Being Human

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this week's episode, I talk with Dan Ward, a former military technologist, author and expert on innovation. With Dan, I explore:- How applying his principles, teams can deliver at a tenth or even a one hundredth of the price- Why spending 10 years in planning could actually be Agile- The brain mechanisms that make trust a winning leadership strategy- Why restraint should be your overarching principle for product delivery- Why his principles don't scale and yet deliver mega-projectsEnjoy!Dan's website: https://www.thedanward.com/Mitre Innovator's Development Toolkit developed by Dan and this colleagues: https://itk.mitre.org/Dan's first book F.I.R.E.: https://tinyurl.com/y5oxf4lkDan's latest book The Simplicity Cycle: https://tinyurl.com/yxknty79

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this week's episode, I talk with Roman Pichler, a leading expert in Product Management. With Roman, I explore:- His preference for the term 'Product People' over getting hung up on role descriptions- Why caring for others is at the heart of product management- The importance of adapting leadership style for different contexts- The lessons he learnt failing with an e-learning product- Why mindfulness and meditation are at the core of his approachEnjoy!https://www.romanpichler.com/Roman's book 'Strategize': http://tiny.cc/bcvw9y

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this week's episode, I speak with an internationally renowned authority in the field of Programme Evaluation, Michael Quinn Patton. We explore his latest book 'Principles-Focused Evaluation'. We talk:- Michael's lessons for others from evaluating high-profile initiatives for billionaire philanthropists and major NGO's across the globe- Why knowing the difference between rules and principles matters- The problem with SMART goals and what to focus on instead- Campbell's Law and the issue with high-stakes indicators- The 'go slow to go fast principle' and the importance of trustEnjoy!Links:An introduction to complexity by John H Holland: http://tiny.cc/a21e9yMichael's book 'Principles-Focused Evaluation': http://tiny.cc/33ejaz

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week, I talk with Sam Conniff, a man on a mission to build a modern pirate movement, kick-started by his hugely successful book 'Be More Pirate'. We explore:- How pirates give us a template for diverse, progressive and agile organisations- How Lady Liberty is almost certainly a pirate- How one man's love of kimchi sparked the transformation of his workplace- Why business leaders should encourage rule-breaking- Sam's own pirate shenanigansEnjoy!Links:www.bemorepirate.com

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week, I talk with a man of many callings, Bruce Daisley. Best-selling author, #1 podcaster and in his spare time, VP EMEA of Twitter. At the Twitter HQ in Soho, London, we talk:- The crisis at Twitter London that started Bruce's quest to build a better workplace- Why to start taking your lunchbreak, and that table size really does matter- Why the location of your coffee machine might mean more than your org chart- Why you should always take sweets to your doctor- How Twitter does hack-a-thons that actually make an impactEnjoy!Links:Bruce's book The Joy of Work: http://tiny.cc/emhy9yEat Sleep Work Repeat podcast: http://tiny.cc/emhy9y

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this week's episode, I talk with Christina Wodtke, the world's number one evangelist for Objectives and Key Results - the powerful goal-setting technique loved by Google. With Christina, I explore her breakthrough book on OKRs, 'Radical Focus' and her forthcoming title 'The Team That Managed Itself' on supercharging team performance. We talk:- The power of having "one objective per business model"- Her radical approach for team feedback- Why explicitly agreeing on team norms upfront accelerates team cohesion- The difference between low-context and high-context cultures and why it matters- The importance of using language that touches people's hearts and gives meaning to their workLinks:Christina's blog: http://eleganthack.com/'Radical Focus': http://tiny.cc/cvy88y

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this week's episode of Being Human, I talk with co-founder of The Happy Startups School, Laurence McCahill. In discovering that it's not really a school, and it's not necessarily about startups, we talk:- The magic of their Happy Startup Canvas that has people face the tough questions- How to avoid swapping a corporate boss you don't like for a VC you don't like- How he steps back to allow the power of community to solve people's problems- The flaw in a typical accelerator’s A-to-B processWebsite: http://www.thehappystartupschool.com/Summer camp event: https://www.happystartupsummer.camp/The Happy Startup Canvas: http://tiny.cc/n2vu8y  

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this week's episode of Being Human, I talk with Lean icons, husband-and-wife authors and teachers, Mary and Tom Poppendieck. Mary and Tom travel the world helping people to create and deliver stunning products and services through the power of the Lean approach. We talk:- The origins of Lean as fundamentally about people working at their best- The metaphor of double-entry bookkeeping for building in software quality- Why business should focus on flow efficiency, not resource efficiency- Why you should *not* be automating your business processes- The first questions to ask yourself in starting a Lean journeyEnjoy!Links:New writing: www.leanessays.comBooks:"Lean Software Development": https://amzn.to/2XenqYP"Implementing-Lean-Software-Development": https://amzn.to/2JfWqyB“The Lean Mindset”: https://amzn.to/2FAMBdd“Leading Lean Software Development”: https://amzn.to/2XbrXeJ

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this week's episode of Being Human, I explore the "Music Paradigm" with its creator, the distinguished conductor Roger Nierenberg. Roger takes business people into his orchestra, sitting them next to his musicians to learn how to listen and how to lead. We talk:- What he means by "leading as listening"- How to achieve 'flow' in an orchestra and how that translates in business- Why being pitch perfect shouldn't be the primary goal in music or at work- The art of the leadership intervention- His vision for a fusion of the music and business worldsEnjoy!Links:http://www.musicparadigm.com/https://www.facebook.com/themusicparadigm/https://vimeo.com/331485040

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this week's episode of Being Human, I talk with Jan Åke Johnsson, a man with an amazing story and a fellow adherent of Primal Therapy and Rolfing practices. We explore how his journey to "go within" to the source of his epilepsy has given him complete control over his condition and reduced it to a virtual non-issue. We talk:- The two years he spent entirely out of action to fully face his demons- His direct experience of working with therapist-to-John Lennon and author of 'Primal Scream', Arthur Janov- What he means by 'having a Primal' when healing his difficult birth- How his mother's religious views impacted his entry to life- His message for fellow epileptics Enjoy!Jan's book 'Evolution in Reverse': http://bit.do/janjohnssonbook

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this week's episode of Being Human I interview Tom van der Lubbe, Lead Link (CEO) of Dutch Mortgage Advisor Viisi and pioneer of Holacracy, the radical business operating system. In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk:- How so-called 'radical' approaches for business have been employed in state structures for centuries- What businesses can learn from the success of the Scandinavian countries- How our approach to managing businesses has a knock-on impact on society- The impact of Christian traditions on early capitalism- Tom's take on Elon MuskEnjoy!https://www.viisi.nl/over-viisi/team/tom-van-der-lubbe/https://www.holacracy.org/what-is-holacracyhttps://www.sociocracy.info/

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this week's episode of Being Human I interview Joshua Kerievsky, the originator of Modern Agile and CEO of leading agile training and coaching group Industrial Logic. With occassional contributions from his dogs, we talk:- The difference between a principle-oriented vs a practice-oriented approach to Agile- How Paul O'Neill's turnaround of aluminium giant Alcoa led him to make safety a prerequisite in his philosophy- The true essence of agility- How the wiki creator Ward Cunningham still inspires him todayEnjoy!http://modernagile.org/https://www.industriallogic.com/

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this episode, I take a journey through the philosophy of Agile luminary Michael Sahota. We talk:- The source and remedy for the high failure rate of Agile implementations- Toyota's "kaizen" vs "kaikaku" and why the idea of transformation is flawed- Why all culture change starts with the individual- The moment that Michael first got 'in front of the mirror'- His 4 A's Leadership Model and the prospect of radically fast mindset shiftsEnjoy!Links:http://agilitrix.com/

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this episode, I delve into the world of renowned Agile thought-leader Lyssa Adkins, President Emeritus of the Agile Coaching Institute, Agile Coach and Facilitator of Difficult Problems. We talk:- How she's dealing with her current transitionary phase- Her leadership role within the Ten Women Strong movement- Her personal agility practice and how that's becoming central to her coaching- Her work with an Integral coach- Her moving from the centre of the fire circle to the edgeEnjoy!Links:https://www.tenwomenstrong.net/programs/agile/https://www.lyssaadkins.com/https://agilecoachinginstitute.com/https://amzn.to/2fAMy2w

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this episode, I take a deep dive into the culture of the radically decentralised Handelsbanken, with its Global Head of External Affairs, Richard Winder. We talk:- The story of their radical transformation in the early 1970s under the incoming CEO Jan Wallander- How local branches both compete and co-operate- How a leftist mindset has contributed to their success at capitalism- Their winning formula of high trust and high transparency- Why Richard's doing OK without a 'banker bonus'Enjoy!Links:https://www.handelsbanken.com/

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this episode, I explore the evolution of the modern workplace with Yann Toutant, the Netherlands CEO of the €6bn digital services company Econocom. We talk:- Why he likes his people out of the office, but not working from home- How his shareholders said they'd fire him if he *didn't* go sailing during year-end- How we forget that we manage for outcomes all the time- The key ingredients of a great place to work- How to know when you've lost control and how to get it backEnjoy!Links:https://www.econocom.com How to know when you've lost control and how to get it back 

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this episode, I explore the enterprise perspective on Agile with Scott Ambler, Chief Scientist at Disciplined Agile. We talk:- Guided Continuous Improvement and the Kaizen Loop- Why it's best to think in terms of options and not best practices- The need for "rolling wave" budgeting- The role of the Architecture Owner- The danger of Lean = job cuts and why safety is key to transformationEnjoy!Links:http://www.disciplined-agile.com/ 

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/In this episode, I explore 'The Heart of Agile' approach with Agile Manifesto co-author and methodology theorist Alistair Cockburn. We talk:- How methodologies are like tissues- The paradox of needing methods to both increase and reduce communication- Why collaboration is at the heart of the Agile approach- The three emerging modes of leadership in complex work- The story of creating the Agile ManifestoEnjoy!https://heartofagile.com/

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week on Being Human, I interview Sydney Finklestein, Professor of Leadership at Dartmouth College and author of the highly-acclaimed 'Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent'. We talk:- The three types of 'Superbosses'- How to know a ‘Glorious Bastard’ from a plain old bastard- Why great leaders build teams around talents not a template- How superbosses embrace transparency- Why passion is at the heart of being an extraordinary leaderLinks:The Sydcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sydcast/id1453232081?mt=2Superbosses: http://tiny.cc/cpy34y

> Sign Up For Our Newsletter: http://www.firsthuman.com/being-human-newsletter/This week on Being Human, I interview Efosa Ojomo and Karen Dillon, Harvard academics and co-authors with Clayton Christensen of The Prosperity Paradox. We talk:- How some noodle entrepreneurs transformed the retail supply chain in Nigeria- The huge business opportunities represented by non-consumers- How providing cover just from a phone number made a British insurance entrepreneur a fortune while transforming lives in Africa- Why thinking about customers in terms of 'Jobs To Be Done' expands your thinking- Why corruption is a solution!Links:https://www.christenseninstitute.org/https://www.amazon.com/Prosperity-Paradox-Innovation-Nations-Poverty/dp/0062851829