We talk a lot about the importance of emergence—of being more comfortable with being uncomfortable. However, it’s hard to practice what you preach… especially for a podcast with a tight schedule. Normally, when one of two hosts is out of commission, you don’t record. But when this recently happened to us, we asked “How might we?” and took a big ol’ step into the unknown.

We’re glad we did, because this week’s guest is Dr. Jason Fox, a self-proclaimed wizard-philosopher, best-selling author, and senior leadership advisor to Fortune 500 companies around the world. In classic wizard-philosopher fashion, he and Sam throw out the script for a far-reaching conversation about the importance of rituals, the roles we play when we’re at work, and how embracing uncertainty is where the magic truly happens.

Learn more about Jason:

• On his website
• On LinkedIn
• Read How to Lead A Quest or The Game Changer

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Got an idea for future episodes or a thorny workplace question you need answered? Shoot us a message to podcast@theready.com.

Mentioned references:

• Game Frame, book by Aaron Dignan
• Brave New Work, book by Aaron Dignan
• James Carse, author of Finite and Infinite Games
• Rodney's "I am CEO vs I hold the role of CEO": AWWTR Ep. 14
• Lands of Lorecraft, series of articles by Venkatesh Rao
• Jevons Paradox
• "rivalrous dynamics"
• "multipolar traps"
• "operating rhythm": BNW Ep. 118
• Creativity, Inc., book by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace
• basilisk
• "GTD": BNW Ep. 39 with David Allen
• John Keats and "negative capability"
• Antifragile, book by Nassim Taleb
• "Metacrisis"
• The Ministry for the Future, book by Kim Stanley Robinson
• Children of Time, series by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• The Expanse, series by James S.A. Corey
• The Culture, series by Iain M. Banks