The Melting Pot with Dominic Monkhouse

This week on The Melting Pot with Dominic Monkhouse, we learned from David Shonthal, ward-winning Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management and co-author of The Human Element. Overcoming The Resistance That Awaits New Ideas. You will know this feeling if you're an entrepreneur or an innovator inside your business. Something that makes sense to you is being resisted by everybody at every turn. It's often why people leave larger companies and go to smaller ones. Or start up their own where they feel there would be less resistance. It's true for a while, but some of these elements will creep back in if that business succeeds. David has been involved in entrepreneurship, design and innovation for over 20 years, and his work has led to the creation of over 300 products, services, and new ventures worldwide. In this episode, he dives into the four types of friction that stand in the way of new ideas going forward. He also explains why it is important to recognise human behaviour to drive change, whether in B2C sales or B2B. A fantastic conversation with David about how to take your idea and move the organisation to adapt to the change. Download and listen to learn more. On today's podcast: There's more than one flavour of entrepreneurshipThe Friction Theory FrameworkThe four frictions against innovationHow recognising human behaviour can drive change Follow David Shonthal:WebsiteLinkedInTwitter Book recommendations: The End of AverageDemand Side SalesCompeting against luckA Man's Search for Meaning Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review 

Combining great leadership with strong relationships can be a game-changer in our professional and personal lives. Did you know that your early years' experiences can significantly shape your beliefs and behaviours? Uncovering these influences can give us valuable insights into our personal growth and how we manage our relationships. Effective communication and managing expectations are critical in maintaining healthy interactions. Seeking out diverse perspectives can encourage growth and prevent us from falling into the trap of thinking in an echo chamber. Understanding these aspects allows us to propel ourselves towards better leadership and stronger relationships.This week on The Melting Pot, we learned from Wouter van den Berg, the trailblazing neuroeconomist with a passion for understanding the human brain and its impact on performance. From early dreams of being a professional footballer, Wouter has traversed an unusual path that has led him into the field of neuroscience. His stint at a Dutch football academy gave him invaluable insights into peak performance and the intense focus it demands. Wouter's educational journey includes a PhD where he researched predicting success and understanding why people make certain decisions. His work has evolved into Brain Compass, a revolutionary platform that brings together multiple fields to aid people in reaching their peak potential. Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: From a football player to Neuro-EconomistCan we predict success?Defying our default mental modelsThe impact of our self-limiting beliefsUnderstanding the Attachment theory Follow Wouter van den Berg:BrainCompassLinkedIn Book recommendations:Synaptic Self Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review  

In a world where knowledge is power, one woman dared to question the effectiveness of traditional learning methods. Sherry Coutu's unwavering curiosity led her on a journey of discovery from Cambridge University to the heart of entrepreneurial success. But her path took an unexpected turn when she realised that the resources meant to ignite growth were failing entrepreneurs like her. Now, she stands on the precipice of a groundbreaking solution that could revolutionise learning and unlock limitless potential. This week on The Melting Pot, we learned from Sherry Coutu, a prolific British entrepreneur with an unyielding drive for catalysing progress in business growth. Her portfolio showcases a seamlessly fascinating journey through the tech industry, marked by her triumphant co-founding roles in companies like Interactive Investor International and LinkedIn, which continue to dominate their respective niches. Add her impactful stint as an angel investor, and it's clear she can identify, back, and shepherd startups to exponential growth. Her firm belief in the power of learning has instigated her remarkable contributions towards bolstering educational endeavours, making her an advocate for skills development. Download and listen to learn more. On today's podcast: Helping scale-ups solve the skills problemThe outcomes from the UK scaleup reportThe value of choosing the right learning pathThe five barriers to growthHow Superpower helps scale-ups with talent acquisition and development Follow Sherry Coutu:Superpower websiteLinkedInTwitterThe Scale-up report 2014 Book recommendations: Atlas ShruggedThe AllianceThe Startup of YouMasters of ScaleLessons in Chemistry Enjoyed the show?Leave a Review 

