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This is the first conversation that I had with Dr Richard Hodge, and it's the fourth podcast that I've published.

That's because after we talked, Richard sent me an email basically saying, "Hey, we covered some pretty advanced stuff, but I think we need to really break it down for folks."

So the last three conversations with Richard have been reverse engineering our way to this conversation, the culmination (so far).

This is the conversation about how to make a difference in the world.

How to use systems thinking, how to approach problems and issues holistically.

How to listen to up-until-now marginalized voices and community.

And how to still be how to be a small, insignificant human beings and still look at the world and know that there's "no problem too big."

I hope you enjoy our conversation, and that you're inspired to lend your mind, spirit, and shoulder to the wheel of Better.

Links

DrRichardHodge.com

Rory Sutherland's TED Talk

The Memory Code: Unlocking the Secrets of the Lives of the Ancients and the Power of the Human Mind, by Kelly Lynne

Unlocking the Emotional Brain, 2nd Edition, by Bruce Ecker, Robin Ticic, and Laurel Hulley

Right Story, Wrong Story, by Tyson Yunkaporta

Antifragile, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Awakening from the Meaning Crisis (Video series by John Vervaeke on the Four Ways of Knowing)

The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix documentary on the making of "We Are the World" in 1985)

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You don't hear the word joy thrown around a lot in business. And that's why I'm delighted to share this conversation with you with business psychologist Simi Rayat.

Simi is the author of the upcoming book Productivity Joy.

And her thing is, are you a joy to be around at work, at home, on the streets?

It's such a great question.

It reminds me of my friend Howard Prager's trademark question: “How can I make someone's day?”

They’re both a sort of mantra that allows you to orient your whole life towards a really beautiful goal. And for Simi, it's about being a source of joy for others; being someone that other people actually want to be around.

And if you think about it — what a powerful focus for the workplace, for our volunteer organizations, for our families, for anywhere that we want to have a positive changeThere’s so much wrong with the world and there's so much to be angry about and there's so much to be sad about.

And if we want to mobilize people to action, to make a difference, to make a change, we can't just run on the fuel of negativity.

We also need joy.

And the harder it is to generate that joy, the more it's needed.

So I'm really excited to share this conversation. It's chock full of science. It's chock full of joy. And I hope it helps you bring about the world that you want to see.

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In this conversation, the brilliant Dr. Richard Hodge (aren't you glad you live in a universe that includes him?) introduces the four quadrant model as a way of clarifying and codifying our approach to complex problems.

Before we get into it, I wanna say: This is high-level stuff.

It's meaty (ok, seitan-y) and will take a while for most folks to digest. (I'm still working on it after being introduced to Richard's work over 3 months ago.)

And it's the real deal — a ninja path to high level impact at scale in a TUNA world.

(TUNA, which we learn about in this episode, stands for Turbulent, Uncertain, Novel, and Ambiguous. Richard likes it better than VUCA, and now I do too.)

The four quadrants are:

• WHY (drives meaning)
• HOW (drives connection)
• WHAT (what we're going to do)
• IF (impact if implemented)

The beauty is, we can apply this process to both large-scale organizational problems and personal challenges.

The process is question-based.

First, we ask why to uncover meaning and values.

Then we explore how to build connections between people, nodes of the system, and outside forces.

We inquire into what we're going to do, diving into the oft-overlooked details of strategy, operations, and governance. (Yes, this is complex, but you can apply it to your personal goals and challenges, like improving your diet or starting a journaling habit or upgrading how you communicate with work colleagues and loved ones.)

Then we look at the projected consequences and outcomes, and ask if they match our initial goals and values.

We go deep here, covering concepts like identity and policy framework. And I realize this isn't your usual podcast-while-taking-a-walk episode.

In fact, I highly recommend you set aside time and space to watch the video — there's a lot of valuable white-boarding, which will make the whole thing way more understandable.

And I don't want the complexity to obscure the big idea here: that every person has a role to play in making the world a better place. By understanding their place in the larger system, they have exponentially more power to contribute to positive change.

Links

DrRichardHodge.com

Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk: "Do Schools Kill Creativity?"

Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl

Walking Well, by Michael Gelb and Bruce Fertman

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What can we learn from indigenous knowledge systems about how to navigate and transform our world?

My guest, Dr Richard Hodge, points out several aspects of Aboriginal culture that can help us act effectively and with heart and wisdom in a world full of problems.

To guide us in a complex world, we need touchstones of value.

For many indigenous peoples, that's the function of totems and totemic beings: kangaroo, echidna, wallaby, and so on.

Counterintuitively, seeing the world through a totemic perspective offers greater clarity than how we often view it, through the lens of our limited egoic state, entangled with fight-or-flight fancies that superimpose themselves over reality.

Our perception colors our interpretation of the world.

The Western mindset sees the world as a number of separate objects, ourselves among them. Which means our prime directive is always control and domination of the "other" — whether it be nature, or the weather, or animals, or other people.

Shifting to an indigenous way of seeing creates connection and opportunities for collaboration and synergies on a systems-level.

And that's the level at which transformational change at scale becomes possible.

With that foundation, Dr Hodge shares his Dragonfly Model of systemic, deep change.

If you can, watch rather than just listen, because there are diagrams and models that can help you follow the concepts and the conversation.

Enjoy our yarning, and please let us know what you think.

Links

DrRichardHodge.com

Thomas Berry, "The Meadow Across the Creek"

Stephanie Kelton, economist

Mariana Mazzucato, economist

Bertrand Russell, "In Praise of Idleness"

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I'm particularly excited about this conversation. Dr. Richard Hodge is not just an expert; he’s deeply inspirational. On his home page, he writes about two core beliefs:

1. Each of us matters more than we think.
2. We can do more than we think in the time we have on this Earth.

Are you as jazzed as I am to unpack those beliefs?

