Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity

"The Eagle has landed!" The success story of the Apollo space program is well known. Less well known is how the Apollo team overcame hurdles and setbacks to achieve success. The effort required changes in computing, rocketry, organizational management, problem solving and attitudes. It required everyone to experiment to find out what worked, and to learn that just because something had never been done before didn't mean it can't be done. One Giant Leap author Charles Fishman explains.

What are the hallmarks of an organization that relentlessly seeks to operate within a culture of continuous learning? And what does the leader look like who leads such an organization with intentionality? We dive deep into those intertwined topics with the help of Mark Ethier, Co-founder and CEO of iZotope, makers of intelligent audio technology.

One of the problems that plague most organizations is when and how to change. For many, the process looks like fruit-of-the-month club: they try "this" until a new "this" comes along. Jim Collins wrote about this behavior in Good to Great. To avoid this phenomenon, great organizations employ something Collins called "the flywheel" process – a process involving 4-6 elements with each element impacting driving the next. One educator, Dr. Deb Gustafson, wondered if it would work in her school.

Most of us could likely identify someone we think is "charismatic." But when it comes to defining charismatic qualities, we're likely to fall silent or offer banalities such as "electric," "engaging," or "magnetic." Ever curious, Joe Kwon, "The Connection Counselor," set out to more carefully outline those qualities that make up the charismatic persona, and the result is his new book, Unlock Your Charisma. Interestingly, many of the qualities are the same ones that we would like to see in our leaders.

Organizations thrive and survive on the creativity of their employees. But what constitutes "creativity"? Are we born with it? Can it be drawn out of us by our teammates, manager, or the type of work we do? And what is the relationship between creativity and employee engagement, and how do both impact problem solving? Dr. Tracy Stanley, a social scientist and author of The Engagement Whisperer, and Barbara Wilson, an executive coach, and creativity facilitator and trainer provide some answers.

The performance of U.S. education is often the recipient of criticism – and much of it is justified. Despite mountains of research on what works and the strong effort of most educators, many of the students coming out of our K-12 system are only basically equipped to participate in and contribute to society. Why? Jay McTighe, a renowned educator, and Dr. Judy Willis, a neuroscientist and teacher make a cogent case for radically changing how we prepare teachers, develop curricula, and provide instruction.

Why do some of our communications land as intended and others don't? Say "Hello!" to Lila Smith, a messaging consultant and "Communications Breakthrough Coach." Lila has successfully leveraged her theatrical training to become one of the world's most recognized and sought-after communications experts. Here, we'll learn how to improve our messaging so that it's serving our purpose and the listener's.

Most of us encounter adversity of some juncture during our lives. How we respond to it says a lot about who we are. Heather Younger certainly encountered adversity through a particular set of circumstances early in her life. We'll learn how Heather responded through the remarks she made at the May 2019 Colorado Springs TEDx. The title of her talk was "Transform Adversity into Opportunity with One Simple Technique."

In this "Transformation Story," we talk with Jessica Du Bois. Jessica is a consultant and leader in the employee benefit industry who helps organizations by creating people- and purpose-focused benefits programs. Jessica's transformation story began when she was asked to join a small gathering of influential leaders. Listen to what two of the participants said to her and how that catalyst prompted her to begin a journey of self-discovery.

What does it mean to provide candid and compassionate feedback? Why is this "ying" and "yang" of helping staff to improve so important to changing behavior? We'll get answers to these questions and others from two seasoned educators and prolific authors, bloggers, and podcasters, Joe Jones and T.J. Vari.