If you're feeling frustrated and overwhelmed by your inability to effectively influence behaviour, despite your best efforts, then you are not alone! You may be tirelessly implementing marketing strategies, leadership tactics, or political campaigns, only to witness minimal impact on the desired outcomes. Instead of influencing behaviour, you find yourself facing resistance, indifference, or even backlash from the very individuals you are trying to engage.Drawing from his experience in the advertising world and his academic background, Marcus Collins stands as a beacon in understanding and influencing human behaviour through culture. He’s put his theories to practice crafting successful campaigns for mammoths like Google and Nike, earning him widespread recognition including a spot on Advertising Age’s 40 under 40. His insightful book, For the Culture, accentuates his understanding of culture's profound influence on behaviour. Nowadays, Marcus continues to influence minds as a professor at the esteemed Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.In this episode, Marcus talks about how to get people to do things that they didn't necessarily think they wanted to do, whether that's buying an iPod or supporting the Brooklyn Nets. Because this is about moving people. How all of those tools and the knowledge that has been garnered by the advertising industry can be applied in churches or organisations to get people to move? Also, as leaders, what can we do to build a culture? What are the elements that define it? What makes people behave the same way as another person? How do you make things attractive to people so that they want to move? Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: Understanding the power of culture to influence behaviourLeveraging shared meanings in advertisingThe role of culture in personal developmentThe concept of ‘moving people’Defining brand and its cultural implications Follow Marcus Collins:WebsiteLinkedInFor The Culture Book recommendations: The Society of the SpectacleThe Kingdom of Prep Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review

Does this sound familiar? As a founder or CEO of a venture-backed startup, you've likely been told that you need to work harder and longer hours to scale your business. But despite your relentless efforts, you're still facing challenges and not seeing the desired results. The pain of pouring your heart and soul into your business, only to be met with roadblocks and frustrations, is all too real. It's time to break free from this ineffective action and discover the strategies that truly empower you to overcome scaling challenges and maximise your potential for success.This week on The Melting Pot, we learned from Rachel Turner, a seasoned founder coach with over two decades of immersion in the entrepreneurial realm. An early adopter of executive coaching since the '90s, Rachel's journey takes a unique path as she leans into applied psychology to optimise business success. Author of the Founder Survival Guide, she translates years of personal experiences and insights to help fellow founders overcome their own hurdles during the transition from startup to scale-up. Once an entrepreneur herself, Rachel's understanding of founder psychology is unparalleled, making her coaching approach as engaging as it is enlightening. Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: The crucial role of coaching in founder’s successUnderstanding the concept of minimally viable CEOCoaching venture-backed company’s foundersThe warrior, the architect and the monarchThe future of technology and coaching Follow Rachel Turner:VC Talent LabLinkedInThe Founder’s Survival Guide Book recommendations:The AdvantageMeditationsThe Daily StoicHow to make friends and influence people Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review 

In the digital era, achieving successful transformation is not just important—it's essential. For business leaders and executives, the challenge lies in approaching this change strategically and efficiently. Fortunately, they can navigate this by adopting an iterative approach to organisational change, concentrating on relevant business problems, and nurturing a culture of experimentation and validation. Add in the elements of continuous learning and execution, and you have a comprehensive strategy for digital transformation. This week, our guest David Rogers guides us through a framework to help you tackle these challenges.David is an author, faculty at Columbia Business School, and an advisor to senior business leaders. Over the years, he developed a passion for helping companies navigate the complexities of the digital age. It was observing the struggles of organisations clinging to their pre-digital identities that sparked David's interest. Seeing a clear dividing line between companies born before and after the internet era, he recognised the blind spots that often held them back. He realised that these companies were stuck in their ways, and their assumptions about their business were outdated. He encourages organisations to get better at shutting things down, accepting change, and moving forward. While many established companies were struggling with the rapid pace of digital transformation, there was a significant minority who were succeeding. This prompted David to delve deeper, discovering that successful companies followed a specific pattern. Rather than viewing digital transformation as a threat, these companies created a shared vision unique to their firm, addressing their particular needs and challenges in the digital age. Today, David focuses on helping companies navigate this complex process. His optimistic outlook and belief in the power of change are inspiring, showing the world that digital transformation may be daunting but far from impossible.Download and listen to learn more. On today's podcast: Helping established businesses adapt to digital transformationUnderstanding your customer's problem firstDriving change in a rapidly changing worldThe Barriers to digital transformationRethinking Governance inside an established business Follow David Rogers:WebsiteLinkedInThe Digital Transformation Roadmap Book recommendations: Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One SeesEnjoyed the show? Leave a Review 

