Crazy Might Work Podcast

What does it take to keep going when the odds and the elements are completely stacked against you?

Record-setting explorer, veterinarian, and entrepreneur Dr. Geoff Wilson says resilience isn’t just grit or bravado.

 It’s built on three things:

1. Purpose
2. Passion, and
3. Persistence.

In this episode, Geoff shares hard-won lessons from expeditions across Antarctica, Greenland, the Sahara, and the Arctic and explains how the same principles helped him build and lead a successful veterinary business.

From surviving a brutal Antarctic storm to rethinking what strength really means, Geoff makes the case that resilience is not something we’re simply born with, but something we can acquire through intent and practice.

 In this podcast, you’ll hear:

• How purpose, passion, and persistence work together to build resilience
• Why vulnerability enables greater endurance than bravado
• What extreme expeditions can teach us about business, leadership, and avoiding burnout
• How keeping work, family, and personal dreams in balance sustains motivation

 A powerful conversation about facing hardship, learning from setbacks, and finding the drive to get back up one more time.

Adam Thorn interviews award-winner Paul Hawkins on the Secret Sauce of High Performance, according to NASA

This conversation between Adam and Paul explores why the 4-D program is so effective at creating high-performing teams. There is also a juicy serving of neuroscience and how leaders can optimise human and artificial intelligence in creative problem-solving at a strategic or organisational level. Paul discusses the skills required by leaders in 2030 and how these are sequenced in Crazy Might Work's Leading4Breakthrough® program. Leaders combine critical thinking and creative problem-solving with artificial intelligence to achieve extraordinary outcomes.

Thanks for listening to the Crazy Might Work Podcast!

We hope you have enjoyed listening to the great conversations with extraordinary people.

For more resources, go here https://www.crazymightwork.com/resources/

Charlie Pellerin (Former Director of Astrophysics, NASA) and Paul Hawkins (Chief Combobulator, Crazy Might Work) discuss the origins of the NASA 4-Dimensional Leadership Program and why it has been transformational globally since launching in the late 1990’s. The program has been voluntarily completed by over 1,500 NASA teams, contributing to NASA being named Best Place to Work in US government for the twelfth year in a row (May, 2024). Paul talks about the new program which now incorporates simulations and updates from the current space program, as well as contemporary neuroscientific research, making it a leadership and team development experience like no other.

Thanks for listening to the Crazy Might Work Podcast!

We hope you have enjoyed listening to the great conversations with extraordinary people.

For more resources, go here https://www.crazymightwork.com/resources/

The Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia disasters, along with other failed missions led NASA to rethink how it fostered leadership and culture. Now, Crazy Might Work is using an ultra-modern version of the NASA 4-Dimensional Leadership Program, (based on the current space program) to share those learnings with other organisations and leadership teams.

In this special episode recorded at the Australian Space Summit in May 2024, Paul Hawkins talks to host Adam Thorn about the program, it's origins in Antarctica, whether leaders are born or made, and how NASA became the best place to work in federal government for the 12th year in a row. 

Thanks for listening to the Crazy Might Work Podcast!

We hope you have enjoyed listening to the great conversations with extraordinary people.

For more resources, go here https://www.crazymightwork.com/resources/

In this inspiring interview, Shailee Basnet, a Nepalese mountaineer and leader, shares her unique experiences climbing Mount Everest and leading the Seven Summits Women Team in that endeavour. She shares the driving purpose behind the team to challenge gender stereotypes and managing team conflict and the importance of shared vision and commitment. She shares how her own purpose has shifted from personal achievements to empowering others. On failure, she shares the moment her team had to turn back from a summit climb and how that was to be celebrated as it prioritised safety. She shares candidly about humour, love, and perspective in overcoming challenges, and offers insights for maintaining emotional and mental resilience. She talks about her recently launched Female Leadership Academy, a project empowering young women in Nepal, and her future plans of using stand-up comedy as a fundraiser for the academy.

