Episode Summary:

In this episode of the Building Thinkers podcast, Tracy and Stephanie Silver discuss one of Tracy’s 12 favorite problems, “how might we rewrite broken soundtracks?” The concept of "rewriting broken soundtracks," refers to the limiting beliefs and negative thoughts that often replay in our minds.

Stephanie’s incredible life story is one of resilience and healing in the face of deep trauma and heartache. She shares her deeply personal journey with overcoming those broken soundtracks to build a life beyond what she could have imagined.

In this conversation, Tracy and Steph discuss the power of rewriting our internal soundtracks and overcoming limiting beliefs. They explore the origins of these scripts and how they shape our lives.

Tracy and Stephanie share their personal journeys with soundtracks and how they have found freedom and joy in rewriting them. They emphasize the importance of recognizing and challenging negative thoughts, and offer guidance for those who want to start exploring and rewriting their own soundtracks.

Key Takeaways:

• Soundtracks are the limiting beliefs and negative thoughts that get stuck on replay in our mind. These internal dialogues can significantly impact our feelings and actions. Recognizing and challenging negative thoughts is the first step in rewriting broken soundtracks.
• Neuroplasticity allows us to rewire our brains and create new, positive neural pathways.
• Rewriting broken soundtracks requires self-reflection, honesty, and a willingness to challenge our own beliefs.
• Perceptions of success and failure vary among individuals. Stephanie challenges the notion that one must hit "rock bottom" to initiate change, arguing that personal definitions of bottom differ widely.
• They discuss the importance of viewing one's challenges from different perspectives to foster change. By embodying positive beliefs about oneself, individuals can shift their energy and influence how they are perceived by others.

Book Recommendations:

Anywhere, USA by Stephanie Silver https://amzn.to/4d8E6TH

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza https://amzn.to/3Xzqf3e

Existential Kink by Dr. Carolyn Elliott https://amzn.to/3Xvb37i

Radical Honesty by Brad Blanton https://amzn.to/3zqEpeO

The Universe Has Your Back by Gabrielle Bernstein https://amzn.to/4dbsHTm

Connect with Stephanie:

https://www.vine-collective.com/

Podcast: https://www.vine-collective.com/mvp-business/

In this episode of the Building Thinkers podcast, Tracy speaks with Gretchen Fox Palmer about one of her twelve favorite problems: “how might we increase flow and creativity to bring joy to work?”

Gretchen opens up about her personal path to self-awareness, including how she identified and dismantled her own hyper vigilance at work. From a self-described "toxic executive" to a champion of conscious leadership, she reveals how this process led to immediate positive changes in her team's culture, offering valuable lessons for leaders at all levels.

Now, Gretchen teaches performance-driven organizations, teams, and leaders through her EQ @ Work program, focusing on the five EQ skills that can rescue employees from burnout. Her approach to emotional regulation and resilience is what has taken her from merely surviving to truly thriving.

The conversation explores the importance of vulnerability and joy in the workplace. It emphasizes the need for vulnerability to be approached with care and used as a tool for connection.

Tracy and Gretchen discuss how increasing flow and creativity to bring joy to work requires prioritizing emotional intelligence skills, which are easy to learn and have quick transformative outcomes.

Key Takeaways:

• Emotional intelligence skills are easy to learn and have quick transformative outcomes.

• Leaders need to prioritize emotional intelligence to create emotionally healthy performance-driven cultures.

• Feedback and vulnerability are essential in creating a culture of growth and productivity.

• Joy can be structured and designed for in organizations by tying it to well-being, fostering connection, and prioritizing people's livelihoods.

• Emotional capacity plays a crucial role in individual and organizational well-being, and it can be developed through self-awareness, boundary-setting, and healthy coping mechanisms.

Gretchen’s Recommendations:

Books:

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron: https://tinyurl.com/zvrwp6jk

The Presence Process by Michael Brown: https://tinyurl.com/3ya9ke2a

Podcasts:

Satsang with Mooji: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/satsang-with-mooji/id1134425259

Connect with Gretchen:

MTO Agency: https://mtoagency.com/

In this episode of the Building Thinkers podcast, Tracy is joined by Kevin Alster to discuss one of her 12 favorite problems, “how might we make thinking visible?”

Kevin is a strategic advisor at Synthesia, an AI video communications platform that translates text into professional, instructional AI videos. They explore the importance of using concrete, pictorial, visual, and abstract representations to help learners understand complex concepts. They also emphasize the need for a product design mindset and an experimental approach when incorporating AI and technology in learning experiences.

In this conversation, Tracy and Kevin discuss how storytelling is a powerful tool for making thinking visible and communicating complex concepts.

Key Takeaways:

• Making thinking visible involves using concrete, pictorial, visual, and abstract representations to help learners understand complex concepts.

• A product design mindset and an experimental approach are crucial when incorporating AI and technology in learning experiences.

• Unbundling tasks and identifying which ones can be impacted by AI can lead to more efficient and effective learning processes.

