How Great Ideas Are Born & Why We Stick With People Like Us

16 snips

Jan 26, 2026

Guest

Michael Morris

Guest

Paul Sloane

Michael Morris, cultural psychologist at Columbia University who studies tribal instincts. Paul Sloane, innovation expert who studies serendipity and accidental breakthroughs. They discuss how unexpected discoveries and deliberate randomness spark big ideas. They explore why people cluster with similar others, how tribes shape cooperation and conflict, and how noticing anomalies leads to innovation.

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ADVICE

Use Boredom To Trigger Creativity

Introduce deliberate downtime and 'productive boredom' to let your subconscious generate ideas.
Reduce constant distraction to give your brain space for creative insights.

ADVICE

Follow Up On Interesting Leads

When something interesting appears, follow up and investigate rather than ignore it.
Small actions (emails, meetings, tests) can turn chance events into lasting opportunities.

ANECDOTE

Bath Toys Mapped Ocean Currents

A container of 29,000 bath toys spilled in 1992 and became a global study of ocean currents.
Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer turned an environmental accident into scientific data.

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Written communication strips away tone, facial expression, and nuance — which is why texts and emails are so easy to misinterpret. Sarcasm, humor, and intent can get lost, sometimes with awkward or costly consequences. This episode begins with how emojis can restore subtlety to digital communication — if you know which ones actually help and which ones make things worse. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563221002946?utm

Some of the greatest ideas — and even entire careers — were never planned. Potato chips, penicillin, and Post-it Notes were all accidents. Success often comes not from careful design, but from noticing opportunities hidden inside unexpected events. Innovation expert Paul Sloane explains how breakthroughs really happen and how you can position yourself to recognize them when they appear. Paul is author of The Art of Unexpected Solutions (https://amzn.to/3ZeKEvw).

People naturally gravitate toward others who think, act, and believe the same way they do. We form tribes — social, political, professional — and those bonds can feel deeply comforting. But this instinct also shapes how we see outsiders and influences cooperation, conflict, and culture itself. Cultural psychologist Michael Morris explores why humans evolved this instinct and whether it ultimately helps or harms us. He is author of Tribal: How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together (https://amzn.to/4pJ6K4n).

And finally, weight loss is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions — and one of the quickest to be abandoned. Research suggests that a handful of surprisingly small habits can dramatically improve your chances of sticking with it. We wrap up with what actually works. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34259635/

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