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Ep. 245: Michael Posner: On "Conscience Incorporated"

Release Date: 04/18/2025

Ep. 246 - Kevin Evers - On the Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift

The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

This episode is a fun one – and covers a topic we most certainly have not covered before: the strategic decision-making of Taylor Swift, the most famous pop singer in the world. Taylor Swift may recognised as a pop star, but as you'll hear, her decision-making is pure punk rock. My guest today is , who wrote as a senior editor at The Harvard Business Review and the author of . Kevin breaks down exactly why Taylor has been able to scale her success, why she's been able to reinvent herself time and again, and how she's been able to both manage disruption and be a...

Ep. 245: Michael Posner: On "Conscience Incorporated"

The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

Today, we tackle some big-picture questions about the role of business in society when it comes to protecting human rights and democracy. And of course, this is very topical. I am honour to welcome to the show. Michael is the director of the . He is a human rights lawyer, and he was Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour under the Obama administration. He is the author of a new book, , which, given the state of things in the world and the United States, is pretty timely and important. Michael covers a ton of ground here, from the primacy of shareholder...

Ep. 244: Mark Fabian - On "Beyond Happy"

The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

Today, we talk about happiness. Is happiness a choice? Is it a skill? Is it a set of practices? Is it all those things? What's the difference between happiness and fulfilment or well-being? I am thrilled to welcome to the show. Mark is a professor of public policy at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. He was previously a Fulbright scholar. He studies well-being from an interdisciplinary lens. Mark is also the author of a fabulous new book called . So, we talk all about that in this episode, including what happiness is, the foundations of happiness, success and its hidden...

Ep. 243: Geoff Marlow - On "Future Fit" Organisational Cultures

The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

Today, we delve into the world of organizations and what my guest calls a “future-fit” organisational culture. My guest is and he has over three decades of experience around the world helping organisations create these future-fit cultures. That term caught my attention because around here, we're interested in the future and uncertainty. For part of his career, Geoff spent time on the leadership team of the , which included the legendary - a renowned or was a renowned management guru and , a scenario thinker who was the head of Shell's strategic planning group. ...

Ep. 242: Isobel O'Connell - A Sustainability Professional's Perspective on Business and Society

The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

What can we learn about business and society from a seasoned sustainability practitioner? Plenty! Meet . Isobel has a couple of decades of experience in areas related to the environment, social issues - particularly local community consultation across the globe, human rights and related areas. She's now an advisor, and a board member, and was named one of the top global 50 women in sustainability. In this episode, she shares several insights and perspectives from her broad career in these areas. We get into a variety of stories, the different landscapes and definitions out there for...

Ep. 241: John Morrison - On A Just Climate Transition

The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

This episode is about thinking differently around climate change, and it will help you think about this topic much more expansively. My guest is , who is the CEO of the which is a global “think and do tank” with consultative status at the United Nations. John serves on a number of boards and advisory councils, and he is the author of a new book called . And John posits that if we try to solve the climate crisis in isolation from tackling other challenges, particularly social challenges around how local communities and workers feel about a transition to a net zero world, we won't solve...

Ep. 240: Dan Davies - On "The Unaccountability Machine"

The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

Why is it seemingly so difficult to find a human to speak to when having an issue with your bank or mobile phone company? And if you do, why do they sound like robots and/or aren’t empowered to make a decision that will solve your problem? More broadly and worryingly, why is it nearly impossible to hold an individual accountable for decisions that led to a major societal or organisational calamity like the Global Financial Crisis, or the UK’s Post Office Scandal? Something is going on, and today, we're going to talk about it. My guest is author , and we are talking about his latest...

Ep 239: Roger Spitz - On How To Disrupt With Impact

The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

Today, I welcome back to the show. Roger is a futurist, author, and president of which is a strategy consultancy. He's also the chair of , which is a global education hub. For the purposes of this episode, however, he is the author of a new book, , which is all about helping to guide us through uncertainty and unpredictability. Roger was in London at the end of last year and we met up and recorded this fabulous episode in an external studio. We covered lots of ground with this chat, including what Roger means by “disruption 3.0”, uncertainty, AI, some of the shortcomings of our...

Inbetweenisode: Uncertainty, Beautiful Uncertainty

The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

This “inbetweenisode” is based on the latest edition of our newsletter. It’s all about uncertainty. After two and a half decades of working with decision-making under uncertainty, I have come to the following conclusion: uncertainty is about emotion. Show notes: Our latest newsletter: Scenario planning guide: _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Learn more about The Decision-Making Studio: Subscribe to our podcast:

Ep. 238: Daniel Wagner on Geopolitics in 2025

The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

For the past few years, I've had on the show at about this time of year to give a look ahead at the state of the world from a geopolitical perspective. We do that again as 2024 comes to a close and 2025 is just a few days away. Daniel is my co-author of . He is the CEO of and knows quite a bit about geopolitics. This is a conversation that I hope gets you to be perhaps a bit more curious about the state of the world. It is concerning out there, and we don't shy away from that. But with understanding comes a better ability to act. _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Learn more about The...

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Michael is the director of the Centre for Business and Human Rights at New York University's Stern School of Business. He is a human rights lawyer, and he was Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour under the Obama administration. He is the author of a new book, Conscience Incorporated: Pursue Profits While Protecting Human Rights, which, given the state of things in the world and the United States, is pretty timely and important.

Michael covers a ton of ground here, from the primacy of shareholder capitalism, how to make decisions in a world comprised of competing expectations and trade-offs, the tensions associated with decisions around human rights and environmental concerns, when CEOs should speak up, and his thoughts on the Trump administration and what's happening with regard to the United States' role in the world and to democracy and human rights.

Show notes:

Michael Posner - https://bhr.stern.nyu.edu/author/michaelposner/

Conscience Incorporated: Pursue Profits While Protecting Human Rights - https://bhr.stern.nyu.edu/publication/conscience-incorporated/

Centre for Business and Human Rights at New York University's Stern School of Business - https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/about/departments-centers-initiatives/centers-of-research/business-and-human-rights/center-business-and-human-rights

Fair Labour Association - https://www.fairlabor.org/

Xinjiang, forced labour, and solar panels - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-57124636

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