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 Jul 11, 2022
Monday Jul 11, 2022
In episode 39, The Occupational Philosophers honour their Philosopher forefathers and foremothers and unleash their Northern Hemisphere summer solstice Thought Experiment extravaganza!
Or in language with more brevity.....revisit some of their favourite thought experiments with their guests over the last year.
These include:
- Famous love parents with Tamara Campbell
- Is this a real job? with Ash Perrin
- What's in the box? with Neil Mullarkey
- Curious garden of delights Jez Rose
- Tweddle or twaddle? with author Eleanor Tweddle
- Guess the source of my pain? with Dr Brock Bastian
- Moonshot or Moonshite? with Mike Parsons
These are a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy them as much as we did 'running' the experiments.
We hope you enjoy the show AND we hope you join us for another great year of a not-so-serious business podcast. And as The Occupational Philosophers always say: stay curious, make stuff, play more, have fun and date life.
Say Hello
www.occupationalphilosophers.com
Their day jobs
JOHN: https://www.bowlandconsulting.com/
SIMON: www.simonbanks.com.au
SIMON SHOWREEL: https://youtu.be/YZQdJI6qGvg
Friday Jul 01, 2022
Friday Jul 01, 2022
As John and Simon traverse the northern hemisphere summer, John takes on a little walk into the world of Purposeful Questions.
Questions which:
- Ask for clarity on their thoughts
- Ask to challenge proposals
- Ask to examine ideas
- Ask to draw out someone's perspective
- Ask to understand the impact of an idea
- Ask to find out what are the right questions to ask!
Key Things to Remember:
- Ask with a curious mind and tone
- Be careful with language ...Asking 'Why' can feel confrontational
- Use questions to have people 'raise their gaze' or 'delve in deep'
- Ask yourself 'What's the right question to ask?'
- Think about the order of your questions
- If your question draws blank looks, then reframe it
- Declare the intent of your question 'Hey, I am curious about the impact of this idea?
So whilst it's a short episode, there is LOADS of goodness.
As a side note, whilst the Occupational Philosophers have been steadily improving as Podcast hosts, today's show makes us realise that they still have a long way to go......
We hope you enjoy the show AND we hope you join us for another great year of a not-so-serious business podcast. 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 Jun 23, 2022
Thursday Jun 23, 2022
In episode 37, The Occupational Philosophers chat with highly engaging, world class storyteller and very funny Tim Vaughan-Hughes.
Tim is one interesting cat!
He began his career with the stage management team at Glyndebourne Opera, and trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has subsequently performed extensively in all media. He joined the Monty Python production team for their feature films Monty Python and The Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.
He now acts as a mentor and 'enabler' to senior management and executives in the areas of creating impact, change, confidence building, presentation skills and personal development. His clients include Sony, HSBC, PwC, Cisco Systems, BT, Lloyds Bank, DHL and HBOS to name a few.
He is also one of the most entertaining keynote speakers and after dinner speakers going around!
His training skills and personal development include media coaching, Presentation Polishing and script writing for Business executives. He helps individual clients with finishing touches to their speeches, rehearsing and prepares them for camera or conference appearances.
As well as working with business executives privately or in a group, he runs open classes, and regularly presents a popular master-class to help people create impact in both their business and private lives (with the course being delivered across the globe).
In this episode, they explore:
- What we can learn from the principles of stage management
- How we can find more confidence from finding our inner alter ego
- Why it’s important to recognise the difference between nerves and fear
- Why all great performers practice, practice, practice and get loads of help
- How the right to fail is a god-given right - it should be in your team charter
- How if you're not nervous you are either drunk or you died yesterday (one of our favourite lines ever)
- John also struggles to even get out a basic sentence then looks blame others....
As always, there are some great thought experiments.
This time it's "Whose speech is it anyway?"
You can connect directly with Tim on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-vaughan-hughes-927930a/
We hope you enjoy the show!
Tuesday Jun 14, 2022
Tuesday Jun 14, 2022
In ep.36, The Occupational Philosophers explore the idea of tensions. Mmmm, what does the mean?
Que music...."Tensions here, tensions there, tensions everywhere, yeah, yeah, yeah..." Whilst this lyric may never win a grammy (but lets not put boundaries on what's possible), tensions are everywhere
i.e.
- Working harder to achieve success v.s taking that little bit of extra time off to look after yourself
- The tension of breathing in v.s breathing out. Both are essential and one is not more important than the other - or are they?
- The tension of being a man child vs. not doing things that will break your ankle
- The tension between John and Simon. John thinks Simon is an idiot bogan from Australia and Simon thinks John is and old posh grey head.
So, tensions are everywhere and there is a real excitement in managing and navigating this.
We hope you enjoy the show AND we hope you join us for another great year of a not-so-serious business podcast.
