Would you like to unlock the creative, imaginative and innovative potential in your team or organisation…BUT…don’t want to listen to another serious podcast which offers 7 steps, 5 habits, 3 mantras, and a hard sell in a pear tree? Then join ‘The Occupational Philosophers’, a ‘not-so-serious’ podcast with Simon Banks (middle-aged Australian surfer man, artist and published author) and John Rice (middle-aged British man with a love of curiosity and philosophy) as they chat with a ‘clowder’ (great word!) of curious cats from the fields of Comedy, Academia, Philosophy, Neuroscience, Psychology, Design, Marketing, and Business, to explore how you, your team, and your organisation, can develop your curiosity, spark your creativity, and free your imagination, so you can grow your business and your people….sounds great huh?! But don’t just take our word for it, read what our listeners think: “Worth a listen, one of them has a strange Australian accent” “They’re not philosophers, they’re idiots” “If you like business, philosophy, humour, creativity, and imagination, then have a listen - if not, then I would leave well alone” http://www.occupationalphilosophers.com
Episodes
Monday Jun 19, 2023
Ep. 67 - Inbetweeners: Bias, filters, perceptions - how are yours?
Monday Jun 19, 2023
Monday Jun 19, 2023
In episode 67, The Occupational Philosophers dive into the world of personal biases, filters and perceptions or the way we take in information.
And what did they discover? We ALL take in information differently - whether we believe it or not.
In this episode, they explore:
- Confirmation bias
- Perception bias and how two people can see the same situation differently
- Frequency bias. Why am I now seeing red cars everywhere?
- How a muffin can appear 50% bigger if you are hungry (even though its not!)
- Change blindness (say what?)
- How we don't see change in real-time - even though we think we do
- Why Heraclitus has some good advice for modern-day change
If you have read this far, well done and you have made it past some of your biases and filters. Turn up your curiosity bias and tune in!
FYI: The Inbetweeners episodes are just that - smaller episodes 'in between' the longer format episodes designed to give a little kickstart to enable you to be the most curious, creative and imaginative cat you can be - and have some fun in the process.
Say Hello
www.occupationalphilosophers.com
Their day jobs
- JOHN: https://www.bowlandconsulting.com/
- SIMON: www.simonbanks.com.au
- SIMON SHOWREEL: https://youtu.be/YZQdJI6qGvg
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
Ep.66 - Inbetweeners: Blue Poles, Time Travel, Long Socks for Business and Outrage
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
In this short, sharp inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers do a little bit of time travel and in the process explore:
- What an abstract artwork can teach us about how we react to something out of our comfort zone
- Why at times it's all too easy to jump to outrage
- Why a creative shock can create long-lasting change
- What the hell is Blue Poles?
- Why a good philosopher will always ask questions first
- The importance of always, always being open to the new
- Why it's important to keep an eye out for Blue Poles in your organisation...
They Occupational Philosophers hope you enjoy the show!
FYI: The Inbetweeners episodes are just that - smaller episodes 'in between' the longer format episodes designed to give a little kickstart to enable you to be the most curious, creative and imaginative cat you can be - and have some fun in the process.
Say Hello
www.occupationalphilosophers.com
Their day jobs
- JOHN: https://www.bowlandconsulting.com/
- SIMON: www.simonbanks.com.au
- SIMON SHOWREEL: https://youtu.be/YZQdJI6qGvg
Tuesday May 30, 2023
Tuesday May 30, 2023
In Episode 65, The Occupational Philosophers chat with Dr Jason Fox a wizard-philosopher masquerading as a leadership advisor. His clients include the senior leadership teams of Fortune 500 companies around the world including Microsoft, Toyota, Honda, Sony, Salesforce, KPMG, The International Institute of Research (not to mention: financial institutions, universities, telcos, government agencies, insurers, software developers, associations, intergovernmental forums, and so on).
He has lectured at three universities (systems and behaviour), and is the bestselling author of ‘The Game Changer’ and ‘How to Lead a Quest’ and his Museletter is read by more than 11,000 folk around the world.
In addition to serving as a leadership adviser, Dr Fox is also a globally in-demand keynote speaker who works particularly well with sceptical audiences who have ‘seen it all before’, and in 2016 he was awarded Keynote Speaker of the Year.
He lives with an illustrator-veterinarian and a cat called ‘π’ in an old chocolate factory in Melbourne, Australia. When not liberating the world from the delusion of progress, He enjoys partaking in extreme sports such as reading, sun avoidance and coffee snobbery.
In this episode, they explore:
- How teams and organisations can make meaningful progress and not suffer under the ‘delusion of progress'
- What is ‘anti-fragile brooding’ and how doubt is key to progress
- When is a good time to give audiences a good ‘intellectual spanking’?
- What does curiosity look like?
- The value of just being together as a team and allowing the ‘fireside chats’ to emerge at the end of the day
- Why finding your own ‘Suicide Squad’ is the key to fellowship and creativity
As ever they throw in a few ‘Thought Experiments’, this time they have:
- Philosophy or Foolosophy?
- Listeners questions
Learn more about Jason
References
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/play-your-way-sane/202303/7-research-backed-benefits-of-improv-comedy?utm_source=pocket_saves
- https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/may/03/italian-historian-claims-to-have-identified-bridge-in-mona-lisa-backdrop
- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Finite-Infinite-Games-James-Carse/dp/1476731713
Wednesday May 17, 2023
Ep.64: Inbetweeners - Dirty Habits of creative, interesting, innovative people....
Wednesday May 17, 2023
Wednesday May 17, 2023
In this short sharp in-betweener episode, the Occupational Philosophers explore the habits of creative door kickers and kick-arse inventors and ponder, "What can we learn from these curious cats?"
As it happens, we can learn a hell of a lot such as:
- How to find your flow and what works for you
- Why it's worth packing a pair of swimming trunks if you want a great idea
- How Churchill won the war despite not getting out of bed until 11 am
- Why having a micro creative habit in your office may be the best productivity hack since micro dosing....(not that we have tried that, just sayin...)
They hope you enjoy the show!
FYI: The Inbetweeners episodes are just that - smaller episodes 'in between' the longer format episodes designed to give a little kickstart to enable you to be the most curious, creative and imaginative cat you can be - and have some fun in the process.
Say Hello
www.occupationalphilosophers.com
Their day jobs
- JOHN: https://www.bowlandconsulting.com/
- SIMON: www.simonbanks.com.au
- SIMON SHOWREEL: https://youtu.be/YZQdJI6qGvg
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Ep. 63: Guest episode with Start Up Queen Jemma Enright
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Jemma Enright is a strategic and creative innovator who has an entrepreneurial spirit bigger than Mt Everest. She takes opportunities from little beans to full Jack and the Beanstalk scenario but with a much friendlier ending with no real Giants dying in the process. She is strongly connected to the startup and innovation community, as well as the media and advertising community. She plays an active role in mentoring startups and future innovators as well as being a strong advocate for women and diversity in innovation. She has been an angel investor and has been both an intrapreneur, driving change in large companies, and an entrepreneur, taking an exciting new startup in the personal finance space, MoneyBrilliant, from idea to an exit in the role of CEO and Cofounder.
She is a real-world, kick-ass, start-up Mega star and one awesome person to boot!
In this episode, the Occupational Philosophers explore:
- What surprised her most about launching and selling a business?
- The make-up of a perfect team to launch, scale and then sell a business
- The how/when/where of looking for funding for your idea
- The one key thing to nail on your start-up journey
- What is customer centricity and importantly, how do we become more customer-centric?
- What do potential entrepreneurs need to consider before doing the work of launching a startup?
- Why you need to be careful with the term entrepreneur porn
As always, there are some great thought experiments including “start up or wind up?”
The Occupational Philosophers hope you enjoy the show as much as they enjoyed making it!
Learn more about Jemma
Say hello to the Occupational Philosophers
www.occupationalphilosophers.com
Their day jobs
- JOHN: https://www.bowlandconsulting.com/
- SIMON: www.simonbanks.com.au
- SIMON SHOWREEL: https://youtu.be/YZQdJI6qGvg
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Ep.62 - Inbetweeners: When is a pen not a pen? (and other GPT questions)
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
In this short, sharp Inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers explore ‘Generic Parts Technique’ or GPT. (Not to be confused with chat GPT)
It’s quite hard to explain in words so we think it’s best to just listen really….
FYI: The Inbetweeners episodes are just that - smaller episodes 'in between' the longer format episodes designed to give a little kickstart to enable you to be the most curious, creative and imaginative cat you can be - and have some fun in the process.
Say Hello
www.occupationalphilosophers.com
Their day jobs
- JOHN: https://www.bowlandconsulting.com/
- SIMON: www.simonbanks.com.au
- SIMON SHOWREEL: https://youtu.be/YZQdJI6qGvg
Tuesday Apr 18, 2023
Tuesday Apr 18, 2023
In this short, sharp Inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers, inspired by the banning of hip-hop at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show, turn their attention to wicked problems. In this episode, they explore:
- How do you solve a challenge with multiple truths?
- What’s the secret sauce when every problem is different?
- How can you flourish in a FUCA world....(not VUCA...!)?
- The importance of reframing challenges
- Why curiosity, empathy and Hip Hop belong together
- Why saying "It's banned" may not be the best approach....
We hope you enjoy the show AND as The Occupational Philosophers always say: stay curious, make stuff, play more, have fun and date life...
FYI: The Inbetweeners episodes are just that - smaller episodes 'in between' the longer format episodes designed to give a little kickstart to enable you to be the most curious, creative and imaginative cat you can be - and have some fun in the process.
Say Hello
www.occupationalphilosophers.com
Their day jobs
- JOHN: https://www.bowlandconsulting.com/
- SIMON: www.simonbanks.com.au
- SIMON SHOWREEL: https://youtu.be/YZQdJI6qGvg
Thursday Apr 06, 2023
Thursday Apr 06, 2023
In Episode 60, The Occupational Philosophers chat with Julian Baggini, a philosopher, journalist and the author of over 20 books about philosophy. He is a co-founder of The Philosophers' Magazine and has written for numerous international newspapers and magazines. In addition to writing on the subject of philosophy, he has also written books on atheism, secularism and the nature of national identity. In 2012 he was commissioned by the National Trust to be the philosopher-in-residence for the White Cliffs of Dover where he was required to reflect on the chalk cliffs and their significance to the national identity.
His books include
- How The World Thinks: A Global History Of Philosophy
- Freedom Regained: The Possibility of Free Will
- Should You Judge This Book by Its Cover?
- The Duck That Won the Lottery: And 99 Other Bad Arguments
- The Pig that Wants to be Eaten and 99 other thought experiments
- What’s It All about? Philosophy and the Meaning of life
- And his most recently published book - ‘How to think like a philosopher’
In this episode, they explore:
- The 12 practices, habits and attitudes to help us think like a philosopher
- Why paying attention is the key to sound thinking
- Why ‘faffing’ isn’t a waste of time
- How to put some ‘speed bumps’ in your organisation so you arrive at better solutions
- Whether curiosity killed the cat? Well, yes, and no…
- Is creativity an attempt to become immortal?
- How listening to David Gilmour of Pink Floyd might explain the meaning of life
- Why Croissants and Coffee are the secrets to a happy life
- And if an eyebrow is transplanted to above the top lip, is it still an eyebrow?
Learn more about Julian
References
Thursday Mar 23, 2023
Ep.59 - Inbetweeners: How much coal does it take to send an email?
Thursday Mar 23, 2023
Thursday Mar 23, 2023
What would you do if every time you sent an email, a bag of coal would turn up next to your desk?
Would it change how you think about emails?
Would you send a few fewer emails to play your role in not crapping on the planet?
Would an ever-expanding collection of coal in your office make you think about how much energy you use?
Is it time to do a personal energy audit over where and how you spend your energy - emotional/mental/physical?
Is it time to do an energy audit with your team?
- Where are we most wasting our energy?
- Where do we need more energy?
- What outdated practices consume too much energy - literally and physically?
Join the Occupational Philosophers to discuss how we may reimagine how our behaviours and actions can both consume and create energy. It's maybe not the usual discussion but a fantastic topic to get curious about...
FYI: The Inbetweeners episodes are just that - smaller episodes 'in between' the longer format episodes designed to give a little kickstart to enable you to be the most curious, creative and imaginative cat you can be - and have some fun in the process.
Say Hello
www.occupationalphilosophers.com
Their day jobs
- JOHN: https://www.bowlandconsulting.com/
- SIMON: www.simonbanks.com.au
- SIMON SHOWREEL: https://youtu.be/YZQdJI6qGvg
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
In this short, sharp Inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers, turn their attention to meditations, or well-known philosophical quotations which may offer some insights into how we work, play and collaborate together. In this episode, they explore:
- The quotation attributed to Confucius, “If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room’
- How ensuring you have diversity of thought in your ‘room’ is key to problem-solving and creative thinking
- Why changing the word ‘room’ to ‘meeting’ may offer a very practical way to challenge yourself before any group discussion
- And why ‘smart’ doesn’t just mean IQ
FYI: The Inbetweeners episodes are just that - smaller episodes 'in between' the longer format episodes designed to give a little kickstart to enable you to be the most curious, creative and imaginative cat you can be - and have some fun in the process.
Say Hello
www.occupationalphilosophers.com
Their day jobs
- JOHN: https://www.bowlandconsulting.com/
- SIMON: www.simonbanks.com.au
- SIMON SHOWREEL: https://youtu.be/YZQdJI6qGvg