culture — Podcast — 12 Geniuses

AI: Talent's Rocket Fuel with Mike Bechtel

Artificial intelligence is touching elements of our lives that most people couldn’t have predicted even five years ago. No aspect is being disrupted more than our work and our jobs. As Michael Kanaan said on 12 Geniuses back in 2021 in The Future of Artificial Intelligence, “there is no job on the planet that AI doesn't have its rightful place to do the job better.” Exactly how jobs will be redefined is largely dependent on the mindset companies have toward their talent and the new tools that are able to do magical things.

In this interview, Deloitte Consulting’s chief futurist Mike Bechtel discusses the two common ways in which companies are approaching the artificial intelligence revolution. Mike says that some companies are using AI to cut costs and replace people with technology. Other companies see AI as “rocket fuel” for their talent. While the “short-termists” that are using AI to minimize expenses might please shareholders for a brief period of time, Mike says the companies that have a longer-term view on the combination of their people and these powerful tools will ultimately be winners in this unique period in business. Mike goes on to talk about the differentiating traits that leaders should be seeking as they hire new people in an AI workplace and Mike shares his advice for how individuals and leaders should think about career development into the future.

Mike Bechtel is a managing director and the chief futurist with Deloitte Consulting LLP. Mike helps clients develop strategies to thrive in the face of discontinuity and disruption. His team researches the novel and exponential technologies most likely to impact the future of business, and builds relationships with the startups, incumbents, and academic institutions creating them.

Prior to joining Deloitte, Mike led Ringleader Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm he co-founded in 2013. Before Ringleader, he served as CTO of Start Early, a national not-for-profit focused on early childhood education for at-risk youth. Mike began his career in technology R&D at a global professional services firm where his dozen US patents helped result in him being named that firm’s global innovation director. He currently serves as professor of corporate innovation at the University of Notre Dame.

The Power of Rituals with Dr. Michael Norton

Our lives are filled with repetitive tasks meant to keep us on track—what we come to know as habits. Over time, these routines (for example, brushing your teeth or putting on your right sock first) tend to be performed automatically. But when we’re more mindful about these actions—when we focus on the precise way they are performed—they can instead become rituals. Shifting from a “habitual” mindset to a “ritual” mindset can convert ordinary acts from black and white to technicolor.

In this interview, Harvard Business School Professor Dr. Michael Norton discusses his new book “The Ritual Effect” and how the power of establishing rituals can enhance performance in personal lives and at work. Dr. Norton explains how a ritual is different from a habit. He talks about how to create rituals that last and he says a bottom up approach is the best way to establish effective rituals in the workplace. To finish the interview, Dr. Norton discusses what research has taught him about what people commonly get wrong about their money.

Dr. Michael Norton is a leading behavior scientist, behavioral economics researcher, Harvard Business School Professor, and business speaker obsessed with unlocking the secrets of human behavior and well-being, from happier spending to the power of rituals. Dr. Norton’s research focuses on behavioral economics and well-being, with particular attention given to topics such as happiness, spending, and, most recently, rituals and habits. His book The Ritual Effect focuses on the surprising and versatile power of rituals.

Progress, Not Perfection with Basketball Legend Coach Ray Scott

This interview is so much more than a discussion about leadership. It’s a reflection on the incredible progress that has been made in the United States and the work that still needs to be done. Born in South Philadelphia, former professional basketball player and coach Ray Scott discusses a formative trip he took as a 12-year-old boy to the segregated South in 1950. He talks about the bravery amid intimidation and death threats of the first African American players in the National Basketball Association. He shares what he learned from pioneering leaders he was fortunate to meet and get to know like Muhammad Ali, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Aretha Franklin, and his mentor and coach Earl Lloyd.

Additionally, Coach Scott talks about his role as a leader during his playing and coaching career in professional basketball. Ray discusses the importance of forming habits, being a pioneer, establishing the right mindset in very difficult circumstances. mentorship, determining individual readiness to lead other people, building a self-reliant team, and coaching former players.

In 1961, Ray Scott was drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the #4 overall pick in the National Basketball Association Draft. His professional playing career spanned 11 years with the Pistons, Baltimore Bullets, and Virginia Squires. He became an assistant coach and eventually the head coach of the Detroit Pistons during the early 1970s. In 1974, Ray became the first African American Coach of the Year. He went on to become the head men’s basketball coach at Eastern Michigan University and then had a long, successful career in business. Ray is the author of The NBA in Black and White: The Memoir of a Trailblazing NBA Player and Coach.

Leadership and Love with MGySgt Scott Stalker

Master Gunnery Sergeant Scott Stalker joins the show again to discuss the topic of leadership. In his first appearance back in 2020, he shared his thoughts on “The Future of War.” This time, he shares what he has learned about leadership during his nearly three decades as a member of the United States Marine Corps.

In this episode, MGySgt Stalker and host Don MacPherson talk about developing culture, the importance of values, giving and receiving feedback, dealing with failure, motivating and inspiring a team, sacrifice for the good of the team, onboarding new leadership, building trust, and leading in battle. They end the conversation with a discussion about mental health and why “Love” can be the most important leadership trait.

Master Gunnery Sergeant Stalker is Command Senior Enlisted Leader of US Space Command in Colorado Springs. For nearly 30 years, he has served in the United States Marine Corps.

Curiosity, Compassion, and Courage in Leadership with Tom Fishman

The United States is more politically and culturally divided than it has been since the 1960s and Americans are fatigued. They are demanding solutions. Tom Fishman believes if curiosity, compassion, and courage can be cultivated into daily habits, we can overcome the polarization, blind tribalism, and dehumanization threatening the social fabric of our communities.

Not only does Tom believe teaching others to be curious, compassionate, and courageous will heal the differences in our communities, he makes the case for bringing these skills into our organizations to make them run more effectively.

In this episode, Tom discusses the extend to which division exists in the United States, how we got here, and how we can bridge this divide. The key is not to demand people come to the middle. Rather, a willingness to understand others without judgment is critical to erasing the notion that people with different ideas than our own are our enemies. Tom talks about how Starts With Us is using social media and technology to teach people the skills needed to communicate and understand others who may see the world differently. Tom also talks about how leaders who teach these skills to their teams can elevate performance in their organizations.

Tom Fishman is CEO of Starts With Us. With an education in physics, Tom has spent his career solving complex problems for media companies like Facebook, Viacom, and Condé Nast. Now, Tom is using his experience with media and technology to habituate the daily practice of curiosity, compassion and courage in order to foster independent thinking and constructive communication across lines of difference. Starts With Us is a movement working to overcome extreme political and cultural division in America.

Building a Championship Team with Lou Nanne

In the competitive business of professional sports, there is no template or formula for building a winner. It does, however, require effective leadership from ownership, general managers, and coaches all the way down to the trainers, traveling secretaries, and front-office personnel. Lou Nanne has been involved in professional hockey for six decades and has studied the attributes of winning cultures across the major professional team sports throughout that time.

In this interview, Lou discusses the creation of a championship professional sports franchise and the leadership necessary to build a winner. Lou talks about culture creation, dealing with failure, mitigating the complications of a mid-season trade, setting expectations, managing emotions, creating a sense of belonging, promoting pro-social behavior, forgiving failure, and how the lessons he has learned about leadership in professional sports apply to other businesses.

Lou Nanne has been a leading figure in the hockey community for decades. Lou was captain of the 1968 United States Olympic Hockey team. Later he played, coached, and served as general manager for the Minnesota North Stars. Lou is a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame and the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame. He has also been awarded the Lester Patrick trophy for his impact on the sport of hockey.

The Future of Counterterrorism with Harry Samit

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, the United States experienced a terrorist attack that changed everything. While travel, immigration, and international relations were all significantly altered, one change that many of us don’t know about is the way law enforcement monitors, apprehends, and prosecutes terrorist activity.

In this interview, Don MacPherson is joined by Harry Samit. Harry is a former FBI agent who served on the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Minneapolis. He was an integral member of the team of agents who tried to stop the 9/11 attacks. They discuss the events leading up to 9/11, including the arrest and investigation of al-Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui. They also explore how terrorism is still expressed around the world today and the threats the U.S. faces from foreign and domestic terrorists. Harry shares his perspective on how counterterrorism will evolve and the ways in which agencies will change in order to monitor suspicious behavior in the United States.

Harry Samit is a former United States Navy Naval Intelligence Officer. After his Naval career, Harry spent 21 years in the FBI and was a founding member of the Minneapolis Joint Terrorism Task Force. In the months and years following the attacks on 9/11, Harry was also a key figure in analyzing ways to prevent future terrorist attacks.

Leadership Moment - Shared Sacrifices

In 2008 and 2009, a software company was hammered by the Great Recession. Layoffs were imminent in order to stay in business. Instead, the owners chose to share the sacrifices across the organization, keep its team together, and weather the storm. The company recovered and thrived while protecting the families of its employees.

Kindness and Empathy in Berlin 30 Years After the Wall

Following pressures from international powers in the 1980s, the deconstruction of the Berlin Wall began. This month, the world celebrated the 30th anniversary of the wall’s demise. The fall of the wall symbolizes a series of events that led to freedoms and opportunities for hundreds of millions of people around the world.

For a year, I knew I wanted to join the celebration in Berlin and I wanted to share the celebration with my three-year-old daughter. Together we spent a week in Germany. I was certain I would come home with a story about how Berlin and the demise of its wall was a microcosm of the world today. It turns out the story is a lot more complicated than I expected.

Flying back to the United States, my daughter slept next to me as I jotted down three lessons I took away from the trip. It’s these three lessons I want to share with you today in this bonus podcast episode.

Changing Cultures and a Quest to Cure Cancer - Genentech’s Sara Kenkare-Mitra

A generation ago, a cancer diagnosis meant the patient had a 50% chance of living beyond five years. Today, cancer is still an awful disease, but thanks to incredible medical advances, survival is far more likely than ever before. That’s not the only good news. In fact, there is hope that as soon as a decade from now, cancer could possibly be a managed disease instead of a killer.

In this episode, pharmaceutical expert and cancer researcher, Sara Kenkare-Mitra, shares her how she got into the pharmaceutical field, the long road to creating an effective drug, and the importance of celebrating failure.

Sara discusses:

Part One: The Road to Making a Drug

Growing up in India, moving from India to the United States, culture shock, building resilience, joining Genentech, becoming a leader, how her leadership skills as a manager needed to evolve to lead a team of 550 people, the importance of technical competence in a large organization, the drug development process.

Part Two: Curing Cancer

Why it’s good to celebrate failure, how pharmaceutical companies are curing cancer, advice for young women entering STEM fields, encouraging your teams to learn from failures, meditation and leadership, overcoming the minority effect, advocating for yourself, how being a mother made her a more effective leader, the future of cancer, the role of empathy in leadership and drug development.

Organizations, People, Resources, Places Mentioned.

Mumbai, India, Genentech, Austin, Texas, University of Texas - Austin, UCSF (University of California, San Francisco), San Francisco, Kadcyla (Her2+ Breast cancer drug), the FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration)

To learn more about Sara and Genentech, please visit www.Gene.com.

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