Bright Spots

For the first time ever on the Bright Spots podcast, I welcome multiple guests. Nita Baum of b*free and David Osborne and Michael Weyandt of Team Theory join me in this episode. We are all passionate about how to continue evolving the ways we work. That was front and center in this episode, while the conversation drew in many references beyond that.

This was a fascinating 4-way conversation in which we didn't shy away from some of the uncomfortable shadows that have shaped where we are today. And we also didn't shy away from positive visions that attract our imaginations towards what might be possible. We tried through the diversity and unity of our perspectives to grasp the reality driving the way we currently do things in organizations, which includes considerations of individuals and society. And throughout the conversation, we consider and highlight new pathways.

I apologize that the sound quality could have been better, though it is more than passable. I did my best in the edits.

Themes are wide-spanning and include:

Co-Creation and the power of dialog especially when trying to charter into unknown territory

Relevance of Diversity

Organizations as a great lever for change, as a meeting point between individuals and the collective

How do we accept all of us in all of our humanity in work? How might holistic approaches which consider the human spirit create better realities?

A Human Symphony and the human body as metaphors for a New Economy

The collective grief which still exists and shaped many choices we made coming out of two world wars

Common flaws in ways of thinking about hiring

Growth and deficit-based mindsets and outcomes when applied to specific situations

How both job-seekers and companies sometimes set a very low bar for what they want

Understanding situational context and drawing on a wide repertoire of responses in approaching challenges

Fear

The magic of connection

And of course much more.

I hope it's as much a pleasure to listen to as it was for us to experience. All the best.

(Please note this is the 2nd in a 3 part series. I highly recommend starting with episode 12.)

David Osborne and Michael Weyandt of Team Theory bring clear, cohesive, constructive insight to how we can evolve and revolutionize hiring. Their numbers speak for themselves. High quality fit of candidates with teams leaps from 20 to 80% where they get involved.

When you listen to them, you'll see why they realize such impressive results. Their approach is both systematic and artful. Their clients have said things like, "You guys were able to bring this objective process to the entire equation. At the end of the day we felt so good. We’ve never felt so good about a decision."

The stakes are high. Effectiveness at hiring considerably contributes to our effectiveness as teams. And our fulfillment has a ton to do with who we surround ourselves with. As Michael says, it's ultimately about forging unforgettable relationships. What a beautiful, high aspiration to attribute to hiring.

As they remind us, what they do is not rocket science. But this belies how much expertise and insight they have developed. When you talk with them, you see they understand with refined nuance the essence of what hiring simply IS and can be. It starts with a clear grasp for the fundamentals which are more overlooked than you might think.

It deepens from there.

Too many teams and orgs rely on the status quo of hiring. They don't have references for how they could be transforming their teams.

I spoke to Michael and David of Team Theory independently for two different episodes of the Bright Spots podcast, episode 12 and episode 13. My feeling after re-listening to both conversations is that they are peanut butter and jelly conversations. The individual conversations complement each other.

I recommend starting with episode, #12, with Michael Weyandt. I reference elements from the conversation with David occasionally (which happened first chronologically), but it doesn't present an obstacle.

Michael helps us get a clear understanding with concrete examples the types of changes they recommend and why. It becomes startlingly clear.

We start with elements of his own journey. Getting a feel for his relevant references helps us as we go into hiring from there, about 10 minutes in.

After we gain this clarity with Michael, David helps us understand how they conceptualize: (1) the challenges teams are facing, (2) the common fallacies in the hiring process; and (3) 360 fit in their Beyond Recruiting methodology.

If hiring is relevant to your professional life, start with the 50 minute conversation with Michael and continue with the conversation with David. I promise it will open a pathway to revolutionizing your hiring process. I don't say that lightly. I believe in their work.

Michael and David will be back with Nita Baum of b*free for a 4 way conversation in early January.

David Osborne and Michael Weyandt of Team Theory bring clear, cohesive, constructive insight to how we can evolve and revolutionize hiring. Their numbers speak for themselves. High quality fit of candidates with teams leaps from 20 to 80% where they get involved.

When you listen to them, you'll see why they realize such impressive results. Their approach is both systematic and artful. Their clients have said things like, "You guys were able to bring this objective process to the entire equation. At the end of the day we felt so good. We’ve never felt so good about a decision."

