The Impossible Network

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The Impossible Network episodes

August 06, 2019 033: Reflections On Mental Wellness
This week I want to reflect on mental wellness, technology, and sleep.During this first season we didn't set out to explore mental wellness but it became apparent that in the arc of their stories that mental fortitude, resilience, and strength were crucial to the achievements of our guests, even those that had experienced mental health challenges in their lives.Reflecting on these many interviews, intentionality seems to define our guests. Intentionality of how they live their lives and how they live with technology. Whether Ryder Carroll through his Bullet Journal or Debbie Millman’s life design methodology where she writes a projected vision of her perfect day five years in the future, defining their future selves seems to be a common trait. Outside of the Podcast, I did a breakfast interview with Fabrice Grinda, Forbes listed No1 Angel Investor, where he laid out his life planning approach, writing 20000-word letters to himself outlining his future life. This for me is intentionality. We live in a world where It’s so easy to assume from the polished veneer of our socially connected world that everyone is happy, mentally strong and resilient. Contrast that with the common reality of the distracted lives of those who live in a constant state of what is often called Continuous Partial Attention. I’ll quote from the visionary thinker and thought leader, Linda Stone: ‘In large doses, it contributes to a stressful lifestyle, to operating in crisis management mode, and to a compromised ability to reflect, to make decisions, and to think creatively. In a 24/7, always-on world, continuous partial attention used as our dominant attention mode contributes to a feeling of overwhelm, over-stimulation and to a sense of being unfulfilled. We are so accessible, we’re inaccessible. The latest, greatest powerful technologies have contributed to our feeling increasingly powerless'.Just consider the neurological and neuro-chemical effects this is having a pandemic of global proportions - 320m people globally are suffering from depression and anxiety and that’s just the reported numbers - 16.1 million American workers are affected by Major Depressive Disorder according to Workplacementalhealth.org - In the US alone the feeling of social isolation is on the rise - 50% of of the population claim to feel ‘alone...disconnected ...that no one really knows us’ - Since 2011 depression rates have risen 60% amongst 12-17-year-old teens and young adults.This is an individual and a collective problem44% of adults say stress has increased in the last five years 56% of employees say stress and anxiety impact their job performance 62% of missed workdays are attributed to Mental Conditions We need to confront this. I think most of us have experienced the negative impact that social media and technology can have on wellbeing. But we can’t turn back the technology timeline and we need to face emerging challenges of rapidly changing world where our identity and purpose as humans will be challenged by the advances in AI and Machine learning - - where they can out think us, - outperform us - and out reason us…Soon we will have to question more than ever - who we are - what we want to be - and doSo as technology threatens to erode our humanity, we need to strengthen our collective identity and that starts with us to take action and confront the realities of how we live with technology today. If you are a parent check out CommonSenseMedia.orgIf your a business check out the Center for Humane Technology And I urge everyone to read the important book by Matthew Walker called Why We Sleep. If we are to start anywhere we need to reclaim our right to sleep. As our celebrity trainer guest, Josh Holland stated, fitness and wellness start with sleep. - The WHO lists lack of societal sleep as a world health epidemic ...
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6 min
July 30, 2019 032: Reflections On Serendipity
I’m going to start these reflections with serendipity.It’s the underlying theme of this series, a word that’s often used but as a concept somewhat misunderstood. Let’s start with its origins. The origins of words always make for fascinating reading. But ‘serendipity’ has a particularly interesting origin story. The word ‘serendipity’ was invented on 28 January 1754 in a letter from Horace Walpole to another Horace—Mann.When Walpole (son of Britain’s first de facto Prime Minister, Robert Walpole) wrote down the word ‘serendipity’ for the first time, he was giving the English language one of its most adored, but bewildering words. Walpole was a prolific creator, or populariser, of new words. The Oxford English Dictionary credits him with introducing over 200 words into the English language, among them malaria, nuance, somber, and souvenir.But Walpole is most recognized neologism was ‘serendipity’, often cited as meaning the ‘faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident’. The word ‘serendipity’ is derived from Serendip, the old name for Sri Lanka, but the etymology of Walpole’s creation of serendipity stems from a specific work of literature, a Persian fairy tale called “The Three Princes of Serendip”: as princes traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest off. In fact, it’s one of the earliest detective stories in existence: the story of how three princes track down a missing camel through ‘luck and good fortune’. However, the princes actually utilize curiosity or forensic deduction – on a Sherlockian level. And it’s that curiosity and deduction that, ironically, gets them into trouble. As the story goes - they were traveling through the desert, when they met a merchant whose camel had gone missing.They helped the merchant by tracking the animal’s progress through the land. However the descriptions and deductions they make about the lost animal were in such striking detail that the merchant suspected them of having stolen it and had the stand trial before the king, Bahram Gur, where the merchant publicly accuses the princes of theft, and the king sentences them to death – unless they can produce the camel and return it to its owner.Among the princes' deductions that set off the suspicion was that they correctly managed to identify that it was lame in one leg, blind in one eye, and had a missing tooth. They deduced these distinguishing features from the patches of grass on which the camel had grazed, and the imprints it had left in the ground. What happens to the princes in the end? Good fortune intervened and their lives are spared, when a traveler shows up and announces that he has seen a camel wandering in the desert – the merchant’s missing camel. The merchant gets his camel back, and the king issues a reprieve to the princes –and even appoints them his special advisers, in recognition of their talents.In conclusion, their lives are spared, by what Walpole coined as serendipity, and they even owed their subsequent advisory careers to the King as a serendipitous occurrence in itself.So why do we ask all our guests about serendipity?One we are interested in their interpretation of it and examples thereofTo explore whether its more than happy accidents and that serendipity can be engineered. What impact does upbringing have on a guest’s willingness to embrace risk, welcome ambiguity, confront fear, and to take the road less traveled? Where did their curiosity come from, was it innate or nurtured or both? How has that curiosity fueled their life journey? And how do they continue to feed it?As the three princes tale demonstrates there is always something unexpected, at the core of serendipity, an unanticipated occurrence, a moment or an encounter that, that planning can not predict, that results in a positive outcome. This is contrary to our natural ...
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7 min
July 23, 2019031: It's A Wrap - End of Season One
Welcome to The Impossible Network.

