Michael Bungay Stanier: How to Begin

Michael Bungay Stanier distills big, complex ideas into practical, accessible knowledge for everyday people so they can be a force for change. His books have sold over a million copies, and The Coaching Habit was a Wall Street Journal bestseller. His TEDx Talk on Taming Your Advice Monster has been viewed more than a million times.

Michael is the founder of Box of Crayons, a learning and development company that helps organizations transform from advice-driven to curiosity-led action. His new book is titled How to Begin: Start Doing Something That Matters*.

In this conversation, Michael and I discuss how to make progress when starting something new. We explore the value in looking back at what you’ve already done to support you on what’s next. Plus, Michael highlights the key principles in running effective experiments that transition into new practices.

Key Points

• Fire bullets at the start. Then, fire cannonballs.


• Discover what your history reveals about your future self. It will open up a window to who you are that will help you when moving on something new.


• When experimenting, don’t make the experiment bigger or more complex than it needs to be.


• Avoid putting too much risk in the experiment or investing too much in its success.


• We have the most learning when we’re struggling with something.

Resources Mentioned

• How to Begin by Michael Bungay Stanier


• How to Begin overview

Interview Notes

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

• The Way to Stop Rescuing People From Their Problems, with Michael Bungay Stanier (episode 284)


• How to Become the Person You Want to Be, with James Clear (episode 376)


• How to Nail a Job Transition, with Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (episode 555)

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