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Another Reason I Adore Podcasts: Focus and Deep Thinking

  • Feb 27, 2022

I realized my reliance on podcasts isn’t just to learn and satiate my constant curiosity. It’s also an opportunity to practice focusing on one thing. This realization came while I was listening to the science behind mediation when I had this epiphany.


A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. When I’m listening to something educational it has my attention. I’m therefore focused and likely happy. Very few tasks, even work, can keep my full attention because unless there is a good balance between challenge and interest so I can enter flow state I like to focus and I like deep thinking.


Most of the podcasts I curate are inspirational or educational. They make me think. That’s the point. Even though some are background to a physical task, it’s the physical task that is enough to enable access to my default mode network.


Some Podcast Recommendations if You’re Interested


All links use the overcast.fm directory and need a login to view the description and episodes. I highly recommend the Overcast app on iOS to get your podcasts.


Product Management

Tech

Productivity

Business and Marketing

Entrepreneurship

Design

Cognitive Bias and Neuroscience

Pens and Stationary

Great Storytelling




Leading with Intrinsic Motivators, a Ted Talk by Dan Pink

  • Nov 23, 2021

Updated: Jan 6, 2024

Dan Pink, from his Ted Talk:

Traditional management techniques are great for COMPLIANCE. If you want engagement, self-direction works better. Focus on autonomy, mastery, and purpose instead.

For those that lead others, Dan Pink provides a concise summary of how to enable better creative problem solving by enabling intrinsic motivation, as opposed to the traditional focus on extrinsic (external) rewards. Here's a summary of his Ted Talk key takeaways. I highly recommend the 18 minute watch linked at the end of the article.


Laws of Motivational Science


There's a mismatch of what Science knows and what business does. The laws:

  1. Standard 20th century motivations work, but only in a narrow band of circumstances

  2. "If then rewards" often destroy creativity

  3. Secret to high performance isn't rewards and punishment, but that unseen intrinsic drive to do things for their own sake (autonomy, mastery) and because they matter (purpose)

The Candle Problem


In the talk, Dan explains the difference between simple and creative problem solving in the framing of psychologist Karl Duncker's Candle Problem experiment.


Candle Problem Images Source: Dan Pink Ted Talk Presentation Slides

The Scientific Proof


In case you need the scientific proof from multiple studies, Dan supplies some of that too. An excerpt from the Ariely study:

As long as the task involved only mechanical skill, bonuses worked they would be expected: the higher the pay, the better the performance. But once the task called for "even rudimentary cognitive skill," a larger reward "led to poorer performance.†


Continued Learning


A great resource to diver deeper into the full intrinsic motivational stack to achieve things you thought were impossible is Steven Kotler's The Art of Impossible.



† D. ARIELY, U. GNEEZY, G. LOWENSTEIN, & N. MAZAR, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Working Paper No. 05-11, July 2005, Ny Times, 20 Nov. 08

Jargon vs. Shared Language

  • Jul 29, 2021

Corporate jargon isn't inherently bad, it's a shared language that increases speed and accuracy of communication. The jargon is bad when it bastardizes a word for another word that confuses people or is BS.


When you have a simpler word to choose, use that. There is no need to complicate things unnecessarily. Unnecessary jargon is like a virus; a couple of folks you hear use a phrase, and others adopt it quickly, until folks say it without even realizing what has happened. Think to yourself if there’s a simpler way to state your point (e.g., “tee up a conversation” versus “start a conversation”).


Making software is complex and difficult. Jargon that is shared language to explain a complicated concept can be efficient, as long it is shared language among the audience, and it serves its purpose. If not, it's unhelpful jargon.

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