The stakes are high. Effectiveness at hiring considerably contributes to our effectiveness as teams. And our fulfillment has a ton to do with who we surround ourselves with. As Michael says, it's ultimately about forging unforgettable relationships. What a beautiful, high aspiration to attribute to hiring.

As they remind us, what they do is not rocket science. But this belies how much expertise and insight they have developed. When you talk with them, you see they understand with refined nuance the essence of what hiring simply IS and can be. It starts with a clear grasp for the fundamentals which are more overlooked than you might think.

It deepens from there.

Too many teams and orgs rely on the status quo of hiring. They don't have references for how they could be transforming their teams.

I spoke to Michael and David of Team Theory independently for two different episodes of the Bright Spots podcast, episode 12 and episode 13. My feeling after re-listening to both conversations is that they are peanut butter and jelly conversations. The individual conversations complement each other.

I recommend starting with episode, #12, with Michael Weyandt. I reference elements from the conversation with David occasionally (which happened first chronologically), but it doesn't present an obstacle.

Michael helps us get a clear understanding with concrete examples the types of changes they recommend and why. It becomes startlingly clear.

We start with elements of his own journey. Getting a feel for his relevant references helps us as we go into hiring from there, about 10 minutes in.

After we gain this clarity with Michael, David helps us understand how they conceptualize: (1) the challenges teams are facing, (2) the common fallacies in the hiring process; and (3) 360 fit in their Beyond Recruiting methodology.

If hiring is relevant to your professional life, start with the 50 minute conversation with Michael and continue with the conversation with David. I promise it will open a pathway to revolutionizing your hiring process. I don't say that lightly. I believe in their work.

Michael and David will be back with Nita Baum of b*free for a 4 way conversation in early January.

In response to an article on LinkedIn about major "ubertrends" shaping societal movements, Jody had posted a comment which described succinctly, clearly, and convincingly that the most important trend of all was not mentioned--the massive growth in numbers of people wanting to connect to a deeper dimension of human life.

I was impressed and decided to reach out to Jody and see if she would be interested in joining me for a conversation. Fortunately she was happy to share her wisdom with us.

I see Jody as an elder who has deepened into the ways of living by the heart, beyond the prevailing norms of rationality and intellectualism. She has understood something about the human experience and that for which we truly long. As a Spiritual Educator, she practices what she shares with others. She has practiced authenticity and courage for a long time now and bears many insights to show for it.

She helps us by placing her observations in an informative historical, evolutionary context. Our conversation touches on the following themes:

How society corrodes without the rudder of the human heart

How each person awakening, one by one, step by step is the key to remaking the fabric of our culture

How the inner life came to be overlooked historically

What makes this time so remarkable, so exciting

How we can create a new consciousness and a new way of being in the world

How religion and spiritual paths can be used for bad purposes—but having faith that each person is exactly where they should be.

How a sense of expansiveness is the big test for whatever spirituality you are exploring

How chaos can be creative and good, even if it’s challenging

How it can be a good thing when the collective shadows are more obviously out in the world

Scientific findings and research findings of rising levels of spirituality while lowering sense of religion

And further research from the Heartmath institute about the high intuitive guidance of the heart

Finding people for support and community as a spiritual person in the prevailing culture

Unlearning rules of how we are supposed to do it

Classic relationship challenges in western culture based on assigned gender roles

Practical advice from Jody for moving into the heart

and much more

I hope you enjoy it.

As always, thanks for listening. All the best.

And so, the special 5 part series with the ever-talented, insightful, and generous Nita Baum concludes here. We go out on a high note, while feeling very grounded in the earth. This conversation in my humble opinion carries groundedness within its essence. Nita and I found such a nice flow in our conversations and used our own shared community/friendship as the basis for this 5 part series. In this conversation, I express the value I hold for her friendship and how much it has meant to me.

We go deep into the interconnectictivity between healthy practices, fear, self-acceptance, community, and vulnerability. We touch on the following topics:

Nita gets us started with a lovely experiential grounding practice

Why might everybody be meditating in a century and what does that have to do with dentists?

