This week’s podcast is a conversation with the authors of the new novel B.S., Incorporated, Jennifer Rock and Mike Voss. The duo met at Best Buy, a company based in the “nice” city of Minneapolis, MN. They spent the better part of two decades in corporate America writing speeches and running Internal Communications. This experience contributed to their innate knowledge of the B.S. that resides in most large groups of people and lends itself to their insightful, and funny, commentary on work today.

Currently, Jennifer and Mike provide communication support to top level executives as well as small business entrepreneurs. During this week’s episode, Jennifer and Mike share how their idea of writing a book morphed from a patio bar conversation into a fun fiction and why storytelling is the best way to engage an audience.  Their insights are relevant to how all of us can cut through the B.S. of work and show up more authentically.

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:56] The inspiration behind and crafting of B.S., Incorporated.

[8:15] Midwestern companies are full of nice, passive-aggressive people.

[14:44] B.S., Incorporated addresses gender issues in the workplace without trying to make a statement.

[19:44] Why is there so much B.S. when large groups of people get together?

[27:20] The art of storytelling in business.

[30:57] Powerpoint is a necessary evil but not recommended.

[35:38] What the phrase 'bring your whole self to work,' mean to Jennifer and Mike

 

Resources:

Mike Robbins Website

Mike Robbins Podcast

Mike Robbins on Facebook

Mike Robbins on Twitter

Rock and Voss Books

RockdotVoss

 

Tweetables:

We are humans. Just because someone is successful and has a big job doesn’t mean they don’t get nervous. @mikedrobbins

Being a good storyteller is a skill and it needs to be developed. @mvoss23

A female character, Anna, is looked down upon because she is assertive and ambitious. It’s not “nice.” @jenniferrock