Building Thinkers: Accessible Blueprints for Learning & Life

In this episode, Tracy is joined by Lily Higgins, the founder of The Intervention Bureau, a learning experience design consultancy where she partners with agencies and thought-leaders to design signature sessions fueling her crusade against boring, ineffective workshops. They discuss the importance of creating space for mindset shift within learning experiences and the role of facilitation as an act of love. Lily shares insights on the power of play and the concept of life as a game. They also explore her signature “Serendipity Walk” experience. The conversation highlights the transformative potential of experiences and the importance of autonomy and ownership in learning.

Key Takeaways: 

• Facilitation is an act of love. Facilitators hold space for groups to tap into their collective wisdom and create something greater than the sum of their parts.

• Autonomy is crucial for mindset shifts. Learners need to feel ownership over their learning journeys to integrate new ideas and make meaningful changes.

• Life is a game, and we can redesign it. Game Thinking helps us see the world as a series of games with rules, roles, goals, time, space, and objects. We can change our behavior and shift systems by tweaking any of these elements. Instead of focusing solely on changing people's mindsets, we can look for ways to redesign the game itself.

Links & Recommendations:

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In this episode, Tracy and Hannah discuss the importance of being present and intentional in our lives. They explore the impact of conditioned beliefs and the pressure to conform to societal expectations. The conversation highlights the need to be fully present in each moment (be where your feet are) and the consequences of not doing so. 

They talk about the practice of mindfulness through meditation and how it can lead to a life of peace and fulfillment and they discuss the obstacles to mindfulness, such as fear and the desire for safety and familiarity. They emphasize the importance of taking aligned actions and finding sustainability in growth and action. 

Takeaways

• Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention on purpose in the present moment, non-judgmentally.

• Practicing mindfulness through meditation helps to exercise the mindfulness muscle and live a life of peace and fulfillment.

• Being fully present in the moment amplifies happiness and reduces ruminations about the past and anxiety about the future.

• Taking aligned actions and finding sustainability in growth and action are key to living a fulfilled life.

Hanna’s Recommendations: 

Books:

In this episode of Building Thinkers Tracy interviews T. Mark Meyer, author of "The Art of Being Authentic." They dive deep into creating space for powerful mindset shifts that transform your learning and life experiences. They cover the following topics:

• Discovering your purpose: Uncover what truly drives you and learn to express it authentically.
• Confidence vs. self-esteem: Understand the key differences and their impact on your journey.
• Leading with authenticity: Explore how to be a more genuine and impactful leader.
• Redefining success in education: Move beyond traditional measures and create a more meaningful path.
• Staying true to yourself: Learn practical tools to stay aligned with your purpose, even when it's challenging.

This episode is your guide to the ongoing adventure of authenticity. Join the conversation and discover a fresh perspective on connecting with your true self.

For more information, check out the resources T. Mark shared below:

Books

The Art of Being Authentic by T. Mark Meyer https://amzn.to/3PwgPCu

Dare to Lead by Brene Brown https://amzn.to/3Pvze2f

True North by Bill George https://amzn.to/3Pvze2f

Socials

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/troelsmarkmeyer/

Tracy Clark and Sandhya Sudhakar discuss the importance of knowing oneself at work and how it’s critical to activating human potential. Sandhya shares her personal journey of experiencing burnout and leaving the corporate world to start her own business focused on helping individuals understand their innate potential and make choices that align with their true selves. They discuss the consequences of not knowing oneself at work, the role of self-reflection and the Enneagram in personal growth, and the need for rest and self-care. They also explore how leaders can create systems and structures that support individual differences and foster trust within teams. The conversation explores the importance of building trust and collaboration in teams and embracing our humanity at work. 

For more information, check out the resources Sandhya shared below. 