• Leveraging AI tools, such as large language models or custom models, can enhance the learning experience and improve outcomes.

• The process of learning and growth involves going broad, diving deep, and trusting your brain to make connections.

Kevin’s Recommendations:

Follow-up resources:

• Sinead Bovell - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sinead-bovell-89072a34/

• Synthesia Academy - https://www.synthesia.io/academy

• AI Video (FOCA) Certification - https://rise.articulate.com/share/3RUx1hiDtyl6wuBT9OaRy330gRVwUmpd#/

• Vanderbilt’s Open Source AI - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jules-white-5717655_an-advanced-open-source-enterprise-generative-activity-7209676778439675904-Z3oi/

Book Recommendations:

• Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg- https://amzn.to/4fY89jO

• Made to Stick by the Heath Brothers - https://amzn.to/4edu6K7

• Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel - https://amzn.to/3XiEgST

• Slow Productivity by Cal Newport - https://amzn.to/3MhPm5h

Podcast Recommendations:

• Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend - https://www.earwolf.com/show/conan-obrien/

• Acquired - https://www.acquired.fm/

• Kurzgesagt - https://www.youtube.com/@kurzgesagt

Connect with Kevin:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinalster/

In this episode, Tracy is joined by design researcher, Nick Petch, to discuss one of her twelve favorite problems, “How might we close the research-practice gap (the knowing-doing gap) across social impact sectors?” Tracy and Nick cover an array of topics from the definition of learning to the role of access and behaviors in the learning process.

This conversation stresses the importance of creating environments that prioritize access and behaviors over mere content delivery, advocating for a shift towards human-centered design that empowers individuals. Nick shares insights on the significance of understanding oneself as a designer and the responsibility that comes with designing for others. He recommends starting with self-reflection and developing an ethnographic practice to better understand the needs and aspirations of the people being designed for. Nick also highlights the importance of design leadership and the power of participatory design.

Key Takeaways:

Human-centered design transfers power to the people being impacted by the design process. Design plays a crucial role in the field of learning and development, and it is important to understand oneself as a designer and the responsibility of designing for others.

Design is about de-risking and understanding the problem space and context in order to solve the right problem.

Empowering the people being designed for and involving them in the design process leads to better outcomes.

Design leadership is about influencing how design is seen and valued in organizations.

Nick’s Recommendations:

Book Recommendations:

Being Ecological by Timothy Morton: https://amzn.to/4dujZ3D

This Human: How to Be the Person Designing for Other People by ⁠Melis Senova⁠: ⁠https://amzn.to/3YIwPGy⁠

Doing Sensory Ethnography by ⁠Sarah Pink⁠: ⁠https://amzn.to/3Ap9MGI

Connect with Nick:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickpetch

In this episode of the Building Thinkers podcast, Tracy speaks with Melissa Pickering, an accomplished product development expert with a rich background in leadership. Melissa's impressive career spans from launching her own EdTech startup, iCreate to Educate, to solving complex challenges at Lego by integrating digital and physical experiences, to making a significant impact at Willow, a company focused on products for moms. Currently, she leads product development as a Senior Director of Product at Bose.

The main theme of their conversation revolves around one of Tracy's 12 Favorite Problems: "How might we create impactful order out of chaos?" Melissa's passion for untangling complex challenges and breaking them down into manageable parts makes her the perfect guest for this topic. She shares her insights on both the people and product sides of creating order and discusses the creative tension between structure and flexibility, particularly in innovation and product development.

Melissa also delves into the urgent need for focus, the dynamics of quick decision-making versus taking time to reach a consensus, and the wisdom of allowing innovation to emerge from a deeper examination of options and opportunities. Her expertise, insights, and leadership lessons offer valuable takeaways for anyone involved in product development, team leadership, or personal growth.

Key Takeaways:

• Embrace the chaos: In product development and organizational change, some level of chaos is necessary for innovation and progress.

• Focus is key: In a world of constant distractions, cultivating focus and presence is crucial for individual and team productivity.

• Don't overcomplicate: Avoid unnecessary complexity in product development and problem-solving by focusing on user needs and core assumptions.

• Influence for lasting change: Driving change through influence and collaboration leads to greater ownership and sustainable results.

Melissa’s Recommendations:

Book Recommendations:

Switch by Chip & Dan Heath: https://amzn.to/4caFvZL

Powerful by Patty McCord: https://amzn.to/3Sl0RMF

The Power of Moments by Chip & Dan Heath: https://amzn.to/4dbCcCf

Connect with Melissa:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjpickering/

In this episode of the Building Thinkers podcast, Tracy speaks to Eli Wood about one of her 12 favorite problems: How might we consistently replace complexity with insight? Eli is the leader of the collective Black Flag Design, a group of creative technologists, designers, and product strategists focused on complex AI applications.

They discuss the importance of embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and developing durable skills in AI for professionals in various fields. They also explore the value of simplicity and the insights that can come from being a generalist or non-expert.

Tracy and Eli discuss the importance of participatory design and the challenges of obtaining user feedback in sensitive data environments. He addresses the intersection of creativity and AI, debunking the notion that AI hinders creativity and instead highlighting its potential to enhance creative processes.

Key takeaways:

• Overcoming the complexity of AI: Eli emphasizes accessible on-ramps to AI skill-building and encourages embracing the technology rather than fearing it. He highlights the evolution of AI as a tool, similar to the transformation of photography.

• The importance of durable skills: Eli discusses the importance of adaptive learning and executive function as crucial skills for the future of work. He introduces the "tennis" analogy as a metaphor for encouraging individual agency and action.

• Creative pragmatism: Eli advocates for a relationship-based approach to problem-solving, prioritizing clarity over jargon. He emphasizes experimentation, mindset, and assumption-busting as key elements in achieving practical outcomes.

• The role of AI in creativity: Eli expresses optimism about the potential for AI to enhance creativity, sharing his personal experience of increased creativity through AI-powered tools.

• The future of human skills: Eli believes that adaptive learning and communication will be critical skills for humans in the evolving landscape of AI.

Eli's Recommendations:

Book Recommendations:

The Creative Pragmatist by Amy Smilovic - https://tibi.com/products/the-creative-pragmatist-navy-green-multi

Testing Business Ideas by David J Bland - https://amzn.to/3XW1joc

Sprint by Jake Knapp - https://amzn.to/3zCgLMc

Building by Mark Ellison - https://amzn.to/3XZtrqM

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin - https://amzn.to/4f0DTEf

Podcast Recommendations:

Lex Fridman: https://lexfridman.com/podcast/

The Daily: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily/id1200361736

Connect with Eli:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/notthatactor/

eli@blackflag.design

Pop Tech Conference: https://poptech.org/

In this episode, Tracy speaks with Alma Quiroga about one of her 12 favorite problems, “how might we bring impactful order out of chaos?”

They explore the power of storytelling and narrative in shaping organizational culture and behavior so that business can be a force for good, from the inside out. Alma shares her journey of building people-first organizational cultures and challenging traditional business paradigms. They discuss the need to recognize and understand the stories that drive behavior within organizations and the importance of creating environments where people can thrive. They also highlight the complexity of navigating individual and collective stories within organizations and offer insights for leaders in understanding and shaping organizational narratives.

By recognizing the power of storytelling and creating spaces for collective storytelling, organizations can co-create their culture and navigate transitions more successfully.

Key Takeaways:

Storytelling is deeply ingrained in human nature and is how we relate to each other.

Our brains are wired to make sense of the world through storytelling, and humans naturally order the chaos of the world and their own internal world in a story format.

Understanding how humans make sense through story is essential for effective communication and change management in organizations.

By recognizing the power of storytelling and creating spaces for collective storytelling, organizations can co-create their culture and navigate transitions more successfully.

Alma’s Recommendations:

Book Recommendations:

Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins by Annette Simmons: https://amzn.to/4cqFq56

The Story Factor by Annette Simmons: https://amzn.to/4eGiwrQ

The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human by Jonathan Gotsschall https://amzn.to/3xrXCvT

Organizational Culture and Leadership by Edgar Schein: https://amzn.to/4bE0NPb

Humble Leadership, Second Edition: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust by Edgar Schein: ⁠https://amzn.to/3VMfWb0

Managing Transitions by: William Bridges & Susan Bridges https://amzn.to/3znNPaN

Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used by Peter Block: https://amzn.to/4cCf8MI

Podcast Recommendations:

Beautiful Questions Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@TuliandAlma

Work Life Podcast: https://adamgrant.net/podcasts/work-life/

Radio Ambulante: https://radioambulante.org/en

Invisibilia: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510307/invisibilia

Connect with Alma:

• www.almaquiroga.com

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/almaquiroga/
  

In this episode, Tracy talks with Shani Persson about one of her twelve favorite problems: How might “be where your feet are” become our primary way of being?

Shani is the co-founder of Wonder, an insight and experience design lab which aims to inspire and support companies, institutions, groups or individuals to help themselves and others thrive through more human experiences.

They discuss the importance of creating contexts that take into account the fact that we are human beings with brains, bodies, and lives. They explore the role of self-inquiry and self-awareness in creating meaningful work experiences. They also delve into the challenge of saying no and the need to listen to ourselves. The conversation emphasizes the practice of being present.

Key Takeaways:

Recognize the importance of being present and enjoying the process, rather than constantly striving for the next thing.

Learn to say no and set boundaries to maintain energy and focus. The facade of control can lead to addictive behaviors and a constant need for dopamine hits.

The awareness of mortality can awaken us to what truly matters in life and help us reevaluate our priorities.

Being present and letting go of urgency can bring more joy and clarity to our lives.

Shani’s Recommendations:

Books:

Essentialism by Greg McKeown https://amzn.to/4bhrk4F

Connect with Shani:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanipersson/

Wonder: https://www.justwonder.co/