Unmistakable Creative

Al Pitampalli’s frustration with endless meetings and other things that don’t seem to have a purpose led to what he calls a meetings revolution. In this episode we discuss his experience as one of Seth Godin’s first alternative MBA students, publishing a book with the domino project and why we must learn to become persuadable…that’s right not persuasive, but persuadable, and how this enables us to spread ideas.  The importance of continually asking why Learning to explore our hidden assumptions  The power of thinking backwards  Why certain ideas are inherently spreadable The meetings epidemic in organizational culture Advantages of becoming more persuadable  Dissecting and understanding our models of the world Quotes  When you want to change the world, the most dangerous thing can do is being unpersuadable  Resources  The Domino Project  Redefining Ambition with Amber Rae Willie Jackson Interview  The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: "On Robustness and Fragility" (Incerto) Read This Before Our Next Meeting Al Pittampalli is founder of The Modern Meeting Company, a group that helps organizations transform meetings, make decisions, and coordinate complex teams

In this episode, Dave Gray discusses his journey from the world of traditional journalism to helping large organizations clarify, communicate and achieve their goals.  We also discuss how  you can use drawing to make sense of the world and solve our own problems.  Overcoming the starving artist objection  Doing work that is truly aligned with who you are Finding a question that drives all your work  Why people lose sight of their calling  How the school system creates a lack of alignment Cultivating a capacity to overcome fear Showing your work when it’s not perfect  Having a deep understanding of the materials you are working with Why drawing gives us a way to see if something is possible  The importance of visual literacy  Using an emotional impression to make something unmistakable  Resources  The Instigator's Compass Quotes Money isn’t a goal. It’s a byproduct of you providing value and services for people.  Dave Gray helps large organizations solve complex problems related to culture, innovation and change.    

Mike Rohde found himself incredibly frustrated with his note taking efforts. Instead of trying to capture all of the information he was hearing ,he decided focus on capturing only those things that were most meaningful to him, and add visual elements to his notes. The result was sketch noting.  Tapping into your desire to see something exist in the world The intersection of community and creativity  How to create your very own logbook  Embracing an experimental mindset  Bringing constraints into your work in order to produce your best work Why moving from digital to analog forces your mind to slow down  Developing your capacity to capture and observe Focusing on the most meaningful information in content you consume  Resources  The Sketchnote Handbook The Sketchnote Workbook Sketchbook School Creating a Logbook  Presentation Zen  Rework Remote  The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future The Five Minute Journal  Quotes A lot of times having limitations allows you to be creative in different ways

In this episode of the show we speak with entrepreneur and coach Jim Bunch about rapid transformation, why will power fails to change the behavior of 96% of people and, how you can design your environment for optimal performance and and creativity.  Why transformation has been the glue that held together Jim’s businesses  The importance of having a bigger brighter vision for the future  A Look at why willpower fails to change the behavior of 96% of people How every environment we’re in inspires or expires us  Designing your environments so that they express your values Shifting the focus of your efforts from yourself to what you can contribute to the world The 3 foundational components that influence of our success  Using environments to create the behavior you want to cultivate  People and Resources Mentioned Tony Robbins Personal Power II Program Conversations with God  The Yourturn Challenge  The 90-day Challenge Quotes Simplicity succeeds. Complexity kills.  Your mind is your most valuable asset especially when it comes happiness health and wealth. Most entrepreneurs don’t go financially bankrupt first, they go emotionally bankrupt first. Jim Bunch is the founder of The Ultimate Game of Life and has been a leader in the coaching and personal transformation industry for over 20 Years. Also referred to as "The Ultimate Life Entrepreneur," Jim has coached and mentored some of the world top business and thought leaders. You can follow him on twitter @itsjimbunch

Austin Kleon is one of those adults who hasn’t stopped drawing since he was a kid. His ongoing passion for drawing and writing eventually lead to to becoming a best selling author of books like like Steal Like an Artist, Show your Work and Newspaper Blackouts.  He’s also spoken about creativity in the digital age for organizations and conference such as Pixar, Google, TEDx and The Economist  å Highlights/Key Takeaways How scheduling time to create fuels a body of work  Why Austin found his best work after he left school The dance that all artists deal with when they have an audience Growing the size of your audience while maintaining the integrity of your work Why excessive self awareness stifles our creativity  Learning to actively look for influence and input for your work  Austin’s definition of creativity  Quotes If you want  do really exciting work, you have to go shrug off what you’ve learned and go into unmarked territory.  Creativity is just taking two things that nobody thought of putting together and putting them together. You know you’ve hit your style when people start to emulate it Resources Austin’s TEDX Talk  Steal like an Artist Show Your Work  What it is by Linda Barry Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of three illustrated books: Steal Like an Artist  is a manifesto for creativity in the digital age; Show Your Work and Newspaper Blackout  a collection of poetry made by redacting words from newspaper articles with a permanent marker.