Does it feel like something is missing in your remote work environment? Have you been told to just schedule more virtual meetings to enhance collaboration, only to end up feeling disconnected and unproductive? The pain of trying to foster human connection through endless video calls is real, and it's time to explore alternative ways to achieve meaningful collaboration.Jim Kalbach had always been an advocate for remote work, long before the world was thrust into a virtual environment due to the pandemic. Working with Citrix, makers of GoToMeeting, he had already been navigating the remote collaboration space for over a decade. But, he quickly realised that the conventional etiquette of an in-person office setting didn't translate well into a virtual space. The norms, the rituals, and even the simple act of turn-taking in a meeting required a rethink. It was this realisation that pushed him on a journey to find alternative ways to foster human connection in a remote work environment. He began experimenting with intentional habits and rituals, aiming to create a sense of inclusivity and equity in virtual participation. Introducing microstructures such as popcorning, a method of taking turns in a meeting, proved to be a game changer, fostering a sense of connection among team members. His efforts were guided by a single principle - intentionality. The pandemic may have ripped off the band-aid of conventional norms, but in its wake, it also presented a unique opportunity to reimagine and redefine the remote work experience.In this week’s episode, Jim will uncover the untapped potential of remote work and the transformative power of collaboration tools and will walk us through the common pitfalls of virtual meetings and how to turn them into productive engagements.Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: Harnessing digital tools for effective team communicationUsing Mural to enhance team collaborationTeam agreements in remote workDiving into the Jobs To Be Done framework Follow Jim Kalbach:WebsiteLinkedIn Jim’s books:The Jobs To Be Done PlaybookMapping ExperiencesDesigning Web NavigationKiller Walking Bass  Book recommendations:Playing to WinA New Way To ThinkReinventing Organizations Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review

In the world of professional services, how you approach sales and how you price your products or services can make or break your business. Our guest this week has seen how shifting from a price buyer to a value buyer mindset has a massive impact on the success of a business.This week we’re learning from Blair Enns, the founder of Win Without Pitching. Blair is known for his impactful insights on pricing strategies and value-based selling in professional services, whose journey began 21 years ago. He perceived creative professionals as people working in advertising or design, a mindset that gradually transformed with the shifting dynamics of the creative firm market. He realised that creativity was more than that; it was the ability to see, bring a novel perspective to a problem, and propel entrepreneurs towards their vision. He now guides them through the process of selling, not as a predatory act, but as a path of facilitating and helping clients buy. Blair's path was not without its challenges. He grappled with the balance between selling as an expert versus a vendor, and the different outcomes each role could produce. While being an expert provided more power and leverage, being a vendor resulted in reduced impact, lower margins, and a higher cost of sale. Recognising the importance of vision and selling, Blair began to view these roles as the foundations of leadership, a perspective that helped him let go, take risks, and say no in order to scale his business. Embracing these lessons, Blair is now inspiring others to do the same, helping them navigate their own journeys in the world of professional services.Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: Overcoming the fear of sellingWinning without pitchingImplementing a bold pricing strategyShifting from price-buyer to value-buyer Follow Blair Enns:BooksLinkedIn2BOBS podcastTwitterYouTube Book recommendations:Million Dollar ConsultingImplementing Value Pricing$100M OffersThe Boutique. How to start, scale and sale a professional services firmSecret Tradecraft of Elite Advisors Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review

