Bounce! Conversations with Larry Weeks

In times of extreme upheaval, why do some people, communities, companies and systems thrive, while others fall apart? Andrew Stolli answers that question and more. Andrew is the author of the best-selling book "Resilience, Why Things Bounce Back" published by Simon and Schuster in the U.S., and in many other languages and territories around the world. The books is his research on the dynamics of resilience in many contexts, people, systems, communities, and companies. Resilience forces us to take the possibility even necessity of failure seriously - Andrew Zolli On this podcast we talk about Why he wrote a book about resilience How organizations and people bounce back Social media and resilience, does it help or hurt Society and whether social safety nets make us more fragile The impact of faith on resilience - it's not what you think What he learned about organizational resilience in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and much more I would love to follow Andrew around for a few days and as he is involved in a lot of very interesting projects. For 11 years, he was the creative force behind PopTech, a renowned innovation and social change network. He served on the board of the Garrison Institute and Blurb. He also serves as an advisor to PlanetLabs (a revolutionary Earth-imaging company), DataKind, which is bringing data science to the social sector, and The Workshop School, an experiment in what a public high school can be. He served as a Fellow of the National Geographic Society. He advises governmental organization, startups, cultural and civil society groups including leadership teams at companies like GE, Nike and Facebook. Show Notes and Resources [00:07:57] Where we discuss the forces that likely put Trump in office [00:13:53] Resilience and the inverted ∩ [00:22:05] Resilience as a skill [00:23:33] An example of organizational resilience in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina [00:32:59] What makes organizations resilient [00:32:59] Middle management and organizational resilience [00:34:20] Social programs and resilience [00:43:40] The 10 factors that encourage personal resilience [00:44:35] I ask if Facebook making us stronger or weaker [00:50:52] Intentionality and emotional control

An undefeated mind isn't one that never feels discouraged or despairing; it's one that continues on in spite of it - Alex Lickerman Over the last twenty years Dr. Alex Lickerman has watched thousands of patients struggle with sickness and issues from colds to cancers. He has extensive experience treating the sickest of the sick at a renowned academic medical center located in the heart of one of the poorest neighborhoods in Chicago. Caring for and observing his patients he says taught him the most important lesson he's ever learned: That our capacity to suffer may be immense, but so is our ability to endure it—if we've taken effective steps to develop our strength. Alex Lickerman is a former assistant professor of medicine, director of primary care, and assistant vice president for Student Health and Counseling Services at the University of Chicago. He currently leads a direct primary care private practice called ImagineMD in Chicago. Alex's first book, The Undefeated Mind: On the Science of Constructing an Indestructible Self. Alex has been quoted in Crain's Chicago Business, Playboy, The Chicago Tribune, Men's Health, The New York Times, and TIME, and has had articles appear in Psychology Today, Crain's Chicago Business, USA Today, Slate, The Huffington Post, Counselor Magazine, and Medicine on the Midway. He's also been a guest on NPR's On Point. I loved talking with Alex. He reminded me of Sam Harris. Smart and articulate. His message is a simple one and a reality check for all of us. Stop hoping for easy lives and instead to focus on cultivating the inner strength we need to enjoy the difficult lives we all have. We talk about this is in detail on the podcast. How does he cultivate inner strength? How do we cultivate it? Alex thinks your purpose is not an endowed one but rather an evolved function. He says eventually you find all reasons lead to the same place, to the one core reason for living, the reason against which we measure the value of everything we do: To - Be - Happy Want to find out more? Give the show a listen, you'll be glad you did. Show Notes [00:05:38] On concierge medicine [00:10:30] How he came to write the book "The Undefeated Mind" [00:13:35] On Nichiren Buddhism [00:16:54] A discussion about chanting, it's benefits, differences from meditation. [00:23:49] Summarizing what chanting does for him personally. [00:35:29] Turning poison into medicine [00:39:34] Dealing with loss and grief [00:45:07] On the ultimate goal of human development [00:46:00] Why happiness supersedes the goals of survival and reproduction [00:50:55] On the benefits of adversity [00:55:52] On dealing with discouragement and the writing exercise

How difficult would your day-to-day tasks become if you were missing just one of your arms? How about both? What if you were missing all four limbs? Now, after you surmount your everyday challenges regarding getting dressed, feeding yourself, typing etc (without prosthetics mind you), go compete in football, excel at wrestling, then go climb (check that, bear crawl) up a mountain, wait, make it Mt. Kilimanjaro. Yeah, this is just SOME of what Kyle Maynard has accomplished. Listen as I interview quadruple congenital amputee Kyle Maynard, who has conquered more physical-related challenges and obstacles than most people able bodied people, Kyle is an entrepreneur, speaker, best-selling author of the book No Excuse, he was the focus of a moving ESPN documentary called "A Fighting Chance." has appeared on Oprah, HBO Sports, ABC's 20/20, He was on the University of Georgia wrestling team, he is an ESPY award winner, the first quadruple amputee to climb to the top of the highest mountain in Africa at 19,340 feet, and the summit of Argentina's Mount Aconcagua at 22,838 feet. Find out how the environment Kyle grew up in affected his positive mindset despite his physical setbacks. Kyle talks about how his parents "Jedi-mind tricked" him into believing that he was capable of doing the same things his able-bodied peers could do. Their confidence in him was a key ingredient to the success and independence he steadily built. In the interview, Kyle describes some of the darker periods of his life when he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue on. He says, "I'm fortunate and lucky at the fact that I didn't make a more permanent decision to end my life at that point." Every day we're faced with a choice– do we want to live within the confines we've set for ourselves or do we want to try to surpass them? "If we're fixed to what we know, we can't grow," Kyle says. "I used to say anything is possible, but I don't really believe that," he continues. "I believe a better way to state that is to know your limits but never stop trying to break them. But that only happens by, ironically, not knowing your limits." Kyle's story serves as a reminder that we so often define our lives by what we don't have. Perhaps instead we should start focusing on what we do. Show Notes 0:05:28 How he types 50 words per minute ...without hands 0:06:43 Kyles 1st experience with resilience as a kid 0:06:48 Hie parents jedi mind trick to get him tough 07:39 Learning how to wrestle, an education in failure 09:57 His first goal in wrestling 11:39 For BJJ grappling nerds only. 0:13:48: The power of belief 18:25 Why no arms and legs is his greatest strength 23:47 His parents "bounce" moment 26:23 Great story where he talks about the first time dressed himself 34:09. The "bounce". When the worst periods in life turn into the best periods