Unthinkable with Jay Acunzo

Anthony Bourdain inspired much of this very show. Though my style is a bit different than his, I've learned from his method, watched him work with my mouth hanging open and my eyes wide, and aspire to be the Anthony Bourdain of the business world. His window into the human experience was food. Mine is careers.

In this episode, a tribute, pulled from my newsletter "Damn the Best Practices." Subscribe to that weekly email at [bit.ly/damnpractices](http://bit.ly/damnpractices "http://bit.ly/damnpractices").

Thank you, Anthony Bourdain, for sharing your art with the world. Rest in power...

As I work on Season 4 of Unthinkable, I wanted to share with you one of the most popular episodes from the backlogs: The Bias to Act. Two incredible stories and some inspiring-yet-weird-yet-warm commentary (yanno ... like every episode). Hope you enjoy!

In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to the Maker Channel wherever you get your podcasts. TMC is where we release experimental episodes for shows still in development, plus go behind the scenes making great podcasts. 

Apple Podcasts: [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-maker-channel/id1372336578](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-maker-channel/id1372336578)

Google Play: [https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Ie67mcy53xhoawnu5fo6wmo4igu](https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Ie67mcy53xhoawnu5fo6wmo4igu)

Stitcher: [https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/unthinkable-with-jay-acunzo/the-maker-channel](https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/unthinkable-with-jay-acunzo/the-maker-channel)

I'm hard at work making Unthinkable Season 4 AND writing my first book, Break the Wheel, due out this fall (2018). The book is inspired by and pulls from the first three seasons of Unthinkable!

For now, here's an oldie but a goodie -- a sneaky-good episode from the archives. Enjoy!

Subscribe to get one new story or idea every Monday morning about being better than best practices: http://bit.ly/joinunthinkable

As I work on Unthinkable Season 4 and the book relating to this show, called Break the Wheel (Fall 2018), I wanted to dip into the archives and resurface a sneaky-good episode. Enjoy!

Subscribe to get one new story or idea for being better than best practices every Monday morning: [http://bit.ly/joinunthinkable](http://bit.ly/joinunthinkable)

A final treat and sign-off until next season. Thank you SO. FREAKING. MUCH. for supporting for my work, from speaking to podcasting and beyond! So much in store for 2018, and I'm grateful to you for your time, feedback, and love.

If you haven't yet, be sure to subscribe to get my regular Monday emails: [bit.ly/joinunthinkable](http://bit.ly/joinunthinkable)

In the Season 3 finale of Unthinkable, it's time for a story and a battle -- a story about a runaway creative success that flies in the face of conventional thinking and a battle that all of us face whenever we aspire to be better than average in our careers.

Finally, at long last, we blame one dastardly demon for our nasty habit of always taking the easy way out, the accepted route forward. Finally, we enter the battle within, and things get hairy. Luckily, Tim Urban from Wait But Why is here to help. Well. Kinda.

It's Unthinkable.

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LINKS TO KNOW:

[Wait But Why](http://waitbutwhy.com)

[Tim Urban on Twitter](http://twitter.com/waitbutwhy)

[Tim's TED Talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU)

The original post, [Why Procrastinators Procrastinate](https://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html)

How does your intent for your work change your results? If your goal is to build something big, does that increase the odds? Why, then, do so many stories about huge successes start out the same way: with a shrug, and a quick, "I just wanted to brew some beer." ? Today, we explore the story of The Alchemist, makers of the industry sensation, Heady Topper. 

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LINKS TO KNOW

[The Alchemist brewery](https://alchemistbeer.com/)

Most brand-created podcasts are -- how shall I put this? -- IMPRESSIVELY terrible. So, naturally, Steve Pratt finds total creative fulfillment in that industry. Obviously. See, to invent the future of an entire industry and collaborate with some of the world's top brands, Steve gets to crash through one barrier after another. And as he excitedly does so, his weapon of choice isn't massive budget, a bestselling book, or a big "personal brand." No, instead, Steve calmly walks to the board and draws a simple graph for his clients to see. 

From the outside looking in, his work is just so unlikely that you MIGHT call it ... Unthinkable.

LINKS TO KNOW:

[Steve Pratt on Twitter](http://twitter.com/steveprattca)

[Pacific Content](http://pacific-content.com)

Slack's podcast, [Work In Progress](https://slack.com/podcast)

SUBSCRIBE to Unthinkable via email at [unthinkable.fm](http://unthinkable.fm)

Suzy Batiz had sworn off starting companies. NEVER AGAIN, she thought. But one sniff and one conversation later, she was obsessed. Her curiosity took over, and a decade later, she's built a 300-million-dollar empire. And all of it started by trying to solve a problem none of us care to even think about, let alone build a career around.

It's Unthinkable.

LINKS TO KNOW:

[Viral video link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKLnhuzh9uY&t=2s)

[Company website](http://poopourri.com)

Nobody actually takes risks, especially in business, so what if the key to doing better work is making unconventional paths seem SAFER than the best practice? That's exactly what Clair Byrd, Clark Valberg, and the team behind Design Disruptors did. They took a massive project in scope and found a way to make each step seem safer than the last. They built a refreshing, eye-opening project without ever changing their team's goals. They did everything we aspire to do in our work in a way that seems, well, anything BUT Unthinkable.

LINKS TO KNOW:

[Design Disruptors site](http://designdisruptors.com)

[Clair Byrd on Twitter](twitter.com/theclairbyrd)

[Clark Valberg on Twitter](twitter.com/clarkvalberg)

The original Design Disruptors [movie trailer](http://youtube.com/watch?v=W4AViRgrgkU)