The Strength of Weak Ties

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Text LEARNERS to 44222

Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com

Episode #347: Steven Strogatz - How Calculus Reveals The Secrets Of The Universe

• Leaders who sustain excellence:
  • Have a willingness to be a beginner
    • "When you're naive, you ask new questions"
  • "They have the courage to be someone who's just starting"
  • How do you fight the urge to live up to a prior reputation of being an expert at something?
    • Be known as an adventurer.  Cannot have an ego.
• Six degrees of separation is a math problem
• The strength in weak ties
  • It's important to connect with people outside of your typical orbit
  • Action: Go to a strange party, play a new sport, go to a new gym, meet oddballs
    • Collect "casual acquaintances"
• The value of being a helper:
  • Be the assist person, help others, do little acts of kindness, promote someone else's work
• How Steven and I got to know each other:
  • David Epstein's wife made an intro for David and Steven... And then from David to me.
    • "Be the kind of person who remembers others names"
• Why should a normal person learn calculus?
  • "The world has been turned upside down by calculus"
  • "Calculus is the mathematical study of change"
  • "It's a great intellectual adventure story"
  • "Calculus is the language that God talks" --> The laws of nature are built in calculus
• How to be more creative?
  • Be broadly interested in many different topics.  Take something from one area and apply it somewhere else.
• Advice Steven would give to a mid-level manager:
  • "Getting high grades is jumping through hoops someone else sets"
  • "As a PhD, you have to make your own hoops"
  • "People need to be more adventurous, and then figure it out"
• Why you should study Improv as a leader:
  • Use "Yes and..."  This helps with brainstorming and coming up with new ideas.  Put out a lot of wacky ideas to get to the good stuff.
  • "I want people to be gripped irrationally by the imagination"
• The power of mentors:
  • "Learn from both the great coaches and the bad ones"
• The value of friendships:
  • The story of Mr. Joffray -- Physically impressive and wonderfully intelligent.  He took pleasure in Steven passing him.
• The value of teaching:
  • It helps create empathy... It forces you to put yourself in the mind of someone else. "Bad teachers don't have empathy."
• How does Steven prepare for big moments?
  • "I try to be myself.  And talk myself out of being intimidated." --->  The audience wants you to do well.
• Life advice:
  • "Do what you care about most, what drives you the most, do the hard work to become skillful."
  • Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea