein, economist and co-author of Why Managers Matter: The Perils of the Bossless Company.Having been a veritable fanboy of super flat organisations since the start of my business career, this week we hear from the other side of the argument. We talk:
Myths and reality of 'bossless' organisations
Do flat organisations perform better?
Are people really better off without bosses?
Management for knowledge workers
Humanising bureaucracies
Links:Why Managers Matter - The BookPeter's Website
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Monday Mar 20, 2023
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This week I speak with Melissa Swift, author of the book Work Here Now: Think Like a Human and Build a Powerhouse Workplace.Sawdust on the factory floor is the metaphor Melissa uses to describe the modern workplace. Just as un-cleared sawdust was a safety hazard in 1800s factories, our accelerated work regimes imperil workers today. As Transformation Leader at HR-focussed consultancy Mercer, Melissa has developed a suite of strategies to build thriving workplaces. We talk:
Intensification of work
Perils of modern tech
Trauma awareness
How we recover
Rituals to rehumanise work
Links:Work Here Now - The BookMelissa's LinkedInMelissa's Twitter