We tackle a key reading from a classic book to solve a perennial problem: how do we talk about what we do so we don't undersell our value?

Show notes:

• Competing Against Luck by Clayton M. Christensen, Karen Dillon, Taddy Hall, and David S. Duncan 
• Managing Priorities by Harry Max
• MECE principle
• Positioning by Jack Trout and Al Ries

A conversation about something that's emerging as a central theme in the podcast: how to avoid fooling yourself so you can achieve your goals by seeing more clearly.

Show notes:

• The Art of Action by Stephen Bungay
• Sunset Boulevard (1950 film)
• John Boyd
• Traction Heroes Ep. 6: Chesterton's Fence
• Crazy Time by Abigail Trafford

Is your business in service to the bottom line or something higher? Whichever you pick will influence the organization's culture.

Show notes:

• Tim O’Reilly in a Nutshell by Tim O’Reilly
• Rosenfeld Media
• Shai Agassi
• OODA loop
• Thinking In Bets by Annie Duke
• The Art of Action by Stephen Bungay
• Makers and Takers by Rana Foroohar

How do you get useful information from people when the very act of asking might compromise the answer? Harry offers insights from a surprising source.

Show notes:

• Confidential by John Nolan
• Climbing the Ladder of Business Intelligence by James E. Cates, Sam S. Gill, and Natalie Zeituny 
• Precision questioning
• EnlivenWork

An end of year reflection on what motivates us to do what we do.

• The Highest Goal  by Michael Ray
• Echelon Front
• Extreme Ownership
• The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
• Steve Siebold
• THE SECRET
• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• The ONE Thing by Gary Keller
• The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale
• Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Values Clarification by Sidney Simon and Leland Howe 
• Logical Levels model
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs
• John Cutler
• Trimergence

A reading from an unexpected source leads to a discussion about the importance of having a clear vision.

Show notes:

• Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Arnold (Netflix series)
• StrengthsFinder
• Penny-farthing
• Extreme Ownership
• Lincoln (film)

Our running conversation goes meta after Harry reads from a book about how to listen better.

• You’re Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy
• The Informed Life podcast
• Duly Noted by Jorge Arango
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Spurred by a reading from Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Jorge and Harry have a rambling conversation about building resilient businesses during times of disruptive technological change.

• Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• Peak Priorities
• unfinishe_
• The Great Mental Models by Shane Parrish
• Xenix
• Cursor
• Lovable

Harry brings to the discussion a four-part model for skillfully navigating change.

Show notes:

• Thresholds of Change by Rebecca Borland Reynolds and Connolly Fox
• ADKAR: A Model for Change in Business, Government and our Community by Jeffrey M. Hiatt
• PROSCI
• Kübler-Ross Change Curve®
• Liminal Thinking by Dave Gray

Harry offers a taxonomy of five "social traps" that can keep us from gaining traction.

Show notes:

• Social Traps by John Cross and Melvin Guyer
• Steve Jobs Stanford commencement address
• Matthew Perry
• Frequency Illusion (the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon)