The path to better decisions and better outcomes is paved with the creative destruction of old ideas, and this episode explains how to do it (and why you should).This episode begins with the story of a young writer who, in the days before computers and digital backups, lost all of his unpublished, hand-written manuscripts. It might have devastated his career. Instead, it catapulted it. It turns out that setbacks and destruction (even killing your darlings) can be exactly what's needed to help...

Learn the questions you need to ask (and, importantly, the order in which you need to ask them) so that you can get to the heart of a problem, which is the only way to actually discover its best solution. This episode begins with the story of a man whose voice has been celebrated and adored the world over. But were it not for a fateful accident in his youth, it's possible that angelic voice might never have been heard from at all.This story illustrates the power of limitations -- and when it ...

Learn how to create the right physical environment for the thinking you need to do -- with the understanding that different types of thinking are done best in different types of physical environments.This episode begins with a story about one of the most renowned thinkers who has ever lived. What he says about his notoriously messy desk might surprise you.Inherent in his story, and said quote, is an important lesson about the role our physical environment plays in our thinking. And the advice...

Learn about an important tool that will help you think better and make more clear-headed decisions -- even in times of extreme stress: emotional circuit breakers.In this second episode of THINKERS Manifesto, you learn the story of a group of young people who went through an excruciatingly intense training session for potential expected abuse that most of us cannot even fathom. And what they did next ... yeah, it will shock you. And what they did is an example of an emotional circuit breaker. ...

In the first episode of THINKERS Manifesto, Sean Jackson explains why we struggle to think and make decisions in a society that can feel designed to distract and manipulate us.The episode begins with a test. Just follow the simple instructions. And it's worth your time to take the test seriously because Sean follows by explaining the underlying reasoning behind the test and why it works almost universally -- which is at once illuminating, and a little frightening. Then Sean dives into some im...