So, Here's My Story...
236 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 38 ratingsSo, Here's My Story... is the only business podcast that promises wildly useful lessons from the absurd, the poignant and the seemingly irrelevant. This project arose out of a burning hatred of bullet point blogs, canned solutions and highlight-reel business conversations that look nothing like the realities of leadership. Business is messy and unpredictable. Business has depth and nuance. Business is more than spreadsheets. Business is stories.
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Episodes
Ep178: Company Culture & The Importance of Snow Days
November 17, 2020 10:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBRemember snow days? Remember how exciting it was to have that found day? It’s important to find ways to incorporate these experiences into your lives, even when everything is virtual. Why is that important for business? It’s also important to create these experiences – these blips of normality or shared experience – in your business as well. We talk about the quantitative parts of business often, but the qualitative experience is just as important – how people feel is not something to ...
Ep177: Expectations with a Side of Peaches
November 10, 2020 10:00 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBWhat can a peach the size of your face teach you about expectations? Let’s discuss! W How do you manage expectations to avoid disappointment, while avoiding complacency? How do you go from the perfect peach, to whatever it is that they sell at the grocery store. These are the questions we tackle in this episode, and you can listen here. hy is that important for business? When you have the perfect peach as a child, every other peach will reliably be a disappointment. When you ...
Ep176: Engagement, Hope & Drowning Rats
November 03, 2020 10:00 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBThis episode will be released on a pretty significant voting day in the U.S., which gets us thinking about how voting (and NOT voting) relates to business. How do you get people to tell you what they think, what they want, if they have lost faith that it will make a difference? And the biggest question of all – how can we use rats to tell this story? Why is that important for business? Voting is an act of hope. But if you don’t think your vote matters, or you don’t think anyone’s vote m...
Ep175: Finding the Path of Least Resistance
October 27, 2020 09:00 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBRant alert! In this episode, we talk about the frustrating ways that businesses make it hard for us to give them our money, and the importance of keeping things easy and keeping the customer in mind. Why is that important for business? When a company (even *EEK* your company) doesn’t seem to understand the problem that we are attempting to solve, nor how they are going to solve the problem, it makes it hard to give them our money. And it’s an important reminder to make sure you look...
Ep174: A Lesson in Creativity from a Dictator
October 20, 2020 09:00 - 25 minutes - 23.9 MBWe cheat on our own podcast for a story this week, as we talk about This American Life, North Korea’s former leader Kim Jong-il, creativity and risk. Why is that important for business? This episode references the This American Life podcast episode, Same Bed, Different Dreams https://www.thisamericanlife.org/718/same-bed-different-dreams If, like Kim Jong-il, you are finding your people lack creativity, consider where you are making it unsafe to be creative. Perhaps there is too much...
Ep173: Assumptions at The Drive-Thru Window
October 13, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBEver written a whole story based on a flash of behaviour from someone else? In a twist of irony, in this episode, we explore the process of writing a story about someone else writing a story about us! Why is that important for business? So much of our miscommunications in business and in life are based on these imagined stories based on other people’s behaviours. It is much like how conspiracy theories are built – we emotionally organize things that don’t make sense. But when we respon...
Ep172: Navigating Negative Feedback
October 06, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 26.4 MBReceived some negative feedback? Before you react or internalize the feedback, we have a few things to say that may change your mind about what it means. Why is that important for business? In business, you are bound to get feedback, solicited or not. And some of it is bound to be negative. If you are someone who cares about delivering value and not disappointing people, your instinct might be to internalize that feedback and make changes to aspects of your business. But there are a fe...
Ep171: BLM & Your Business
September 29, 2020 09:00 - 25 minutes - 23.9 MBYou get an email from a customer demanding you fire an employee for something you don’t think is wrong. How do you handle it? Let’s talk about it. Why is that important for business? The line between private and business is increasingly blurring, and companies are being forced into taking stands. It is important, but it also makes business a lot more complicated. Personal views are not longer tidily kept in the background when it comes to business. There is a distinction that need...
