Curious Minds at Work

Can you trust your memory? Probably not. Research shows that we can be convinced fairly easily that we are guilty of a crime we did not commit. We not only misremember information, but we can misremember information about the wrong person. Add to that the fact that when someone else tells us how they remember something, it can alter our memory of that same event, person, or situation. These insights, along with many others from memory research, are changing how we think about law and order, learning, and what makes us human. False memory researcher and criminal psychologist, Julia Shaw, is one of only a handful of experts in the field. A senior lecturer and researcher in the Department of Law and Social Sciences at London South Bank University and author of The Memory Illusion: Remembering, Forgetting, and the Science of False Memory, she works with members of the military and law enforcement. She is also a regular contributor to Scientific American. In this interview, we talk about: What the blue-gold dress phenomenon revealed about how our brains work Why we need less evidence to convict someone who looks less trustworthy Why we form stronger memories when others are same race, age, or gender Why we reminisce most strongly about moments from our teens and 20s Why we have rosy memories of most of our firsts in life What actually happens in our brains when we form a memory How memories get stamped in our brains The fact that we simply cannot multitask - it is humanly impossible - and why Why it is that whenever we remember we also forget How to get someone to think they saw Bugs Bunny at Disneyland Why we should write things down rather than try to remember them Why understanding how unreliable our memories can be is liberating How attention is the glue between reality and your memory The vital importance of sleep to build lasting memories How we all suffer from overconfidence when it comes to our memories Why there is a right way to ask questions when we need to gather information How to avoid asking leading questions that may create false memories How photos can prompt false memories The fact that we implant false memories in each other all the time How creating memories with others may ensure more accurate memories How social media can result in muddled memories Why we need to continually update memories to learn Why the flexibility of our brains -- and our memories -- is a beautiful thing How we can convince people they committed crimes that never happened How false memory research can change the legal system How we can mistake the false memories of others for lying Episode Links http://www.drjuliashaw.com/ @drjuliashaw London South Bank University The Dress Own race bias Reminiscence bump Rohypnol Retrieval-induced forgetting The Honest Truth about Dishonesty by Dan Ariely If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening!

We all share, but today, millions get paid for it. Is this new trend just a fad or is it radical rethink for how we work? When we catch a ride with an Uber driver or contract with someone on Upwork, we marvel at the convenience. What we often overlook is the amount of trust it takes to ride with a stranger or to work with someone we may never meet. Yet that level of trust is what is driving the sharing economy, a form of commerce that harkens back to the 11th-century Maghribi traders. In his book, The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-based Capitalism, NYU Stern Professor Arun Sundararajan provides the context and the history for how we got here. He also paints a picture for where we are headed, particularly when it comes to labor and safety policies and regulations. A recognized authority on the sharing economy, he has written for the New York Times, Wired, the Financial Times, and Harvard Business Review. In this interview, we talk about: What makes the sharing economy similar to 18th-century commerce How we are making the shift away from corporate buying to peer purchasing How the sharing economy is blurring the lines between personal and professional How the pendulum is swinging back to relationships, connections, and gifts How the sharing economy speaks to our yearning for making and connection What the 11th-century Maghribi traders can teach us about trust and commerce Ways the sharing economy encourages us to do a better job Whether the sharing economy can reduce inequality How the sharing economy requires different labor regulations and policies How the government can partner with platforms to rethink regulations How labor regulations were designed for an era of full-time workers Why our economy will increasingly rely on stakeholders other than government How blockchain tech promises a world where crowd is market maker Why trust is embedded in this economic shift How new forms of trust will enable new forms of commerce What is it about digital cues that help us trust one another? Episode Links Arun Sundararajan @DigitalArun The Gift by Lewis Hyde Robert Nesbitt Sherry Turkle Karl Marx Emile Durkheim Maghribi Traders Capital by Thomas Piketty The Inevitable by Kevin Kelly New York University Stern School of Business Upcounsel HourlyNerd Gigster Upwork BlaBlaCar Blockchain technology If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening!

