Sweetspot Safari

SWEETSPOT SAFARI # 22 :: ignornace and knowledge w/Rob Bell

After a short break Sweetspot Safari returns with guest explorer Rob Bell. Rob is a talented broadcaster, podcaster and engineer and we explore a broad range of topics centering on the theme of ignorance vs knowledge. We talk about how the internet might be emphasising superficial knowledge at the expense of deeper understanding, the difference between general and specialist knowledge, the wisdom beneath the concept of beginner's mind, the fascinating Dunning-Kruger effect and much more. As usual the theme of critical thinking weaves through this conversation and we finish up by pondering whether more knowledge equates to more happiness.

SWEETSPOT SAFARI # 21 /|\ youth and elders w/Mark Straw

During this episode we chat with Mark Straw, the founder of Community Praxis. Their mission is to support third sector organisations and communities in the development of a critical lens and participatory approaches to building cohesive and connected spaces. We have a wide ranging discussion around the need for intergenerational collaboration. Topics we touch on include accelerating change, unhelpful stereotypes, rites of passage, role models, wisdom and how the pandemic response negatively impacted young and old. Our culture and societies depends on the transmission of knowledge between these groups so how do we pivot away from increasingly destructive conflict and towards productive collaboration?

SWEESTPOT SAFARI #20 /|\ employee and employer w/Glenn Martin

In this session we have Glenn Martin, founder and CEO of "Never mind the Job Spec" , walking us through the complexities and attributes of the job acquisition process, and the power of "Human Centred Hiring" . We explore the balance and power dynamic between employer and candidate and the differences between employer brand and talent brand. The market is shifting rapidly, not just driven by technology but values. We look for sweetspots, but clearly employers have to understand that they have to be realistic about the influence they have in the job market. Candidates have more levers to pull with access to company information and the perceived values / company branding in the marketplace. The employer can control their employer brand, but not the talent brand. Parity is more evident, companies who are not open and recognise their own gaps, or they will suffer indirectly in the acquisition process. For job seekers there may be a fear of dehumanisation within the process, but the technology adoption is not advance as we may think. Glenn poses the question, whether companies really understand hybrid working and how employees are treated? There will be a new social contract in place, which will not go backwards.

SWEETSPOT SAFARI #19 /|\ mind and matter w/Stephanie Laing

This week we explore the topic of Mind and Matter from a philosophical perspective with Steph Laing ; Comedian, Charity Trustee, Community Worker and TED-X Speaker. No stone is left unturned, and we look at the topic with a scientific lens as well as a conscious embodied perspective. Is there a difference, or do they overlap ? Steph uses her work and life experiences to elucidate the options, and shares her own thoughts about the power of both intention and attention working in harmony. The former potentially relating to the mind, and the latter being related to matter. A simple arm movement being a prime example. This podcast should get people making their own connections and hopefully identifying their own intersections.

SWEETSPOT SAFARI #18 /|\ numbers and nonsense w/Luke Morris

In this episode our guest explorer is Luke Morris who is a Corporate Finance Partner at an accounting firm. Luke explains that he has always been interested in numbers and data from the days of being a child, then on to being a physics graduate. We explore where it makes sense to use numbers, where it doesn't and the misinterpretation of data in both life and business. He guides us through rational approaches vs the irrational approaches to data, and when he faces making judgements with complex systems he always goes back to the top of the pyramid with first principles, and starts with hard irrefutable facts, like cash flow in a financial statement. We explored several trade-offs and tensions on our hunt for sweet spots including information vs relevance, historical data vs predictive data, system 1 vs system 2 processing, insight vs deception and AI pattern recognition vs human judgement.