Ep170: The Art of Pruning for Growth...
September 22, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 26.5 MBA tomato failing to ripen because it is stuck in a bramble of unpruned branches doesn’t sound like it would be an analogy that would relate to business as a whole, but it really does. Why is that important for business? There is so much valuable in narrowing down variables of what a plant – or a business – needs. Especially when things get complicated. But one of the things we must confront in both is the necessity of pruning. This meme about being an inch away from striking gold is...
Ep170: The Art of Pruning for Growth
September 22, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 26.5 MBA tomato failing to ripen because it is stuck in a bramble of unpruned branches doesn’t sound like it would be an analogy that would relate to business as a whole, but it really does. Why is that important for business? There is so much valuable in narrowing down variables of what a plant – or a business – needs. Especially when things get complicated. But one of the things we must confront in both is the necessity of pruning. This meme about being an inch away from striking gold is...
Ep169: Dog Parks and Discontent
September 15, 2020 09:00 - 25 minutes - 24.5 MBWhat can pro-dog Ohio teach us about expectations and how efforts to make things better can actually make things worse? Let’s find out! Why is that important for business? What is done to try to make things better can sometimes end up being viewed as a net negative because the positive wasn’t “positive enough”. In our life and in our business, we have to expect that there are times when not everyone will be happy with our decisions and that doesn’t necessarily mean it was the wrong thin...
Ep168: Bruce Banner vs The Hulk
September 08, 2020 09:00 - 24 minutes - 23.9 MBHow you define a win, for yourself and for your client, can determine what decisions you make. It’s important to take the time to remember what is actually important – what satisfies your Bruce Banner side may not satisfy your inner Hulk. Why is that important for business? A win will look very different to different people and at different times, and we have to make sure we are defining a win correctly for ourselves before we let “beating someone else” become our goal. As we talked ab...
Ep167: Truth in Advertising and Bears
September 01, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 26.8 MBEver have a product or service’s description leave something out that didn’t quite make you want to complain, but falls into the category of “would have been nice to know”? Ever heard a bear described as a “carnivore danger floof”? Well, we have got a treat for you in this episode! Why is that important for business? When you are advertising a product or service and questioning how much to reveal (to both avoid disappointment and avoid scaring off potential customers), you want to make ...
Ep166: What You Should & Shouldn't Tell Your Staff
August 25, 2020 09:00 - 29 minutes - 28.2 MBWhen do you talk to your leadership team about your business challenges? How about your spouse? When does leadership mean “this is my problem to solve”, and when do you wrap the rest of your organization in on your decisions? Let’s talk about it! Why is that important for business? Some businesses don’t rely on their leadership for much of anything, and think leadership is a matter of figuring out the solution and then sharing it with the rest of the team. On the other end of the spectr...
Ep165: The Cost of Indecision
August 18, 2020 09:00 - 21 minutes - 21.3 MBWhen you are faced with a decision – whether it be about a job candidate, a summer cottage, or Thai food – it’s incredibly important to figure out the difference between a need and a want. This episode is all about indecision, second-guessing and a little bit of regret. Why is that important for business? Much like the Aesop fable about the dog with the bone (http://read.gov/aesop/026.html), we can get confused by too many options, and end up without what we really needed or wanted. Th...
Ep165: The Cost of Indecision
August 18, 2020 09:00 - 21 minutes - 21.3 MBWhen you are faced with a decision – whether it be about a job candidate, a summer cottage, or Thai food – it’s incredibly important to figure out the difference between a need and a want. This episode is all about indecision, second-guessing and a little bit of regret. Why is that important for business? Much like the Aesop fable about the dog with the bone (http://read.gov/aesop/026.html), we can get confused by too many options, and end up without what we really needed or wanted. Th...
