The aim of mind-wandering, odd as it might sound, is to improve the efficiency of your generative model. As ordained by the Free Energy Principle, a model is only efficient if it uses the minimum resources necessary to perform the work of self-organisation. That boils down to finding the simplest model that successfully predicts sensory samples of the world. The simplest model does not arise naturally from voluntary action. Voluntary action is a haphazard process. Simplicity is increased by pruning redundant synaptic connections that formed while we learned from experience. We are cutting them back to avoid ‘overfitting’ our models to noisy data, needlessly preserving eccentric and weak correlations. The shears are the by-now familiar mechanisms of memory consolidation and reconsolidation: by activating memories, we can strengthen, alter and even erase them. Mind-wandering is one means by which this is achieved. It involves spontaneous forebrain activity (the ‘resting state’ or ‘default mode’), which occurs without any specific external stimulus. This kind of activity often goes on in the background through an ‘imaginative exploration of our own mental space’.

We caught up with Dr Robert Hogan during his 2023 worldwide tour. Robert challenged decades of academic tradition to demonstrate personality’s impact on organisational success. He pioneered the use of personality assessment to improve workplace performance. One of his key findings is that organisations should look for humility in a leader rather than charisma. A humble leader channels energy into the improvement of an organisation, whereas charismatic leaders leave a trail of chaos and ruin. Hogan says, “Organisations often overlook humble employees for leadership positions favouring charismatic ones. Charismatic people are charming and inspirational, but many turn out to be narcissistic, arrogant, and potentially exploitative. In contrast, humble leaders empower followers and promote team learning.”

Today’s book offers a comprehensive approach to extraordinary problem-solving. Conceived by a super-creative quartet of top-tier business consultants, the book builds upon a novel premise: What if you framed problems as if they were games of profound significance? How might you design something new or reimagine the old, particularly when competition increases, technology disrupts, change accelerates, money tightens, and the rules of success are constantly evolving?  The book then shares a flexible methodology for designing powerhouse innovation GAMEs (Guidelines, Arena, Materials, Experience), Aligning teams with 5 problem-solving “lenses,” building consensus behind change, and leading and managing the process. This uncommon, easy-to-read, visual book is packed with actionable strategies that will help you and your community thrive when playing The GAME of Innovation.   It is a pleasure to welcome the author of The GAME of Innovation: Conquer Challenges. Level Up Your Team. Play to Win: Gamify Challenges, Level Up Your Team, and Play to Win, David Cutler

Today’s book draws on a decade of research and 50 case studies to present six mindsets that help business leaders and nonprofit equivalents be more confident and creative about strategic problem-solving and be successful where others are afraid to act (or act recklessly). The concept is modelled after innovative companies such as Patagonia which are not afraid to step out into risk using small moves that build capabilities, assets and understanding. The imperfectionist strategy creates opportunities unavailable to those with conventional strategic thinking based on old structural models. The world is changing faster and faster, with increasing uncertainty and the threat of external disruption in every business and nonprofit segment. Conventional approaches to strategy development assuming a world devoid of probability no longer work. It Is a huge pleasure to welcome a friend, previous guest and author of "The Imperfectionists: Strategic Mindsets for Uncertain Times", Charles Conn.  More about Charles here: https://bulletproofproblemsolving.com

Today’s guest discovered that over 10 years, just 1 in 12 companies managed to jump from the middle tier of corporate performance—where 60% of companies reside, making very little economic profit—to the top quintile, where 90% of global economic profit is made. This movement does not happen by magic—it depends on your company’s current position, the trends it faces, and the big moves you make to give it the strongest chance of vaulting over the competition. This is not another strategy framework. Instead, today’s book shows, through empirical analysis and the experiences of dozens of companies that have successfully made multiple big moves, that you have to overcome incrementalism and corporate inertia to improve performance dramatically. We welcome the Chairman of the McKinsey Global Institute and Author of “Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick”, Sven Smit.

What is it about the top tech product companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Netflix and Tesla that enables their record of consistent innovation?   Most people think it’s because these companies are somehow able to find and attract a level of talent that makes this innovation possible. But the real advantage these companies have is not so much who they hire, but rather how they enable their people to work together to solve hard problems and create extraordinary products.  Today’s guest has long worked to reveal the best practices of the most consistently innovative companies in the world. A natural companion to his bestselling-book INSPIRED, today’s book tackles head-on the reason why most companies fail to truly leverage the potential of their people to innovate: product leadership.  It is a great pleasure to welcome the author of EMPOWERED: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products, Marty Cagan

Disciplined Entrepreneurship will change the way you think about starting a company. Many believe that entrepreneurship cannot be taught, but great entrepreneurs aren’t born with something special – they simply make great products. This book will show you how to create a successful startup through developing an innovative product. It breaks down the necessary processes into an integrated, comprehensive, and proven 24-step framework that any industrious person can learn and apply.  You will learn: * Why the “F” word – focus – is crucial to a startup’s success * Common obstacles that entrepreneurs face – and how to overcome them * How to use innovation to stand out in the crowd – it’s not just about technology Whether you’re a first-time or repeat entrepreneur, Disciplined Entrepreneurship gives you the tools you need to improve your odds of making a product people want. Author Bill Aulet is the managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship as well as a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Lnks mentioned in the show: Entrepreneurship 101: Who is your customer? https://www.edx.org/course/entrepreneurship-101-who-is-your-customer? Book website: https://www.d-eship.com  

Does this sound familiar?  * Are you always one prototype away from a solution but never seem to get there?  * Do you spend most of your time fixing problems you did not anticipate?  * Does it seem like everything is going well until launch when it all falls apart?  * Are you getting very little return on the resources you deploy?  * Does the performance of your product in the market rarely meet the predicted targets? 
 Intrigued? So was I. If you answered yes, then you are like a young version of our guest.  Today, he will teach you both the science and art to innovation.  It is a pleasure to welcome a friend of the show to share insights from his latest book, "Learning to Build: The 5 Bedrock Skills of Innovators and Entrepreneurs", Bob Moesta.

Very few large companies manage to avoid stalls in revenue growth. These stalls are not attributable to the natural business cycle. Our guest's careful analysis reveals that most such stalls directly result from strategic choices made by corporate leaders. In short, stoppages in growth are almost always avoidable. This extensively researched book analyses the growth experiences of more than 600 Fortune 100 companies over the past fifty years to identify why growth stalls and to discover how to rectify a stall in progress or, even better, avoid one. Board members and executives in companies of all sizes will find this book a practical and essential resource.  Our guest investigated the incidence and consequences of growth stalls in major corporations and then probed the root causes. Examining hundreds of stall points, the authors conclude that the greatest threat to a company's growth is obsolete strategic assumptions that undermine market position and innovation and talent management breakdowns. It is a pleasure to welcome back our recent guest in the Clayton Christensen tribute series, the author of “Stall Points: Most Companies Stop Growing - Yours Doesn't Have To - Derek van Bever

C.S. Lewis once said, “Good and evil increase at compound interest. That’s why the little decisions we make every day are of infinite importance. the smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may go on to victories you never dreamed of” This quote came to mind as I pondered today's book. Just as the good things we do compound over time, so too do the not-so-good things, it was jinn Dryden who wrote first we make our habits then our habits make us. This is the case for the daily stresses we tolerate, our guest calls these microstresses. “Microstress: tiny moments of stress triggered by people in our personal and professional lives; stresses so routine that we barely register them but whose cumulative toll is debilitating.” In its annual State of the Workplace survey, Gallup concluded that only 33 per cent of those surveyed were“thriving” in their well-being, with 44 per cent of employees reporting experiencing “a lot” of stress in a typical workday—a record high.1 But little recognised or adequately studied is the toll of this new form of stress. The toll is so subtle that we barely register it, but the cumulative effect can derail even high performers, both personally and professionally. We welcome the author of "The Microstress Effect" Karen Dillon