How I Work

My guest today is Dan Heath. Dan is the co-author, along with his brother Chip, of four New York Times bestsellers: Decisive, Switch, Made to Stick, and The Power of Moments. The Heath Brothers’ books have sold over 3 million copies worldwide and been translated into 33 languages.Dan is a Senior Fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports social entrepreneurs. I am a HUGE fan of Dan's work and we cover a lot of ground in this interview, including: The importance of trying to solve problems before they happen - and why this is so hard to do How Dan thinks about coming up with titles for his books Why he saw the title of his new book, Upstream, as incredibly risky The value in focusing on recurring irritants to focus upstream thinking Why Dan tracks his time, and the changes this lead to in his life How tunneling gets in the way of solving problems How Dan overcame his procrastination tendencies The importance of momentum in writing The pros and cons of not working with his brother Heath for writing Upstream Dan’s approach to soliciting feedback and the ideal time to seek it Where Dan’s book ideas come from What makes a great business book How Dan develops the frameworks for his books The strategies Dan has written about that have had the biggest impact on his own life. Find out more about Dan at Heathbrothers.com and grab a copy of Upstream here.Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I am running a year-long experiment called My Year of Better. It’s my attempt to test out some science-backed strategies in my own life to become happier, more productive, more creative, and less stressed. If you would like to play along at home, join my pack of 1000+ lab rats at: https://amantha.substack.com/On today’s show, I describe Experiment 3: Minor Acts of Kindness, which has been shown to be a very effective strategy to boost happiness and relationship satisfaction. Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My favourite tip from my chat with Nir Eyal was about why and how he puts every single activity he does in his calendar.You can find the full interview here.If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coVisit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My favourite tip from my chat with NYU Marketing Professor Adam Alter was on why he doesn't believe in goal setting - and what he does instead.You can find the full interview here.If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coVisit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stanford behaviour change expert, BJ Fogg, discusses his strategies for making habits stick, including the Tiny Habits method and optimizing work environments for productivity. He also shares insights on maximizing iPad use, innovative teaching strategies, and embracing authenticity and vulnerability.

I am running a year-long experiment called My Year of Better. It’s my attempt to test out some science-backed strategies in my own life to become happier, more productive, more creative, and less stressed. If you would like to partake in the fun, join my pack of 1000+ lab rats at: https://amantha.substack.com/On today’s show, I describe Experiment 2: Failure Resume, which has been shown to be a very effective strategy to boost resilience. If you are playing along at home, complete the pre-experiment survey here.Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My guest today is Rita McGrath. Rita is a world-renowned professor at Columbia Business School, where she directs the popular Leading Strategic Growth and Change program. She is widely recognized as a premier expert on leading innovation and growth during times of uncertainty. She has received the #1 achievement award for strategy from the prestigious Thinkers50 and has been consistently named one of the world’s top ten management thinkers in its bi-annual ranking.Rita is the author of the best-selling The End of Competitive Advantage and her new book is Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen.Rita has been rated one of the 25 smartest women to follow on Twitter by Fast Company and was voted HR Magazine’s “Most Influential International Thinker.”I’ve followed Rita’s work for several years and got connected with her personally after one of my team mates was lucky enough to be taught by her at Columbia.In this chat, we cover:* How she prioritises what projects she decides to work on* How Rita minimises decisions* How Rita gets the most out of her assistant* Where her book ideas come from* How to make something interesting* Rita’s approach to deciding what to read and maximising the impact of what she does read* Having a personal board of directors* On how failure can lead to a better future* How she arrived at the title for her latest book* Rita’s approach to doing Deep Work* How Rita’s approach to writing has changed over the last year* Rita’s go-to sources for informationFind out more about Rita at https://www.ritamcgrath.com/, follow Rita on Twitter, and get your copy of Seeing Around Corners.Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I am running a year-long experiment called My Year of Better. It’s my attempt to test out some science-backed strategies in my own life to become happier, more productive, more creative, and less stressed. If you would like to play along at home, join my pack of 1000+ lab rats at: https://amantha.substack.com/On today’s show, I describe Experiment 1: Worry Time, which has been shown to be a very effective strategy to significantly reduce stress. Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My guest today is Paul Migliorini. Paul leads the Amazon Web Services business across Australia and New Zealand - a role that he has been in for the last four years. Prior to joining AWS Paul held leadership roles in Asia and Australia with BT, Motorola, Regus and Ernst & Young, most recently as the CEO for Regus ANZ and Regional Managing Director for South Asia at BT.I was keen to speak to Paul because I have heard a lot of things about Amazon’s culture and ways of working that fascinated me. And there is nothing better than being able to get an insider’s perspective on how it all works.So if you have ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of one of the world’s fastest growing and most powerful companies, I think you’ll love my chat with Paul.We cover: How Paul has dramatically changed his mobile phone behaviour Amazon’s 14 key leadership principles How being frugal leads to innovative The importance of “two pizza teams" Why leaders at Amazon do more coaching rather than managing Why input measures matter more than output measures The two types of decisions that can be made at Amazon and how this impacts decision-making speed The importance of disagreeing and committing to decisions How strong opinions are encouraged at Amazon How Amazon identifies people who will fit with the culture during the recruitment process The 50% test that Amazon use in their recruitment process Why Powerpoint is banned at Amazon The critical role of long form narratives at Amazon Why the first 15-20 minutes of meetings at Amazon are spent reading Why Amazon create fictitious press releases for products that don’t exist Amazon’s working backwards process Why Paul sees it as his job to say yes to as many requests as possible.  Learn more about Amazon's Summit, check out career opportunities at Amazon and connect with Paul on Linkedin.Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's mini-episode describes a brand new project I am launching - My Year of Better. I'd love you to be a part of it.Sign up here (it's free!).Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.co See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.