Think about your life, particularly your routines. Yes, these can serve us – up to a point. They help us get on with life. In other ways, however, they are harmful. They can prevent us from learning and growing. They can get us stuck. Our thought patterns are similar - psychologists and neuroscientists talk about something called the “default mode network” – our familiar thought patterns. It’s therefore good to disrupt our routines and patterns. Our latest guest is all about that.
Alastair Humphreys has cycled around the world, rowed across the Atlantic, walked the 1,000 km Empty Quarter and completed loads of other rugged, tough, and risky adventures. So, what does someone like this do for his next adventure? Well, with no musical training and a self-professed limited musical aptitude, he learns to play some basic notes and tunes on the violin - of course. And then spends a month busking in Spain as he walks from Vigo to Madrid, eating only from the money he earns busking.
That’s because adventure is not just about rugged men doing epic things. Adventure is about getting outside of your comfort zone. This is something Alastair has pioneered through the concept of “micro adventures” – shorter adventures that are designed to get us outside of our familiar routines. He was even named National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year for his work on micro adventures.
Alastair writes about his violin busking adventure in his wonderful book My Midsummer Morning in which he follows the footsteps of another Englishman, Laurie Lee who in 1935 completed the same journey and wrote As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, one of Alastair’s favourite travel books. We talk about all of that and much more including:
- Alastair’s background;
- The origins of My Midsummer Morning;
- Learning to play the violin;
- Fear and vulnerability, particularly the first time he played the violin in Spain;
- Observations from walking through rural Spain;
- Loneliness versus solitude;
- Balancing adventure with family;
- How to live more adventurously;
- Much more!
Show Notes:
Alastair on micro adventures in Outside Online;
Laurie Lee’s As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning;
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Like what you heard?
Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on iTunes: http://apple.co/1PjLmK
Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast
Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo
Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings
Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
Today we talk about diversity, inclusion and equality, particularly in the workplace. This is one of those topics that is important, but polarising – the famous Jordan Peterson / Cathy Newman interview of a few months ago being a good case in point. Our insights aren’t really data-based, and that’s crazy because it’s 2019. Data is the new oil.
And diversity might also be an organisational superpower, particularly at the top. Diversity of opinions and backgrounds are excellent ways to manage risks and counteract cognitive biases. It can actually improve the bottom line. Moreover, if our large institutions and organisations are more reflective of our society at large, this could arguably lead to better management of some of the biggest challenges we face.
Our guest today has made it her mission to do exactly that. Meet Nancy Roberts, founder of Umbrella Analytics. Umbrella applies Artificial Intelligence to deliver diversity. Nancy is an incredible entrepreneur with tremendous vision and insight. After years of directly witnessing inequality in the publishing industry and the slow, very incremental pace of change, she decided to do something about it. Addressing this stuff requires data and facts, not diatribes, myths and legends. Umbrella was born.
We get into all of that and more including:
- The data on inequality;
- Differences between men and women in the workplace – and for my male audience, please listen to this!;
- Organisational culture and why people “go native” in large organisations;
- Quantifying culture;
- How organisations can alter the language they use in internal and external communications to reflect greater diversity and obtain numerous benefits;
- Much more
Show notes:
Nancy on Unconscious Bias Training
The Jordan Peterson / Cathy Newman interview
NASA and the space walk cancellation because of lack of women’s sized space suits
Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?: (And How to Fix It) by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Like what you heard?
Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on iTunes: http://apple.co/1PjLmK
Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast
Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo
Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings
Drop us a note: allthingsrisk@gmail.com
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Our free course module “How to Set Up Any Decision for Success” from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Get your free audio book and 30 day free trial at Audible:
US listeners: get your free trial and audio book at Audible
UK listeners: get your free trial and audio book at Audible