The Extraordinary Business Book Club
Alison Jones, publisher and book coach, explores business books from both a writer's and a reader's perspective. Interviews with authors, publishers, business leaders, entrepreneurs, tech wizards, social media strategists, PR and marketing experts and others involved in helping businesses tell their story effectively.
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Episode 455 - Best business books with Todd Sattersten
05/26/2025
Episode 455 - Best business books with Todd Sattersten
' I think reading a book is sometimes like... you've slowed things down. You're in this present moment, working on this very particular thing. And I think we want more of that in our lives.' What makes a business book worth reading - or publishing? If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume (and, let’s be honest, variable quality) of business books on the market, you’ll appreciate Todd Sattersten's refreshingly thoughtful approach. As the author of The 100 Best Business Books of All-Time and the upcoming 100 Best Books for Work and Life, he's done a lot of leg work on your behalf as a reader. And as publisher and owner of Bard Press, he's doing his bit for quality over quantity with a startlingly original business model: Bard publishes just one book each year. Risky? Revolutionary? Realistic? All of those things. We also talk about the increasingly blurred lines between business and self-development books, the importance of identifying real-world problems and the route to 100,000 copies. Extraordinary Business Book Club gold.
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Episode 454 - From spark to flame
05/19/2025
Episode 454 - From spark to flame
'Creativity needs oxygen just as much as fire does.' What does it take to turn a spark of inspiration into a sustained creative fire? This week’s episode is a reflection on the art of making fire, from striking the first spark with flint and steel to nurturing the ember with just the right balance of oxygen and fuel, and how that process sheds light on the creative process. More specifically, it's about the moment I found myself grinning like a loon while holding a flaming bundle of hay on my recent Write it Wild retreat. (Yes, really. Check out the episode artwork.) Discover how permission, preparation, process, and patience all play a role not just in spark-wrangling, but in idea-wrangling too. And we'll talk about the art of holding your nerve when things get smoky. Whether you're at the start of your writing journey or tending an idea that’s been smouldering for a while, this one’s for you.
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Episode 453 - The business of being a writer with Jane Friedman
05/12/2025
Episode 453 - The business of being a writer with Jane Friedman
'The foundations of how authors build visibility, build a readership... while the tools change, the principles don't.' Jane Friedman has been commentating on the business of books for many years, and her classic The Business of Being a Writer has demystified the industry for thousands of authors. So on the release of its second edition it seems a good time to ask: what has changed over the seven years since the first edition? It turns out that while the specifics of platforms and tech tools have moved on, the principles of writing and promoting a good book are pretty much as they always were: the fundamental challenge of persuading people to care about your writing still remains, and it's arguably harder than ever in the face of what Jane calls 'the tremendous fragmentation of attention across so many different channels'. And as a writer you need to engage with those channels, in fact you should even be asking if you should be focusing there instead of on a book. But in any case, one channel that remains powerful for authors, and which Jane herself uses brilliantly, is the newsletter: we talk about how to write a good one, and how and when to migrate to paid subscription. She also shares her own systems and processes for writing, including how she's integrated AI tools. It's part reality check, part masterclass, and it's wholly worth your time.
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Episode 452 - Creative Velocity with Leslie Grandy
05/05/2025
Episode 452 - Creative Velocity with Leslie Grandy
Leslie Grandy always wanted to be 'creative', but after discovering that she 'sucked' as a child at piano, painting, drama, dancing and so on she decided (to the relief of her teachers) that it simply wasn't for her. Until she realized, in her corporate career working with visionary leaders like Steve Jobs, that creativity can also be defined as 'the ability to solve problems in novel ways'. And now she helps organizations - from major brands like Starbucks to early-stage ventures - navigate the challenges of innovation. Creativity, it turns out, is not an inbuilt talent reserved for the select few, but a practical skill that anyone can develop with the right mindset and tools. And that's exactly what she provides in her book Creative Velocity: simple, everyday techniques for building creative confidence. She also tackles the role of generative AI, inviting us to see it as a partner that can expand our creative thinking, provided we bring structure and discernment to the process. Leslie also discovered she could have filled a book with what she didn't know about publishing a book, and shares her insights from that journey too. Funny, inspiring, practical, unmissable.
