The Long and The Short Of It

By Peter Shepherd & Jen Waldman

What's The Long and The Short Of It about?

A weekly podcast for curious people ready to explore the art and science of being human from every possible angle: macro, micro, Australian, American, tall, short and everything in between.

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The Long and The Short Of It episodes:

04.23.2024
291. The Five Points of Contact
Inspired by a new aha moment, Jen and Pete noodle on how there might be five points of contact in many different social interactions, and how we might prepare for these exchanges.
04.16.2024
290. On Your Feet
Inspired by a song by Gloria Estefan, Jen and Pete noodle on the idea of getting up on your feet early in the creative process.
04.09.2024
289. Muddy Puddles
Inspired by an idea from James Clear, Pete and Jen noodle on the categorization of a problem as either a muddy puddle or a leaky ceiling.
04.03.2024
288. Procrastination
This week, Jen and Pete think about procrastination and ask the question: Is this form of procrastination actually helping the work?
03.26.2024
287. Feedback in Three Acts
After both having done workshops on feedback, Jen and Pete thrash about the relationship between feedback and dramatic structure.
03.19.2024
286. Ride the Wave
After a week of riding his own wave, Pete brings Jen the story of his experience and they thrash about it together.
03.12.2024
285. Gumption Tools
This week, Jen and Pete share the tools that their clients and they themselves use in order to muster up some gumption.
03.05.2024
284. H.A.L.T.
This week, Pete and Jen's love of acronyms brings them to a discussion of Shane Parrish's acronym of H.A.L.T..
02.27.2024
283. Exercises
Jen and Pete thrash about the process of creating exercises, and think about when it might be useful to use an exercise when trying to help another person (or themselves) to reach a goal or outcome.
02.20.2024
282. Beginner Again
This week, Pete and Jen dive in to how exciting it can be to be a beginner...and also thrilling and frustrating and scary, and a whole smorgasbord of emotions.
02.13.2024
281. 1 to 10
This week, Jen and Pete noodle on giving and receiving feedback on a scale of one to ten, combined with the question of what it would take to achieve your desired number on that scale.
02.06.2024
280. Solo Off-Site
Having returned from his own solo off-site, Pete shares with Jen about his experience, and together, they noodle on tips and tricks for people looking to create their own version.
01.30.2024
279. STAR|MAP
In a highly anticipated episode, Jen generously unveils her STAR|MAP process for Pete and you, the listeners.
01.23.2024
278. SMEP
This week, Pete shares with Jen the idea of subject matter expertise phenomenon (SMEP), and together they noodle on how they might use the knowledge of that phenomenon to help coach leaders.
01.16.2024
277. Quitters Day
In celebration of Quitters Day (January 12th), Jen and Pete noodle on all things surrounding quitting: why someone might quit, what can help us to not quit, and when it might actually be a good idea to quit.
01.09.2024
276. The Case of the Missing Stools
In a thriller of an episode, Jen tells Pete the story of her missing stools, and they noodle on what she learned from the whole experience.
01.02.2024
275. 2024
In another annual tradition, Jen and Pete share how they are reflecting on the previous year and how they are planning for the coming year (or five years, in Jen's case).
12.26.2023
274. Favo(u)rite Things: 2023
In their annual tradition, Pete and Jen go through their favorite things from the past year.
12.19.2023
273. Pedestals
This week, Jen and Pete noodle on both looking up to someone on a pedestal and being the person put on the pedestal.
12.12.2023
272. Big Scary Things
This week, Jen comes to Pete needing to be coached on how to approach a big scary thing that she's been working on.
12.05.2023
271. Broadway Jesus
This week, Jen poses a question to Pete: What would Broadway Jesus do?
11.28.2023
270. Quests
Throwing it back to old video games, Pete and Jen ping-pong back and forth about what we might learn from games like Zelda when thinking about leadership and growth.
11.21.2023
269. Target Lists
In this week's episode, Jen teaches Pete about the ways she uses people, places, position, and purpose to create target lists.
11.14.2023
268. Action Learning
This week, Jen and Pete thrash about the concept of getting a group of people together and putting one person in the hot seat, and asking them only questions about the places they are stuck.
11.07.2023
267. Sponge Mindset
This week, Jen and Pete ask the question of how we might be more like a sponge in the projects we are working on, in terms of soaking information in and also squeezing it out into the world.
10.31.2023
266. Habit Audits
Building on ideas from previous episodes, Jen and Pete dive in to how they might take an audit of their current habits, and noodle on what that audit might teach them.
10.24.2023
265. Rules
This week, Pete (a rule follower) and Jen (a rule non-follower) noodle on how we might leverage rules to help us create new habits, practices, and boundaries.
10.17.2023
264. If You Build It...
Jen has strong feelings about the phrase, "If you build it, they will come," and with Pete, they noodle on possible improvements and rewrites.
10.10.2023
263. Our Friend, Feedback
This week, Jen and Pete revisit the very familiar topic of good ol' feedback and all of its many quirks.
10.03.2023
262. Ask For What You Want
This week, Pete and Jen dive in to the reasons to ask for what you want, and what reasons might hinder us from doing so in the first place.
09.26.2023
261. Goal Stacking
It may come as a shock, but Jen and Pete have never done an episode of the podcast about goals before today! So this week, they dive in to the idea of how we might stack our goals, and how...
09.19.2023
260. Post-Seth Reflection
In this week's reflective episode, Pete and Jen dig in to the conversation they had with Seth Godin last week, discussing both the conversation itself and also the ways in which they each showed up.
09.12.2023
259. Seth Godin: The Song of Significance
This week, Seth makes a return visit to the podcast, and he, Jen, and Pete dive in to a wide range of topics, such as Seth's new book, bees, meetings, leaf blowers, and so much more.
09.05.2023
258. Chapters
This week, Pete and Jen ping pong back and forth about the idea of how chapters and seasons can play a role in our days, weeks, and years.
08.29.2023
257. Missionvisionvalues
This week, Jen and Pete debunk, demystify, and pick apart the phrase "missionvisionvalues".
08.22.2023
256. Children's Books
With the arrival of Pete's son Ollie, Pete has been reading lots of children's books of late, and this week, he and Jen noodle on who children's books are actually for and how we might think about having multiple audiences...
08.15.2023
255. Pacing
In this year's annual running episode, Jen brings Pete a new metaphor for life that she has found through her habit of running, and together they noodle on how else the idea of pacing might show up in our daily...
08.08.2023
254. Baby Brain
In what is likely a surprise announcement for our listeners, Pete and his wife recently had a baby. And this week, Pete and Jen noodle on ways to overcome the dreaded baby brain.
08.01.2023
253. More Humanity
In this ever-increasing digital age, Jen and Pete noodle on how we might add more humanity back in to our daily lives.
07.25.2023
252. Like-Hearted
In this week's episode, Jen and Pete do a deep dive on the differences between being like-minded versus being like-hearted with someone.
07.18.2023
251. Monologue Meetings
After an encounter at a coffee shop, Pete finally decides to record an episode with Jen about something that drives him crazy: monologue meetings.
07.11.2023
250. Just Trust Me
In the latest segment of things that drive Jen crazy, Jen brings to Pete her distrust of the statement, "Just trust me," and together they think about alternative phrases and strategies that we might use instead.
07.04.2023
249. 80%
This week, Pete asks this question to Jen: What if we were to fail 80% of the time?
06.27.2023
248. Behavior Contagion
This week's episode is actually twenty years in the making, and Jen shares with Pete the idea she's been noodling on for two decades but to which she has only recently put a name: behavior contagion.
06.20.2023
247. Humility in Action
Inspired by a recent event she attended, Jen brings Pete the idea of how humility might be shown through action and how we might experiment with bringing more humility into every aspect of life, including within leadership.
06.13.2023
246. Containers
Inspired by Brené Brown, Pete shares with Jen the idea that in order to build skills there have to be intentional containers in place, and together they discuss how containers might be built and utilized by leaders and creatives.
06.06.2023
245. Perspective
This week, Jen and Pete build on the saying that, "Context is everything," by doing a deep dive in to perspective giving and perspective taking.
05.30.2023
244. Reframe
This week, Pete and Jen dive in to a topic that they have spoken about in almost every episode of this podcast: reframing. (How has there not been a full episode on this yet?!)
05.23.2023
243. W.A.I.T.
This week, Jen introduces Pete to one of his favorite things (a new acronym), and together they discuss the importance of holding space and sitting in silence while considering the question, "Why am I talking?"
05.16.2023
242. Second Time Syndrome
This week, Jen and Pete ping pong back and forth about why the second time trying something might feel easier and more free, and together they come up with ways to address this in the first go round.

What's The Long and The Short Of It about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Long and The Short Of It episodes:

291. The Five Points of Contact

290. On Your Feet

289. Muddy Puddles

288. Procrastination

287. Feedback in Three Acts

286. Ride the Wave

285. Gumption Tools

284. H.A.L.T.

283. Exercises

282. Beginner Again

281. 1 to 10

280. Solo Off-Site

279. STAR|MAP

278. SMEP

277. Quitters Day

276. The Case of the Missing Stools

275. 2024

274. Favo(u)rite Things: 2023

273. Pedestals

272. Big Scary Things

271. Broadway Jesus

270. Quests

269. Target Lists

268. Action Learning

267. Sponge Mindset

266. Habit Audits

265. Rules

264. If You Build It...

263. Our Friend, Feedback

262. Ask For What You Want

261. Goal Stacking

260. Post-Seth Reflection

259. Seth Godin: The Song of Significance

258. Chapters

257. Missionvisionvalues

256. Children's Books

255. Pacing

254. Baby Brain

253. More Humanity

252. Like-Hearted

251. Monologue Meetings

250. Just Trust Me

249. 80%

248. Behavior Contagion

247. Humility in Action

246. Containers

245. Perspective

244. Reframe

243. W.A.I.T.

242. Second Time Syndrome