Traction Heroes
Digging in to get results with Harry Max and Jorge Arango
Episodes
We discuss a new book that explores the role AI should play in organizations — and how they might align the technology with their strategic goals.
ShoShow notes:
- What Your Machines Should Do by Stefanie Hutka
- The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
- Unfinishe Conversations: What Your Machines Should Do (YouTube)
We explore how understanding human group behavior might inform AI safety — and how that might also make us better stewards of human groups.
Show notes:
- How Minds Change by David McRaney
- The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
- The One and the Ninety-nine by Luke Burgis
- Wanting by Luke Burgis
Different people have different ways of learning. Knowing how you and those you work with learn best will help you gain traction.
Show notes:
- Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker
- Story by Robert McKee
- Dialogue by Robert McKee
- Training From the Back of the Room by Sharon L. Bowman
- Robert F. Mager
- The Workshop Survival Guide by Rob Fitzpatrick and Devin Hunt
- Write Useful Books by Rob Fitzpatrick
- Please Understand Me by David Keirsey ...
Are you more of an analytical or a holistic thinker? The answer might depend on the culture in which you were raised — and understanding that can help you gain traction.
Show notes:
- The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Henrich
- Beyond Culture by Edward T. Hall
- The Long Now Foundation
- What Your Machines Should Do by Stefanie Hutka
- The Art of the Long View by Peter Schwartz
- Cultures and Organizations by Geert Hofstede
- Hofstede...
How do you delegate authority while maintaining coherence? One way is by establishing solid principles.
Show notes:
- Becoming a Principle-Driven Leader by Charles and Chase Koch
- Good Profit by Charles G. Koch
- The HP Way by David Packard
- Incorruptible by Eric Ries
- Principles by Ray Dalio
- Traction Heroes Ep. 11: Gall’s Law
- Traction Heroes Ep. 16: OODA Loops
- Reading Notes: “Becoming a Principle-Driven Leader” by Jorge Aran...
Harry shares an important insight from a personal place: we must not just get better at giving feedback, but receiving it as well — and it can be especially difficult when feedback is part of your professional skillset.
Show notes:
- Thanks for the Feedback by Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen
- Management of the Absurd by Richard Farson
- Naïve realism
Jorge digs out an influential book from his past to discuss a critical issue in decision-making.
Show notes:
- The Art of Computer Game Design by Chris Crawford (PDF)
- Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse
- UX Design Innovation: Challenges for Working with Machine Learning as a Design Material by Graham Dove, Kim Halskov, Jodi Forlizzi, and John Zimmerman (PDF)
- AlphaGo (Full movie)
It's easy to feel frustrated and powerless — but organizational leaders have more agency than they might think in today's world.
Show notes:
- Incorruptible by Eric Ries
- Sentient Design by Josh Clark and Veronica Kindred
- Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth
- Incorruptible by Design — Eric Ries Long Now seminar
AI gives us the ability to prototype faster than ever before — which is great, as long as we remember that there's underlying work to be done.
Show notes:
- The Clock of the Long Now by Stewart Brand
- How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand
- Maintenance of Everything, Part One by Stewart Brand
- Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- The World as a Total System by Kenneth Boulding
- Living in I...
Many so-called accidents can be prevented with a bit of forethought. In this conversation, we explore ways to avoid bad outcomes by preparing beforehand.
Show notes:
- There Are No Accidents, Only Collisions by Alan Levar
- Traction Heroes Ep. 2: Unprecedented
- The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
- Pass Labs
- Four Types of Problems by Art Smalley
- Drift Into Failureby Sidney Dekker
- The Problem Is Not the Problem by Harry Max (video)
Determining what to track is essential for effective management. But focusing on just a few measures can lead us to miss important things.
Show notes:
- Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott
- How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand
- Pace layers
- Strategies for Learning from Failure by Amy C. Edmondson (HBR gift link)
- What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter
A reading from a popular job search book prompts a discussion about our inability to accurately self-diagnose — and what to do about it.
Show notes:
- Never Search Alone by Phyl Terry
- Phyl.org
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz
- What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles
- So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport
- Social Traps by John Cross and Melvin Guyer
- Mistakes W...
Jorge shares one of his core mental models — from an unexpected source.
Show notes:
- Axis Thinking by Brian Eno
- A Year with Swollen Appendices by Brian Eno
- Polarity Management by Barry Johnson
- The Problem Is Not the Problem by Harry Max
On the risks of unquestioningly delegating sense-making to technology in general (and AI in particular.)
Show notes:
The Glass Cage by Nicholas Carr
Our perceptions of what someone else will say or do can influence what they actually end up saying or doing — leading to a dangerous vicious cycle.
Show notes:
- Beyond Belief by Nir Eyal
- Liminal Thinking by Dave Gray
- The Matrix
- Mistakes Were Mad (but Not By Me) by Caroll Tavris and Elliot Aronson
Harry and Jorge discuss one of the latter's favorite means for gaining traction: the MacGuffin, a concept with a storied pedigree in cinema.
Show notes:
- Dark Matter and Trojan Horses by Dan Hill
- Trim tab
- The New How by Nilofer Merchant
- Human-Centered Security by Heidi Trost
- Tempo by Venkatesh Rao
On the importance of mindfulness for gaining traction — and how you can practice to become more mindful.
Show notes:
- Original Love by Henry Shukman
- The Informed Life ep. 75: Hans Krueger on the Cycle of Emotions
- The Tim Ferriss Show ep. 531: Henry Shukman
- The Way App
- Waking Up
- The Ultimate Coachby Amy Hardison and Alan D. Thompson
- Being in the World
We tackle a key reading from a classic book to solve a perennial problem: how do we talk about what we do so we don't undersell our value?
Show notes:
- Competing Against Luck by Clayton M. Christensen, Karen Dillon, Taddy Hall, and David S. Duncan
- Managing Priorities by Harry Max
- MECE principle
- Positioning by Jack Trout and Al Ries
A conversation about something that's emerging as a central theme in the podcast: how to avoid fooling yourself so you can achieve your goals by seeing more clearly.
Show notes:
- The Art of Action by Stephen Bungay
- Sunset Boulevard (1950 film)
- John Boyd
- Traction Heroes Ep. 6: Chesterton's Fence
- Crazy Time by Abigail Trafford
Is your business in service to the bottom line or something higher? Whichever you pick will influence the organization's culture.
Show notes:
- Tim O’Reilly in a Nutshell by Tim O’Reilly
- Rosenfeld Media
- Shai Agassi
- OODA loop
- Thinking In Bets by Annie Duke
- The Art of Actionby Stephen Bungay
- Makers and Takers by Rana Foroohar
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