Takeaways

• Conflict within a team can be managed through a shared vision and commitment to a common goal.
• Innovation and trying new approaches are essential in achieving remarkable things.
• Humour, love, and perspective are essential in maintaining resilience.
• The Female Leadership Academy empowers young women in Nepal and aims to create a generation of super empowered individuals.

Thanks for listening to the Crazy Might Work Podcast!

We hope you have enjoyed listening to the great conversations with extraordinary people.

For more resources, go here https://www.crazymightwork.com/resources/

Matthew Elphick, a learning and development expert, shares his journey and insights into the boundaries of learning and development in organizations. He emphasises the importance of real change in the context of work and the power of coaching in facilitating that change. Matthew discusses the balance between theory and practice in adult learning and the need for organisations to prioritise learning as a strategic agenda. He also explores strategies for evaluating learning programs and the role of personalisation in organisational learning. Matthew concludes by discussing the potential of data-driven learning and the lessons we can learn from nature and permaculture principles.

Thanks for listening to the Crazy Might Work Podcast! 

We hope you have enjoyed listening to the great conversations with extraordinary people.  

For more resources, go here https://www.crazymightwork.com/resources/

Why innovation is a critical leadership capability and what to do about it.  

Paul Hawkins is the Chief Combobulator at Crazy Might Work, an award-winning, for-purpose innovation agency - and the first to be launched in Antarctica. He is certified in neuroscience, innovation, and appreciative inquiry through the Neuro-Leadership Institute, Stanford and Case Western Universities respectively and is completing a PhD in Innovation. His research has unlocked the code to how great leaders can create the right culture for innovation to thrive. 

In this insightful interview, Paul reveals why innovation pillars are in so many strategic plans and how organisations can support their leaders in delivering on that promise. Paul shares how the right approach, tool and method can make all the difference in how effectively you drive innovation as a leader.

Thanks for listening to the Crazy Might Work Podcast!

We hope you have enjoyed listening to the great conversations with extraordinary people.

For more resources, go here https://www.crazymightwork.com/resources/

Jeremy Utley is a world-leading expert in creativity and co-author of Ideaflow. In this interview, he tells us what Ideaflow is, and why it is the only business metric that matters. He is also a director of executive education at Stanford’s d.school and an adjunct professor at Stanford’s School of Engineering.

Thanks for listening to the Crazy Might Work Podcast!

We hope you have enjoyed listening to the great conversations with extraordinary people.

For more resources, go here https://www.crazymightwork.com/resources/

Meganne Christian is a trailblazer. After obtaining her PhD in Chemical Engineering at Wollongong University, she set out to become Australia’s first female astronaut, competing successfully against 22,500 other candidates for selection as a member of the European Space Agency’s final 17, ‘Class of 2023’. Like many other astronauts before her, she has ‘Wintered Over’ in Antarctica and experienced its ICE (Isolation, Confinement and Extreme Conditions) first hand. In this podcast, Meganne shares her experiences to date, providing welcome inspiration for students everywhere who aspire to be part of the Artemis or ‘Moon to Mars’ programs. In her day job, she is researching the 'Green Hydrogen' technologies that are set to change the frontiers of energy.

Thanks for listening to the Crazy Might Work Podcast!

We hope you have enjoyed listening to the great conversations with extraordinary people.

For more resources, go here https://www.crazymightwork.com/resources/

In this episode, we have Nicola Winter, who is Germany’s second female Air Force Fighter Pilot, who is also set to become Germany’s first female astronaut! She shares with us on her experiences on the astronaut selection process and how her outlook on life (and risk) was challenged when she became a mother. Nicola also shares her thoughts on NASA behaviours like Reality-Based Optimism and other lessons from her time in the Luftwaffe and in astronaut selection processes.  

Thanks for listening to the Crazy Might Work Podcast!

We hope you have enjoyed listening to the great conversations with extraordinary people.

For more resources, go here https://www.crazymightwork.com/resources/