Curious Minds at Work

Nir Eyal is the bestselling author of Hooked and a contributing writer for Forbes, TechCrunch, and Psychology Today. An entrepreneur, educator, and speaker, Nir writes about innovations at the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. In this interview, Nir shares the psychology behind why we get hooked by our devices and apps. He talks about how product designers use this knowledge to deliberately build certain features into their products, and he encourages us to use this knowledge to rethink our tech habits. In this episode, you will learn: the psychology that informs our technology habits the four key elements that make a technology product habit-forming the connection between emotion and our habits with tech what makes certain tech products are more sticky than others tips for what to do when tech becomes too addictive how we can use this technology to form good habits Nir also shares how what hooks us with tech can be used to improve the quality of our lives, especially when it comes to physical and mental health and wellness, and how he makes that the focus of his work today. If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. Thanks for listening! Episode Links 7 Cups of Tea B. F. Skinner Operant Conditioning The IKEA effect Dan Ariely Michael Norton Robert Cialdini Foot in the Door Technique Cognitive Dissonance Marc Andreeson Getting Unhooked by Nir Eyal The Acceleration of Addictiveness by Paul Graham

Wendy Suzuki is a Professor of Neural Science and Psychology at New York University. Wendy is an award-winning teacher and researcher, a TEDx speaker, and the author of the best-selling book Healthy Brain, Happy Life. While we have become more familiar with ways exercise can improve our body, Wendy helps us understand what it can do for our brain. She shares how exercise can improve our memories, our learning abilities, and our creativity. Things you will learn in this episode: how exercise can generate the kinds of brain cells we need the most the potential of exercise to disrupt how we age how to find a life-changing exercise regime what we are learning about mood, focus and attention in relation to exercise what movement can do for creativity and imagination why there is an urgency when it comes to exercise and our brains opportunities for thinking bigger when it comes to this kind of brain research Wendy also shares how her experience with exercise has influenced her teaching and her research focus. Episode Links Marian Diamond Intensati New York University Wendy Suzuki's Research Lab Transistor: A STEM Audio Project podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes - your ratings make all the difference. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening!

Bernie Roth is a Professor of Engineering and the Academic Director and Co-founder of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the d.school) at Stanford University. A leader of international workshops on creativity and design thinking, Bernie is the author of the book, The Achievement Habit: Stop Wishing, Start Doing, and Take Command of Your Life. Bernie talks about what it means to apply design principles to create a life well lived. His focus is on personal transformation and empowerment. Things you will learn in this episode include: the importance of how we see the world the danger of having a reason for doing something how a bias toward action can overcome fear the answer to what is holding us back from learning, changing, and growing how methods for reframing and asking good questions can help us figure out the actual problems we are trying to solve ways to get unstuck how the language we use can empower or disempower us how teams and collaboration help us relate differently to one another and our work the shift of design thinking from object-centered to human-centered the origins and focus of his popular Designer in Society course for the d.school how much physical space influences our mindsets, our relationships, and the ways we work and collaborate Bernie also talks about how his work has changed the way he teaches. He is always striving to find ways to empower his students. As always, thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Also, please leave a review of the Curious Minds podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! I read every one of them. Please subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Thanks! Episode Links Improv Wisdom by Patricia Ryan Madson Make Space by Scott Doorley and Scott Witthoft Designer in Society course The Human Potential Movement The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O’Neill

David Heinemeier Hansson is the Founder and CTO of Basecamp, best-selling author of Rework and Remote, and creator of the popular web application framework Ruby on Rails. David is rethinking what it means to build a company in the digital age. He and his co-founder rejected the typical startup narrative in favor of a more traditional approach to building a global business. For this reason, Basecamp has the size of a typical startup, the reach of a global firm and the profitability of a mature company. Much of that success stems from a philosophy that puts customers and employees first, focuses on the long term, and prioritizes remote work. You will also learn: how he met his co-founder Jason Fried how a series of blog posts turned into a best-selling book how we may be underestimating the potential of remote workers why most business books probably do not apply to your organization how meetings deter employees from getting work done the lessons of the dot-com crash for building a sustainable company why he advises startup founders to avoid venture funding and working in Silicon Valley how important it is to work for all kinds of bosses, especially bad ones why the best work environment might be one where you are slightly out of your depth how the ancient philosophy of stoicism can inform decisions in the modern world David also talks about the importance of living a good life today rather than some time in the future. As always, thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Also, please leave a review of the Curious Minds podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! I read every one of them. Please subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Thank you! Episode Links Maverick The 4-Hour Workweek Stoicism

Best-selling author Seth Godin discusses how to reimagine life and work in the post-industrial age. His books include Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip, and Purple Cow. In this interview, Seth talks about the liberating power of committing to a lifetime of projects. He also discusses the challenges involved and ways of overcoming them along the way. Additional topics include: how the resistance prevents us from living how we want to live how seeing helps us innovate and inspire what he and Guy Kawasaki missed when they failed to see how we develop smart intuition ways to choose worthwhile projects when to end a project or simply to walk away and leave a legacy how to make it through the dip when most people quit how the modern economy rewards big problem solvers how committing to a life of problem solving gives our lives meaning how the power of relationships allows us to do amazing things (like speak in London) Seth also talks about the role of curiosity in his life and the big revelation that led him to start rethinking life and work. As always, thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Also, please leave a review of the Curious Minds podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! I read every one of them. Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Episode Links What to Do When It Is Your Turn  The War of Art  Blog post on Projects Blog post on London Blog post on Learning to See Blog post on Permission Marketing Stop Stealing Dreams