The Full Monty

While some of us find ourselves rooting for the little guy, it's more likely that we're secretly (or in some cases not-so-secretly) wishing for big companies to fail. Are they actually too big to fail? Sears (and others along the way) have taught us that failure can happen to anyone. 

What makes us take sides like this? And what can big companies do to inure themselves against the inevitable envy-based wishes for their demise?  

I'd be grateful if you'd leave a rating or review for the show. Help other people find us. 

• This episode: smonty.co/fullmonty53
• Other commentary and updates at ScottMonty.com

Theme song: Afternoon by Maestross is on a royalty-free license from Jamendo.com.

Image: The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire by J.M.W. Turner, 1817 (Wikimedia Commons - public domain)

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We think we're so smart. We see other people who get taken in by scams, con artists, and smooth talkers and we think, "That could never happen to me."

And we're wrong.

It's human nature to want to believe, to want to trust. And for that reason, half-truths can be much more dangerous than outright lies. Because of our desire for hope.

I'd be grateful if you'd leave a rating or review for the show. Help other people find us.

• This episode: smonty.co/fullmonty52
• Other commentary and updates at ScottMonty.com

Theme song: Afternoon by Maestross is on a royalty-free license from Jamendo.com.

Image: Stańczyk by Jan Matejko, 1862 (Wikimedia Commons , public domain)

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One of the most popular American poems seemingly celebrates individuality. The benefits of going your own way and forging your own path are the takeaways that most people read into it.

But they would be wrong.

The poem has deeper meaning that ties to the importance of storytelling and the narrative we create around ourselves and the brands we represent.

I'd be grateful if you'd leave a rating or review for the show. Help other people find us.

• This episode: smonty.co/fullmonty51
• The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
• Other commentary and updates at ScottMonty.com

Theme song: Afternoon by Maestross is on a royalty-free license from Jamendo.com.

Incidental music: Dreams Become Real by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)  Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1500027  Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud , Spotify, or Stitcher.

Or try this: ask Alexa or Google Home to "play the latest episode of The Full Monty podcast."

If you find this program valuable, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It covers the cost of hosting, email, music and more.

Every leader is concerned with leaving a legacy. That legacy not only defines how they'll be remembered, but it helps to steer the future of an organization or a society.

The way we portray ourselves and our brands today will leave a lasting mark on how we'll be regarded tomorrow. When we betray trust, the years to come will find us struggling to gain it back. And when we lead boldly and consistently, the future will be kinder.

Please consider leaving a rating or review for the show on iTunes and telling a colleague about it.

• This episode: smonty.co/fullmonty50
• The National Archives Building: A Temple to Our History
• Other commentary and updates at ScottMonty.com

Theme song: Afternoon by Maestross is on a royalty-free license from Jamendo.com.

Incidental music: Crisis - Scoring Action by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license  Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100277  Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Image: TheBattle of Actium by Lorenzo A. Castro, 1672 - National Maritime Museum, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons 

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We fool ourselves into thinking that our time on this earth is unique. That every challenge we face is new and different, and that no one else can possibly understand the pressures we face.

But the simple truth is there are numerous examples of similar circumstances throughout recorded history, whether analogous or identical. It just takes a bit of work to find them and understand the historical context that will prepare us for the future. 

In this episode, it's on to the second of the third sculptures at the National Archives as we determine what the future looks like.

I'd be honored if you'd leave a rating or review for the show. You'd be helping other people discover how smart you are.

• This episode: smonty.co/fullmonty49
• "Confusing and harmful abundance"
• Socrates' warning
• Malesherbes
• Amazon: Retailers Gonna Retail (Medium)
• The Prime Effect: How Amazon's Two-Day Shipping is Disrupting Retail
• How Sears and Montgomery Ward Changed American Shipping
• Just for fun: The Department Store Museum
• Other commentary and updates at ScottMonty.com

Theme song: Afternoon by Maestross is on a royalty-free license from Jamendo.com.

Image: public domain

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify , or Stitcher.

Or try this: ask Alexa or Google Home to "play the latest episode of The Full Monty podcast."

If you find this program valuable, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It covers the cost of hosting, email, music and more.

A.I. this. Blockchain that. The latest in the tech wars. You'd think we're living in the future. In some ways we are, but our route here is an interesting and essential one to understand. Rooted in so much of what we need to address today – in marketing, business, and technology – is where we came from. 

You've often heard the saying "those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it." It's not quite as bleak as that. But if you stop to observe, history has lessons that can actually provide a roadmap for us as we forge through the wilderness of the future.

In this episode, I'll take you to the steps of the National Archives in Washington, DC for a history lesson and a preview of things to come.

I'd be honored if you'd leave a rating or review for the show. You'd be helping other people find the show.

• This episode: smonty.co/fullmonty48
• The National Archives' larger-than-life statues
• Meyer Reinhold
• Other commentary and updates at ScottMonty.com

Theme song: Afternoon by Maestross is on a royalty-free license from Jamendo.com.

Image: Photos by Jeff Reed, National Archives

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts , SoundCloud , Spotify, or Stitcher.

Or try this: ask Alexa or Google Home to "play the latest episode of The Full Monty podcast."

If you find this program valuable, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It covers the cost of hosting, email, music and more.

"You have the grand gift of silence, Watson. It makes you invaluable as a companion." So said Sherlock Holmes said in "The Adventure of the Man with the Twisted Lip." The emotionally intelligent leader knows when to be silent as well. Yet we often forget that, in the heat of the moment. 

Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson and FDR were all tested by adversity, which informed their empathy, self-awareness, humility, and ability to reflect. Leaders of all stripes should heed the same advice as those leaders, and also recall some wise words from Cicero and John Calvin. 

I'd be honored if you'd leave a rating or review for the show. You'd be helping other people find the show. 

• This episode: smonty.co/fullmonty47
• The Simple vs. the Complex
• Other commentary and updates at ScottMonty.com

Theme song: Afternoon by Maestross is on a royalty-free license from Jamendo.com.

Incidental music: Americana - Aspiring by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200092 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Image: The Voyage of Life: Old Age by Thomas Cole, 1842 (public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify , or Stitcher. 

Or try this: ask Alexa or Google Home to "play the latest episode of The Full Monty podcast."

If you find this program valuable, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It covers the cost of hosting, email, music and more.

Everyone makes stupid decisions. Uninformed decisions, hasty decisions, misguided decisions. But the worst example is when someone doesn't make a decision at all. 

We all fear something. Rejection. Humiliation. Defeat. But should that be enough to hold us back? When we avoid putting ourselves out there – doing nothing rather than doing something counter-cultural or counter-intuitive – that sense of safety may be more damaging than the risk itself. 

I'd be honored if you'd leave a rating or review for the show. You'd be helping other people find the show.

• This episode: smonty.co/fullmonty46
• The Upside of Vulnerability
• Other commentary and updates at ScottMonty.com

Theme song: Afternoon by Maestross is on a royalty-free license from Jamendo.com.

Incidental music: House Of Evil by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)  Artist: http://audionautix.com/

Image: The Voyage of Life: Manhood by Thomas Cole, 1842 (public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, or Stitcher. Or try this: ask Alexa or Google Home to "play the latest episode of The Full Monty podcast."

If you find this program valuable, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It covers the cost of hosting, email, music and more.

Why define yourself by the constraints of typical topical titles? There's much more to the work that you do and why you do it: your motivation, your fulfillment, your service to others.

Instead of asking people what they do, ask more probing questions that get at the heart of what makes them tick. And always remember that there's someone far more powerful than executives or boards in charge.

I'd be honored if you'd leave a rating or review for the show. You'd be helping other people find the show.

• This episode: smonty.co/fullmonty45
• Other commentary and updates at ScottMonty.com

Theme song: Afternoon by Maestross is on a royalty-free license from Jamendo.com.

Incidental music: Longing and Concern by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)  Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100511  Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Image: The Voyage of Life: Youth by Thomas Cole, 1842 (public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, or Stitcher. Also, try the RadioPublic interface.

If you find this program valuable, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It covers the cost of hosting, email, music and more.

With a world full of complexities like GDPR, social media algorithms, artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, and how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop*, simplicity is your friend.

There's a unmet need for people who are able to take the complex and make it simple. And there's great talent in people who can make you feel like you've known it all along, without making you feel stupid.

This episode is a look inside the human mind – what causes us reflexively make things more complicated than they are, and why we're wistful for the past.

*Three. The answer is three licks.

[If you're reading this on email, click through for the SoundCloud player.]

I'd be honored if you'd leave a rating or review for the show. You'd be surprised at how much weight it pulls.

• This episode: smonty.co/fullmonty44
• Alan Mulally's One Ford strategy
• Other commentary and updates at ScottMonty.com

Theme song: Afternoon by Maestross is on a royalty-free license from Jamendo.com.

Incidental music: Prelude No. 17 by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

    Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/preludes/

    Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/

Image: Boy Blowing Soap Bubbles. Allegory on the Transitoriness and the Brevity of Life by Karel Dujardin, 1663 (public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify , or Stitcher. Also, try the RadioPublic interface.

If you find this program valuable, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It covers the cost of hosting, email, music and more.