As an NYU undergraduate, Mattan Griffel had aspirations for a career in finance. But getting rejected from over 100 jobs he applied drastically altered the course of his career ultimately leading to the launch of the Ycombinator startup OneMonth.  Separating your self worth from experiencing rejection  Using self education and online learning to accelerate your career path Why we have to make our own ideas happen  How a series of blog posts turned into an online class with over 2000 registrants  The problem with experts and the internalization of knowledge Cultivating the ability to see opportunity when you hit roadblocks  Designing your life around serendipity  A framework for accelerated learning that you can apply to any new skill A look inside the Ycombinator experience  Quotes Once something is actually useful to you, you’re much more interested in learning it  Resources  General Assembly Onemonth 

In this episode of the podcast,  we speak with reality television producer about Jerry Kolber about his work on shows like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, National Geographic documentaries and Brain Games.  We also talk about why the story you’re telling is so essential to any creative project you’re working on.  Inside the NYU Ecosystem of Creative Professionals Using a meditation  practice for career guidance  A creative framework for  working with limited resources Dealing with significant career failures  Learning to Separate Your Identity from Your Work  Why you have to connect to people to find opportunities The Reason Story Is So Essential to Your Creative Process Inside the reality television production process  Why we always have some version of the creative struggle Quotes The nature of the universe is honest good work gets recognized Jerry is a writer, producer, and Buddhist. Projects include Queer Eye, Inked, National Geographic documentaries, and more.

In this episode of the podcast we speak with Macgyer creator Lee Zlotoff about the making of his hit TV show which has remained on their air across the world for 30 years, and using what he calls the Macgyver methodd to  engage the enormous capabilities of your subconscious mind to bear on effective problem solving. The 3 key elements that have caused Macgyver to be on the air for 30 years Creating global resonance and timelessness in your work Why this could be a critical century to the future of humanity  Learning to solve our problems with humor and humility A transmedia approach to creativity and creation  Why the average college student will change careers 5 times Applying the macgyver method for prolific creative output Removing the stress of creative production by using our subconscious Why you shouldn’t waste time worrying about how you’re going to get there Inside the problem solving mechanisms of the subconscious mind  Using incubation activities to keep your conscious mind fro thinking about problem Quotes If there’s something you want to do in the entertainment business just start doing it. The ability to reach millions of people is now in the hands of the individual.  Resources The Macgyver Foundation  Macgyver Global  Lee David Zlotoff is an award-winning writer, producer and director of film and television. Among his more than one hundred hours of film and television credits, he was the creator/writer of the hit series “MacGyver” as well as the writer/director of the indie hit film “Spitfire Grill” which won the coveted Audience Award at the Sundance film festival, and which has also gone on to become a successful musical.  

In this episode of the podcast, we speak with Vivak Tiwary about his journey from business school to producing Broadway musicals and working with artists like Greenday, Alanis Morisette and many others.  Highlights  The cultural conflict of doing what you love versus doing what’s practical  Why unorthodox paths are inherently difficult  How Vivek used Brian Epstein’s life story to serve as a mentor for his career  A look at the Broadway production of Greenday’s American Idiot  Making the choices that allow for a profitable expression of art and commerce.  How technology changes the entire creative process  Lessons in creativity from the production of a Broadway Musical  Quotes  If your dream’s are unorthodox be prepared to work your ass off.  Resources  The Fifth Beatle  Vivek’s TEDX talk  Tiwary Entertainment Group   Vivek J. Tiwary is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer, and the founder of multi-platform arts and entertainment company Tiwary Entertainment Group.

In this episode of the show we speak with Wrike founder and CEO Andrew Filev about his mission to become insanely productive.  Highlights  Cultural influences of a post-Soviet world Building perseverance and becoming resourceful Why time is our most precious resource Recognizing the magic moments in your life  The difference between your work managing you and you managing your work  Developing a system to drastically change your results Using small wins to get to a really big goal  Combining things from different worlds to make something Unmistakable  As the founder and CEO of Wrike, Andrew Filev is the visionary behind the unique social project management mix that has become an irreplaceable collaboration solution for thousands of customers. As a successful software entrepreneur and experienced project manager, Andrew not only oversees the company's business strategy, but passionately leads the product management.

In this episode of the show, we speak with behavioral scientist and FiveMinute Journal Founder UJ Ramdas about the science of gratitude and simple behavioral change UJ’s earlier cultural influences  The journey of self inquiry  Why momentum is critical  How the dots connect in life Using journals to find data about yourself Becoming a better student of yourself Simplifying Your Daily Gratitude Practice Managing cognitive load to change behavior  Applying real world consequences to behavioral change Quotes I think almost always, insight is predicated by disaster - UJ Ramdas  Resources The Art of Learning  Mastery by Robert Greene The Five Minute Journal  UJ Ramdas is passionate about bringing together practical psychology and business to create a better world. With a background in Behavioural science, Marketing and Hypnosis, he’s consulted with (several hundred) clients, bringing them from confusion to clarity. Currently based out of Toronto, Canada, he’s a big fan of the wilderness, eastern meditative practices and a good cup of tea.

