Anecdotally Speaking

Welcome to the second last episode of Anecdotally Speaking for 2022! Keep an eye out for our holiday special next week before we take a short break!

This week, Shawn shares a story he heard over Christmas drinks (thank you, Garry Ryan!), which prompted him to pick up Bob Chapman’s book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family: https://buff.ly/3USpr5W

It illustrates how an idea can emerge over time and how caring about the growth of your people is more likely to lead you to success than treating them like resources.

Welcome back to another episode of Anecdotally Speaking! Our apologies that this episode is being released later in the week than usual.

In this episode, Mark shares a story that he says is close to his heart, given he spent 20 years in the airforce as a logistics officer. He and Shawn find it makes several business points, and you can sign up for our emails via our podcast webpage to receive them in a list each week: https://www.anecdote.com/podcasts/

Welcome to another replay episode of Anecdotally Speaking! We’ve spent the past week planning for a big 2023, so this week, we’re replaying our last episode of 2021!

Shawn shares a story he heard from Mike Adams, our Head of Story-Powered Sales. And after discussing it as per our usual episode format, Shawn and Mark talk about stories and the festive season! We are just about to enter December!

Rob joins Shawn again this week and hears Shawn tell a story about Captain Cook, scurvy and sauerkraut, which Shawn found in The Status Game by Will Storr: https://buff.ly/3AylhsR

The story may sound familiar to our regular listeners, as Shawn also told it in episode 138 – Scurvy sailors served sauerkraut: https://buff.ly/3Ix0dV5

But Rob and Shawn’s discussion differs from Mark and Shawn’s in the earlier episode. You’ll hear the story teamed with different business points and the pair sharing additional anecdotes.

Shawn also mentions the Cautionary Tales podcast: https://buff.ly/3TRAoEj

This week, we welcome Rob Grundel back to Anecdotally Speaking! Rob will be joining us for two episodes while Mark is on leave.

Rob gets straight into it, sharing a story from Jason Alexander, who you might know better as George on Seinfeld (https://buff.ly/3UPphxj). Jason told the story on You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes (https://buff.ly/3TyS6wm), where Rob first heard it. It’s stuck with him ever since.

This week, it’s Shawn’s turn to share a story, and he’s chosen one about Michael Lewis and a baseball game that changed everything for him. Until then, Michael hadn’t thought much about what he would do in his life or how, but now he’s an author and financial journalist. His notable works include The Blind Side (https://buff.ly/3zXa7xj ) and The Big Short (https://buff.ly/3WHjP0E).

This week on Anecdotally Speaking, Mark has a story from the aircraft industry, which one of our partners shared in our last monthly partner meeting. Shawn rated this story an 8/10, while Mark gave it a 9/10. We hope you also find it useful!

Don’t forget to register for our upcoming webinar, “Scale, Climate, Inclusion!”: How stories can tackle your organisation’s biggest challenges! Join Anecdote Principal Rob Grundel on Thursday, the 3rd of November, for a 60-minute deep dive into some of the most pressing themes facing organisations today. Here’s the link: https://buff.ly/3eNqnJV

Rob Grundel cohosts this week’s episode of Anecdotally Speaking with Shawn and announces our upcoming webinar, ‘“Scale, Climate, Inclusion!”: How stories can tackle your organisation’s biggest challenges’! He and Shawn give listeners a taste of what they can expect from the 60-minute webinar and Rob shares a relevant research story.

Rob will run the free webinar twice on Thursday, the 3rd of November, at 11:00am and 6:00pm (AEDT—Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne). To register to attend, visit: https://buff.ly/3eNqnJV

He’ll explore some of the most pressing themes facing organisations today, and you’ll hear examples of how other organisations are responding meaningfully to these challenges. You’ll walk away with two communication tools and have the opportunity to ask questions! We hope to see you there!

We have something special for you in the works, so this week, instead of bringing you a new episode, we’re replaying 126 – Shattering decision on pet food quality. Make sure you’re listening next week for an exciting announcement!

We recently had James Mills (https://buff.ly/3Cu32pW), Global Vice President of Sales at Mars Wrigley, on the podcast (https://buff.ly/3TwNpUm), so we thought it appropriate to relisten to this episode, where Shawn shares a values-in-action story from Mars! You’ll hear how the international organisation’s Five Principals (https://buff.ly/3obnTqY)—Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency, and Freedom—guide decision-making within its teams and what this looks like in practice.

Shawn first heard this story from Mim Gaetano. Mim was the Corporate Ombudsman at Mars from 2014 until his retirement in 2017.

Welcome to another episode of Anecdotally Speaking! This week, Shawn shares a story he heard on ABC Radio, which details how Lisa Blair became a record-breaking solo sailor. You can listen to the same ABC Conversations episode here: https://buff.ly/3Clcr1E

The inspirational story makes a case for the saying, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going.’ And in retelling it, Shawn showcases a storytelling technique where you bring the end of a story to the beginning to keep your audience interested.