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
Monday Jun 06, 2022
Monday Jun 06, 2022
In their 1st birthday anniversary show spectacular most amazing achievement podcast (yes, they made it to 1 year old - we are surprised as you are), the Occupational Philosophers explore the concept of the half baked idea and most importantly, how we need to create an environment where these 'half-baked ideas' thrive.
Half baked ideas and overcoming our addiction to perfection is at the heart of a culture of innovation.
You will also why bears can make great electricians (loosely) and John and Simon have a moment of enlightenment when they share two half-baked ideas to form something even better.
We hope you enjoy the show AND we hope you join us for another great year of a not-so-serious business podcast.
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
Monday May 30, 2022
Monday May 30, 2022
In Episode 34, The Occupational Philosophers explore the topic of play and ponder the crucial question “Why does any game of Monopoly always end in a fist fight?
In this episode, they discuss:
- What happens to our brains when we play?
- Why unstructured play is key to our development as children (and adults!)
- How play improves our cognitive skills so we can problem solve, create and learn more effectively
- Who said ‘play is the highest form of research’?
- How play enables us to produce our best work in whatever form that takes
- How there is an actual national institute of play (true fact)
- Why playing like a cat is at the heart of art and creativity
As always, there are original thought experiments and this time they ask:
- To play or to play?
We hope you enjoy the episode as much as The Occupational Philosophers enjoyed making it.
You can learn more about the show at www.occupationalphilosophers.com
Remember, if you like the show (or found it mildly tolerable) tell your friends and leave a review and rating …we mean a positive review not as a warning to others….
References
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
In episode 33, The Occupational Philosophers explore the idea of looking at the world with travellers' eyes. Mmmm, what do you mean by that? Great question!
Think back to one of those great trips you have been on.....Just think about how curious you were about everything that you saw around you. It was eyes wide open taking in as much as possible.
Imagine.....What would things be like (at work or otherwise) if we spent more time looking at the world with travellers' eyes?
Imagine, what would be possible? What would we see?
Tune in to go on a great travel adventure and get your eyes wide open.
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' our 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
Monday May 09, 2022
Monday May 09, 2022
In Episode 32, The Occupational Philosophers chat with Dr Jen Frahm…a tamer of ambiguity, speaker of truths and a solver of problems. She is a global expert in change and organisational transformation.
She is the author of two books, with the most recent being “Change.Leader” which offers 33 areas in which leaders can make small but intentional personal changes in the way they lead that will result in being able to navigate disruption better.
Jen lectured and developed university-level curriculum for over 8 years and is known for her ability to bust silos, empower big ideas to come to life and is more agile than a leaping gazelle on steroids.
In this episode, they explore:
- How curiosity, creativity and imagination are the fuel for transformative change
- When the drive for resilience within organisations masks the real problems in the system
- What the agile mindset and methodology can offer as we navigate change
- How teams need to stress test their team charter before embarking on a change initiative
- Why great digital transformation is really about risk
- How to tell if the lint filter in your washing machine needs changing
As always, there are some original thought experiments and this time they have:
- Wand of Change
- Listener questions
Learn more about Jen
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferfrahm
Find Jen on Twitter - @jenfrahm
References
Wim Hof
Change. Leader
https://drjenfrahm.com/change-leader/
Agile Manifesto
Agile Change Leadership Institute
Kanban Canvas
https://canvanizer.com/new/kanban-canvas
Monday May 02, 2022
Monday May 02, 2022
In Episode 31, The Occupational Philosophers reconnect with the amazing Jez Rose as they design a garden of creativity, curiosity and imagination. They loved this piece so much that it needed its own episode.
With Jez's love of nature, he became a landscape gardener as he designed his own garden of creativity, curiosity and imagination.
You will hear about what's needed for:
- The soil, providing nutrients, foundations and roots
- Flowers, providing sensory stimuli, sights, sounds, sense and touch
- Fauna providing......
Jez is a wonderful storyteller and you will not be disappointed as we journey into his imagination.
Simon also makes a pledge to bring this garden to life via an artwork as well! (watch this space)
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 our 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 19, 2022
Tuesday Apr 19, 2022
Would you like to have better ideas? Do you sometimes need more inspiration? Would you like an easy way to achieve both of these? If so, read on (and listen to this episode)
In episode 30, The Occupational Philosophers explore a really simple technique to create a bunch of new ideas, seek inspiration and have an enjoyable time in the process.
Importantly, it's easy, free and anyone can do it.
We hope you enjoy the show.
And as The Occupational Philosophers always say: stay curious, make stuff, play more, have fun and date life.
www.occupationalphilosophers.com
JOHN: https://www.bowlandconsulting.com/
SIMON: www.simonbanks.com.au
FYI: The Inbetweeners episodes are just that - smaller episodes in between our 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.