Ep165: What You Should & Shouldn't Tell Your Staff
August 18, 2020 09:00 - 21 minutes - 21.3 MBWhen do you talk to your leadership team about your business challenges? How about your spouse? When does leadership mean “this is my problem to solve”, and when do you wrap the rest of your organization in on your decisions? Let’s talk about it! Why is that important for business? Some businesses don’t rely on their leadership for much of anything, and think leadership is a matter of figuring out the solution and then sharing it with the rest of the team. On the other end of the spectr...
Ep164: Meditation and The Art of Businessing in the Moment
August 11, 2020 09:00 - 26 minutes - 25.7 MBWhether in meditation or business, it’s important to periodically ask yourself – what’s going on right now, in this moment. Because as important as the future is, we just don’t have enough information to live there. Why is that important for business? In this time of unprecedented uncertainty, we are getting a concentrated dose of the frustration inherent in not being to predict the future. But it’s also a good reminder to bring ourselves back into the present moment – what are pain po...
Ep163: The "Too Much" Club
August 04, 2020 09:00 - 24 minutes - 23.9 MBHow many times have you been told you are “too much” for someone – too loud, too talkative, too pensive. Now – how many times have you let someone believe they were too much? Why is that important for business? The right people are going to welcome your “too much”, and a smart business understands the opportunity available in “too much”. Some of the most amazing people you know have been accused of some version of “too much”, and as members of the "Too Much" Club, we need to learn an i...
Ep163: The "Too Much" Club
August 04, 2020 09:00 - 24 minutes - 23.9 MBHow many times have you been told you are “too much” for someone – too loud, too talkative, too pensive. Now – how many times have you let someone believe they were too much? Why is that important for business? The right people are going to welcome your “too much”, and a smart business understands the opportunity available in “too much”. Some of the most amazing people you know have been accused of some version of “too much”, and as members of the "Too Much" Club, we need to learn an i...
Ep162: Staying vs Not Leaving
July 28, 2020 09:00 - 24 minutes - 24.1 MBHave you ever thought about the difference between staying and not leaving? There is very different energy between the two, even though we confuse them. Sometimes the middle lane seems like a lane where you can hang out and coast, and not make a choice, but it can be a dangerous place to stay. In this episode, let’s talk about that place between staying and leaving. Why is that important for business? In companies, often there is an employee that someone is frustrated with, but no on...
Ep161: Giving Space for Brilliance
July 21, 2020 09:00 - 23 minutes - 23.1 MBThe phrase “means and methods” might not mean a lot to you, but it can make all the difference in both employee satisfaction, and the success of your business. Which is why we want to talk about it. Why is that important for business? In the world of architecture, or at least the world of Jodi’s experience of architecture, Means & Methods is the term used to talk about the outcome of a project without outlining the methods for achieving that outcome. Like a game of Taboo, you can descri...
Ep160: Expanding vs. Evolving
July 14, 2020 09:00 - 29 minutes - 28.9 MBYou’ve probably spent a lot of time and money figuring out how to talk to new clients. But how much do you know about your existing clients? Do they know you value them? Why is that important for business? Your existing clients are most likely incredibly important to you, but it’s important to think about exactly how you are reinforcing their value and reaffirming their decision to work with you. Or at the very least, think about the ways you might be devaluing them, in the pursuit of n...
Ep159: How to Pivot When Temporary Turns Permanent
July 07, 2020 09:00 - 25 minutes - 25.2 MBWhat was once thought of as a temporary situation that we just had to get through is starting to feel a lot more permanent. Let’s talk about how that realization changes the approach. Why is that important for business? At one point, COVID-19 and its effects on business felt temporary – something we had to get through before things returned to “normal”. Working at the dining room table was an inconvenience, not a business plan. So how now do we navigate this temporary situation that is...
