Juliet Funt, a renowned keynote speaker and founder of The Juliet Funt Group, advocates for leaders to reclaim creativity by minimizing busywork. She reveals how overused strengths like perfectionism can morph into risks such as overload and frenzy. Juliet shares four pivotal questions to help leaders create space for mindfulness and productivity. The conversation delves into embracing 'white space' to foster innovation, the importance of transforming workplace culture post-pandemic, and practical strategies for navigating information overload.
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insights INSIGHT
The Importance of White Space
"White space" is crucial for creativity and strategic thinking, just like oxygen is essential for a fire to ignite.
It represents open, unassigned time in our schedules, offering untapped potential.
insights INSIGHT
Science of Pauses
Studies show that even when appearing inactive, our brains engage in complex processes during pauses, like the default neural network.
These pauses enhance effectiveness, reduce errors, and facilitate "beneficial forgetting."
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Drive vs. Overdrive
Leaders often confuse activity with productivity, overworking on less important tasks.
Focus on strategic thinking by delegating or eliminating unnecessary tasks to create space.
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Juliet Funt: A Minute to Think
Juliet Funt is a renowned keynote speaker and tough-love advisor to the Fortune 500 who is regularly featured in top global media outlets, including Forbes and Fast Company. She is the founder and CEO of The Juliet Funt Group, helping business leaders and organizations to unleash their full potential by unburdening talent from busywork.
She has earned one of the highest ratings in the largest leadership event in the world, and she has worked with brands such as Spotify, National Geographic, Costco, Pepsi, Nike, and many more. Her new book is titled, A Minute to Think: Reclaim Creativity, Conquer Busyness, and Do Your Best Work.
In this conversation, Juliet and I explore the four assets that many leaders bring to the workplace — and when taken too far, how these assets become risks. Juliet shares four questions we can ask of ourselves (and perhaps of others) that will surface where to start with finding space. Plus, we discuss some of the practical steps leaders can take to influence a culture of margin with their teams.
Key Points
The science is showing what many of us have experienced intuitively: space itself helps us to explore and expand possibility.
Key assets can, if overused, become risks. These risks manifest in four ways: overdrive, perfectionism, overload, and frenzy.
Four questions are useful starting points for controlling risk:
When the risk is overdrive, the question is:
Is there anything I can let go of?
When the risk is perfectionism, the question is:
Where is ‘good enough’, good enough?
When the risk is overload, the question is:
What do I truly need to know?
When the risk is frenzy, the question is:
What deserves my attention?
Resources Mentioned
The Busyness Test
A Minute to Think: Reclaim Creativity, Conquer Busyness, and Do Your Best Work* by Juliet Funt
Interview Notes
Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).
Related Episodes
The Power of Solitude, with Mike Erwin (episode 308)
How to Change Your Behavior, with BJ Fogg (episode 507)
How High Achievers Begin to Find Balance, with Michael Hyatt (episode 522)
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