In our conversation, Richard speaks about his philosophies with a blend of humility and urgency, encapsulated by his forward mantra: “No problem too big.”

This isn't our first conversation. We did one a couple of months ago, but Richard actually suggested we hold off on releasing it as it should be 'conversation number four'. He stressed the importance of laying a foundational framework first—a classic systems thinker approach! So, this episode is the first of four, culminating in our original chat.

In today's episode, we explore topics ranging from the profound impact of value and relevance on our actions to the importance of doing no harm as we navigate an increasingly complex world. Richard introduces his engaging framework connecting value, relevance, and consequences, guiding us toward profound sustainable change.

One aspect we delve into is the idea that individuals at any level can make a significant impact.

Richard tells an insider story about the design and construction of Heathrow's Terminal 5 which illustrates how removing bureaucratic obstacles and embracing collaboration can lead to remarkable success. It’s a shift from the reductionist, profit-driven models we’ve become accustomed to, spotlighting the importance of human-centric and life-centric designs.

Look forward to exploring more of Richard’s models, like the interplay between value, relevance, and consequences, in subsequent episodes. For now, I'll leave you with a new perspective, inspired by Richard, on finding worthiness in our actions and seeing the bigger picture in everything we do.

Links

DrRichardHodge.com

Thinking in Systems, by Donella Meadows

Kathryn Cormican Industry 5.0

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Divya Ramachandran helps startup founders do the hard work needed to bring new ideas into the world.

And while she advises on strategy and investment and go-to-market and minimum viable product, her real focus lies in sharpening the mind and body of her clients.

That is, she guides them to clarity, which helps them prioritize and make better decisions.

And she helps them explore their energy expenditure. Energy is partly about working long hours, but it's also related to how much the founder's identity is bound up in the eventual success or failure of the business.

Through emotional clarity and self-awareness, people who are doing hard things to make the world a better place can find peace and joy even within the most intense moments of the struggle.

Enjoy!

Links

Divya's Website

The Guest House, by Rumi (translation Coleman Barks)

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Hey, jan Tokawi here, and we're going to be talking about languages.

jan Tokawi is my Toki Pona name. Toki Pona is a language that I had not heard about until three weeks ago. It's a Conlang, a constructed language, meaning that it was created by, in this case, basically one human being and then a community formed around her.

The entire language consists of somewhere around 140 words or so.

And as I'm learning Spanish and dealing with 50 or so different forms of each verb, there's something very appealing about a language I can learn in a weekend.

When I encountered the Toki Pona community, I became intrigued about the implications of communicating using such a limited vocabulary.

What's it like trying to get complex ideas across? How do we make sure that our conversation partner or reader understands what we mean?

And then I thought, Gee, I've got that same problem in my native tongue. Maybe there's stuff I can learn here that can make me a more effective communicator in English.

I reached out to jan Usawi, who is a proficient speaker of Toki Pona, and also a musician who write lyrics in the language.

In our conversation, we explore lots of philosophy and epistomology and other long Greek words.

To my delight, we even tied it into transformational healing and the linguistics of radical mindset shifts.

And — and this will make sense if you watch the video — we explored the function of jan Usawi's antlers.

Enjoy!

Links

Sina – song by jan Usawi

Divergent Translation presentation by jan Usawi

Toki Pona official site

RobWords video intro to Toki Pona

jan Usawi on YouTube

jan Usawi on Bandcamp

jan Usawi on Patreon

No Bad Parts, by Richard Schwartz (book about Internal Family Systems)

Maria Mison – games

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Christopher Miller is an unlikely poster child for psychological well-being. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder as an adult, and losing his wife to brain cancer in 2021, he has nevertheless turned his personal struggles and tragedies into a mission to help people get the most out of life.

His first book was all about how to find FISH in your life: Fulfillment, Inspiration, Success, and Happiness.

In our conversation, we focus on his new book, Finding FISH in a Strengths-Based Practice, which talks about how to identify and leverage your talents and strengths, rather than spending energy trying to fix your weaknesses.

Of course, unchecked strengths can themselves become weaknesses. We talk about the potential downside of strengths, and how awareness and balance are needed in order to get the benefits while mitigating the costs.

Awareness and balance are orienting themes in Miller's life, and provide him with the self-management tools to navigate his mental health challenges as a successful organizational consultant, coach, trainer, and facilitator.

And emboldened by the things that have happened to him and his own resilience in the face of tragedy and mental illness, Miller has doubled down on Love as a core operating system, both in personal and professional relationships.

In this conversation, we explore the power of following the heart as much as the head, and leading with Love in all aspects of our lives.

Enjoy!

Here's what ChatGPT thinks are the key takeaways:

• Strength-based approaches focus on identifying and leveraging individuals' talents and strengths.
• Appreciating and valuing the unique strengths of individuals requires a mindset shift.
• Awareness and balance are crucial in utilizing strengths effectively.
• Strengths can have dark sides, and it's important to be aware of and manage them.
• Personal development and growth can occur even in the face of challenges and loss. Monitoring well-being using the FISH score can provide insights into one's happiness, success, inspiration, and fulfillment.
• Purpose, values, and life roles can serve as anchors during challenging times and contribute to one's well-being.
• Self-awareness and self-management play a crucial role in navigating mental health challenges and maintaining stability.
• Individuals with mental health conditions often possess a unique creative potential that can lead to significant contributions in various fields.
• Integrating oneness consciousness and love can lead to profound personal and professional transformations.
• Following the heart is essential for personal growth and creating a more compassionate and connected world.

Links

Christopher-Miller.com (books available from here)

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