Jorge and Harry discuss how to proactively shift your mental models to get unstuck.

• Framers by Kenneth Cukier, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, and Francis de Véricourt
• Breakneck by Dan Wang
• Precision questioning
• Iceberg model

Jorge and Harry discuss a classic book about how to avoid getting in your own way through overthinking.

Show notes:

• The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey
• Stick (Apple TV show)
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
• Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel
• Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Esther Dyson

Harry and Jorge discuss the implications of John Boyd's work beyond its original military context.

Show notes:

• The Mind of War: John Boyd and American Security by Grant Hammond 
• John Boyd
• OODA loop
• Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram
• Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of John Boyd by Francis P.B. Osinga
• Hoyt Ng
• Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths
• How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner

Jorge and Harry discuss a book focused on using AI to lead better — and has underpinnings that align with the show's themes.

Show notes:

• More Human by Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter
• The Mind of the Leader by Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter
• The Glass Cage by Nicholas Carr

Harry reads a passage from a book by Robert Pirsig that raises questions about what authentic effort looks like — and the traps inherent in its trappings.

• On Quality by Robert Pirsig
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
• Lila by Robert Pirsig
• Traction Heroes Ep. 11: Gall’s Law
• Atomic Habits by James Clear

Harry gives Jorge advice on how to focus on strategically important things.

Show notes:

• The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
• unfinishe_ – Jorge's new consultancy with Greg Petroff
• The Power of a Positive No by William Ury
• The Harry Max Boot-up Protocol (How to get going in the morning) by Christina Wodtke
• Essentialism by Greg McKeown
• Impro by Keith Johnstone

Harry explains a framework for learning and change that originated in the field of NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) — just in time for the launch of Jorge's new consultancy.

Show notes:

• unfinishe_ – Jorge Arango and Greg Petroff’s strategic AI consultancy
• Sam and Jony introduce io
• Tools for Dreamers by Robert B. Dilts, Todd Epstein, and Robert W. Dilts
• Neuro-linguistic programming
• Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins
• General semantics

On the folly of designing complex systems in one go, from the top down.

Show notes:

• Traction Heroes ep. 6: Chesterton's Fence
• Traction Heroes ep. 2: Unprecedented
• The Design Squiggle
• Systemantics by John Gall
• A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram
• Wardley map

It's important to plan ahead when working on large, complex projects. Alas, some people's bias for action keeps them from undertaking what they perceive as wasteful exercise. In this episode, Harry shares an exercise that can help.

Show notes:

• Planning for Everything by Peter Morville
• How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner
• On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis
• Hofstadter's law
• Performing a Project Premortem by Gary Klein 

What keeps you from doing the things you know you need to do, when you need to do them? The answers go deeper than you think.

Show notes:

• Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
• Innovation Games by Luke Hohmann
• Nonviolent Communication Marshall Rosenberg