Is there a secret to lasting power? Yes, and Dacher Keltner has been teaching leaders about it for decades. And the secret is not the ruthless, manipulative approach associated with 15th-century politician and writer Niccolo Machiavelli. It is actually the opposite. As a University of California, Berkeley, Professor of Psychology, and Founder and Director of the Greater Good Science Center, Dacher Keltner shares research-based insights he has gained. And in his latest book, The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence, he discusses a new science of power and 20 guiding power principles. In this interview, we talk about: How the legacy of Niccolo Machiavelli continues to inform power Why power is about so much more than dominance, manipulation, and ruthlessness Why we need to question a coercive model of power The short- versus long-term impact of different kinds of power Why power is about lifting others up Why lasting power is given, not grabbed The important role that reputation, gossip and esteem play in who gains power How, within days, group members already know who holds the power What makes for enduring power How our body language and words speak volumes about power Why Abraham Lincoln is a fascinating study of empathetic power The fact that great and powerful leaders are incredible storytellers How feeling powerful makes us less aware of risk How feeling powerful makes us less empathetic, attentive and responsive to others How feeling powerful actually overrides the part of our brain that signals empathy How drivers of more expensive cars (46 percent) tend to ignore pedestrians How powerful people often tell themselves stories to justify hierarchies The price we pay for powerlessness Concrete ways we can cultivate enduring, empathetic power Gender and power Why the key to parenting is to empower children to have a voice in the world Episode Links Dacher Keltner Greater Good Science Center Frans de Waal The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli Thomas Clarkson and the abolition movement Why Civil Resistance Works by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan House of Cards The 100-Year Life by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott What Works by Iris Bohnet Arturo Behar and Facebook Greater Good in Action Science of Happiness course on edX If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening!

Average is a myth, so why should it control our lives? We measure ourselves -- and others -- against averages all the time. Think GPAs, personality tests, standardized test results, performance review ratings. These are average measures that tell us little about what makes us unique. And this is not just a feel-good argument. It is a mathematical fact. In his bestselling book, The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World that Values Sameness, researcher, professor, and president of The Center for Individual Opportunity at Harvard, Todd Rose, explains the history of average and how it became so embedded in our culture. He goes on to explain why now, more than ever, we need to move beyond its impact on our schools and our workplaces. In this interview, we talk about: How the concept of average has done us more harm than good The courage of a brilliant scientist to question average for the greater good What newborns and chubby thighs can teach us about the limitations of average How innovative organizations are tapping into the wisdom of jaggedness for hiring Why organizations are relying on CodeFu to find great programming talent Why the personality test industry is bigger than ever and more bankrupt Why personality traits are context dependent, not inherent or static Why unlocking the context of behavior can be game changing in helping kids The important connection between environment and self control Why faster does not equal smarter Why we need to get rid of fixed-pace learning in schools Thoughts on competency-based versus grade-based learning Shifting from diplomas to micro-based credentials Giving individuals more say in their learning pathways What Todd Rose thinks about personalized learning and personalization Why we need to keep equity at the forefront What dark horses may have to teach us Episode Links @ltoddrose http://www.toddrose.com/ The Center for Individual Opportunity Adolphe Quetelet Francis Galton Edward Thorndike Peter Molenaar Esther Thelen and her study on newborn stepping reflex IGN CodeFu Matthew B. Crawford and The World Beyond Your Head: Individuality in an Age of Distraction Yuichi Shoda Celeste Kidd Khan Academy Equifinality Ogi Ogas Kevin Kelly and Wired If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening!

Do we shape tech or does it shape us? Turns out it is both. And that is just 1 of the 12 big ideas Kevin Kelly explores in his latest bestseller, The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future. The Inevitable is a playbook to guide us through the seismic changes in life and work, caused by technologies becoming exponentially faster and smarter. Kelly, Co-founder, former Executive Editor, and now Senior Maverick at Wired Magazine, takes us on a futuristic -- and highly believable ride -- from start to finish. Former publisher and editor of Whole Earth Review and Cool Tools, he is the author of other thought-provoking and visionary books, like New Rules for the New Economy, Out of Control, The Silver Cord, and What Technology Wants. Kelly embodies what it means to be curious! In this interview, we talk about: Why continual tech upgrades will make us perpetual newbies Why Kevin favors protopia, instead of utopia or dystopia What it means to cognify Why artificial intelligence is a feature, not a bug Why we want and need the different kinds of intelligence that comes with AI How we will work with robots to solve big problems How robots will free us up to be artists, scientists, inventors, and creatives How many of our jobs will be to invent jobs for the robots around us How our technology places us in streams and flows that are dynamic, interactive, and chronological Why personalization and immediacy will be better than free How filters may negotiate on our behalf and sharpen our understanding of who we are Why virtual reality is about presence and, more importantly, interactivity Why one day anything that is not interactive will be considered broken How interactivity will one day extend beyond our bodies to our emotions, facial expressions, voices, and more Why if it matters, we will be able to tell whether it is human or nonhuman Why tracking is inevitable and transparency around our data is a must What Kevin means by covalence when it comes to our data How we will come to a deeper, more nuanced understanding of privacy Two things Kevin worries about As AIs become more capable and integrated into our lives, how will we treat them? As cyber conflicts and cyber wars continue, what rules will we establish? How will our technology change us? The importance of thinking much longer term than a generation or a corporate quarter What a global government might look like and how we might get there Episode Links @kevin2kelly http://kk.org/ Wired Whole Earth Review Protopia Game of Thrones The Third Wave by Steve Case The Quantified Self The Fitbit Blockchain Bitcoin Boston Dynamics Quadrupeds Star Trek If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening!

Are you prepared to live to 100? Research shows that it is becoming the norm, but that few of us are planning for it. Many are surprised to learn that it not only requires rethinking saving and retirement, but also education, jobs, and relationships. To guide us, London Business School Professor and future of work expert, Lynda Gratton, has written The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity. In addition to her many books, Lynda writes for Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, and Forbes. She points out the possibilities, as well as the challenges, associated with living longer lives. Lynda also encourages us to plan for what lies ahead, so that we can take full advantage of this opportunity. In this interview, we talk about: What learning will look like as we continue working into our 70s and 80s Why working well with robots will decrease our odds of obsolescence How generational markers, such as millennials, limit how we think about work and life Why we will become age agnostic as people of all ages learn and work together Are you building, maintaining, or depleting current skills? The secret to increasing our adaptability and willingness to change Three new life stages that are upending how we think about life and work Are you spending your free time in recreation or re-creation, and why it matters? The important role experimentation will play in our lives as we live longer How marriage and friendships will change as we live longer lives Why juvenescence holds the key to navigating a longer life Why we should be worried about wealth disparity Why living longer will push organizations to rethink work policies and expectations Why individuals and families - not most organizations - will guide us in innovating Episode Links @lyndagratton www.100yearlife.com 100 Year Life Diagnostic London Business School World Economic Forum Andrew Scott Future of Work Consortium The Shift: The Future of Work is Already Here by Lynda Gratton Stretch by Karie Willyerd and Barbara Mistick If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening!

More than 99 percent of our decisions are shaped by others. From the clothing we buy to the cars we drive to the political candidates we vote for, our choices are the results of the invisible influence of those around us. And once we recognize that, we start to see our behavior -- and the behavior of others -- in a whole new way. Jonah Berger, marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has spent 15 years studying the ways that influence impacts our lives. He wrote about it in his bestselling book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, and, now, in his latest book, Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior. In this fascinating and compelling interview, he shares insights on: Two reasons why we often overlook the power of influence What animals can teach us about learned behaviors When peers can improve our performance and when they can work against it A common trait among most elite athletes The power of the Goldilocks Effect when it comes to designing products and services What cockroaches can teach us about performance and peers The secret to changing behavior The power of proximal peers in motivating ourselves and others Episode Links @j1berger www.jonahberger.com Contagious: Why Things Catch on By Jonah Berger Livestrong Monkeys Adept at Picking up Social Cues The Goldilocks Effect Segway The Horsey Horseless Robert Zajonc and Social Facilitation Dan Yates and Opower If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening!