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Episode 451 - Collaborating with AI with Georgia Kirke
04/28/2025
Episode 451 - Collaborating with AI with Georgia Kirke
'If you just want a machine to write all of this stuff and put your name on it and say it's yours, I don't know what the motivation is. I don't know what results you think it could bring.' What does it look like to use AI in creative activities practically, ethically, and in a human-centred way? One answer to that question might be Cliobooks.ai, the speak-your-book technology developed by publishing entrepreneur and business coach Georgia Kirke. Starting and ending with humans, and rejecting the quick fix of AI-generated content, this is an attempt to develop workflows that make authorship more accessible and less soul-sucking. But there's no short cuts to the human expertise behind each book (sorry), both on the part of the author and the publishing team around them. This is a fascinating exploration of how AI can be used for good, the difference between timeless principles and evolving workflows, and the wisdom of understanding the difference between them.
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Episode 450 - The one about conversations
04/07/2025
Episode 450 - The one about conversations
‘It’s not a presentation or a business card. It’s a conversation.’ This Best Bits episode is a love letter to intentional conversations – the ones that unlock insight, build cohesion, shape identity and, ultimately, bring books into the world. As I looked back over the last few episodes, what stood out was how often my guests spoke about dialogue in all its forms – with ourselves, with each other,and with our readers – as the real work of writing, leading and changing the world. Hear from: Sarah Rozenthuler on the life-changing magic of energising, intentional dialogue; Claire Pedrick on the space between words and the attentiveness behind great coaching – and writing; Wendy Smith on paradox as a creative lens for thinking, leading, and writing; John Dore on the 'glue' that binds people together around ideas; Marissa Eigenbrood on publicity as a bridge into new conversations with new audiences; Petra Molthan-Hill on making complex ideas accessible and immediately useful; David Oxley and Helmut Schuster on creating a character to talk to an audience that's had enough of being talked at; Alison Jones (hello!) on how AI forces us to be more intentional than ever about the conversations we’re having – and who we’re having them with – as authors, publishers, and humans. If you’re writing a business book, or even just thinking about it, this episode is packed with insights to get you talking.
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Episode 449 - The origin of the series
03/31/2025
Episode 449 - The origin of the series
'I didn't just want to do a sort of 'me-too' series just for the sake of it. I wanted to have a series concept that I could really get excited about and which would stand out in quite a crowded marketplace as offering something different.' This week, we're flipping the script a bit. Normally, I'd be bringing you an engaging conversation with a business book author, but this week we're exploring an origin story—one that gives you an insight into the inner workings of publishing as an industry and an individual publisher's mind. A successful book series is the closest thing we have to magic in publishing magic. But how do you go about finding the right concept in a crowded marketplace? Here's how our new 6-Minute Smarts series came about, from a series of conversations at Frankfurt to a 30,000-foot exploratory writing sprint to launch. Whether you're a reader, an aspiring author, or simply curious about the publishing world, this episode offers insights and inspiration that you won't want to miss.
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Episode 448 - Gen Z career tales with Drs Schuster & Oxley
03/24/2025
Episode 448 - Gen Z career tales with Drs Schuster & Oxley
' We've invented a new genre, at least that's very modestly what we would like to believe. We're calling it Professional Advice Narrative Tales, and we'll leave you to figure out that acronym.' For the new generation entering the workplace, reading a traditional business book has all the appeal of a colonoscopy. So longtime colleagues and collaborators Dr David Oxley and Dr Helmut Schuster realized that if they were to get across their insights and advice, the only way was through storytelling. The result? The series of Shey Sinope books, which explore the complexities, conundrums and constraints young professionals face as they navigate the modern workplace in a lighthearted, readable, engaging way. It's a fresh perspective that speaks directly to the experience of embarking on a profession career; the absurdities and challenges, but also the profound need for meaning and fulfilment. But we all know that writing a standard business book is hard enough - how on earth do you go about writing fiction collaboratively? Find out here.
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Episode 447 - The 2025 LBF edit
03/17/2025
Episode 447 - The 2025 LBF edit
'[Olympia's] gorgeous vaulted glass roof feels kind of like a metaphor for the fair itself. Rooted in history, but always looking upwards and outwards.' Something a bit different today: join me for a deep dive into a publisher's experience of London Book Fair 2025. I have been to a LOT of book fairs, but this one was a little different. I'm exploring the issues faced by publishers of all sizes today, navigating challenges such as AI’s disruptive potential to the demands of new EU regulations and the current geopolitical chaos, and reflecting on the opportunities they present. Whether you’re in the business or simply curious about the world of books, this episode is a behind-the-scenes look at an industry perpetually on the brink of transformation as well as a very personal reflection on how it feels to be part of it.
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Episode 446 - Book publicity with Marissa Eigenbrood
03/10/2025
Episode 446 - Book publicity with Marissa Eigenbrood
'This is all a web that's woven together, and how it all works is really important. You can't just do one piece of it. And a great partner is someone who understands that this is a marathon, not a sprint.' You think writing a book is hard? Well, ok, yes it is, but it comes as a nasty shock for most authors to realize that writing the damn thing isn't enough - then they have to promote it. Luckily, there are people out there who do this really, really well. And even more luckily, one of them is about to give you a book publicity masterclass. Marissa Eigenbrood, President at Smith Publicity, specialises in the art of connection, matching the right authors to the right platforms, so the right readers can find the right books. While marketing is great for creating a buzz at launch, publicity helps establish enduring credibility. Marketing directly engages your readers; publicity harnesses the power of established media to supercharge your authority and reach. The good news is that there's a wealth of opportunities out there. The even better news is that you don't just get one chance to shine; long after publication day, savvy publicity means you can continue to use your book to build an enduring professional presence. Here's to the long game.
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Episode 445 - Both/And Thinking with Wendy Smith
03/03/2025
Episode 445 - Both/And Thinking with Wendy Smith
'When I first started, people were like, "Don't say the word paradox... don't say it because they won't get it." And now people are like, "Oh my goodness, I need this."' When it's a case of scarce resources - as it always seems to be, right? - our default thinking is Either/Or. Either I spend time on this project, or I prioritise my family. Either I work on delivering today's priorities, or I focus on planning for tomorrow. But Professor Wendy Smith would like you to consider a different way of thinking: Both/And. Life is essentially paradoxical, and she argues that the best way to navigate all the competing demands on our time successfully is to understand their interdependence. In an increasingly complex world, navigating tensions creatively can lead to better, more inclusive solutions - and this applies to personal life just as much as professional life. She also shares the challenges of writing for a natural speaker and extrovert, the hacks she's developed for herself, and why books are 'rocky splashy'. (If you were worried that all this research-based, insightful stuff was going to be terribly academic, I hope you're now reassured.)
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Episode 444 - Writing as a team sport with Petra Molthan-Hill
02/24/2025
Episode 444 - Writing as a team sport with Petra Molthan-Hill
' I really like to read other people's ideas and then add my own ideas... you start with the brainstorming together and say, so what could be in here?' Petra Molthan-Hill is a professor of Sustainable Management and Education for Sustainable Development at Nottingham Business School, and a prolific academic writer. But when it came to The Handbook of Carbon Management - which was named Change & Sustainability Book of the Year at the Business Book Awards 2024 - she knew she wanted to take a different approach. She knew this had to be a practical book for anyone, at any level of the organization, and in any size of organization, wanting to make more sustainable decisions. It had to contain not just evidence-based theories, but pragmatic, easy-to-implement solutions grounded in research and real-world impact. And it needed to get out there quickly and start making a difference, because this is a crisis that demands a response and there is literally no time to lose. So Petra turned to a trusted group of her peers, and between them they created something that is more than the sum of its parts. In this week's episode Petra tells me about their collaborative, creative writing process, and the way in which reading and writing more generally can provide some of the most satisfying conversations you'll ever have, even when there's noone else in the room.
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Episode 443 - Now We're Talking with Sarah Rozenthuler
02/17/2025
Episode 443 - Now We're Talking with Sarah Rozenthuler
'I have learned to have a different relationship with resistance... when we're actually really on track with things, resistance comes up.' Sarah Rozenthuler is no stranger to the art of conversation at work. With over two decades of experience as a business psychologist, she's seen both how energizing high-quality conversation can be, and also how most people, most of the time, would do almost anything to avoid difficult topics (or difficult people). Her latest book, Now We're Talking, addresses the deep-rooted reasons for this - the fear of our own and the other person's emotions, the challenge to our fragile self-image, the risk of the bad outcome, and more - and also the transformative power of leaning into the resistance and engaging with each other more effectively. And we discover along the way that sitting down to write a book involves much of the same fear and resistance. Sarah's own journey as a writer, the false starts and the slow burn, is as relatable as it is inspiring. So here's a nudge to lean into the discomfort - in writing, in conversation and in life - because it's a sign that we're doing the work that matters.
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Episode 442 - Creating Glue with John Dore
02/10/2025
Episode 442 - Creating Glue with John Dore
'How do you make a strategy a story? The best leaders and the best communicators do that. They turn something that's functional and rational into something that's a story.' John Dore, head of London Business School's Senior Executive Program and founder of Wave Your Arms, wants you to reimagine your idea of 'glue': as the magic ingredient that holds organizations together. Creating glue, he argues, is a core leadership capability: building real connection, delivering not just strategies but stories that resonate, that are galvanizing and engaging. Storytelling is a key ingredient in glue, and as you might expect from someone with a side hustle in screenwriting, John is a genius at telling stories. You can see it in his book, Glue: Transforming leadership in a hybrid world, which was the winner of the 2024 Business Books Award Leadership Category. In this week's conversation, we get stuck in to the idea of glue in organizations, and also how as a writer you can create a different kind of glue, the kind that keeps a reader engaged with your book, and makes your ideas stick in their minds.
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Episode 441 - Building on answers with Claire Pedrick
02/03/2025
Episode 441 - Building on answers with Claire Pedrick
If you know anything at all about coaching, you know that it's all about asking questions, right? Well, yes, and also: that's not the full story. Claire Pedrick and Lucia Baldelli sat down together to write a book on how to move from 'really good' to 'even better' coach, but they quickly realised that mastery is less about what the coach does or says, and much more about how they are in the coaching conversation. It's about noticing and responding, being the person that can facilitate the coachee's own work, being a little less certain, being a little more human, in fact. And that approach spills into Claire's approach to writing, too: it's about noticing, iterating, being curious, and being unafraid to let the ideas evolve and develop. Which is how The Human Behind the Coach came about, and why it was named Specialist Business Book of the Year at the Business Book Awards. (Although I don't THINK she uses scissors quite so regularly in her coaching work as she does in her writing process...) If you care about coaching, writing or thinking - or just about being human in a world that's increasingly inhuman - make tea, sit down, listen up.
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Episode 440 - Self-discovery, clarity and growth
01/27/2025
Episode 440 - Self-discovery, clarity and growth
'Writing isn't just about creating content; it's about creating ourselves.' It's another Best Bits episode, and the theme that really stood out to me as I looked back over the last few episodes was one that you’ll have met here before if you’re a regular listener: it’s the power of writing not just as a means of communication, but as a tool for self-discovery, clarity, and growth. Writing, it turns out, isn’t just about creating content; it’s about creating ourselves. It helps us process our thoughts, discover and sift ideas, and make sense of the world. One the things I love most about this podcast is that I don’t just get to talk to authors about their books or even their ideas; I get to ask them how the act of writing has shaped them and changed them, personally and professionally. So that’s what this episode is all about: uncover how writing transforms not just the reader, but the writer, and hopefully it’ll fire you up and give you some practical ideas on how to go about getting more of this in your own life. Because as these powerful writers will tell you, it’s powerful stuff. Hear from: Jenny Proctor on sifting through what's already in place; Kate Toon on pushing through to the new stuff; Todd Rogers on the joy of rabbit holes; David Falzani on the satisfaction of writing that makes a difference; Per Wimmer on self-reflection and future direction; Laura Hamill on letting go of performing and embracing authenticity; Amy Walters Cohen on trusting the process; Lucy Ryan on flow and joy.
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Episode 439 - The Sky is No Limit with Per Wimmer
01/20/2025
Episode 439 - The Sky is No Limit with Per Wimmer
'That's my goal here is to hopefully provide an inspirational story that can be a catalyst for the reader to go out and do amazing things.' Per Wimmer has spent his life soaring to new heights, metaphorically in global finance and quite literally as an astronaut. It's a fascinating mix, but the two spheres have more in common than you might think. When you've lived a life so full of variety and adventure, it's a double bind: this is exactly the kind of life worth writing about, and yet how do you choose what to include, and how do you link it all together? We talk about the challenge of making sense of one's own life in order to create sense for others. And how do you give people a reason to read, beyond the mere act of goggling? Per's solution: catalyse inspiration and action in everyone. Winning Business Journey Book of the Year at the Business Book Awards 2024 meant everything to him, as it was a sign he'd achieved just that. (He's not one for being constrained by limits, and he's not done yet; this is just Volume One.)
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Episode 438 - The truth about passive income with Kate Toon
01/13/2025
Episode 438 - The truth about passive income with Kate Toon
"I used to say, wouldn't it be great if I could work like a normal person and do 40 hours a week? And the realization comes that you do have 40 hours, it's just not in the same week." Passive income—it's the dream, right? Earning money while you sleep, basking in the golden glow of financial freedom. Sadly, it's not quite that simple. Award-winning author and digital marketing expert Kate Toon, author of 'Six Figures in School Hours' and 'Six Figures While You Sleep', has achieved that dream and now shows others how to do it for themselves, but she doesn’t sugarcoat it: there's no such thing as truly passive income. Every income stream, no matter how automated it appears, demands upfront effort and ongoing maintenance. And just as with business books, marketing is just as vital as creating the product itself - maybe even more so. In this energising and practical conversation we discuss the taxonomy of automated income, the way we value time over money, the need to play the long game, the centrality of community and the importance of rationing dopamine.
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Episode 437 - Design not decisions: new New Year thinking
01/06/2025
Episode 437 - Design not decisions: new New Year thinking
'Don't let AI set your vision. But harness AI to help you execute your vision.' For me, the start of a new year always brings a sense of potential. It's a chance to make changes. But I'm old enough to know that resolutions are easy to make and hard to keep - these days I'm all about design rather than decisions. This year, more than any other I can remember, feels like a tipping point in history as AI goes mainstream and the polycrisis comprising climate, economic and geopolitical unrest swirls around us. What does it mean to be a slightly better human in this context? It'll be different for everyone, but it's almost certain to involve some intentional choices about our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual dimensions. And it will also demand that we think carefully about what we delegate to AI to boost our productivity and effectiveness and what we retain as a core human capability. Here are some thoughts on how I'm approaching this new year, and some questions for you to think about, too. And however you decide to design 2025, there's some thoughts on how you can use exploratory writing as your secret weapon for making those changes stick. Let’s make this New Year extraordinary!
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Episode 436 - Marketing for Introverts with Jenny Procter
12/16/2024
Episode 436 - Marketing for Introverts with Jenny Procter
'It's that place of, you know, because it's your business and your livelihood, having to say, "Come and buy my thing because I'm great. I'm great at it. Look at me, look at all these great things I can do for my clients." And oh my goodness, that's difficult.' Jenny Proctor is living proof that you don’t need to shout to get the right kind of attention. It can feel pretty lonely, being an introvert in the famously extrovert environment of a corporate marketing department. But setting up her own business meant Jenny was free to set her own rules, and the fact that her book, Marketing for Introverts, won the Business Self Development Book of the Year award is proof that her approach is welcomed by others, too. Whether it’s the quiet power of a well-crafted blog post or the paradoxically introvert-friendly nature of video marketing, Jenny’s insights on how introverts can rewrite the marketing rules are as practical as they are reassuring. I'm an off-the-scale extrovert, and we discovered, hilariously, that we have at times both secretly envied the other's MBTI profile. But whether you're an introvert, an extrovert, or something in between, you'll find something worth listening to in this episode.
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Episode 435 - Double Your Price with David Falzani
12/09/2024
Episode 435 - Double Your Price with David Falzani
'[And this is} the rationale and the motivation for the book. It's about, well, how do we spread this? How do we do some good with it? How do we improve the economy? How do we make businesses more effective?' David Falzani has spent decades building and growing businesses, and now, as a Professor of Practice, helping others to do the same. And throughout that time he's watched entrepreneurs grapple with one constant, intractable, mysterious issue: pricing. It's not just about numbers. (In fact it's not really about numbers at all.) The price we put on something, the price we're prepared to pay for anything, is wrapped up in emotion and our deepest most irrational cognitive processes. Understanding that and getting your pricing right is all too often the difference between thriving and failing as a business, which is why David wrote his Business Book Award winner, 'Double Your Price'. If better pricing leads to better business, David is equally clear that smarter writing leads to more satisfied readers. (Or at the very least, fewer rewrites.) And he has some good tips to help you with that, too.
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Episode 434 - Learning to promote a book with Lucy Ryan
12/02/2024
Episode 434 - Learning to promote a book with Lucy Ryan
'The writing is joyful, more or less. It's painful, but it's also joyful. The marketing of it is much harder.' Dr Lucy Ryan's book Revolting Women touched a nerve worldwide: many women can relate all too well to the perfect storm of challenges facing midlife women at work, and everyone has an opinion on it. Which took a bit of getting used to. In this week's conversation, part of my series talking to this year's Business Book Awards winners, Lucy talks frankly about the learning curve when a doctoral research project becomes an award-winning, conversation-sparking business book, and how she learned to love (or at least manage) the work of promoting it. From being squeezed down to seconds in her first radio interview to talking sex, drugs and rock and roll with Mariella Frostrup, her experience and hard-won lessons are pure gold to anyone setting out to write - and promote - a business book that makes an impact.
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Episode 433 - Writing for Busy Readers with Todd Rogers
11/25/2024
Episode 433 - Writing for Busy Readers with Todd Rogers
'The TLDR, the too-long-didn't-read of the whole thing, is that everybody's skimming. So we need to write in a way that makes it easy for skimmers if we want to achieve our goals as writers.' Todd Rogers has been using behavioural science for good for many years, from strengthening democracy to increasing student attendance, so his kids were somewhat underwhelmed when he turned his research to writing. But think for a moment what the world would be like if everyone wrote clearly and effectively in a world where readers have little time and patience. Imagine the time not wasted, the offence not taken, the goodwill not squandered, the ideas not lost in translation. Todd argues, and I agree with him, that better communication can lead to a kinder, more efficient world, and it starts with us. Whether it’s an email, a business report, or a book, here are practical ideas for writing that's simply easier to read.
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Episode 432 - Ruthlessly Caring with Amy Walters Cohen
11/18/2024
Episode 432 - Ruthlessly Caring with Amy Walters Cohen
'Ruthlessness exists on a continuum, caring exists on a continuum, and it's about being in the sweet spots of both of those, not overplaying either one, or underplaying either one.' Amy Walters Cohen is the author of Ruthlessly Caring: And Other Paradoxical Mindsets Leaders Need to Be Future Fit, which was named overall Business Book of the Year in 2024. It's based on years of research, which revealed that the key skill for effective leadership in a complex world is the ability to hold in tension five seemingly paradoxical mindsets. As well as talking me through these, Amy told me about the challenges and rewards of translating her research into a book, including the amount of fidgeting, procrastination and coffee-fetching involved in the early stages. She also introduced me to the 'pub test', which I am shamelessly stealing for all future writing...
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Episode 431 - The Power of Culture with Laura Hamill
11/11/2024
Episode 431 - The Power of Culture with Laura Hamill
'Mom, why don't you just write it like you talk to me?' When Laura Hamill set out to write a book about the subject she knew best - the subject she'd spent years researching in theory and practice - she naturally drew on all the studies, statistics and evidence she'd gathered together to support her argument. Turns out, that's not what the reader needed. (And it wasn't just her editor who told her that, it was her son, too.) Those in organizations with a problematic culture don't need research studies, they need help. Laura had to learn how to step out from behind the screen of academic writing, how to own her experience and her opinion, and to sit with the discomfort of uncertainty and self-doubt that involves throughout the writing process. The result is a book that allows leaders and indeed anyone at any level to look beyond the words stencilled on the lobby walls to see how the real culture - what's expressed in how people speak and behave - is aligned with strategy, and what to do about it if it's not.
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Episode 430 - Human & artificial intelligence in writing
11/04/2024
Episode 430 - Human & artificial intelligence in writing
'As we lean into artificial intelligence across every sector of business and life, how do we ensure that we're delegating the right things and keeping responsibility for the right things? And specifically, how do books and writing play into that?' In this best bits episode, I'm exploring the role of writing in human intelligence in a world where it's suddenly possible to delegate writing to an AI tool. How does generating a written output quickly and easily fit alongside the hard yards of writing for ourselves, and is there still a place for that at work? [Spoiler alert: Yes. Yes, there is.] Hear from: Patrick Dixon on why physical books have become even more meaningful in an increasingly virtual world; Anna Faherty on why AI takes us backwards when it comes to story-telling; Dan Kieran on why we need the alchemy of writing to make sense of our lives; Thomas Bergen on the renaissance of the book and capturing its soul; Kathryn Jacob and Sue Unerman on why creativity matters so much in a world run by algorithms; Tiffany Gaskell on how being more human benefits the organization as well as the individual; Graham Allcott on why he doesn't let his AI avatar write his newsletter; Colin Ellis on the importance of the discography; Alina Addison on giving readers the courage to embrace both the too-muchness and the not-enoughness. Get ready to be challenged and cheered by these outstanding humans.
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Episode 429 - Do Start with Dan Kieran
10/28/2024
Episode 429 - Do Start with Dan Kieran
'They think the goal is to have the book, but no, the goal is to become the person it takes to write your book.' Dan Kieran is a publishing legend: as a co-founder of Unbound he revolutionizing the industry by empowering authors and readers. He learned a lot about himself and about setting up a business along the way, and he brought all that together in Do Start, winner of the Startup Book of the Year at the Business Book Awards. But he also firmly believes that writing isn't just, or even primarily, about the final product; it's the process itself, the way you understand and articulate your journey, both professionally and personally. Which is why turning to AI to generate your writing outputs for you is such a dangerous, self-defeating habit for anyone who cares about ideas. Or as Dan put it: 'Why would anyone want to read something that you couldn't be bothered to write?'
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Episode 428 - getAbstract at the Frankfurt Book Fair
10/21/2024
Episode 428 - getAbstract at the Frankfurt Book Fair
'I think we are living in a renaissance of the book... AI is changing how we are looking at trusted knowledge.' getAbstract is one of the leading corporate learning platforms, and it's based on books. The founders met with a lot of resistance from publishers in the early days, but their vision of making the knowledge in books discoverable and actionable quickly became reality. One reason was the brilliance of the team of abstracters creating summaries of the books, and in this episode we talk about how AI is changing the landscape and what that might mean for this most human of industries. I talk to getAbstract cofounder Thomas Bergan, VP and global Head of Rights Arnhild Walz-Rasilier, and Practical Inspiration author Julie Smith, who took home the Readers' Choice gong. But it quickly becomes clear I'm never going to make it as a roving reporter....
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Episode 427 - Coaching for Performance with Tiffany Gaskell
10/14/2024
Episode 427 - Coaching for Performance with Tiffany Gaskell
"As she was coached during a 15-minutes conversation, she put down each of those worries and at the end of it she was standing there in her full potential and I was like, wow, that's amazing. I want to learn how to do that." If there's a foundational text of executive coaching it's Coaching for Performance by Sir John Whitmore, first published in 1992. Sadly John died in 2017 and so Tiffany Gaskell, who co-founded Performance Consultants with John and worked with him on the 5th edition in 2017, became the driving force behind the new, post-pandemic 6th edition. She talks to me about the power of coaching, its evolution since 1992, and how it has become so foundational for organizational and personal growth. We also explore the link between coaching and writing, and how embracing coaching principles can help you fulfil your full potential as a writer. And we're all here for that, right?
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Episode 426 - Kind with Graham Allcott
09/30/2024
Episode 426 - Kind with Graham Allcott
'Nice is about telling people what they want to hear. Kind is about telling people what they need to hear.' Graham Allcott's back on the podcast and all is well with the world once again. This time he's talking about the transformative power of kindness in the workplace. Many assume that leaders need to belong to Team Screw-Them-All-And-Be-Evil to come out on top, but Graham demonstrates that being kind (which is NOT the same as being 'nice') is is a smart move if you want to be successful too. There's a deeply personal story behind this which particularly resonated with me: Graham's own experience of the way his son's additional needs create a 'vessel for kindness' all around him. We talk about salted caramel, 'badass' kindness, how leading a course leads to writing a book, why two authors means twice the work, and how this is definitely the last book he'll write.* We also talk about what writing does for us - we write what we need to read - and why delegating it to AI is a poor strategy. Writers write. This is a conversation that will make you think, and which I hope will inspire you to be a little kinder, in life and work. *I for one do not believe this.
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