This is just a short episode to say we reached our 30th episode last week and with that event, we ended Season One of The Impossible Network.
Over the next 5 weeks until the next season starts we will be posting our reflections, questions, and perspectives on some of the big themes from season one:

The impact of parental support
The damage of abuse
The character to survive it
We’ll talk more about the power of curiosity
Creating environments where creativity can flourish
We’ll explore resilience, grit, and determination
Risk-taking, fear, and failure
Mental wellness
Why we think serendipity can be engineered
The principles that connected our guests
And of course, we’ll reflect on what we consider possible.

If you’re new to the show and haven’t listened to some of our early episodes I’d encourage you to listen to Tyrique Glasgow, Michael Ventura, and Merritt Moore as starters.

We have some captivating guests coming in series two including visionary impresario behind Studio 54 Carmen D’Alessio and renowned New York Gallerist Jose Freire, and many more.
Reflections start next week.
As ever, stay curious, be creative and be open to serendipity.

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2 min
July 16, 2019 030: Debbie Millman - When Life Design Meets Serendipity
Guest Overview
One of the most influential voices in design, led the re-design of over 200 global brands, is Co-founder of the Masters in Branding program at New York’s School of Visual Arts and creator, author of six books, and host of one of the most popular and longest running podcasts, Design Matters, is this week’s guest Debbie Millman.
As a guest on countless podcasts, we avoid going over much of what you may have already heard in other interviews. Instead, we delve into who Debbie is.
I hope you enjoy this emotive exploration into the life design of Debbie Millman.
What We Discuss
Her upbringing in New York
The emotional impact and stigma of her parent's divorce aged eight
The impact of the abuse she experienced from her stepfather
A drawing she created as a child that became a visual representation her future life
Why Manhattan became what she called her ‘non-negotiable’
The impact and experience of 9/11
Her life-long struggle with a lack of self-belief
Resilience, hope, and shame
The validation she received from teachers for her
The empowering effect from one professor's encouragement
Her creativity as a child
The liberating experience of being single in 2017
The serendipity and positive impact of a character destroying post on the Speak Up blog
How she guides and advises her students
Debbie’s innate curiosity
How she interviews for attitude
The transformative impact of coming out in her 50’s
Her perspective on courage
We discuss Debbie’s periods of depression and despair
We cover her principles
Her views on failure
The hard choices she has made
Her answer to our impossible question
Who we interview next
On Social
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Linkedin
Links In The Show
Debbie Millman
Milton Glaser
School of Visual Arts
One of Us movie
SUNY Albany
Professor Helen Regueiro Elam
Speak Up Blog
Hacking the American Mind Robert Lustig
AIGA
Print Magazine
Steven Heller
Masters In Branding Program
Sterling Brands
David Lee Roth
Joyful Heart Foundation
Fabrice Grinda
Hedonic Treadmill
Roxanne Gay
Hunger Book
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49 min
July 09, 2019 029: Anahita Moghaddam - Transcendence, Transformation and Finding Purpose
Guest Overview Born in Iran, raised in Germany, a social anthropologist, an executive coach, organizational trainer and international speaker, founder of contemplative science focused Neural Beings, and long term resident of New York is this week’s guest, Anahita Moghaddam. In this episode, Anahita tells the story of her troubled, anger-fueled and rebellious early years, the impact of her parents and upbringing and her struggles with sexual identity, purpose, and life direction. Anahita discusses the role and transformative power of dance in her growth and how a trip to India transformed her life and set her on her Buddhist Spiritual path. She explains how a serendipitous flight cancellation resulted in coming face to face with the Dalai Lama on the re-booked flight. We also discuss the happy accidents and chance encounters, that have defined her spiritual path in New York Anahita explains how her rigorous and experiential contemplative science methodology blends Eastern practices and wisdom, with the western fields of psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, and biology. We discuss the damaging fragmentation of technology on our attention, on self and our communities and the practices we can all adopt to lead more balanced positive lives. She shares her perspective on the power of femininity in society and culture and ideas on new forms of education. I hope you’re inspired by this episode of powerful insights into the human experience, and her commitment to self-inquiry with Anahita Moghaddam. What We Discuss Being born in Iran and experiencing the traumas of the Iran-Iraq war Moving to London to study Marketing Immersing herself in the gay club scene to dance and feel safeHer drug abuse, inner dialogue, partying and hitting rock bottomThe bubble that was her school life, her self-harm, and her alienation The duality of growing up in Germany and spending vacation time in Iran The ambiguity of her upbringing The wake-up call of her father dyingThe end of her spiral of destruction Her spiritual awakening from a 3-month immersive retreat in IndiaLeaving behind suffering, alienation, and abuseReturning to London to complete her Masters in SocioAnthropology How consulting and interviewing third-world leaders opened her mind to her coaching abilities Her burning desire to move to New YorkThe serendipitous impact of having $10,000 deposited in her bank account.The openness and potential of NYC Her search for purpose Migrating from Project Management to CoachingHer journaling and documentation of her inner life Knocking on Patti Smith's front door and what happened next Studying at Contemplative Science at Nalanda Institute Explaining Contemplative ScienceWhy she considers curiosity and kindness so powerfulThe role of loveHow she considers and views the mind vs the brain How actions impact on world view and life How the Dalai Lama became her teacherHer perspective on social media and technology and the fragmentation of attentionThe role and power of mindfulness to regulate social media Negativity bias Power of a gratitude practice Her view on the imperative to increase the number of women in power New innovations in education Identifying and challenging self-limiting beliefsNeural Beings impact over the next 10 yearsWhen she realized purpose was her pathHer quick-fire question answers Social Links Linkedin Instagram Links In The ShowNeuralBeingsIran Iraq War Lenny KayePatti Smith Nalanda InstituteMind and Life InstituteRumiDr. Robert Lustig Hacking the American MindIain McGilchristSee learning curriculumMandelaSolve For Happy Roger Waters The Tide is Turning Above Us Only SkyChef’s Table ...
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1 hr 36 min
July 02, 2019028: Beth Comstock on Curiosity, Creativity and Courage.
A change maker inside NBC, the instigator of Hulu, a driver of innovation and the first female vice chair of GE, best selling author of Imagine It Forward, is this week’s guest, Beth Comstock.

In this expansive episode, we discuss the impact of her upbringing on her propensity to embrace ambiguity, be a accelerate digital transformation inside traditional organizational structures and inspire teams through her curiosity and imaginative mindset.

With candor and thoughtful introspection Beth discusses the challenge of being introverted and overcoming her innate shyness as she grew her reputation and stature as a provocateur of innovative action taking and bold decision making inside traditional business structures.

I hope you enjoy this episode of curiosity, creativity and courage with industrial change-maker Beth Comstock.

