The Occupational Philosophers - A not-so-serious business podcast to spark Creativity, Imagination and Curiosity

The Occupational Philosophers | Episode 123 - Jenny Theolin

Jenny Theolin is a Stockholm-based designer, facilitator, curator, photographer and author. She spent her twenties and early thirties running an independent creative practice in London before taking her studio back to Stockholm. Since 2009, she's run Studio Theolin, designing learning experiences, keynotes and culture programmes for organisations including Volvo Cars, the European Parliament and the London Stock Exchange.

In 2023 she wrote, curated, designed and personally financed Dare to Facilitate: 320 pages, 120 dares and 39 contributors across nine countries. Along the way, she's built exhibitions out of ideas most people would dismiss, including a lolcat art show that raised over £4,000 for a dogs and cats home and a global campaign for Comic Sans's 20th birthday.

If that's not enough, she's also the founder of the Museum of Organisational Culture.

The conversation starts with how someone who does almost everything makes sense of it (her answer: making ideas happen, and getting shit done). From there it's the importance of aggressive curiosity and the Museum of Organisational Culture: a growing collection of donated objects that make an organisation's invisible culture visible, from a staff T-shirt to the office fruit bowl that vanished in the pandemic.

Behind it sits Curatology, her method for reading organisational culture the way a curator reads a collection, in five steps: C.U.R.I.O. - Choose, Uncover, Reflect, Interpret & Offer.

Then there's her marvellous book, Dare to Facilitate, her exhibitions and how she designs events from the invitation onwards. 

John and Simon hope you enjoy the show as much as they enjoyed making it. It's the reason they started this show - interesting, cool and creative people who have taken the path less travelled and kicked arse!

"There's a museum for absolutely everything apart from the place where we are most of our working lives."

As always: Stay curious, play more, have fun, make stuff, and as you leave the door, date life.

How play, creativity and self-belief can change the world with Ash Perrin 

Since 2008, The Flying Seagull Charity Project has brought love, light and laughter to more than 200,000 children in 23 countries across four continents in challenging and desperate situations, including hospitals, orphanages and refugee camps. They use clowning, magic, games and arts workshops to replace fear and uncertainty with positive human connections based on respect, happiness and laughter.

Ash is the author of ‘The Real Play Revolution’,  a TED Speaker and an all-around creative and joyous person. 

In this episode, they explore: 

They also dive into: 

As always, there are some great thought experiments such as: 

Links

"It is not the fault of the artist, it is the fault of the person who commissioned the artist!" 

How to be a better Public Speaker with Dr Lousie Mahler. 

(This is a reboot of episode 71, recorded a few years back - and one of our favourites)

Dr Louise is the polymath's polymath and is recognised as a Top 30 Global Guru in both Body Language and Communication.

She was an Opera singer for 10 years with the Vienna State Opera. 

Louise’s qualifications include B.Econ; B. Mus; Post Grad Dip Music; L.Mus.A; Master of Applied Science in Organisational Change and a Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming. 

She has completed an award-winning PhD around the unsung wisdom of the mind-body-voice connection she named Vocal Intelligence.

She is a sought-after commentator discussing leadership, body language and effective presentation on television, radio and in the media. Her recent interviews with Channel 7 where she analyses the body language of Harry and Meghan Sussex have over 2 million views.

Louise's clients include Fortune 500 clients around the globe. 

Louise was voted Keynotes Speaker of the Year in 2021 by the Professional Speakers Association and is the author of "Resonate: for people who need to be heard" 

She is the virtuoso of the voice, the high priestess of hot air and the femme fatale of unfailing attraction. 

In this episode we explore: 

More about Louise

https://louisemahler.com.au/

Say Hello

www.occupationalphilosophers.com

Their day jobs

Take the Innovation Scorecard!

https://empoweringinnovation.scoreapp.com/  

Take creativity & innovation to the next level

SHOW NOTES

In this short, sharp Inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers continue to delve back into some highlights from the first 100 episodes and some sage advice from guests who have helped populate the ‘Maniguesto’ tree…

They hope you enjoy the show. 

FYI: The Inbetweeners episodes are just that - smaller episodes 'in between' the longer format episodes designed to give a fruity burst of energy to enable you to be the most curious, creative and imaginative cat you can be - and have some fun in the process.

References:

https://www.independentthinking.co.uk/speakers/ian-gilbert/

https://www.moonshots.io/

https://people.unisa.edu.au/David.Cropley

https://tiffanymarkman.co.za/

https://www.barbaradoran.org/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-vaughan-hughes

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jemmaenright

Say Hello

www.occupationalphilosophers.com

Their day jobs:

JOHN: https://www.bowlandconsulting.com/

SIMON: www.simonbanks.com.au

SIMON SHOWREEL: https://youtu.be/YZQdJI6qGvg

The Occupational Philosophers | Episode 120

Nuggets With Dr Peter Lovatt — Dance Psychologist and the show's very first-ever guest.

