Influential U

As a serial success in the startup space, Dan Murhpy has turned his attention to getting companies to the point of what he calls “just add water,” specifically, working to reduce the cost of scaled growth. While many startups struggle with similar breakdowns, Dan shares a set of practices and techniques to introduce new ways of operating that consistently reveal opportunities for course correction toward the ultimate aims. He addresses how Transactional Competence™ helps him produce the type of thinking, practices, and environment, which are be best suited to satisfy the aims of any organization.

His current primary focus is Hi Marley, a software startup that has developed an intelligent conversation platform designed for the Insurance ecosystem. As the head of Product Development, he holds a concern for the fitness of the entire organization and the effective deployment of their resources. He works with their senior leadership team to deal with the natural transition of a startup from working “in the business” to working “on the business.” He helps deal with the breakdowns that reveal themselves on the journey to a high performing organization.

As we teach it, the study of transactional behavior allows each of us to understand both the value and cost of our role in any transaction. For example, rigorous standards are valuable when confronting our limited resources–and at the same time–destructive when gregarious or imaginative moods are required. Too often, we get stuck when we assume our assets or contributions are always a good thing. We are often surprised when they backfire.

In 2016, Jeff Miller’s standards had him so imprisoned that the toll to his health finally stopped him in his tracks. Although the money was good, throughout most of his 25-year career, he was miserable. After studying with Influence Ecology, not only has he found peace of mind, he’s found freedom and satisfaction in a new career that takes advantage of his specialized knowledge while also enjoying a new chapter of art, music, and performance.

In 2012, John James and Lauren Cato Robertson started studying with Influence Ecology to develop their massage therapy business and now co-own the Academy where Lauren first trained. Their journey underscores many of the lessons that come with first expanding, then scaling their business. As John James says: It’s been pure joy and frequent discomfort.

In this interview, you’ll hear a very transparent view of what it’s like to start and grow a successful and expanding business. We first interviewed the business partners in May of 2017, where they spoke about the early days of working together and going from generalists to specialists. Now, you’ll hear how they’ve continued to transact powerfully and thrive.

Alex Bould works with large tech corporations to shorten their time to market. Working in the San Francisco Bay area, he leads enterprise-scale Agile transformations to help solve billion-dollar problems. In this interview, he talks about how what differentiates market leaders from market followers – and how this is changing. For the longest time, the pursuit of efficiency and productivity has dominated the landscape – higher efficiency and productivity leads to lower costs and lower risks for greater scale. As the marginal return for increased productivity diminishes – the landscape is now shifting – it’s shifting to one where the companies that can outlearn their competition will dominate.

Recently he and I worked together to bring Transactional Competence™ into his work with Western Digital Corporation. Western Digital is a Fortune 200 American computer data storage company. Alex is helping companies enter a new era where developing their fitness in how to think accurately is a core competency for any business operating at scale. He also addresses who the speed with which stuff gets done or where hard problems get handled creates a lot of room to move freely in an organization.

At the University of Virginia School of Medicine, I interviewed a group of women about the impact of our programs. I spoke with Ellen Beverly, Dawn Spiller, Olga Kipnis, Carolyn Saint, and Jenn Oliver about how the framework of Transactional Competence has helped them in their roles within the university.

What might you wonder is the most surprising outcome? An environment of respect for different roles and personalities.

While they each experienced more effectiveness and influence, the ability to understand Personality and Transactional Behavior™ has produced a culture of respect for the both the simple day to day transactions but also for the larger transactions that support the aims of the enterprise.

You can hear how Transactional Competence™ provides a framework where each individual can understand their own and other’s role in the transactions we all serve.

I apologize in advance that some of the audio quality may be difficult – but stick with it, as there are many great lessons here.

Why do some quit while others bounce back? Chances are you’ve heard tales of Thomas Edison overcoming failure. Edison (1847-1931) most famously invented the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb and is credited with developing devices for electrical power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures.

