Jan 1, 2022
Joining us in conversation today is Ron Friedman, social
psychologist, former academic, speaker, and author. He is here to
share wisdom from his latest book, Decoding Greatness,
where he draws on his research into pattern recognition, skills
acquisition, and creative genius, to discuss insights about
high-performing athletes, musicians, chefs, and business leaders.
Tune in to hear Ron's thoughts on the purpose of collecting, his
opinion on productivity programs, and how he feels about marketing
his writing. Ron talks about the fallacy that commercial success
reflects the quality of your work and why we believe it, as well as
why the pandemic has hampered our collective creative growth. We
touch on the debate around whether we should all return to the
office or not, and Ron reveals some of the secrets behind his
writing process. He also tells us why Don Draper’s “derivative with
a twist” is the sweet spot of creativity, and shares who he
considers to be his greatest influences. Find out what he hopes the
book will give readers: plenty of practical tools, and an
opportunity to demystify the great works that have inspired them.
Join us today to hear all this and more.
Key Points From This Episode:
- An introduction to today’s guest, social psychologist,
academic, and author, Ron Friedman.
[00:00:29]
- Ron shares what forms part of his collector landscape: books
and stories. [00:03:10]
- The purpose of collecting which is to look for insights beyond
the surface. [00:04:11]
- Some of the productivity programs that are gaining traction
like Mem and Notion. [00:07:15]
- What it is like for Ron to revisit his book during podcast
interviews. [00:09:20]
- How Ron feels about the marketing piece of being an author: he
would rather not! [00:10:38]
- The fallacy that commercial success is equal to quality work
and why we fall for it. [00:12:24]
- Economic uncertainty and anxiety as factors that have limited
creative growth during the pandemic.
[00:13:15]
- What Ron thinks about the debate around whether we should
return to the office. [00:15:15]
- Ron’s writing process and how he illustrates ideas with
stories. [00:18:00]
- Why derivative with a twist is the ideal sweet spot.
[00:18:40]
- One of the arguments in the book: you should have license to
experience broadly. [00:20:35]
- Pliio, the folding tool product that Clare designed which never
took off. [00:23:05]
- Who he considers his greatest influences as a writer and
creative. [00:25:15]
- Deconstructing TEDtalks according to Ron.
[00:29:18]
- His hope for the book: to give you practical tools and
demystify the great works that have inspired you.
[00:30:02]
- Where you can find out more about the book and purchase it with
a free course. [00:30:54]
- An invitation to reach out and give us feedback so that we can
improve our podcast. [00:33:14]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Ron Friedman
Ron Friedman on
Twitter
Decoding
Greatness
The Best Place to Work
Notion
Mem
Pliio
Happy Space Podcast Facebook
Group
NAPO — http://napo.net/join