John and Simon launch a new segment, likely the poorly named 'Nuggets', by digging back into the archive and pulling out the three ideas (nuggets) from Peter's original episode: what movement does to thinking, why dancing first beats thinking first, and why fear of judgement quietly kills creativity and curiosity.

00:00 — Intro to the show and the new Nuggets segment

00:01 — Meet Dr Peter Lovatt, the show's first-ever guest

00:02 — Idea 1: Movement and thinking — structured movement for convergent problems, improvised movement for divergent ones

00:03 — Idea 2: "Dance first, think later" and how movement disrupts default thinking patterns

00:05 — Idea 3: The fear of being judged, and how it shuts down dance, creativity and curiosity alike

00:07 — Thought experiment: encouraging more movement inside your organisation

00:07 — Practical experiment: designing your day for multiple moments of movement

00:08 — Wrap-up with a Nietzsche quote on movement and ideas

00:09 — Subscribe and outro

Peter Lovatt

https://peterlovatt.com

https://academy.doctordance.com

https://peterlovatt.com/the-dance-cure

https://x.com/DrPeterLovatt

The Occupational Philosophers

https://www.occupationalphilosophers.com

https://occupationalphilosophers.substack.com

https://www.bowlandconsulting.com

https://www.simonbanks.com.au

Convergent Problems Get Structure, Divergent Problems Get Wiggle — Lovatt's advice for revision was to match the movement to the thinking task: structured movement like running sharpens convergent, single-answer problem solving, while loose, improvised movement (his "bit of a John Travolta") loosens up divergent thinking for open-ended, creative problems.

Dance First, Think Later — Lovatt's central claim reverses the usual order of operations. Moving first, before you've worked out what to think, breaks your existing thought patterns and forces the brain into new territory rather than looping the same ideas.

Movement Changes Your State Immediately — Beyond the cognitive shift, moving also changes how you feel in the moment, through the endorphins it releases. The state change is instant, whether or not the movement ever tips into actual dancing.

The Fear of Being Judged Is the Real Blocker — Dance gets written off early as something only children do, or something you need to be brilliant at to attempt. That same fear of judgement, not a lack of ability, is what stops most adults from dancing, singing, or making anything at all.

The Fear Shows Up in the Boardroom Too — The same self-consciousness that stops someone dancing in public is what stops them asking a question in a meeting. Teams that don't challenge assumptions or chase breakthrough moments are often just as afraid of looking silly as a nervous dancer is.

"Dance first, think later. It's the natural order."

The Art of Asking Great Questions (and how not to lose it)

The Occupational Philosophers | Episode 119 - Larry Robertson 

Larry Robertson is an author, innovation advisor, and Inc. Magazine columnist and founder of Lighthouse Consulting, where he's spent three decades helping organisations successfully manage growth. He's a graduate of Stanford and Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management; he was named a US Fulbright Scholar in 2021, (a rare distinction for someone working outside academia). If that's not enough, he's also an Adjunct Professor! 

In his work, he's watched the world drift away from real questions and toward statements dressed up as questions, which, unsurprisingly, is the subject of his fourth book, Great Question: The Art of the Ask. This episode dives into what that lack of curiosity can cost us. Importantly, the book explores what we get back when we relearn the practice of noticing, intellectual humility, and the "adjacent possible" as a way of seeing what's one step from where we already are. It also unearths the bigger question of what it means to be human. 

Timestamps

Live Links

Larry Robertson

"What will you realise soon that you already know?"

In Episode 118,The Occupational Philosophers dive into a totally different format! Together with Natasha Redman, host of the very popular‘Casa De Cambio’ podcast, they have created their first ‘mash up’ podcast episode which invites them to be both guests and hosts to each other on one show!

In this episode they explore a wide range of topics including:

And as ever, enjoy the Thought Experiment …this time it’s:

About Natasha Redman 

Natasha Redman is an experienced change practitioner and project professional, with a proven track record in system implementations, organisational change initiatives and large-scale transformations. She has managed change initiatives at Australia’s biggest companies (including ANZ, Telstra, Australia Post, Accenture, NAB, Newcrest), holds multiple certifications and is well versed in both agile and waterfall delivery methods.

Natasha’s passion for all things change led to her creating and hosting a successful podcast about change, technology, innovation and leadership.

Learn more about Natasha 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasharedman/

https://www.casadecambio.com.au/

References

https://www.thethe.com/

https://www.amazon.com/World-Needs-Your-Art-Creativity/dp/1683503732

https://conneradvisory.com/daryl-conner/

Bad Boy Bubby

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106341/

Casa De Cambio - Free webinar 9th July

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/changify_agile-changemanagement-erptransformation-activity-7475121753778806785-K9ax?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAABIFFkBQKyN-YVNoL5dWZCukKlPAEKDwCI

John and Simon hope you enjoy the show as much as they enjoyed making it. It's the reason they started this show - interesting, cool and creative people who have taken the path less travelled and kicked arse! 