The right and importance of each person discovering and integrating healthy practices for themselves

How the healthcare system in the US has its strengths but is also largely reactive

How we learn how to systematically dismantle and gain power over fear

Accessibility and simplicity of practices which support our well-being and growth

Connection of groundedness to community, home, family, connection, relationship

The challenge and universality of feeling separated, isolated, different than, otherness

How community opens our eyes to the richness of our shared experience and humanness

Personal story about how the community I share with Nita as a friend helped me to overcome the feeling of cognitive dissonance and challenge for stepping out onto a road less traveled

Roots of other are in our fear, uncertainty, vulnerability, highlights the power of turning towards that fear—our kinship in realizing shared experience of fear

What do you turn to when you feel afraid? What grounds you?

Reference to M Scott Peck’s 4 stage sequence for community building

Intimate relation with being truthful, protecting against the feeling of being not good enough and pretending we’re not dealing with that on some level

Practice, fear, self-acceptance, community, vulnerability and all comes together in groundedness

As always, thanks for listening and all the best.

"To be powerful is a possibility to create because nothing can be created without power. It is only when power becomes a means to dominate that power becomes ugly. Unfortunately, as most human beings have not found any sense of deep fulfillment within themselves, they are constantly hankering for dominance.

We need to understand that power is not just political or economic power – there are various ways to be powerful. There is the power of love, the power of compassion, the power of meditation, the power of self-absorption, the power of surrender, the power of selflessness, and above all, the power of being human. " ~ Sadhguru

The 4th part in the special 5 part series with Nita Baum on the 5 values of b*free continues. This time we speak about being in power. We both have enjoyed this series immensely.

The conversation touches on the following themes:

How power begins with self-responsibility and the vast difference between responsiveness and reactivity

The theme of practice and flexing the muscle of self-responsibility

Power vs Force and the support we receive, and the flow we experience, when we align and harmonize our work with the best in ourselves and in service of the common good

A couple of worthwhile mindset experiments to conduct in social or networking situations

Cycle of giving and receiving and how the consciousness of having something to give, even the generosity of fully listening can be supportive

How self-trust connects you to the power within you and around you

How our fears related to money keep us from our power and what is true in our hearts

How status and ego may reflect power but have little to do with that motivation

Transition from old paradigm to new paradigm

Radical experiment of considering the positive possibilities of what would happen if our financial systems collapsed?

How we use crisis to find our power and turn towards each other—discover our own power anew, see the lens of possibility

What is the role of humility in being powerful and is it about owning or denying our strengths?

How money itself is not the villain but our mindsets connected to money create problems

"At what point does the shift from survival to thriving happen and how much is money related to that?"

Nita’s encapsulation in the last 5 minutes really stands out.

"Art is the most intense mode of individualism the world has known." ~Oscar Wilde

"The artist is not a special kind of person, rather each person is a special kind of artist." ~Ananda Coomaraswamy

Elements of the interconnection between art, capitalism, politics, citizenship, society, and individual choice/power is what emerged from this conversation.

The conversation between Bryan and I reached into the realm of the current bleak political landscape and direct challenges on capitalism. It was a welcome opportunity. Most forward-thinkers and modern seekers are no strangers to perspectives on cultural and political degradation. I want to keep pushing my own boundaries and I am glad Bryan and I both were up for what emerged organically.

It was great to learn about Bryan's path as an artist. It was amazing to see how Bryan's career has been influenced by prevailing norms and has morphed into something self-defined which allows him fulfillment, creative expression in his professional digital media work, and the opportunity to simultaneously pursue meaningful, substantive artistic projects.

Ultimately here was one of my key takeaways...hope and optimism always seems to come from the power inherent in each individual to stand up for their own artistry, what he/she believes in, and to boldly pursue a relationship with society which expresses truth, justice, and love. And it was great to see how Bryan's choices have shaped a life which represents the possibilities of transformation and supporting others to realize greater degrees of self-expression.

Our conversation touched on the following themes:

Broader social context and individual decision-making

Interconnection between valuation of arts, the role of corporations, and lack of cultural appreciation

Balance between optimism and criticism to get real and move the conversation forward in constructive ways

What is our civic duty in times of bleak political landscape (might even be called a soap opera)

Role of compassion and avoiding blame in political discourse

Democratization and empowerment through social media—there’s a story behind even a simple product because there’s a person behind it ("Even if it’s a simple product and you don’t think there’s a story behind it, there’s a story behind it because there’s a person behind it")

The feeling of overwhelm that many are dealing with, shortcomings of hyper capitalism—panic and anxiety

Practical approach to transitioning from a more traditional job context

Why it can be scary to make transition—why not try, life is too short to be miserable—

How showing up for yourself is one of the best things you can do

The collective trap of looking for a person out there to tell you what to do

As always, thanks for listening and all the best.

'I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.' ~Albert Einstein

"Equality is not in regarding different things similarly, equality is in regarding different things differently." ~Tom Robbins

As Nita and I continue this special series, we continue to explore topics almost every thoughtful human being has reflected on. We share our understandings and ideas about how we see equality and how essential it is to good living, good professionalism, and a healthy society. The ultimate message of equality is that our differences are many, but more superficial, while our similarities are infinite and exist at the very essence of being human.

This conversation touches on the following themes and ideas:

The need for evolving the way we relate

What value and pitfalls does the hierarchical model have?

How can you be equal to a CEO of a big corporation?

What are the touchpoints between equality and leadership

How hardship, grief, and struggle are connective and level the playing field

How in observing our own narratives, mindsets, and attitudes we see our self-responsibility in creating inequality

How the practice of values support us in our daily lives

The drawbacks of an outcome orientation

and much more

As always, thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy it.

Know thyself. Do your thing. Namaste.

"Your contribution is necessary. You are free to define what that contribution is in a way that is an actual reflection of you in a more fully self-expressed way." ~Nita Baum

We arrive in this world with birthright gifts—then we spend the first half of our lives abandoning them or letting others disabuse us of them. As young people, we are surrounded by expectations that may have little to do with who we really are, expectations held by people who are not trying to discern our selfhood but to fit us into slots. In families, schools, workplaces, and religious communities, we are trained away from true self toward images of acceptability; under social pressures like racism and sexism our original shape is deformed beyond recognition; and we ourselves, driven by fear, too often betray true self to gain the approval of others.

We are disabused of original giftedness in the first half of our lives. Then—if we are awake, aware, and able to admit our loss—we spend the second half trying to recover and reclaim the gift we once possessed.

Sometimes you don’t know how great life truly can be until you are there. ~Parker Palmer

This conversation on Giftedness with Nita Baum is one of the best podcast conversations I have had yet. We touch on the following themes:

How your unique contribution is essential for you and for the rest of us

How it may take time to figure it out

The education system's impact on our giftedness

A surprising landmark study on creative genius conducted by Beth Jarman and George Land using a test created by NASA

Systemic issues—diversity/tolerance begins with our own self-acceptance—even our own weirdness and idiosyncrasies

The role of elders

Not holding fast to what you know because it’s going to change

Your lens is valuable and each of us has the right to our own lens—we can all do that at the same time.

A nod to artists and those who are marginalized including incarcerated--the need to find common ground

And much more

The series will continue for 3 more weeks! Look out for Special Episode 3 next week.

"If struggling were the way, we'd all be there by now."

Victoria Castle reveals for us a deep root of one of the main causes of difficulty in our lives as individuals and a society. It is deceptively simple to understand cognitively, but a true master key in changing our lives and our happiness for the better. She makes very clear the difference between facts/reality and the stories, interpretations, perspectives, lenses, and assumptions we bring to those circumstances. She shares warmth, clarity, and humor in describing a phenomenon that easily goes unnoticed -- the Trance of Scarcity.

The Trance of Scarcity is the prevailing norm in how we see the world in terms of survival, struggle, stress--that there isn't enough, we aren't good enough, that we don't have enough. It has become so commonplace to our way of thinking that we rarely challenge those thoughts and stories.

Our immensely enjoyable and insightful conversation touches on the following:

The limitations of struggle

The simplicity of using breathing consciously and centering to make positive change moment-to-moment

The power of daily practices to come from our best selves

How the stories I am not good enough, competent enough, wealthy enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, old or young enough, "I am only lovable if…"etc—how that is a story, an interpretation, an assessment, a lens on reality which produces our experience

The surprising downside of thinking in terms of right/wrong or good/bad instead of what is practical and useful in terms of our higher aims

The power we have in what we think to align with greater possibility, without devolving into affirmations or positive thinking

How struggling and striving externally won’t fix the things that feel off inside us

Pitfalls once we see scarcity of measuring ourselves by perfection

Life-changing power of gratitude

The Trim Tab insight: Finding the best leverage points for change

And more

Thanks as always for listening and for doing your thing in the world.