OutsideVoices with Mark Bidwell

We have been extremely fortunate to have been able to attract some remarkable guests on OutsideVoices Podcast from the worlds of business, academia, sports, science and the arts, and all of these guests are world-class in their chosen field.

We ask our guests the same three questions, which get to the heart of what it takes as a leader to create an innovation ecosystem in your organization, irrespective of what business you are in, and where you are located. The guests are given these questions in advance so that they can reflect on them and the answers are invariably very insightful. The first of these three questions, "What Have You Changed Your Mind About Recently?" is the topic for this wrap up episode. The other two questions are featured in subsequent episodes.

The inspiration for the first question came from Charlie Munger, who in many respects constitutes one of the main wellsprings of inspiration for OutsideVoices.

Several years ago Charlie Munger made the following statement: "a year in which you do not change your mind on some big idea that is important to you is a wasted year". This question gets to the heart of the unconscious biases that we as individuals all suffer from. Many of us go through life seeking confirmatory evidence to reinforce our decisions. Sometimes however, we are able to overcome this confirmation bias and change our minds on something big. From a business point of view it is key that you are able to overcome the organisational biases like "not invented here" syndrome, groupthink, the halo effect, stereotyping: this is how we can start to look at the market differently, to build our innovation muscles, to innovate around multiple value drivers, o change our perspective and the perspectives of those around us. So this is why we ask our guests this question, and the answers are fascinating.

Guests featured in this episode:

• Back in the Game: EA's Near Death Experience with Andy Billings
• Dual Transformation and Why Noah's Arc Management Can't Work with Scott Anthony
• When Big and Small Make Great with Brad Feld
• Ignoring the Siren Call of Sameness Creates Lasting Value with Scott Page
• Innovating, Medici Style with Frans Johansson

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In this episode, we are joined by Amy C. Edmondson to discuss her latest book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Amy is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School and is the world expert on psychological safety, a topic recently made famous by the findings of Google's Project Aristotle, the quest to build the perfect team.

What Was Covered

• How leaders can create psychologically safe environments in the workplace, in service of innovation and profitable growth.
• The 'fearless' organization, and why fear-based leadership strategies are a recipe for failure.
• How leaders leverage approaches from indigenous cultures to deal with some of the worlds more pressing VUCA challenges

• Psychological safety: why workplaces should be safe spaces for employees to explore, experiment and solve problems.
• Uncertainty and interdependence: why human and interpersonal fears create unsafe work environments.
• Silence: why keeping quiet can be dangerous and result in enormous mistakes and value destruction, as well as lost market opportunities.

• Get in touch with Amy via Twitter or LinkedIn
• Amy's page at Harvard Business School
• The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, a book by Amy Edmondson
• What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team, HBS case by Charles Duhigg
• Cynthia Carroll at Anglo American, an article by Gautam Mukunda, Lisa Mazzanti and Aldo Sesia
• The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women, a book by Kate Moore
• Questions Are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life, a book by Hal Gregersen
• Other mentions: Thinkers50, Bridgewater, Eilleen Fisher fashion Company, Pixar, Volkswagen, Wells Fargo
• Human Innovation, Smart Machines with Ed Hess, OutsideVoices Podcast
• Inventing The Future with Business Model Innovation with Alex Osterwalder, OutsideVoices Podcast

• Follow us on LinkedIn
• Check us out on Twitter

In this episode, we are joined by author and professor, Ed Hess. Ed has published several notable books on learning and innovation including Learn or Die and his most recent work, Humility is the New Smart: Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age. Ed is currently a professor, Batten Executive-in-Residence and Batten Faculty Fellow at the Darden Graduate Business School at the University of Virginia.

What is Covered

• The company of the future in the smart machine age is one where innovation is the strategic differentiator - as operational excellence is going to be primarily technology enabled
• How human learning underpins both operational excellence and innovation
• Why mitigating and overcoming fear and ego is the key to becoming a better learner.

• 'Unbossing' and how to create an idea meritocracy by devaluing the hierarchy of empowerment.
• How the future of technology will humanize business, help people to overcome their own personal limitations and develop as highly creative, intuitive, and innovative human beings.
• How changing our mental models can help us develop listening and engagement skills to connect with others to drive innovation.

• Get in touch with Ed Hess via email, LinkedIn or Twitter
• Darden Business School at the University of Virginia
• Learn or Die, a book by Ed Hess
• Humility Is the New Smart: Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age, a book by Ed Hess
• Bridgewater Associates
• Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences, a book by William Richards
• Bone Games: Extreme Sports, Shamanism, Zen, and the Search for Transcendence, a book by Rob Schultheis
• Hacking Flow: How to Make Outperformance a Habit with Steven Kotler – OutsideVoice Podcast

My guest today is Wade Davis, an author and anthropologist, who was until recently Explorer in Residence for the National Geographic Society and is currently Professor of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. Some of his books include "The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World," "One River," about which Sting wrote in his review "Read this book", and most recently "Magdalena" which was described by the President of Colombia as essential reading for every adult Colombian.

Wade Davis is probably the most well known anthropologist in the world today. His work has received a huge boost recently from an article he wrote in The Rolling Stone Magazine about the decline of America brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, and we talk about the ongoing work he's planning with The Rolling Stone going forward. As well as being a great writer, this interview illustrates just how compelling a storyteller Wade Davis is.

What is Covered

- What tools anthropologists can bring to the world leaders in order to re-establish geopolitical stability and deal with the climate crisis

- Redefining the notion of wealth in contemporary society by finding inspiration in the reciprocal relationship to nature of indigenous communities

- Why Colombia is one of the hotspots of cultural and natural diversity, as well as resilience in a globalised world

Key Learnings and Takeaways

- The key thing to step back from is cultural myopia, and the idea that my world is the real world and everybody else is a failed attempt to be me; we can't afford that anymore in an interconnected world.

- In a society like the Penan culture, where material accumulation has no meaning, and where everybody can essentially make everything from the raw resources of the forest, wealth is defined explicitly as a strength of social relations between people.

- Colombia is not a place of drugs and violence; it's a land with the greatest biodiversity, geographical diversity and cultural diversity in the Americas.

Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

- Connect with Wade Davis at https://daviswade.com/

- Magdalena: River of Dreams by Wade Davis https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/37925/magdalena-by-wade-davis/

- The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World by Wade Davis https://www.amazon.com/Wayfinders-Ancient-Wisdom-Matters-Lecture/dp/0887847668/

- One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forests by Wade Davis https://www.amazon.com/One-River-Wade-Davis/dp/0684834960/

- Colliding with the Unexpected with Gillian Tett on OutsideVoices Podcast https://outsidelens.com/colliding-with-the-unexpected-with-gillian-tett/

My guest in this episode is Jennifer Berger, the CEO of Cultivating Leadership, an organization that helps leaders use complexity as the key that unlocks new possibilities for a better future.

Jennifer has worked with senior leaders in companies like Google, KPMG, Lion, Microsoft and Wikimedia. She is the author of three books, the latest one being Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: How to Thrive in Complexity which we talk about in this interview.

She speaks at leadership and coaching conferences, and offers occasional courses for coaches at Harvard University, the University of Sydney, and Oxford Brookes University.

• What is unique about complexity today that many leaders are experiencing in their world
• Five key mindtraps to recognize and avoid in dealing with complexity: the desire for simple stories, the sense of rightness, the need for agreement, the need for control, and protecting our egos
• Useful practices to engage with, and questions to ask, in order to overcome these mindtraps

• Harnessing complexity as a force and a competitive advantage in today's world
• The rewards of looking at situations from multiple perspectives and learning to disagree better
• Everyone is subjected to mind traps - the more you feel certain about something, the more likely you are falling into a mind trap

• Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: How to Thrive in Complexity, a book by Jennifer Garvey Berger
• Cultivating Leadership
• Get in touch with Jennifer via LinkedIn and Twitter
• Changing on the Job: Developing Leaders for a Complex World, a book by Jennifer Garvey Berger
• Simple Habits for Complex Times: Powerful Practices for Leaders, a book by Jennifer Garvey Berger
• Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error, a book by Kathryn Schulz
• On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not, a book by Robert Burton
• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, a book by Yuval Noah Harari
• Lisa Bodell: Killing Companies, Creating Space, the Not-To-Do List - OutsideVoices Podcast

Sahar Hashemi OBE is best known as the founder of Coffee Republic, as well as a confectionery brand Skinny Candy. She is active in the world of entrepreneurialism and charity, and is an accomplished author, having written "Anyone can do it" about her journey from corporate lawyer to founding a successful chain of coffee shops, and a more recent book titled "Start Up Forever" helping large companies innovate.

In this conversation, we cover all topics related to being an entrepreneur, building a business, and what it means from a personal development point of view. We discuss some of the skills and mindsets that one needs, as well as how this impacts people in larger process-driven organizations looking to foster a more entrepreneurial mindset.

What Is Covered:

• How entrepreneurialism drives resourcefulness and self-discovery
• Why people confuse entrepreneurs with inventors and what the difference is
• The 'startup forever' habits that can help large companies adopt an entrepreneurial mindset

Key Learnings and Takeaways:

• The only way to give momentum to an entrepreneurial idea is to take it out of one's head, make that first phone call, get a sample of it, try to price it and make the idea tangible in the physical world.
• Five habits to foster entrepreneurial mindset: get rid of bureaucracy and processes; get out of the office; be clueless, curious, have an open mind; bootstrap and try your idea out on a small scale, and expect people to say no to your idea.
• The only way to see how a company performs is to maintain the balance between the status quo and having certain systems and processes in place, but also giving people the freedom to break that status quo.

Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• Anyone Can Do It: Building Coffee Republic From Our Kitchen Table by Sahar Hashemi
• Start Up Forever by Sahar Hashemi
• Sahar Hashemi's Website
• Connect with Sahar Hashemi on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn
• When Big and Small Make Great with Brad Feld - OutsideVoices Podcast

In this episode, we are joined by Hal Gregersen, author of The Innovator's DNA, to discuss his recent book, Questions are the Answer. Hal is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Innovation and the Executive Director of the Leadership Center at MIT, and has previously taught at Dartmouth College, The World Economic Forum, and the London Business School.

What was covered

• Why Hal believes most CEOs have trouble asking questions and how to pivot from answer-centric to question-led leadership.
• How to be a better leader by asking the 'different, better question' and using the 'power of the pause'.
• How Hal's question-first process of reframing of challenges can help us discover the winning solution.

• Associational thinking: how observing, networking, and experimenting helps the world's top leaders find novel solutions nobody has thought of before.
• Catalytic questions: why challenging our false assumptions of the world forces us to create new beliefs and act on our questions.
• Question bursts: why receiving no answers to our questions can help us to innovatively solve problems.

• Get in touch with Hal via email, Twitter or LinkedIn
• Hal's website
• The Innovator's DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators, a book by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen and Clayton M. Christensen
• Questions Are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life, a book by Hal Gregersen
• MIT Leadership Center, website
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a book by Douglas Adams
• Marc Benioff, Chairman & Co-CEO of Salesforce
• Principles: Life and Work, a book by Ray Dalio
• The Seat of the Soul, a book by Gary Zukav
• Player Piano: A Novel, a book by Kurt Vonnegut
• Brief Answers to the Big Questions, a book by Stephen Hawking
• Melinda Gates, co-chair and trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Tony Robbins, website
• Sam Abell, National Geographic photographer

James Breiding is the author of Swiss Made, a book on why Switzerland - a tiny country with few natural advantages - has become so successful in the world of banking, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and more.

James discusses innovation in Switzerland and makes the point that when an entrepreneur comes up with a new and innovative method or product, there will be resistance from those who have accepted the status quo. Entrepreneurs as well as intrapreneurs need to have thick skin if they wish to disrupt the market.

What is Covered:

• 03:55 - Why did James write the book, Swiss Made?
• 05:30 - This book is now used by Swiss diplomats, although it was not originally intended to be that way.
• 07:20 - What are some of the factors that have contributed to Switzerland's economic strength?
• 09:55 - Switzerland and other small countries tend to be more modest. James explains further.
• 11:25 - The average age of an S&P 500 company is 15 years.
• 14:10 - As James investigated further into the longevity of Swiss companies, was there a particular story that surprised him?
• 15:10 - About 11% of Swiss citizens live overseas.
• 19:30 - James discusses Swatch's story.
• 20:40 - Nobody has been able to replicate the Swatch.
• 24:40 - Apple isn't the only company who was able to create absolute raving fans over their products.
• 24:55 - Nestle's senior management was completely against the idea of Espresso.
• 26:35 - People underestimate how costly innovation is. You need to have a high tolerance for failure.
• 27:05 - We see the successes, but we very rarely see the failed attempts that don't make the history books.
• 29:15 - Successful founders like Steve Jobs tend not to be people you want to have a beer with.
• 29:45 - Innovators will get resistance from people who are used to doing things the tried and true way.
• 31:10 - Why do multinationals love Switzerland?
• 34:50 - Is there a connection between the success of small companies being located in countries with conscription?
• 38:05 - How does James think about innovation and does he adapt his investment approach when dealing with an innovative company?
• 42:50 - What are James's morning rituals?
• 44:00 - What has James changed his mind about recently?
• 45:30 - What advice does James have for his 25-year-old self?
• 50:55 - Look out for James's new book, Too Small to Fail, set to be released in 2017.

Links and Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

• Swiss Made: The Untold Story Behind Switzerland's Success by James Breiding
• Swiss Made Foundation
• Connect with James Breiding on LinkedIn and Twitter
• Naissance Capital

Steven Kotler is a bestselling author and award-winning journalist, and the Cofounder and Director of Research at The Flow Genome Project, a research organisation dedicated to understanding the peak human performance state of Flow. Today he joins us to discuss how to hack Flow and how it can improve business performance.

What was covered

• Understanding flow as the peak state of consciousness in human performance and how it is the signature of commitment and performance in domains as varied as business and sports
• How flow is one of the most important skills for employees to have in the 21st century, its importance in driving creative problem solving in the VUCA world, and why companies like Patagonia embed it into their cultures and processes.
• The four stages of flow, and what you can do to build it into your work and personal life.

Key Takeaways and Learnings

• Finding the 'Sweet Spot' – working on a challenge that is neither boredom nor anxiety inducing – and how this is the most recurrent position in which Flow occurs
• Understanding the triggers of flow and how using one or more effectively in managing yourself and employees in business can maximize Flow performance
• How each of the four stages of the Flow cycle is essential to producing flow and the emotions such as frustration are actually a sign of heading in the right direction

Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• Connect with Steven Kotler https://www.stevenkotler.com/
• Stealing Fire by Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal https://www.stevenkotler.com/book-pages/stealing-fire
• The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler https://www.stevenkotler.com/book-pages/stealing-fire
• Flow Research Collective https://www.flowresearchcollective.com/

In this episode, we are joined by author and journalist Gillian Tett, to discuss the role anthropology plays in today's business world. Gillian is the author of the award-winning book, Fool's Gold, which analyses the origin of the 2008 financial crisis, and most recently, The Silo Effect, and is currently a columnist and US Managing Editor of The Financial Times.

What Was Covered

• Why more and more companies today are turning to anthropologists for insight into employee and consumer culture.
• What executives can do to prevent silos from developing within their organizations.
• How anthropology and cultural awareness can help us to understand and predict the future of the digital and technology economy.

• Social silences: why we should pay more attention to what we're not talking about.
• Insider-outsider perspective: how empathizing and contextualizing can help executives to analyze their own company cultures and structures.
• Slack: why the freedom to collide with the unexpected can lead to innovation.

• Get in touch with Gillian via Twitter or email
• Financial Times, website
• Saving the Sun, a book by Gillian Tett
• Fool's Gold: The Inside Story of J.P. Morgan and How Wall St. Greed Corrupted Its Bold Dream and Created a Financial Catastrophe, a book by Gillian Tett
• The Silo Effect, a book by Gillian Tett
• Jamie Dimon's 'listening' bus? Get on board, an article by Gillian Tett