Want to hire, evaluate, and collaborate more effectively? The same design principles that are changing how we think about products and services can improve our talent management. Iris Bohnet, author of What Works and Professor of Behavioral Economics at Harvard University, tells us how. In this interview, Bohnet shares fast and inexpensive ways we can de-bias our organizations. She pinpoints how simple improvements can provide big gains for managers and employees. In our conversation, we talk about: How behavioral design can help us hire and retain the best talent Why interviews are a poor predictor of future performance How work sample tests ensure better hiring How blind employee screening widens opportunities for job candidates What we can learn from how orchestras hire musicians Why we need to stop holding group interviews The challenges of employee self-evaluation Why we need gender-neutral language in job descriptions Why diverse groups are more effective and less enjoyable What critical mass does for groups and organizations How tokenism can overshadow expertise The important role political correctness plays in resetting norms How acting differently - or watching others act differently - can change behavior Episode Links Iris Bohnet Heidi Roizen Competence but disliked dilemma Implicit association bias Hannah Riley Bowles Work Rules by Laszlo Bock @ThereseHuston How Women Decide by Therese Huston If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening!

What if our distractions are robbing us of our individuality? Philosopher-machinist Michael B. Crawford noticed just how much attention we give up -- often against our will -- to all the distractions strategically placed in front of us, from commercials on ATM screens to blaring airport televisions. He has written a guidebook to identifying the sources of lost attention, and he makes suggestions for how to get it back. Matthew is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He is also a fabricator of components for custom motorcycles. His first book, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, prompted a rethinking of education and labor policies in the U.S. and Europe, leading the London Sunday Times to call him “one of the most influential thinkers of our time.” His latest book, The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction gets at the heart of what it means to be human. In this conversation, we talk about: Silence as a resource as important as air, food, and water The high price we are increasingly forced to pay to avoid distractions All the ways distractive tech makes us more alike The connection between deep work and independent thinking The overlooked intellectual side of hard labor How personalizing experiences can make them unreal How reclaiming the real requires submitting to something or someone else Why doing and taking action results in knowing The Maker Movement as an attempt to reconnect with what makes us human How machine-based design can lead to addiction, compulsion, and loss of control The fact that most schooling is disconnected from real-world learning Why trust lies at the heart of deep learning How traditions of learning offer opportunities for deep connections Episode Links Matthew B. Crawford Reclaimed Fabrication Cal Newport Deep Work by Cal Newport Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford Addiction by Design by Natasha Dow Schull Aristotle Descartes Michael Polanyi If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening!

Do you fear becoming obsolete? Liz Wiseman offers a solution. Rather than run from challenging roles, seek them out. In fact, in a world where 85 percent of your knowledge could be irrelevant in as little as 5 years, this strategy may be the key to maintaining and advancing a successful career. Liz is the bestselling author of Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work. She helps us see how taking on a new challenge, especially when it feels like a stretch, gives us the best chance of staying relevant in an ever-changing world. She also points out the immense value of rookies for our organizations, particularly in leadership and mentoring roles traditionally reserved for more experienced workers. A frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Inc. and Time, Liz has been named one of the top 10 leadership thinkers in the world, and her firm has worked with organizations like Apple, Disney, eBay and Google. In this conversation, we talk about: Why what we know is less important than how fast we can learn Why we should take jobs that we are not qualified for How experience may get in the way of what we most need to learn How experience can actually decrease our relevance and performance over time How choosing jobs that involve inquiry and discovery will keep us relevant Why one of the most valuable aspects of learning something new is the struggle involved Why rookies bring in 5 times the expertise of experts Why we need to watch out for mediocre thinking to stay relevant The link between surfing with the rookies and testing your assumptions What effective reverse mentoring looks like Why the word leadership may not mean what you think Anti-perfectionism and the power of keeping things small Liz is curious about what distinguishes between a rookie and a novice with rookie smarts. She wonders why some people persist while others give up. She is equally curious about why so many senior leaders look and feel so broken and what we can do about it. Episode Links @LizWiseman The Wiseman Group Oracle and Oracle University and Larry Ellison Fortran Growth Mindset and Carol Dweck Stretch by Karie Willyerd Herminia Ibarra and Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader Bob Hurley of Hurley International Wayne Bartholomew C K Prahalad of the University of Michigan Pareto Principle If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening!