DangerMouth: The Innovation Station

The team welcome back DangerMouth regular Jolly Contrarian Olly Buxton to ponder what goes wrong when the fuzzy trail of recent history is brutally cleaved with the sword of justice.

In this episode Darrell is squarely in his happy place as we welcome special guest, Conductor, Soprano and Academic Yajie Ye to discuss the conjunction of innovation and classical music and the skills needed to thrive and survive in time of rapid change. Find out more about Yajie Ye on her excellent website: https://www.yajieye.com/

Its over 50 years since Robert Pirsig's book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAM) was published.  ZAM is the story of Robert Pirsig's struggle with various paradoxes, a story with no tidy endings. In this era of omni-crisis the questions raised are more relevant than ever and hold clues for the innovator who wants to integrate Mythos and Logos and strive for Quality.  This episode also references the sequel to ZAM, Lila a work just as profound, one well work seeking out by fans of ZAM. Following on from Darrell's Innovation Workshop based on Pirsig's work, in a second ZAM related episode, Darrell, Mikey and Shana bravely venture forth into the zone of abstract ideas. 

In their forthcoming book "1%ers" Shana and Darrell argue that we humans need to restore the balance between science and the humanities to thrive in the age of AI. Step one in this process is to shake off the over reliance left brain reductionist thinking. This new mindset requires overcoming ingrained habits. This episode is a discussion about how to change your mind.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIbLQQ1i56Y&t=4s 

This episode was triggered by the inciteful review/final chapter of the book Champion Thinking by Simon Mundie which appeared in the April Issue of the Systematic Innovation Ezine (issue 277). The theme of the book is that "success" in life, sport and innovation is held back by a series of common illusions/beliefs that need to be discarded.   The Ezine is available here: https://si-shop.org.uk/free-downloads/

In this episode the team welcome special guest Andy Brunskill, who shares his insights of how Green World Innovation techniques can be effective in the Red World of continuous improvement. Find out more about Andy here: https://sapartners.com/team/bio-andy-brunskill/

Every minute organisations across the globe are becoming more tightly coupled. This exponentially increases the number of variables that might impact your plans, complexity balloons. instability in major nodes and the disruption of AI are tipping the world system into a chaotic state. Old heuristics that worked in high complexity contexts aren't suited to a chaotic environment. Leaders all over the world are painfully aware of the problem, but don't know who to turn to. Darrell's next book, FutureProof highlights a method of charting a way through the chaos, by providing direction of travel and advice on girding your team of immutable humans with the adaptability and resilience to survive the ordeal ahead.  

In this episode we welcome special guest Hilarie Owen author of the Book "In Search of Leaders", published 25 years ago and still so startlingly relevant, that Darrell featured it as Book of the Month in his March E-Zine. There is a great deal of wisdom in this episode for those not addicted to the allure of simple answers to complex issues.

In 2020 by Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini published the book Humanocracy. Mike and Darrell discuss whether this is an important tool in the increasingly difficult task of aligning people engaged in a common endeavour. 

In this episode Darrell, Shana and Mikey relate their experiences of being educated and consider ways in which the goals of the education system could be better aligned with ever changing requirements of todays society.

Misalignment between silos in an organisation is very common, very costly and a major reason why bold initiatives fail.  In this episode Darrell, Shana and Mikey attempt to align themselves as they investigate whether the Theory of System Completeness will help them out.

Agatha Christie is quoted as saying: "I don't think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness — to save oneself trouble." In this episode Darrel, Mikey and Shana,  chew over laziness in the context of innovation.

Jon Gower sometime author, presenter, raconteur, nature lover, journalist, historian, academic and professional Welshman joins us on this episode. Jons special talent is that he has never let his passions and curiosity be ring fenced and has the courage to follow paths that others would forsake. The Turning Tide: A Biography of the Irish Sea I Know an Island - RM Lockley Lundy, Fastnet, Irish Sea: Wales and its Coastal Waters    

Harbinger of revolution or overblown hype AI, is casting a shadow of doubt over all projected futures and that's only the headliner. In this episode we discuss how to be swept along by the Coming Wave rather than obliterated by it. Its a time for bold moves, rejecting the allure of the safe and sensible and having the wisdom to take what today seems the crazy option, one that only makes sense with some very deep reflection or the blessing of hindsight. Darrell and Shana have helped others successfully take the leap of faith and have experienced first hand the sad fate of those who didn't, so who better to ask?     

In this episode Darrell and Mikey are joined by Dr Avi and his AI Clone MobiAvi. Up for discussion are the loneliness of the long distance CEO, where best to leverage you efforts if you want to make the world a better place and the fascination experiences of a trailblazing experiment in sharing a digital version of yourself with the world. https://www.dravileadership.com/

This episode uses the physical and psychological challenges of solo long distance coastal adventuring as a framing device for examining innovation basics.  Darrell steers, Shana sets the climate and as usual Mikey desperately treads water.    https://www.mikeyhere.com/p/3-capital-kayak.html

Dangermouth strays into the danger zone and attempts to find a fresh take on deliberating the desireable outcome for the 2024 election. Darrell joins Shana on location in the USA for this episode. References The Third Way Podcast: Audrey Tand and Digital Citizen Assemblies A time of revolution Book: The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788–1800 Podcast: Yuval Levin on Burke, Paine, and the Great Debate  

The rediscovery and painstaking restoration of Aristotle's Poetics revealed a lost method of literary theory, seeing literature as a progression of innovations. Wordmaster John Reel joins Darrell and Mikey to examine the "and" and "but" of the creative process. Wonderworks: Literary invention and the science of stories My Half Orange: A Story of Love and Language in Seville        

Instinct is potentially a highly powerful creative tool, one that is largely shunned in western society as it is hard to define, tricky to measure and like AI no one really knows what is going on inside the box. Shana, Darrell and Mikey try to pin down the jello. Darrell thinks he has the answer, Mikey knows he has and Shana provides a grounding dose of reality.   Links Instinct EZine The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

Comedy is innovation in real time. Professor of Comedy Emma Holmes and Drama Queen Christine van Asselt give Darrell and Mikey lessons in laughter. It's a funny business!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hflp9tE0Iww https://www.linkedin.com/company/eeh-productions/about/