Art of the Possible

Rob and Dan catch up with Zeenat Rahman, Executive Director of the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago. Zeenat shares how she found her purpose and got into policy  - what is policy?! Then we dig into the American reaction to war in Ukraine versus war in the Middle East, and how to over come difference and make the world a better place.  Enjoy and learn more about Zeenat and the Institute of Politics at https://politics.uchicago.edu.

Rob geeks out with Michael Blakeney and Miles Phillips from Terazo (a software development firm) on how to build the possible, while Dan learns a ton... and gets very confused about Kubernetes. Great listen, especially as you consider whether to build or buy your software solution.

Rob and I are joined by Jesse Purewal, the Head of Brand at Qualtrics, who we define as a living example of Robert Frost's famous line - "the road less traveled." We intended to discuss the art of leadership, but instead fell into a fascinating conversation about the difference between being an entrepreneur and being entrepreneurial, and then shift into Jesse's wheelhouse - his quest to rid the world of bad experiences. For you customer experience strategy and design geeks, Jesse shares why behavioral data is not enough and needs sentiment data to unlock future experiences customers want... And listen through the end, Jesse drops some leadership/parenting wisdom inspired by Biff from Back to the Future II after he thought the mic was off. Enjoy!

David Siegel, CEO of Meetup, joins Art of the Possible to talk about what Meetup does when you can't meet up in person and how the organization transitioned from no online meetups to nearly all online meetups nearly overnight. In addition, we chat about curing the loneliness pandemic, playing (mini) golf, and Dan's melon colored shirt. Enjoy!

The latest episode is one of a several firsts - first from a camper, with a unicorn (of sorts), and without Rob. It was an absolute pleasure talking with Rosie von Lila during her trip across the US in a 1964 Chevy pickup truck with an attached camper. We discussed Burning Man culture, the world of private equity, and her up coming book on Human Flourishing - an amazing concept of how to live more fulfilling lives. Give it a listen!  And follow her cross country adventure on Twitter at @rosievonlila!

Rob and Dan are joined by digital anthropologist, futurist, author and awesome human, Brian Solis to explore technology, the customer experience, and where we are going as a society and species... and what impact it is having on us as human beings and how we need to be intentional with our technology to take care of ourselves. Give it a listen and then check out Brian's book Lifescale: How to live a more creative, productive, and happy life  for more. Enjoy!

Rob and Dan are joined by Neil Thompson, currently the VP of Digital at HMSHost.  No where was the art of the possible more evident than in the travel experience during the pandemic. Neil shares how HMSHost is redefining the airport experience, why grass skirts at Pizza Hut were (and were not) the answer,  and the art of stillness in baseball and management. Enjoy!

Rob goes rogue and has a solo conversation with Phil Windley whose fascinating career spans CIO of Utah, CTO/Founder of several startups, and BYU. They chat about small airplanes, startups, identity and more - awesome conversation, give it a listen.

For a topic near and dear to Rob and Dan's hearts, John Sechrest from Seattle Angel Conference joins to talk about startups and angel investing. While most of this episode was triggering for Rob and Dan, they carry on in the spirit of fail forward and test and learn. Give it a listen and forward to your friends toiling in coffee shops and shared workspaces around the world practicing the art of the possible to bring their start up dreams to life.

Rob and Dan are joined by Peter Dixon, Chief Creative Officer at Prophet, to about talk how brands use the art of the possible to build meaningful and relevant customer experiences. We also hear about Peter's fascinating journey from engineer to architect to designer to Chief Creative Officer, which was all inspired by a painting he stumbled upon in Paris. Listen, enjoy and share, thank you!