Inventing The Future With Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard - TWMJ #1005
Release Date: 10/12/2025
Distrust, Polarization And Hypocrisy With Michael Hallsworth - TWMJ #1023
Thinking With Mitch Joel
Welcome to episode #1023 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation). In an era where outrage travels faster than reflection, few accusations carry as much moral force as the charge of hypocrisy… and yet few concepts are as misunderstood. is Chief Behavioral Scientist at the and a leading voice in behavioral economics, with academic appointments at the and a career devoted to understanding how real people actually think and act in complex systems. His research spans public policy, organizational behavior and social judgment, examining how incentives, norms, and...
info_outline
Real Transformations With Phil Gilbert - TWMJ #1022
Thinking With Mitch Joel
Welcome to episode #1022 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation). At a moment when organizational change is too often treated as a mandate rather than an experience people choose to embrace, has spent his career proving that transformation only sticks when it earns genuine buy-in. Phil is a design executive, transformation leader and former General Manager of Design at , where he architected one of the largest cultural and operational shifts in corporate history, helping nearly 400,000 employees across 180 countries become more entrepreneurial, agile and...
info_outline
Navigating Strategy In The Age Of AI With Roger Martin - TWMJ #1021
Thinking With Mitch Joel
Welcome to episode #1021 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation). At a time when strategy is often confused with forecasting and certainty is mistaken for rigor, the work of insists on a more demanding discipline: making clear, integrated choices under uncertainty. Named the world’s #1 management thinker by in 2017, Roger is a , strategy advisor, and the former Dean at the at the , where he served for fifteen years and reshaped how management education engages with real-world complexity. Over decades, he has advised CEOs at companies including , , , , , and ,...
info_outline
Boundless Creativity And Design Mastery With David "Shingy" Shing - TWMJ #1020
Thinking With Mitch Joel
Welcome to episode #1020 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation). At a time when technology listens more closely than people realize and advertising feels less predictive than presumptive, understanding how culture, data and human behavior collide has become essential. has spent his career at that intersection, shaping how global brands think about creativity, relevance and the emotional consequences of digital systems. Know as the Digital Prophet at (and then ) and a very influential voice in modern branding and innovation, Shingy has advised companies, leaders and...
info_outline
Leadership Unblocked With Muriel Wilkins - TWMJ #1019
Thinking With Mitch Joel
Welcome to episode #1019 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation). At a time when leadership is being tested less by strategy and more by inner capacity, clarity of judgment and emotional steadiness, the work of stands out for its insistence that progress begins from the inside out. Muriel is an executive coach, CEO of , and a trusted advisor to senior leaders navigating complexity at the highest levels of organizations, drawing on more than two decades of experience working with C-suite executives and high-potential leaders. A graduate with a background in consulting...
info_outline
More Humane Work With Joe O'Connor - TWMJ #1018
Thinking With Mitch Joel
Welcome to episode #1018 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation). At a moment when burnout is normalized and productivity is still measured by hours rather than impact, the five-day workweek is starting to look less like a foundation of modern life and more like an outdated design choice. is the CEO of and one of the world’s leading architects of the four-day workweek, having designed and led large-scale pilots across multiple countries, industries and organizational types. His work sits at the intersection of labor economics, organizational culture and performance...
info_outline
Why We're All Digitally Exhausted With Paul Leonardi - TWMJ #1017
Thinking With Mitch Joel
Welcome to episode #1017 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation). At a time when technology promises limitless capability yet leaves so many people mentally depleted, the question is no longer whether digital tools are powerful, but whether we know how to live with them. is a leading expert on digital transformation, the future of work, and organizational networks, with more than two decades of research and advisory work focused on how technology reshapes collaboration, innovation, and human behavior. A professor at the , where he holds the Duca Family Endowed Chair...
info_outline
AI And The Future Of Marketing With Mark Schaefer - TWMJ #1016
Thinking With Mitch Joel
Welcome to episode #1016 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation). At a moment when artificial intelligence is reshaping not just how markets operate but how people think, feel, decide and connect, understanding the human consequences of that shift has become essential. is a keynote speaker, educator, strategist, and a voice in modern marketing, with more than three decades of experience spanning global sales, public relations and brand strategy. He is a faculty member at . Mark’s latest book, , extends his body of work by examining how AI is quietly rewiring consumer...
info_outline
Navigate Hidden Markets With Judd Kessler - TWMJ #1015
Thinking With Mitch Joel
Welcome to episode #1015 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation). At a moment when scarcity shapes everything from opportunity to attention, understanding who gets what (and why) has become one of the most consequential questions in modern life. is the inaugural Howard Marks Endowed Professor at the , an award-winning economist, and one of the leading thinkers in market design, public policy and behavioral economics. His research examines how rules, incentives, and institutional structures shape outcomes in environments where price alone cannot (or should not) decide...
info_outline
Creators And Entrepreneurs With Joe Pulizzi - TWMJ #1014
Thinking With Mitch Joel
Welcome to episode #1014 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation). At a moment when careers feel increasingly precarious and algorithms quietly dictate how value is created and captured, it’s worth learning from someone who has spent more than two decades helping creators and entrepreneurs reclaim ownership of their work and their futures. is the founder of multiple influential startups, including , the and is widely recognized as the person who first coined the term “content marketing” in 2001, long before it became an industry unto itself. A bestselling...
info_outlineWelcome to episode #1005 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).
Every major leap in human connection starts as a simple question: what if? For Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard, that question led to the invention of the cable modem and the birth of broadband internet access as we know it. Often called the “father of the cable modem,” Rouzbeh is a visionary engineer and entrepreneur whose work transformed how billions of people access information. His new book, The Accidental Network, traces the improbable journey from an idea nobody believed in (“why would anyone want the internet at home?”) to the global infrastructure that now powers our economy, culture and daily life. In this conversation, he reflects on the messy, human side of innovation: the skeptics who dismissed broadband, the long nights building hardware that few thought possible, and the radical choice to make his breakthrough technology open-standard so the world could share it. Rouzbeh speaks with humility about how chance, persistence and purpose collided to shape the digital age, and how broadband became not just a business revolution but a social one, connecting homes, hospitals, schools and communities. He also wrestles with the moral dimension of progress, calling for a balance between capitalism and conscience as we enter an era defined by AI, environmental strain and “data as the new oil.” From the early chaos of coaxial cables to the moral complexity of modern networks, Rouzbeh’s story is a reminder that technology’s true purpose isn’t speed or profit... it’s improving the quality of life for everyone it touches. Enjoy the conversation…
- Running time: 1:00:46.
- Hello from beautiful Montreal.
- Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.
- Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.
- Please visit and leave comments on the blog - Thinking With Mitch Joel.
- Feel free to connect to me directly on LinkedIn.
- Check out ThinkersOne.
- Here is my conversation with Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard.
- The Accidental Network.
- Follow Rouzbeh on LinkedIn.
Chapters:
(00:00) - The Accidental Network: Origins and Vision.
(06:00) - The Entrepreneurial Journey: Overcoming Naysayers.
(12:07) - From Business Applications to Consumer Connectivity.
(17:51) - The Open Standard Gamble: A Strategic Choice.
(23:45) - Navigating the Dot Com Boom and Bust.
(30:08) - The Rise of Broadband: Transforming the Cable Industry.
(30:35) - The Journey of an Entrepreneur.
(32:01) - Scaling and Selling the Company.
(33:27) - Contributions to the Cable Industry.
(36:11) - Philosophy of Innovation and Humanity.
(39:11) - Data as a New Resource.
(42:13) - Access as a Human Right.
(43:26) - The Last Mile Challenge.
(46:36) - Future of Connectivity.
(50:02) - Centralized vs. Decentralized Networks.
(54:07) - Environmental Considerations in Technology.
(56:15) - Reflections on a Successful Career.