In this interview we wrap up 2014 by revisiting our interview with Nick Reese Like many young people, Nick Reese was wildly ambitious. While that ambition became the driving force of his entrepreneurial efforts, matters of the heart interfered.  What started was a radical shift from maximizing income to maximizing impact.  Starting a t-shirt company from a college dorm room Learning to recover from the failure of a business  Having the audacity to go for what you really want Why Nick tied his self worth to making money  A pivotal moment that caused Nick to change his path Looking at a difficult parental relationship with a father Handling significant amounts of adversity in order to grow The 30 day cold shower challenge  The importance of being able to tolerate uncomfortable situations Developing a confident internal narrative to go after what you want  How to improve your map of the world my modeling great ones Why reading non-business books is incredibly useful  Creating the awareness necessary to  know you're in an identity crisis Why relationships matter more than anything in the world An incredible story of love, heart problems, and what matters in life   Battling with credbility vampires    Nick Reese is on a mission to help people learn the skills to live an uncommonly good life. You can learn more about his work at NicholasReese.com and Broadbandnow.com   Resources and People Mentioned The Pillars of the Earth The Neursocience of Flow with Steven Kotler The Making of Super Size me with Alex Jamieson

Today we continue our best of 2014 series. Joe Loya’s life trajectory of rising up and moving forward took a radically different turn after losing his mother at an an early age, and stabbing his father in the neck at the age of 16. This was beginning of of a life of crime, and 14 month bank robbing spree in which he robbed 30 banks. In this amazing chat about his life, we discuss the amazing power of innovating with your story.  Higlights The loss of a parent at a very young age  Growing up with an abusive father How stabbing his father unleashed Joe’s anger The power of a story that continually changed How being robbed caused Joe to ratchet up his game The murder of an ex cellmate that changed Joe’s life Achieving balance without acting against your consciousness How writing starts to reveal the patterns of our lives  Why you must start to own your story  How Joe became a talking head for crime   The pain of victims that led Joe to working with female writers Why your story is a fluid thing that you can own How we deal with grief and why it’s a part of life  Why holding onto grief can be insidious  How being trained to look for meaning helped Joe transform  A look at what happens in the mind when you rob a bank  Why your story is a fluid thing that can change  Learning to laugh at the things you take seriously Our cultural misperceptions of the people who are prison  Joe Loya is an essayist and playwright, as well as a contributing editor with the Pacific News Service. His essays have appeared in several national newspapers and magazines, including the San Francisco Examiner, the Los Angeles Times, and El Andar magazine.

In this best of 2014 episode, we revisit our interview with Sarah Peck. Sarah is an writer/designer/entrepreneur whose life has been deeply influenced by swimming and writing. In this chat we discuss lessons she's learned on her journey from college swim team member to writer and open water swimmer, whose swims have included  braving the treacherous waters of San Francisco bay to make it to Alcatraz and back.  Highlights The "not good enough" narrative that we all deal with Changing our narratives to serve us rather than sabotage us Why we can't be too hard on our egos How learning not to stop can be life changing  Letting of the things we think we're capable of for something better Why it's ok for things to be incredibly difficult  Trials and tribulations of Sarah's college swimming experience How open water swimming changed Sarah's life Why challenges, quitting, and obstacles reveal who we are  Leveraging incredible mental frameworks to overcome pain   Fighting through pain when you're absolutely miserable  Why the worst of times reveals somebody's true character The correlation between happiness and hard work Why pain is a signal from your body  Learning to recognize and leverage your areas of expertise Why Sarah teaches writing as a mechanism to get access to your inner wisdom The power of committing to the act of creating and doodling    Sarah Peck is a writer, open water swimmer, designer-entrepreneuer and urban nerd who is on a mission is to find and capture insights from everyday, extraordinary living an share them with others. 

In today's episode we look back at one of our best episodes of the year.  Dani Shapiro has made her living as a writer for more than 20 years. In this interview we have an in-depth discussion about working artists and what it takes to master the craft of writing.  Highlights: Why there are many trajectories to creative careers Dani's early exposure to working artists The importance of living and rebelling  Why Having a story to tell matters so much Getting back to callings of our youth  How a new generation values of quality of life Why Dani left New York for a quiet country life What it truly means to live a creative life How some of the great things in life happen accidentally The importance of exposing yourself to great artists  Some incredible insights on the best way to start your day Slowing down your mind by reading physical books  Making meaning from loss by telling a resonant story The self doubt that every single writer faces before the page Memory and imagination as engines for storytelling  Being responsible with our gifts as writers  When you feel misunderstood and wounded as a writer The reason you can't hand lack of craftsmanship  Why authors are increasingly responsible for their book's success The role that talent plays in your ability to succeed as a writer Resources Still Writing: The pleasure and perils of a creative life Goodbye to all that: Writers on loving and leaving New York   Dani Shapiro is the bestselling author of the memoirs Devotion and Slow Motion, and five novels including Black & White and Family History. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Tin House, One Story, Elle, The New York Times Book Review, The Los Angeles Times, and has been widely anthologized. She has taught in the writing programs at Columbia, NYU, The New School and Wesleyan University, and she is co-founder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy.