Being Human

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/ What if being honest with ourselves and others made us be better business leaders? That is the issue this week's guest, Ron Carucci, addresses in his book, To Be Honest. The origins of his book are fascinating. He put hundreds of his firm's past client interviews through IBM Watson's AI engine to uncover patterns associated with business success. He found that honesty was crucial. He discovered that just four factors could make organisations 16 times more likely to have people tell the truth, behave fairly, and serve a greater good. In this episode, we talk: How BS slowly kills businesses How honesty is a muscle Going beyond engagement surveys The secret of Microsoft's turnaround Ron's path to getting more honest Links: Ron's Book To Be Honest - The Website Navalent - Ron's Consultancy

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/ Jillian Lavender used to run a large division of an international publisher, always between two planes and walking right up to the line of major burnout. On the recommendation of a friend, and with some scepticism, she took a meditation course. From that point, things changed for her in a big way. She could handle her fast-paced life. After a complete career change, she now teaches meditation in London and New York and has written a book called Why Meditate? Because it Works. In this episode, we talk how meditation: - Can be easy and non-wierd  - Improves your sleep     - Can be done anywhere  - Enhances your clarity of thought - Doesn't require you become a hippy! Links: Jillian's Book London Meditation Centre New York Meditation Center

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/ Over the next few years, we will experience more disruption than in the previous 100 years. Yet are things changing too fast and too regularly to notice?  Futurist Eric Pilon-Bignell sees modern change presents as a giant, rogue wave emerging on the horizon. He asks, will we surf these waves with mastery? Or will we let them swallow us whole? In his book Surfing Rogue Waves, Eric shows us how to gain from the greatest period of opportunity in all of human history. In this episode, we talk: The Six D's of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Thinking in exponentials Why improv is the crucial 21st-century skill Everlasting worms Learning to surf complexity Links: Surfing Rogue Waves Eric's Website

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/ In this episode of Being Human, I speak with John Kay, one of Britain's leading economists, whose career has spanned the academic world, business and public affairs In his recent book, Radical Uncertainty with Mervyn King, he describes how, as a society, we regularly crave certainties which cannot exist and invent knowledge we cannot have. We forget that humans are successful because we have adapted to an environment that we understand only imperfectly and that, throughout history we have developed a variety of ways of coping with the radical uncertainty that defines our lives.  In this episode, we talk: The problem with bias-obsessed behavioural economics The power of abductive reasoning Understanding economics' failing record Our love for doomsday scenarios The folly of misapplying probabilistic reasoning Links: Radical Uncertainty John's Website

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/ In this episode of Being Human, I speak with Paul Collier, the author of the barn-storming new economic treatise 'The Future of Capitalism'. From humble beginnings in Sheffield, England, to life as an Oxford don, Paul understands the power and limitations of capitalism from both sides of the tracks.  In our conversation, Paul reflects on the role businesses must play in creating a more sustainable version of capitalism. Packed with great anecdotes and some sobering insights, I really enjoyed this one We talk: From England's poorest city to celebrated academic Why 'oughts' trump 'wants' How General Motors failed at Lean How the capitalism that has brought us closer is now pushing us apart Why we can't treat humans like cats Links: Paul's The Future of Capitalism Nicholas A. Christakis - Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society Michael J. Sandel - The Tyranny of Merit Robert D. Putnam - The Upswing Paul Collier, John Kay - Greed Is Dead: Politics After Individualism 

This is an interview with Tom van der Lubbe around the theme of self-management. We get into the history of his founding of Viisi on self-management principles. We also take several practical questions for the webinar audience members. Well worth a watch/listen if you want to learn more about this topic.

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/ In this episode of Being Human, I speak with Gabriel Jurj, who is a complexity practitioner and seasoned executive working in Romania. He didn't take the standard path, dropping out of University to join a monastic order, running hostels in Budapest. Still practising some of his monkish disciplines, Gabriel leans on these to help him lead. He also sees the strong links between a spiritual appreciation and the ability to embrace and work in an uncertain world. In this episode, we talk: What he learnt being a monk Retrospective cohesion The links between self-work and complexity thinking Spiritual practice in business life Letting go of goals Links: Cynefin at 21 - The Book Ananda Marga

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/ In this episode of Being Human, I speak with David Woods, a professor at Ohio State University who discovered and pioneered the concept of Graceful Extensibility. As the opposite of brittleness, graceful extensibility is the ability of a system to extend its capacity to adapt when surprise events challenge its boundaries. In this episode, we talk: Dealing with shock The need to stretch at the boundaries How all systems are fragile Staying alive to 'weak signals' How viability requires extensibility Links: The Theory of Graceful Extensibility: basic rules Graceful Extensibility - short presentation The Strategic Agility Gap

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/ This week on Being Human, I speak with Nigel Thurlow, ex-Chief of Agile at Toyota and co-author of The Flow System. Tired of the framework merchants and the over-commercialisation of the Agile movement, Nigel could see that a new approach was needed. A philosophy that went beyond Lean and Agile to embrace complexity thinking, team science and the critical question of leadership. He believes, first and foremost, in education as the driver of change. Present people with the science and trust them to apply it in their context. In this episode, we talk: The holy triad of complexity, team science and distributed leadership Why leadership training must change Going beyond Systems Thinking New physics How information is upstream of energy Links: The Flow System - Read the Book The Flow System - Buy the Book Flow Guides

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/ In this episode of Being Human, I speak with author, speaker and CEO Sunny Bonnell. Together with her co-author, Ashleigh Hansberger, she wrote Rare Breed: A Guide to Success for the Defiant, Dangerous, and Different, a book that empowers people to take what society deems as "vices" and turn them into unrivalled assets. Sunny, herself a rare breed, dropped out of pre-veterinary school to start a branding agency with Ashleigh when branding agencies weren't a thing. Together, they built the hugely successful firm Motto around a 'rare breed' mindset. In this episode, we talk: Owning your weirdness Her Dad's pivotal advice that kept her going What it means to be a rare breed Embracing your misfits for business agility The dark side of the rare breed Links: Are you a rare breed? Find out Sunny's Company - Motto Rare Breed - The Book