Syntropic World

Forever curious about the intersection of culture, neuroscience, and business, Mark has spent the last two decades applying his insights and research in a wide range of projects and organizations. He has worked with high level executives, renown creative professionals, startups, and large corporations. Former positions include Vice President of Client Affairs for Globefish Media BV, and Principal at UFUSE Visionary Strategy Management.

As the CEO of COMMON, a creative accelerator and community for social enterprises and projects, Mark joined Alex Bogusky, Rob Schuham and John Bielenberg. At COMMON, he advises a wide range of businesses spanning 20 countries and 25 industries using a blend of leadership development and organizational design methodologies. He is the creator of the Maniacal Business Attack, an immersive strategic process that aligns intent with action in the marketplace, and has been called on to help senior leadership at brands such as Calvin Klein, Taco Bell, Warner Bros. create new approaches to leadership and responsive systems for operating responsibly in complex market conditions.

He is married to Malene, a Dane, and father of two beautiful girls, a classical composer, and lover of tractors. Mark studied Zen Buddhism under the auspices of Bill Yoshin Jordan, Abbot of the Santa Monica Zen Center from 1997 to 2011. He took his first set of Priest vows in 2007 and completed his full ordination in 2008. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

"There is no shortage of creativity, know-how, and resources. A better world comes down to creating powerful experiences that remind people that they actually love and care about the welfare of other human beings. For those who embrace this view, businesses and brands are tools that we can use to generate that experience, and inspire people to take action. I’ve been fortunate throughout my career, and as CEO of COMMON, to have been asked to participate in this pursuit."

In this episode we discuss Trauma and its effects, relinquishing the assumed right to power, managing rage, being a black man in LA during these times and much more.

Today on the podcast meet Casey Lyons, a 29 year old former carpenter turned co-founder of Australian nationally recognised not-for-profit Charity, LIVIN. LIVIN was founded in honour of Casey's best friend, Dwayne Lally who sadly took his life after living in silence with a mental illness. LIVIN is all about living your life at the top and breaking the stigma of mental health. Connecting, supporting and encouraging one another to talk about their feelings and challenges because “It Ain’t Weak to Speak”.

Casey and Sam, the two co-founders of LIVIN, just won the Gold Coast Social Entrepreneurs of the Year Award. Casey was a speaker at Big Blue Sky in 2016.

In this episode we discuss suicide and suicide prevention, vulnerability, strength, power, impending fatherhood, daily habits, and much more.

Richard Hames is considered to be among the world's most influential intellectuals and foresight practitioners. An Australian citizen, educated in Europe and domiciled in Thailand, Richard has been honoured with numerous awards including a French Government Scholarship, a Leverhulme European Fellowship, the Mondadori Professorial Fellowship and the inaugural Lord Attlee Fellowship. Richard is Executive Chairman of the Centre for the Future, Director of HamesMcGregor + Partners, and Chairman of the Asian Foresight Institute. He is also an elected Fellow of the World Academy of Art & Science. Richard is a member of various advisory boards and has been a personal mentor to Presidents, Heads of State, and some of the world's most innovative CEOs. A compelling public speaker, Richard is the author of seven books, the latest being Heresies:Essays on the Future of Humanity.  He is father to ten children and has fourteen grandchildren.

In this episode we discuss fatherhood the second time around, losing his own father at age seven, power and its various manifestations, that if we do not handle vulnerability we become fragile (less resilient), the need for a pluriversal education system, and much more.

The conversation has humour and emotion in it, offering wisdom from years of commitment towards building a better world.

Adam is a serial innovator with a twenty year global history of starting fast growth businesses in sport, information and media. Outspoken and opinionated with a revolutionary bent, Adam has a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and has studied at the Judge Business School, Cambridge University. 

With deep expertise in fast growth business development, Adam was the CEO of BRW’s 2010 Fastest Growing Private Company (under $100M), Sportsnet Corporation. 

Adam is the Founder, Chief Steward & Council Member of global democracy movement MiVote which was a finalist in the 2016 Singularity University Grand Global Challenge Awards. He is a member of the UN Blockchain for Social Impact group and is featured in the book Democracy Squared.