As a master of trial and error, these innovations have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. When asked about the many thousands of failures he had when trying to create the light bulb he famously said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Success is not for the faint of heart. Lofty goals are challenging to achieve, and most won’t reach them. But why do some quit while others bounce back? How do some muster up the resilience to try again when faced with failure? Maybe some people are not equipped with the constitution to handle failing, much less, repetitive failure. Likely, most of us wouldn’t stomach 10,000 failures in search of success. So, how do we develop the resilience we’ll require for our ambitions?

Perhaps it is useful to consider resilience in a new light. What if it isn’t an inherent trait or behavioral characteristic? What if it isn’t something fate happens to bestow upon us. Maybe there is something we’ve overlooked. What if resilience is not an individual trait but to a greater extent, an environmental phenomenon?

In today’s’ episode, we’ll hear Kim Corbett, a poster-child for resilience, talk about how she’s built a surplus of help to bounce back during challenging times.

We all assume we can play to our strong suits – but what about when those don’t work? How do I influence or gain compliance when being likable is my primary tool – and it sometimes backfires? As we teach it, all personalities experience themselves as both an asset AND a liability depending on the state of the transaction. For example, if we’re brainstorming new possibilities, it doesn’t work for skeptics to chime in with critical standards. However, skepticism is required if we’re making assessments about the value and relevance of something.

In today’s’ interview, our guest, Janet Vreeland, found herself puzzled when her attempts to be likable were met with disdain. We discuss how each personality may not know that their most powerful asset – can also be their most costly mistake.

Twin Studies have been used for decades to settle the age-old Nature vs. Nurture debate about human behavior: are we hardwired to act according to our biological blueprint, or does our environment influence our behavior or gene expression? Twin Study research has helped find answers to questions on space travel, obesity, IQ, and much more. Empirical evidence has settled the debate for good. The answer? We are both Nature AND Nurture.

But what about a Digital Twin…and what can it teach us? A digital twin is a real-time digital replica of a living or non-living physical entity. This replication is used to find the root cause of issues -or- experiment with changes before they are implemented in real-time. Neil Calvert and his company LINQ model your business with a digital twin – helping organizations experiment with future opportunities before investing in change and transformation. Think of it as Twin Studies for organizations – offering decisions based in evidence.

In a 2015 speech, American actress, producer, and entrepreneur, Reese Witherspoon launched a campaign to support women and their aspirations, with the battle-cry, “Ambition is not a dirty word.” In 2018, Oprah Winfrey interviewed Reese Witherspoon & American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director, Mindy Kaling to talk about that moment.

Growing up in lower-middle-class Texas, Influence Ecology CFO, Darryl Anderle was raised to think of Ambition as a negative word – it had selfish connotations. It seemed as if the standard for success was to get noticed for being independent, self-reliant, and hard-working; waiting for someone to consider him for advancement…which never came.

In our interview today, you’ll hear how his life is now very different; how a little ambition can go along way to satisfy our aims.

Here’s the interview.

Phyllis Eleanor Tichinin has always struggled to have her contrary voice heard amongst the mainstream. Raised rurally in the once fruit-filled Santa Clara Valley, she earned her education as a soil scientist and environmental manager at the University of California Davis. Now in New Zealand, she raised her two children on her deceased husband’s family farm. She is currently involved in consulting and activism to remove biocides from our food supply and environment.

During her studies with Influence Ecology, she discovered how to have her voice heard. As we teach it, the marketplace is indifferent to us and our aims. If we want our voice (or inviations, offers, and requests) heard, we might need to understand how to excite or agitate the indifference in others–to awaken them from their stupor. Like many who study here, there comes a time when the fact of an indifferent marketplace is accepted. We recommend that you don’t wage battle with gravity or indifference; you’ll lose. Instead, you must learn to work with it.

So how do you and I transact in an indifferent world? In this interview, you’ll hear more.