What we discuss
The push and pull of influence of her father and mother
How she combines core characteristics of both parents
Her introversion and its impact on energy
The difference from shyness
How her curiosity fueled her
How her parents nurtured her innate curiosity
The role of play in her upbringing and driving her imagination
She explains how her competitive nature was apparent from an early age
Documenting her ambition aged fifteen years old
The desire to build a career in journalism
The resilience of early rejection
The struggle with her lack of confidence versus her persistence and stubbornness
Diane Sawyer impact
Where serendipity impacted her life
Witnessing fear inside GE of early to mid career managers
Passion for creative courage
Recognition that her difference was her strength
Her concerns over how we are preparing our children for the future
The issues with the curriculum and lack of creative problem solving
Job crafting
Field Trips
Her NBC experiences
The Five Elements of the Book
Self Permission
Discovery
Agitated Inquiry
Power of Storycraft
Creating a new Operating System
Her advice - get used to living in the in between
‘Figure it out’ classes
How she views curiosity
Beth’s ‘Just Start’ Mantra
What advice Beth would give under 30 Beth
Her “Gap’ Year and writing her book
We discuss emergence in our ambiguous world
Following Gut vs Data

Social Links

Facebook
Instagram
Linkedin
Twitter

Links In the Show
Diane Sawyer
Three Mile Island
21 Rules for the 21st Century
Brooklyn Maker Space
Sixth Sigma
Ecoimagination
OODA Loop
Imagine it Forward
Hulu
NBC Universal
Michael Ventura
SubRosa
The Looming Tower
Sam Harris Podcast What Jihadists Really Want
Walter O’Brien on Tim Ferris Show
Bibblio
Twila Sharp The Creative Habit
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1 hr 19 min
June 25, 2019 027: Social Impact, Purpose and Power of Football - Ben Miller
Born from Scottish and Irish parents, serendipity opened the door into a career in sports publishing and broadcasting until his desire for social justice led him to Common Goal; the social impact movement in global football. Welcome, this week’s guest Ben W.S. Miller.
In this episode, we explore the role of Ben’s upbringing in driving down his early career path in publishing and sport.
Traversing fifty countries across South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, Ben recounts his experiences of witnessing the power of football to pause a civil war and bring communities together.
Ben describes how this opened his eyes to the latent power of football and consider how it could be harnessed in a strategic and systematic manner to improve lives.
Ben describes the mission, vision, and purpose of Common Goal and the challenges they now face as they try to inject social impact into the heart of this multi-billion dollar sport.
I hope you’re inspired by the passion, purpose and social impact vision of Ben Miller.

What we discuss:
The impact of his upbringing
His early freedom to explore and play
The development of his identity
His early desire to seek out a career where truth was central
The impact of Brave New World
How serendipity led him from teaching English in Venezuela to his first job in publishing
His transition into a career in sport via a move to Hong Kong in the early ’90s
Moving back to London to work for Football Mundial and IMG
His George Weah experience
Realizing the power of football to bring communities together
His views on players forming Foundations
Experiences with UEFA and FIFA
Experience of attending the 2014 World Cup as part of a FIFA delegation.
How Common Goal emerged
The challenges he’s faced in building the Common Goal movement
His vision for the next ten years
How curiosity served him
His vision for education
And all our quick-fire questions.

Links to Social
LinkedIn
Twitter
Links in show
Brave New World Aldous Huxley
Ben De Pear
Harper Collins
IMG
George Weah
Common Goal
Jurgen Griesbeck
Street Football World
FIFA
Juan Mata
Megan Rapinoe
Alex Morgan
Book - Stephen King On Writing
Stef Curry
Eric Cantona
Erin McLeod
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1 hr 28 min
June 11, 2019 026: The Social Impact Storyteller: Mark Woods Episode
Guest Overview
UK Journalist, bestselling author, social media content creator for Comic Relief and Sports Relief, and recent founder of social impact film company, Really Good Films is this week’s guest, Mark Woods
The youngest in a family of seven siblings, Mark recounts the impact of his family upbringing and early home life on his attitude to life and risk talking as well as the seminal impact his English teacher had on this life direction.
Mark discuss his life transition from University into a career in journalism, and PR during the early days of digital, before serendipity opened a new creative path into the heart of Richard Curtis’s Comic Relief organization.
We discuss Mark’s Comic Relief and Sport Relief experiences, his work with the SDG’s, his views on the current state of journalism, news and technology and his optimism for the future of society.
Mark also explains his motivation and method for writing his books on pregnancy for men.
I hope you enjoy this entertaining episode of education and impact with Mark Woods.