Despite his career milestones, Adam's most important job is that of partner to Mel and father to four wonderful angels; Kennedy, Percie, Avery and Jasper. Adam lives in Melbourne, Australia but travel extensively. The world is his innovation lab.

Our conversations ranges from fathering, dark nights, asking for help and working with a highly diverse team.

We ended the conversation with a discussion about power. Adam talked about 3 types of power, and how they are playing out on the world political stage.

We talked about the global propaganda machine lead by Rupert Murdoch, and how those who have enduring leadership power are comfortable presenting all sides of an argument as a matter of integrity and respect.

This week my guest is Amir Nasr, Vancouver based Sudanese Nubian Arab, previously a stateless person living in five countries prior to his arrival in Canada and willing to discuss what it means to be a man through the lens of his global life experiences.

Amir has shared the stage with Nobel Peace Laureates and former presidents, and spoken at events in North America, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, as well as at YPO, Afest, Google, Cato Institute and the Oslo Freedom Forum, among others. He has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Esquire and dozens of media outlets in over 13 languages, as well as in the Emmy-nominated documentary film Live Your Quest.

He is the founder and creative director of Assertive & Company.

Murray is the mind behind some of the most progressive and influential projects in Australia.

With an award winning career spanning multiple industries, including design, media, advertising and events, Murray is unlike almost every entrepreneur you’ve ever come across before.

A proud father and mental health advocate, his online projects include Australia’s first ever successfully funded Kickstarter campaign called ‘Pretty Rad for a Dad’ and Dads.Co, a global community of digital dads.

But it’s his offline work, in large scale, emerging technology events where he has truly made his mark. With a deep sense of curiosity and a unique ability to connect cultural, political and technological dots, Murray has helped design and deliver events like Pause Fest in Melbourne and Myriad in Queensland.

In this conversation we talk being a dad, how to manage the low points, fishing as meditation and developing sustainable healthy habits using a simple technology.

Murray is the mind behind some of the most progressive and influential projects in Australia.

With an award winning career spanning multiple industries, including design, media, advertising and events, Murray is unlike almost every entrepreneur you’ve ever come across before.

A proud father and mental health advocate, his online projects include Australia’s first ever successfully funded Kickstarter campaign called ‘Pretty Rad for a Dad’ and Dads.Co, a global community of digital dads.

But it’s his offline work, in large scale, emerging technology events where he has truly made his mark. With a deep sense of curiosity and a unique ability to connect cultural, political and technological dots, Murray has helped design and deliver events like Pause Fest in Melbourne and Myriad in Queensland.

In this conversation we talk being a dad, how to manage the low points, fishing as meditation and developing sustainable healthy habits using a simple technology.

Simon Kalinowski is a technology minded and spirited entrepreneur with a passion for ecological sustainability. He is a proud advocate for sustainable practices – particularly in the waste industry and through developing his own circular economy project; a regenerative farm in Northern NSW. 

Simon's in-depth business acumen has allowed him to play to his strengths – learning through funding and fixing his own mistakes. Over the course of his career, Simon has also had the opportunity to work with diverse teams to build products and develop partnerships that have achieved great success. For Simon, everything is personal – so business and life provide opportunities and challenges and he believes personal growth and individual action is essential to improving the world around you.

In this conversation we discussed fatherhood, how it has changed him, how Simon has learned from his mistakes, and at the end, we begin to explore the topic of shame.

48 seconds on the work behind this podcast

Simon Kalinowski is a technology minded and spirited entrepreneur with a passion for ecological sustainability. He is a proud advocate for sustainable practices – particularly in the waste industry and through developing his own circular economy project; a regenerative farm in Northern NSW. 

Simon's in-depth business acumen has allowed him to play to his strengths – learning through funding and fixing his own mistakes. Over the course of his career, Simon has also had the opportunity to work with diverse teams to build products and develop partnerships that have achieved great success. For Simon, everything is personal – so business and life provide opportunities and challenges and he believes personal growth and individual action is essential to improving the world around you.

In this conversation we discussed fatherhood, how it has changed him, how Simon has learned from his mistakes, and at the end, we begin to explore the topic of shame.