Say Hello to the OP 

www.occupationalphilosophers.com

Their day jobs

JOHN www.bowlandconsulting.com

The Occupational Philosophers  |  Episode 117  |  With Jasper Vallance

Jasper Vallance is a social entrepreneur who left his corporate life at Google to create a life of meaning driven by his passions. As an event architect, he became the founder of Australia's largest sober dance party. 

He has taken what he learned at Burning Man to rethink what corporate gatherings could actually do for people. This episode is about why many company events don't work and what intentional gathering looks like when it's done right.

In this episode, they cover the collapse of Friday drinks, the WeWork meltdown (yes, that one), and why alcohol has never actually been the social lubricant we think it is.

Purpose before planning. Most corporate events treat purpose as an afterthought. Jasper argues it should be the first thing locked in — not as a value statement, but as a lived experience the event is designed to create.

Participation over presentation. Burning Man works because everyone is in the action. The moment people become spectators, you lose them. Same applies to company offsites.

Costumes do what alcohol does, without the damage. They lower inhibitions, break social hierarchies, and give people permission to play. Jasper has proven this at scale.

The welcome is everything. The first point of contact sets the entire tone. Not an icebreaker on a slide. An actual human welcome that makes people feel like they belong.

Passions connect people across silos. Ask everyone what they love doing outside work. Cyclists ride together. Cooks cook together. Then they come back with something real in common.

Post-COVID, Friday drinks aren't coming back. Younger generations want to go home. The social fabric of the office has changed. The answer isn't to recreate the old model — it's to reimagine what connection looks like now.

"I have guys coming up at the end of the night going, 'I almost had a drink before I came in, but I'm so glad I didn't.' That is the experience I'm trying to deliver."

Jasper Vallance

People & Movements Mentioned

Events & Festivals

Events Referenced

Get in Touch: The Occupational Philosophers

In this episode 114, the Occupational Philosophers chat with the wonderfully curious Professor Katherine Boydell. 

Katherine is an internationally recognised leader in qualitative inquiry and arts-based knowledge translation in mental health and social care with innovative approaches to create knowledge and translate empirical research using arts-based methods, including art installations. 

She is the founder and head of the award-winning Arts-based Knowledge Translation Lab at Black Dog Institute and Director, Knowledge Translation, Maridulu Budyari Gumal – Sydney Partnership for Health Education Research and Enterprise. 

She was appointed as a Fellow of the prestigious Australian Academy of Social Sciences in 2020.

She is Vice-President of the Arts & Health Network of NSW/ACT and is Executive Editor of the Arts & Health journal and Associate Editor of Early Intervention in Psychiatry.

She has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Wollongong, University of Sydney, Rotterdam Arts & Science Lab, Radboud University, and Singapore Art Museum.

She has published over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and books as well as other arts-based outputs such as research-based installations and exhibits and two PhDs. 

Her recent book, Applying Body Mapping in Research: An Arts-Based Method, brings together years of practice using this powerful participatory technique across health and social care settings around the world.

This is some impressive stuff! 

In this episode, they explore a wide range of topics including:

Chapters 

John and Simon hope you enjoy the show as much as they enjoyed making it. It's the reason they started this show - interesting, cool and creative people who have taken the path less travelled and kicked arse! 

Learn more about Catherine

Mentions

Say Hello to the OP 

www.occupationalphilosophers.com

Their day jobs

In Episode 116,The Occupational Philosophers chat with Tim Simpson, creative director of Plunge Creations, a company probably best known for being the imaginative powerhouse in designing and making the costumes for ‘The Masked Singer UK’. 

In this episode they explore a wide range of topic including:

And as ever, enjoy the Thought Experiment …this time it’s:

About Tim Simpson

As well as creating bold & crazy designs for the Masked Singer, which is one of the UK's biggest family entertainment shows and a show which has global fame, Tim and his team at Plunge also craft jaw-dropping props for cinema and TV, including for ‘The Traitors’; again another global phenomenon.

For the latest Wicked movie, they created a stunning sculpture in St Pancras International station in London, which drew you in to an adventure into the enchanting world of Wicked, bringing the Emerald City to life, with immersive details, and magical surprises - this takes your breath away when you first see it!

He is a creative all rounder, equally at home behind the computer, designing and visualising a project, or in the workshop, working alongside the team. 

He is the Willy Wonka of design, creativity, magic, who lives in a world of pure imagination!

Learn more about Tim

References

John and Simon hope you enjoy the show as much as they enjoyed making it. It's the reason they started this show - interesting, cool and creative people who have taken the path less travelled and kicked arse! 

Say Hello to the OP 

www.occupationalphilosophers.com

Their day jobs

JOHN www.bowlandconsulting.com