What we discuss:
His upbringing as the youngest in a family of seven
The impact of serendipity
How he became involved in Comic Relief
Why he wrote his first book Pregnancy for Men
How Planet Parent came about
His podcast on Parenting
The beginnings of Sport Relief
Richard Curtis
Forming Really Good Films on Purpose
Project Everyone
Why passion is the foundation of career longevity
The evolution of news and journalism
Future of philanthropy and CSR
His views of creativity and curiosity
Mark’s imperative for education
His Impossible advice
And all our quick-fire questions

Links to Social
LinkedIn
Twitter
Really Good Films

Links in show
Comic Relief
Sports Relief
Richard Curtis
Project Everyone
Pregnancy for Men
Mels Cafe in Earlsfield London
Planet Parent
Steven Pinker
SDG’s
Todd Jacobson NBA
Elegance of Eloquence Book
Sapiens
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1 hr 11 min
June 05, 2019 025: The Art of Self Discovery : Shantell Martin
Guest overview
She graduated from St Martin’s in London, spent five years developing her unique freestyle artistic expression in Tokyo, before moving to New York to further her ambitious and expansive artistic exploration of identity and the self, welcome this weeks’ guest live visual artist Shantell Martin
In this episode we discuss the impact of her upbringing in a racially fueled district of London, how her self-belief, unique perspective, unerring curiosity and persistence propelled along an ever evolving, non-conformist artistic career path.

We discuss the impact of serendipity and how her characteristic live and spontaneous black-and-white compositions form the basis of an exploration into identity and the self based on two philosophical questions of “Who are you? Are you you?”

With clarity and candor Shantell talks about her curiosity fuels her and provides insight into her creative process and some of her many collaborations including Kendrick Lamar and The New York City Ballet.

I hope you enjoy this freestyle episode of truth-telling and truth-seeking with Shantell Martin.

What we discuss
An upbringing in a mixed-race household
The influence of cartoons on her artistic ambition
Shantell's dual love of running and art
The barriers and hurdles she faced
Overcoming social norms to carve her own path
Her passion and desire
Confronting her art teacher's doubt
Power of head to hand in art and writing
The first experience of live art in Japan
How she guides her students
The importance of asking the questions Who Are You?
Drawing on everything
Her curiosity
Environmental impact on her work
Social justice and compassion
Her Impossible advice

Connecting on Social
Shantell Martin
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Facebook
Tumblr

Links In The Show
Sir Ken Robinson TED Talk
St Martin's Art School
Silent Giants podcast
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
New York City Ballet
Kendrick Lamar
One Red Paperclip

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1 hr 11 min
May 28, 2019 024: How to Confront Race, Gender and Cultural Bias with Navdip Dhariwal
A former BBC International Correspondent and Anchor, reporting from over 60 countries and hostile environments on some of the most significant stories of recent times, honored in the Asian Woman of Achievement Awards, Chief of Communications for the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates and most recently founder of Content company Miran Media, is this week’s guest Navdip Dhariwal.

In this extended episode we cover the challenges of growing up in an Indian immigrate family in racially charged 70’s London, how she confronted racial and gender bias to build a stellar career in journalism and broadcasting in the conventional white male middle class culture of the BBC.

We discuss Navdip's perspective on the state and evolution of the BBC, today’s changing media environment and the privilege of being a journalist

Her perspective on risk, fear and her commitment to journalism, using data to deliver authentic storytelling

She also explains her embrace of kismet over serendipity, predetermination and the importance of carving your own path

Finally we discuss her views of the challenges India faces in the coming years and her hope for humanity.

I hope you enjoy this convention challenging truth seeking episode with Navdip Dhariwal

What we discuss
Growing up as an Indian Immigrant in 1970/80’s London
The racist pressures she faced
Breaking through cultural, gender racial barriers to build a career at the BBC
The global media revolution
How the BBC missed it
Her journey of achievement
How it’s affected her
Her reasons for creating Miran Media
Her perspective on serendipity and kismet
The power of curiosity
The future challenges for India
Her Impossible advice

Social Media

Miran Media
Instagram
Facebook
Vimeo
YouTube

Links in the Show

Don McCullin
Scroobius Pip
BBC
Book she wants us to share In Extremis Marie Colvin
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1 hr 39 min

About The Impossible Network

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The weekly podcast tells the stories of curious-minded, purposeful people, creating positive change for social good.

Our guests include creative problem-solvers, storytellers, activists and…

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