Books 

Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most -https://amzn.to/3TLBCEq

Tracy Clark & Shemmy Majewski talk about the inflection point of this moment in time when it comes to AI and Machine Learning and how Shemmy’s own journey with diabetes fuels his passion for harnessing its power to enhance the lives of those living with diabetes.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Shemmy Majewski

Books 

The Building Thinkers Podcast is based on the realization that there is exponential potential and possibility in the things we build:

From websites to mindsets,

From freelancing firms to workout routines,

From leadership programs to checklists,

From that book proposal to the crucial conversation, we keep delaying,

From goals and habits to the soundtracks we play in our minds.

And these things we build have the potential to change our teams, our businesses, our families and in a non-hyperbolic way … really our lives. 

But sometimes the insights, research, and application can seem out of reach or overly complex. There’s a lot of noise out there and opinions and even “best practices”

In this episode, Tracy interviews Vaughn Sigmon, a corporate executive turned entrepreneur and founder of Results Driven Leadership. From his executive role at Carmax leading a team of over 3,000, to his entrepreneurial role as the founder of Results Driven Leadership, Vaughn shares his insights and strategies on a wide range of topics including leadership, giving feedback,  time management, and maintaining consistency. 

They discuss the importance of being people-first in leadership and how successful companies prioritize their employees. Vaughn emphasizes the need for investing in employee development and providing regular feedback.

The conversation highlights the significance of building relationships with employees and aligning individual and organizational goals. They delve into the challenges of delegation and the power of consistency in achieving success. In this conversation, Tracy and Vaughn discuss the importance of consistency and growth in the creative and business world. They also explore the challenges of perfectionism and fear of criticism.

Takeaways:

• Being people-first is a core value of successful companies, and leaders should prioritize the growth and development of their employees.

• Investing in employee development and providing regular feedback are essential for fostering a learning culture within an organization.

• Building relationships with employees and aligning individual and organizational goals are key to creating a motivated and engaged workforce.

• Delegation can be challenging, but it is necessary for effective leadership and time management.

• Consistency is crucial in achieving success and reaching long-term goals.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Vaughn Sigmon

Books 

In this episode, Tracy Clark explores the idea of holding a dozen of your favorite problems in mind and why it is a powerful reflection exercise. We talk about multipotentialites and how this activity can help us get more clear about what matters to us, even when there are lots of possibilities on the table. We dig into the question, what is the work we want to be doing?  We also consider how the 12 Favorite Problems reflection activity can be a helpful filter for what we say yes and no to. 

​​​​Tracy Clark & Kerry Ann Pearce talk all about building organized spaces and entrepreneurship. Kerry Ann shares her journey from the Bahamas to Buda, Texas where she launched and now runs her professional organizing services company, Luxxe Organizing. We talk about some of the reasons why people end up with too much stuff and too little space and how she approaches helping others decrease the stress of STUFF.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Kerry Ann Pearce

Organizing Recommendations: Please note these are Kerry Ann's affiliate Links below.

​​​​Tracy Clark & Romy Alexandra explore experiential learning and jump into the deep end of the duality of learning and development work. In this episode, Romy shares opportunities she sees to bring more humanity into the learning space. We talked about the power of the rules of open space not only for learning experience design but also as a handy mental reframing tool she applies to her life. Romy shares how those involved in learning experience design can love our participants more than our design and what it looks like for that to play out in real-time ways in our sessions. 

For more foundational information on what experiential learning design is, check out the resources Romy shared below. 

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Romy Alexandra

Books 

​​​​Tracy Clark & Jordan Hopkins talk all things customer education -  including how to build customer education experiences that support informed, happy customers and better business outcomes. We talked about the power of simplicity in learning experience design and why less is almost always more. Jordan shares his take on how engagement isn’t always loud or overt and lessons he’s learned from traditional education, internal L&D work and customer education at Intellum.  

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Jordan Hopkins:

Books 

In this episode, Tracy Clark explores the idea of learning agility and why it is the ultimate competitive advantage for modern work and life.

Tracy answers the questions:

- What is learning agility?

- Why does learning agility matter?

- How might we begin to develop learning agility? Including three practical ideas for getting started with your own learning agility development.

Tracy shares how reflecting on her own learning story helped her recognize the power of this concept and its direct impact on her personal and professional growth.

Books

​​​​Tracy Clark & Kristiaan Hartmann talk about building clarity and motivation to learn.  Kristiaan spoke to his own challenge in making decisions at important crossroads in life and how he learned to trust his intuition take action and change course when necessary as he went from snowboard instructor at 17 to people manager to lecturer and entrepreneur. 

Kristiaan shared how he and his co-founder at Prototype You use best practices from lean, agile, design thinking and behavioral design to help professionals get from inspiration to action. We talked about the power of a posture of experimentation and a bit about Kristiaan’s current business prototype where he is putting into practice the same methods he teaches to others to help entrepreneurs take meaningful action within a structure of trusted and supportive accountability. 

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Kristiaan Hartmann

Books 

Tracy Clark & Alexia Raven talk about building a life of continuous adventure and personal growth. Alexia shares her mindsets and practices for making ongoing progress towards her goals personally and professionally.

Alexia gives a mini-master class on marriage and shares her potentially controversial viewpoint that marriage is “easy”. We talk through what prompted Alexia to move from Hollywood to the Hill Country and start her own company, Maverix Insights and Strategy, after over two decades of corporate work in the qualitative research space, including at the top executive levels as Vice President of Warner Brothers Discovery Global Research & Insights Group, and roles at iHeart Radio, Lin Television and FOX Broadcast Network. 

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Alexia Raven

Books 

​​​​Tracy Clark & Manuel S. Herrera talk about the power of drawing to make thinking visible. Manuel shares about creativity, art, visual literacy and why we sometimes may put our creative practices aside for a period of time. Manuel reflects on his career in education and edtech and the new opportunities opening up through his own illustrations and creative practices. We also talked about how Manuel learned how to illustrate children’s books and more about how several of his upcoming collaborations and projects came to fruition. 

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Manuel S. Herrera 

Books 

Tracy Clark & Amanda Parker talk about building courage from within. With a remarkable career journey from NYC marketing to working with jaguars in Panama for the World Wildlife Fund and for clients such as the World Economic Forum, World Bank, Unicef, and General Assembly - Amanda’s experience in organizational and individual transformation shines throughout our conversation as she shares her insights and challenges us to consider what might be on the other side of that resistance we feel and leads us to a place where we find the courage to take the next right step forward. If you are ready to get unstuck and consider what courage looks like in your own life, take a listen and let me know what you think.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Amanda Parker

Books

​​​​Tracy Clark & Anna Brewster talk about building teams for collective impact and evidence-based health policy. We analyzed why there is such a gap between what we know (research) and what we do (practice) across many fields and what strategies make an impact. If information doesn't change behavior, what does?

Anna shares her journey from management consulting at Deloitte to cancer prevention work at MD Anderson and her recent career transition to local government policy. Anna received her masters in public health from Harvard University and is passionate about seeing the impact of government health policy in action. It was such a treat to talk with my longtime friend and hear about the incredible impact of her work in public health. 

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Anna Brewster

Books 

Tracy Clark and Stephanie Simpson talk about conscious leadership and becoming more “human” at work. At a time when change is happening at an exponential pace, having the tools to navigate ambiguity and adversity is vital. Stephanie shares how her unique experience in the performing arts and arts education comes into play as she coaches clients and teams to nurture the connection between mind, body, and spirit.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Stephanie Simpson

Books 

Tracy Clark & Toby Newman explore strategies for building seamless learning ecosystems that minimize friction between learners and the learning process. Discover how this approach fosters adult learner agency and unlocks limitless learning potential. Toby shares his insights on the intersection of AI and Learning Technology, the potential for improving our learning ecosystems, and the power of being a generalist in learning and development. 

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Toby Newman

Books 

​​​​Join Tracy Clark and Tony Wang as Tony shares his personal transformation stories and insights into how to overcome common obstacles on the path to self-discovery. In this episode, you'll hear Tony's perspective on what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to making an introspective change and clearing unwanted thoughts and emotions. From navigating difficult emotions to breaking free from limiting beliefs, you'll explore potential ways of thinking that could inspire working towards breakthroughs in your own life.

And, in a lighthearted segment, Tony also shares some of his other favorite things, including a chili oil that he claims is better than sriracha and extra well-done fries from In N Out.

*This podcast is not intended to provide medical or mental health advice. The opinions and experiences of our guests are their own. Tony discusses his experiences with plant medicine and how it played a role in his emotional breakthrough. We encourage you to consult with your physician before exploring any new forms of therapy and healing.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Tony Wang

Books 

In this episode of the Building Thinkers Podcast, host Tracy Clark is joined by cross-cultural communication expert Paola Pascual, who shares her insights on effective communication across cultures and languages.

Listeners will learn about key mindset shifts and self-awareness techniques that can help non-native English speakers feel more confident in their communication skills and even access more of their full selves in their non-native language. Paola also highlights the positive impact that a vibrant multicultural community can have on work and innovation efforts and what native English speakers can do to decrease linguistic bias in conversations and collaboration.

Throughout the episode, Paola draws from her own experiences and her current role at Talaera working with individuals and organizations across cultures, providing practical advice and strategies for improving cross-cultural communication.

Whether you are a non-native English speaker seeking to improve your communication skills or a professional working in a multicultural environment, this episode offers valuable insights and actionable tips for building effective communication skills across cultures.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Paola Pascual

​​​​Tracy Clark & Amanda Rickman talk about how Amanda transitioned from owning a local cake shop to building a real estate business and team. Amanda shares her perspective on what’s happening in the current housing market, how she thinks about building a real estate investment portfolio, and when to delegate in your business. We also talked about the inspiration that drives her community giving and involvement.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Amanda Rickman

Books

Join Tracy Clark and Anamaria Dorgo in a compelling conversation on the critical factors that contribute to building a thriving community of practice. In this podcast episode, Anamaria shares valuable insights on how purpose and values play a vital role in narrowing the gap between community vision and reality.

Discover the secrets to building a sustainable community that benefits both individuals and organizations. Anamaria challenges community builders and leaders to adopt a co-creation approach anchored in human-centered design. By consistently tending to the norms and contributions of the community, you can foster an environment where growth and innovation flourish.

Are you ready to take your community-building skills to the next level? Then, tune in and learn from the incredible communities of practice thought leader, Anamaria Dorgo!

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Anamaria

Books

​​​​Tracy Clark & Daniel Raz talk about what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to fitness and health goals. Daniel shares the small shifts that can make a big impact on our health and confidence and how he helps his clients make lasting changes.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Daniel Raz

Socials

Tina Chessher and Tracy Clark talk about transitioning to a career that aligns with your strengths while leaving room for growth. Tina shares her learnings from her own transition from childcare work to the financial and insurance services industry and what she learned along the way. Tina unpacks how she leads with authenticity and connection and the learning mindset she brings to her career.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Tina

​​​​AJ Crabill and Tracy Clark talk about how to build effective school boards and what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to school governance. AJ shares his perspective on what school boards' singular vision and purpose should be and why so many have veered from this direction. AJ shares what he learned from his experience in several remarkable school district turnarounds and his time in state-level education leadership regarding the continuous improvement cycle. AJ previews his upcoming book - launching in March of 2023 - Great on Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Be Effective.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from AJ Crabill

Tracy Clark & Kirsten Anderson talk about the power of play and why Kirsten sees play as the antidote to fear. Kirsten explains why play and productivity should not be at odds with one another and identifies the bottom-line benefits of play at work. Kirsten shares how the lessons from her imaginative, thriving toy store days inspired her to help more adults solve sticky challenges through the power of play at work.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Kirsten Anderson

Books

Tracy Clark & Jason Fite talk about what leadership skill development looks like in the military. Jason explains why he reads biographies rather than traditional leadership books and why indecision is the Achilles heel of leadership. Jason shares how understanding your own strengths and weaknesses is foundational to any leadership position and about his upcoming role as a new commander of a naval warship.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Jason Fite

Books

Tracy Clark & Kara Kirby talk about what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to building leadership skills and people-first practices. Kara shares about her experiences in top rated organizational cultures and how she took the leap to build her own service business, growing people-first companies across the globe. Oh, and if you are a Ted Lasso fan you’re in for an extra treat.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Kara Kirby

Books

Tracy Clark & Gillian Calley talk about what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to making structures to help make impactful projects possible. Gillian shares her pathway from office administrator to chief of staff and how being a “non-traditional” college student helped develop skills and mindsets she carries with her today. Gillian and Tracy talk about the power of communication in an organization and the connections between relationships, psychological safety, and effective operations.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Gillian Calley

Books

In this special episode the roles are reversed as Greg Garner interviews Tracy Clark about her story and what ignited her desire to unleash human potential. Tracy and Greg talk about the core principles that ground the work she does with clients, the twists and turns of her career path and how her own insatiable desire for positive impact drives a sense of purpose and the action oriented collaboration signature to her learning strategy services. 

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Tracy Clark 

Books

Tracy Clark and Eryn Schultz talk about what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to personal finance in Eryn's niche, helping high earning women with graduate degrees. Eryn takes her incredible depth of knowledge from her days of management consulting at Accenture, Harvard Business School MBA, and corporate leadership roles and she combines it with a humble and accessible heart of an educator in the courses she designs and leads. Her work has been featured on NPR, CNBC, at Harvard Business School, and Real Simple. 

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Eryn Schultz

Books

Tracy Clark & Alex McFadyen talk about what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to developing a new product and the process of securing a patent. Alex shares his unique approach to developing, what he likes to call "assets", and building a business to the point of passing it off for someone else to run. So, what should you do with your "big" idea? Alex shares his thoughts on how to start, equity tips, and some of the first questions VCs have in mind during that first pitch. 

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Alex McFadyen

Books

Tracy Clark & Greg Garner talk about what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to developing and leading others and what he is learning in his role as a learning and performance specialist at a pharmaceutical research company. Greg shares about his doctoral work at the intersection of education, psychology and design and challenges us to think about productivity in new ways.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Greg Garner

Books

​​​​Tracy Clark & Moss Pike talk about what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to strategy. Moss shares about developing a managed services product and the questions he and his company are thinking about at this moment in time like: What is the purpose of our office space now? How do we have non-transactional conversations? 

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Moss Pike

Books

​Tracy Clark & Kimberly Borges talk about what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to building an apparel brand, manufacturing products, and going from vision to action as an entrepreneur. Kimberly shares about the women entrepreneurs in her family and how she is currently working to make PWR WMN, her apparel brand, more inclusive and empowering.

Episode Resources - Recommendations from Kimberly Borges

Tracy Clark & Ali Goljahmofrad talk about what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to building connection and contentment. Ali shares how to intentionally re-think happy-whenitis, accept and value our own humanity, including our imperfections, and be present witnesses to joy.

Episode Resources

​​Tracy Clark & Alton Riggins talk about what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to supporting teachers and building learning experiences for all students. Alton tells us how he supports teachers as they try new things and he makes an intention to launch his own internet presence – get ready for a YouTube channel and TED Talk by Alton in the future.

Episode Resources

Books

Tracy Clark & Katie Conley talk about what people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to building memorable customer experiences. Katie tells us why companies shouldn’t be afraid to make a mistake in the customer service experience and why nothing is too small to celebrate.

Episode Resources

Books

Tracy Clark & Davis Staedtler talk about three things people tend to overcomplicate when it comes to building learning experiences. When it comes to designing learning experiences, strike the right balance between being timely and timeless. 

Episode Resources