Do you desire a life of growth and fulfilment as you navigate your midlife transition? Are you ready to challenge the negative stereotypes about ageing that may be holding you back? Join us as our guest, Jeff Hamaoui shares the solution to reframing ageing as a time of personal growth and purpose. Discover how you can achieve a life of meaning, embracing the untapped potential within you during this transformative phase.This week on The Melting Pot, we learned from Jeff Hamaoui, a seasoned social entrepreneur with a rich background in sustainable practices and innovative ventures. Cutting his teeth in the ever-evolving realm of green business, Jeff's professional journey has seen him partnering with leading corporations like NASA, Nike, and Ikea. After a twenty-year stint in California spearheading various social initiatives, he co-founded the Modern Elder Academy. Drawing from his vast experience, Jeff now heads programming at the academy, using his knowledge to design impactful and immersive learning experiences.In this episode, Jeff challenges the negative narratives and stereotypes about ageing. He argues that age is not a barrier to success and that older people have valuable resources, wisdom, and the potential to make a significant impact in the world. In fact, the data shows that the most successful enterprises in the US are actually started by people aged 45 and older. Jeff also discusses the need to reframe ageing and embrace the opportunities that come with it. He believes that as life expectancy increases, we need to reconsider what it means to get old and focus on taking care of physical health to ensure a longer health span. Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: Rewriting the narratives around entrepreneurshipThe role of Modern Elder Academy in midlife transitionsThe three elements of a healthier midlifeChanging the view about masculinity and feelings Follow Jeff Hamaoui:WebsiteLinkedIn Book recommendations:Of Boys and MenI Don’t Want To Talk About It Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review

This week we’re learning from Andrew Winston, one of the most widely read writers on sustainable business, and a globally-recognised expert on megatrends and how to build companies that thrive by serving people and the planet. Andrew’s journey into the realm of sustainability was a winding one. His formal education in economics and his subsequent tenure as a consultant instilled in him the strategic approach he would later need. However, it was the dot-com crash that turned the tide and urged him to follow a new path. He yearned for something more meaningful, leading him to pursue a degree in environmental management. He didn't anticipate that his first book, written like a consultant and not an environmentalist, would become a bestseller and lay the foundation for his work in helping companies understand the role of business in society. He passionately believes that profits and sustainability are not mutually exclusive and that the majority of a company's value lies in its intangible aspects, such as brand value and customer loyalty. In this episode, Andrew emphasises the need to think beyond traditional business models and consider the broader societal and environmental impacts of operations. He also discusses the B Corp certification and Benefit Corporations, encouraging small to medium-sized enterprises to explore these avenues for demonstrating their commitment to environmental and social responsibility. Andrew also addresses the perception of sustainability practices in Asian companies and dispels myths surrounding China's efforts in renewable energy. Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: Green to Gold and the two-by-two matrixWhat makes leaders care about sustainabilityThe politicisation of social and environmental issuesMultinationals and sustainabilityThe value of the B Corp Certification Follow Andrew Winston:WebsiteLinkedInNet Positive The Pig PivotGreen To GoldGreen Recovery  Book recommendations:The Ministry for the FutureThe Inner Game of Tennis Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review

In a world where pricing is often feared and neglected, one woman is on a mission to bring some light to the topic. But what happens when she reveals the power of pricing to shape customer actions and boost business performance? Find out on a new episode of The Melting Pot with Dominic Monkhouse. This week we learned from pricing expert and the founder of Untapped Pricing, Jenny Millar. With a decade worth of hands-on experience in managing the fees for selling on eBay's European platforms, she has a deep understanding of how to use pricing as both a financial boost and a mechanism for customer behaviour management. She extends her ability to help organisations discover their product's true value, leaving no room for guesswork. Jenny's unique insights, drawn from both qualitative and quantitative customer research, provide game-changing guidance for businesses eager to leverage pricing to optimise growth. Download and listen to learn more from Jenny Millar. On today’s podcast: Unearth the hidden power of pricingUsing pricing to shape customer behaviourUnderstanding the power of price optionsDebunking some of the most common pricing mythsThe importance of an evolving pricing strategy Follow Jenny Millar:WebsiteLinkedInThe Pricing ScoreappBitesize pricing tactics Book recommendations:The Mom Test  Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review  

Do you know what your main constraint is? What’s holding your business performance back? Our guest this week is an optimisation expert, and he’ll explain how to use the theory of constraints to double net profit without doubling sales, in a conversation that explores the power of identifying and managing constraints to achieve optimal business performance.This week we learned from Dr Alan Barnard. Alan is a thinker who wears many hats; a researcher, strategic advisor, app developer, and author who resides in the heart of Las Vegas. But what stands out about Alan is his lifelong love for learning and his unique speciality in the Theory of Constraints it's no surprise he's a driving force at Goldrat Research Labs, co-founded with the respected Dr Eli Goldrat.Alan's journey has seen him propel significant improvements in company performance, taking the likes of Cisco Systems, ABB, and Random House Publishing to new heights. A true advocate for system optimisation, Alan isn’t one to shy away from a challenge—instead, he thrives through finding unorthodox solutions to complex problems, truly demonstrating his ability to help businesses optimise and maximise their potential.In this episode, Alan talks about how constraints can hinder and possibly fortify your business performance. He says that management attention is probably the only constraint in fast-growing, successful businesses. So, how do you apply it to the right things? Finally, he dives deep into the nuances of system optimization for maximising performance and profitability. Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: The power of the Theory of ConstraintsOptimising performance and profitabilityWhat is the ultimate constraint?Why do smart people make bad decisions? Follow Dr Alan Barnard:WebsiteLinkedInTwitterInstagram Book recommendations :The Goal10x is easier than 2xAntifragile Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review

Is a resilient team the result of putting resilient individuals together? Does everyone in the team need to have the same level of resilience? What makes a resilient team resilient? All these questions get answered in the new episode of The Melting Pot this week. We’re learning from Dr Adam Stoverink and Bradley Kirkman, co-authors of Unbreakable: Building and Leading Resilient Teams, the book considered by Forbes as the number one team leadership book to read in 2023. Bradley and Adam’s work and research projects revolve around teamwork, leadership, and cross-cultural management. They have done a lot of research on resilience in teams and individuals, and they have come up with four things that you need to have in place to build resilient teams. One of them is psychological safety, but you might find the other ones surprising. In this episode, they start by explaining what resilience is and why you would want resilient teams in your organisation. For them, it’s about bouncing back when challenged. What if somebody leaves? What if a project they're working on doesn't succeed? Which teams dust themselves down and come back stronger? That's what team resilience is about. So it’s definitely a worthy goal in building a high-performing team.  Fantastic conversation with Adam and Bradley. Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: Defining resilienceResilient individuals VS resilient teamsThe impact of purpose on resilienceThe four qualities of resilient teamsThe importance of diversity in teams Follow Bradley Kirkman & Adam Stoverink:Adam Stoverink on LinkedInBradley Kirkman on LinkedInBradley on TwitterBradley Kirkman’s websiteUnbreakable3D Team Leadership: A New Approach for Complex Teams Book recommendations: The Fearless Organization Grit: The Power Of Passion and PerseveranceSwitch Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review  

This week on The Melting Pot, we learned from speaker and award-winning author, Greg Orme. Greg was the founding CEO of London Business School’s Centre for Creative Business. He was named one of HR Magazine's Most Influential Thinkers in 2022. His book The Human Edge, how curiosity and creativity are your superpowers in the digital economy, won Business Book of The Year 2020. Today he helps leaders and teams thrive in a world of accelerating change through creative thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit. In this episode, Greg talks about the four pillars of his book The Human Edge. What does it mean to drive psychological safety and performance in an organisation? He talks about leadership and why it’s so important for them to have purpose and be able to create purpose in an organisation. Leaders can help foster creativity, curiosity, collaboration, and communication. Also, he discusses the importance of storytelling to drive change, and that is the antithesis of crafting a PowerPoint deck and ‘cascading’ it down through the business.  Fantastic conversation with Greg.  Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: Helping leaders thriveWhat’s your leadership style?How to capture your purposeThe power of storytelling Follow Greg Orme:WebsiteLinkedInThe Human Edge Book recommendations:The SparkEnjoyed the show? Leave a Review  

 This week we learned from the Chief Workplace Scientist at Gallup, Jim Harter. Jim is also the co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Wellbeing at Work and the No. 1 Wall Street Journal and Washington Post bestseller, It's the Manager. Now, he’s written another book, Culture Shock, where he explores how organisations adapting to this culture shock will determine whether they thrive or even survive and whether U.S. and global productivity will go up or down. Jim has been studying human behaviour in organisations for 37 years and really gets a kick out of studying what happens inside them. His work at Gallup is to study what happens in the populace at large and to do massive polls of the world and workplaces around the world and understand what's going on in people's work and lives. Last year, Gallup did a daily survey throughout COVID, and fifteen thousand people take part in their quarterly survey, so they got some fantastic data. That’s why we wanted to invite Jim to The Melting Pot to find out what that data said about working from home versus being fully remote, or hybrid.  In this episode, we learned how many days in the office drive engagement. Also, do higher levels of engagement translate into better financial performance? How do we make business more productive and outperform our competitors? We also dig into the data about working from home versus in the office, and we find out what are the five things that drive wellbeing as humans, how to structure one-to-one meetings, and how often they should be. And finally, what are the top five things that we should talk about with our teams every week to drive high levels of engagement. An absolutely fantastic conversation. Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: Culture ShockThe effect of COVID on engagementThe five elements of wellbeingFully remote, fully on-site and hybrid. What’s best?The managers are key to driving engagement Follow Jim Harter: Jim Harter - GallupLinkedInCulture Shock2023 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award Winners Book recommendations:Wellbeing at WorkIt’s The ManagerMaslow on Management Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review 

How can we generate thousands of ideas in your organisation? Feel overwhelmed just by thinking about it? Our guest on the podcast this week thinks that, if you can’t come up with thousand ideas, you’re unlikely to come up with a winner. That’s why he suggests creating an innovation tournament. This week on The Melting Pot, we learned from Dr Christian Terwiesch, professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and Chair of Wharton's Operations Information and Decisions Department. Christian has written numerous business books but, in this episode, we wanted to learn more about his latest work, The Innovation Tournament Handbook. This book is a more practical approach to the theory he laid out in his first book, Innovation Tournaments.  In this episode, Christian explains how to run an innovation process in your business and how to build an innovation tournament so that you’re running one every six months. That means lots of people get involved with loads of ideas emerging, all in a relatively low-cost way. He also talks about the importance of destigmatising failure in innovation and why we need to embrace it as part of the process of innovation.  Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: What is innovation, reallyThe Innovation TournamentRemoving the stigma of failure in the innovation processGetting the whole team involved in the innovation processThe innovation dilemma Follow Christian Terwiesch:WebsiteLinkedInThe Innovation Tournament HandbookOther books Book recommendations:The Arsenal of DemocracyInnovation TournamentsConnected Strategy Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review

How do you manage your metrics around innovation? How much investment do you need to put into innovation as a mature business? How do you give people the time and structure needed to innovate in your business? This week we asked one of the most influential strategy and innovation experts to come back to The Melting Pot to answer these and some other questions about innovation. Founder and CEO of Strategyzer, Alex Osterwalder reckons that seven out of ten projects that you start within your business need to be killed. And maybe one in ten of your innovation projects is a go, but you're going to need to build a portfolio of maybe 50 live projects that are at any one time to get enough innovation going in your business to make a material change, to get a return on your investment. He also introduced us to the concept of AKIs (Aspirations and Key Insights) – as opposed to Objectives and Key Results – for innovation teams not to produce results, but key insights to understand whether they should kill, iterate or scale a product. Fantastic conversation with Alex. If you’re in the innovation arena, this is a must-listen for you. Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: What’s the ideal innovation teamHow and when to kill your innovation ‘zombie projects’How to ‘fail faster’ in innovationGetting the best ROIAKIs (Aspirations and Key Insights) vs OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) Follow Alex Osterwalder:Strategizer websiteLinkedInTwitter - @alexosterwalderHigh Impact Tools for TeamsThe Invincible CompanyTesting Business Ideas Book recommendations: The Courage To Be Disliked Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review 

This week we learned from the inventor of the Outcome-Driven-Innovation (ODI) process, Tony Ulwick. Tony developed this process and, in 1999, he described it to Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator's Dilemma. Although Clayton loved it, he didn’t like the idea of customers having a process, so he called it Jobs-To-Be-Done. Every customer has a job to be done, so what we can do is innovate around solutions to help them get that job done.  What’s the job your customer is trying to get done? And how do you measure success? In this episode, Tony guides us through the process that innovators need to answer those questions, and he shares some interesting case studies of how he’s helped different firms understand what jobs their customers were trying to get done, and how to identify their unmet needs.  A fascinating conversation with Tony.Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: The Jobs-To-Be-Done TheoryHow can you define a needThe cases of Bosch and ConagraHow your customers measure successUnderstanding the job that your customer is trying to get done Follow Tony Ulwick:WebsiteLinkedInJobs To Be Done - Book and Audiobook Book recommendations: What Customers Want Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review

Is there any fractured relationship in your team? Many teams have people with dysfunctional relationships that show up in different ways. Often people find it difficult to solve problems. Somehow we find ourselves with a breach of trust, breach of contract, or competence. We believe one of our colleagues isn't competent, and it grows like an inverted pearl in an oyster or stone in your shoe. When this happens, people move away from those relationships or change companies. But if a business is a team sport, it's like taking the field to play football with only nine players against the opposition because some people on your team have a dysfunctional relationship.This week we talked with and learned from Doug Bouey, a coaching and facilitation veteran, recognised by Vistage/ TEC. His newest book, Fixing Fractures, creates a sure path to peace of mind and a quiet heart. Like Dominic, Doug holds a Gazelle’s (now Scaling Up) International qualification. He’s a master coach and, as part of his Vistage Chair life, Doug came across a facilitation technique to fix fractured relationships in business and life. So, he wrote his book Fixing Fractures, to help teams or individuals overcome these breaches of trust and help them build a high-performing team. In this episode, Doug guides us through his technique to help teams have these types of conversations and overcome this issue in their relationship. He explains the different levels or ‘gates’ of trust and how he helps individuals in businesses get to the bottom of their problems and what are the ‘Magic Five’ that need to be present during these ‘healing’ conversations. Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: Fixing FracturesHow to fix dysfunctional relationshipsUnderstanding the breaches of trust in teamsTeam building workshopsThe Magic Five Follow Doug Bouey:WebsiteLinkedInFixing Fractures Book recommendations:Fierce Conversations by Susan ScottDifficult Conversations by Douglas StoneThe Science of Storytelling by Will StorrThe Status Game by Will Storr Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review

Why do we do the things we do? How did COVID truly affect our behaviour? Will our ability to empathise and connect with others ever fully recover? In a world of constant change and uncertainty, Dr Helena Boschi, a psychologist specialised in applied neuroscience, offers insight into how our brains are wired to react and cope and helps us make some sense of why we do what we do.In this episode, Dr Helena Boschi discusses why we do what we do, which is also the title of her book. She also talked about feedback, why we are doing it, and what the real impact is. She gives some interesting tips on how to do it, how it works, and how the brain absorbs the feedback we give people. We also learned about the entrepreneur’s brain and what drives them, the effect of COVID on our empathy and much more.  Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast: “Every child is an artist”Why we do what we doThe Impact of COVID on our brainsWhy it’s so difficult to change our beliefsSomething is wrong with feedback Follow Dr Helena Boschi:LinkedInWhy We Do What We Do Book recommendations:One of the things that Helena recommends to the listeners is to read as much as they can and talk to everybody, “because everybody has got something to teach us”. In particular, she truly enjoys the work of these authors: David EaglemanRobert SapolskyDan ArielyDaniel KahnemanSimon SinekMathew Syed Enjoyed the show?  Leave a Review