Our perceptions of what someone else will say or do can influence what they actually end up saying or doing — leading to a dangerous vicious cycle.

Show notes:

• Beyond Belief by Nir Eyal
• Liminal Thinking by Dave Gray
• The Matrix
• Mistakes Were Mad (but Not By Me) by Caroll Tavris and Elliot Aronson

Harry and Jorge discuss one of the latter's favorite means for gaining traction: the MacGuffin, a concept with a storied pedigree in cinema.

Show notes:

• Dark Matter and Trojan Horses by Dan Hill
• Trim tab
• The New How by Nilofer Merchant
• Human-Centered Security by Heidi Trost
• Tempo by Venkatesh Rao

On the importance of mindfulness for gaining traction — and how you can practice to become more mindful.

Show notes:

• Original Love by Henry Shukman
• The Informed Life ep. 75: Hans Krueger on the Cycle of Emotions
• The Tim Ferriss Show ep. 531: Henry Shukman
• The Way App
• Waking Up
• The Ultimate Coach by Amy Hardison and Alan D. Thompson
• Being in the World

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