Thinking With Mitch Joel

David Armano, a digital transformation strategist and futurist who writes 'David by Design', discusses AI as both a continuation of past tech waves and a novel cognitive force. He covers enterprise adoption, worker anxiety and potential job displacement. Conversations explore the intelligence wealth gap, creator vs passive consumer dynamics, and the need to 'adapt intelligently' across individuals, firms and governments.

Nir Eyal, bestselling author and behavioral design expert behind Hooked and Indistractable, explores belief as a practical tool for action. He discusses the motivation triangle of behavior, benefit and belief. Conversations cover why knowledge often fails to change us, the turnaround technique to reframe assumptions, belief’s role in culture and AI, and how changing your mind can be a strength.

Will Storr, author and storytelling researcher who studies narrative psychology, explores why brains prefer stories to facts. He discusses identity, status and why character-driven tales persuade. The conversation covers storytelling in business, risks of AI-made narratives, authenticity, and how stories shape belief without summarizing specific insights.

Kevin Ertell, founder of Mistere Advisory and author of The Strategy Trap, is a veteran retail and e-commerce operator. He talks about why execution—not ideas—fails. He covers incentives that shape behavior, co-creation and the 70% aligned rule, slowing down to create clarity, testing with frontline teams, and using AI to multiply time and insight.

Ann Handley, bestselling author and marketing pioneer who champions meaningful writing. She discusses using AI to strengthen thinking and pressure-test drafts. They challenge panic over fast AI timelines and unpack why viral narratives spread. Conversation covers disclosure, the quality problem, and protecting human judgment and taste in a noisy, speed-driven world.

Cory Doctorow, sci-fi author, journalist and digital-rights activist, explains why online platforms degrade and how policy choices empower monopolies. He dissects the AI investment bubble, harms to creatives from automation, anti-circumvention laws that lock users in, and how culture and regulation could reclaim better digital systems.

Michael Hallsworth, Chief Behavioral Scientist at the Behavioural Insights Team and author of The Hypocrisy Trap, explores how accusations of inconsistency shape public life. He explains why calling out hypocrisy feels rewarding, how social media amplifies moral attacks, when inconsistency is tolerable, and how relentless condemnation can fuel polarization and institutional breakdown.

Phil Gilbert, design executive and former General Manager of Design at IBM who led huge cultural and product shifts, joins to discuss large-scale transformation. He explains why mandates fail and how to earn buy-in by treating change like a product. Topics include scaling design thinking, making teams the unit of change, creating scarcity and demand, and applying AI as team-level rewiring.

Roger Martin, retired Rotman dean and strategy advisor known for Playing To Win, joins to unpack strategy in an AI era. He contrasts AI as a questioning thought partner vs an answer engine. They explore AI’s tendency toward modal answers, how to use it to reach rare insights, the promise and limits of diversity, and why rigorous strategy is really persuasive argumentation.

David "Shingy" Shing, creative strategist and former 'Digital Prophet' at AOL and Verizon, now a Substack writer and advisor on branding, culture and AI. He explores how AI reshapes creativity, the risks of homogenized generative work, and why brands should focus on experiences, cultural interpretation, and restraint in a data-saturated world.