Ep158: The Process of Finding The Answers
June 30, 2020 09:00 - 26 minutes - 25.4 MBAs businesses and services slowly start to re-open, the need for communication and transparency is needed more than ever. Why is that important for business? Right now, there are so many things everyone is unsure of – lots of moving parts and uncertainty – which requires a great deal of empathy. But the uncertainty requires communication. There is a misperception that if you don’t have a definitive statement to make, you should wait until you have more information to communicate with p...
Ep157: Navigating Life Post-Quarantine
June 23, 2020 09:00 - 33 minutes - 32.2 MBLittle by little, we are starting to re-experience things we did before Covid-19 and finding them completely different. Whether it’s in-person facilitation or a lunch out at a restaurant, things have…changed. And it’s starting to be even more clear - we don’t know yet what’s going to be different when we “go back”. Why is that important for business? Our first experiences doing things we used to, pre-Covid, are an interesting opportunity to preview some of the things we are going to hav...
Ep156: Diversity of Thought or Completely Unacceptable?
June 16, 2020 09:00 - 29 minutes - 28.7 MBWhat is your line between diversity of thought, and completely unacceptable, in your business? And how do you tell you are being fair when you make that judgement? Super simple topic with super simple answers that we tackle all in one short podcast episode! Why is that important for business? It can be uncomfortable to address it when an employee does or says something controversial or completely unacceptable. But you also have to ask yourself – how comfortable will you be if you get ca...
Ep155: Racism in the Professional Realm
June 09, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MBHow do you talk to people in a professional realm about racism? This isn’t the kind of thing we are going to have solid answers on – in fact, that’s part of the problem. But we are willing to have the conversation, and we hope you join us. Why is that important for business? These conversations are hard, complicated and messy, but they also can’t be ignored. We need to have these conversations, and we need to listen, because until people feel heard, you can’t have a discussion. Admitti...
Ep154: Intentional Buying in Inconvenient Times
June 02, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MBSo much about how we interact and who we interact with is being changed by our experience of COVID-19. Where before we might have not been putting much care into these decisions, now, we are getting a glimpse at our priorities. Why is that important for business? We all have different reasons for our priorities and decisions: convenience, being part of a community, cleanliness – these might all be factors in the new way we determine where we are going to spend time and resources. There...
Ep153: Awkward COVID Conversations...
May 26, 2020 09:00 - 25 minutes - 24.2 MBCOVID conversations are about to get super awkward and much more prevalent. So if tricky conversations aren’t your thing... it’s time to learn. (Last week’s replay episode also has some good pointers.) Why is that important for business? There are so many opportunities to have awkward conversations right now because we are making decisions not just for ourselves, but for others as well. We are dealing with several different versions of The Trolley Problem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Ep153: Awkward Conversations...
May 26, 2020 09:00 - 25 minutes - 24.2 MBIn a huge twist, we decided to talk about the world of COVID again, and how many opportunities there are to have awkward and uncomfortable conversations Why is that important for business? There are so many opportunities to have awkward conversations right now because we are making decisions not just for ourselves, but for others as well. We are dealing with several different versions of The Trolley Problem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem) every day in business. Company ...
Ep152: Emotional Hygiene
May 19, 2020 09:00 - 37 minutes - 35.2 MBThis week, Jodi and Eliot talk about how emotions in business relate to dental hygiene and peanut M&M's. Trust us – it makes sense. Why is that important for business? Often people are apologetic about the emotional component of their response in business. Somewhere along the way, somebody made up this rule that business never has anything to do with ever feeling a personal emotions. And because of that made up, unspoken rule, no one has ever made it okay to do the emotional version of br...
Ep151: Time Off During COVID
May 12, 2020 09:00 - 29 minutes - 27.7 MBWhat happens to holidays when you don’t leave your house? Let’s talk about how much harder it is to tell people you are taking a day off when everyone knows you will just be in your living room anyway. Why is that important for business? Just because we are in isolation doesn’t mean we don’t need days off – we need the contrast and the rest. But our uneasiness with telling people we are taking a day when they know we can’t go anywhere is surfacing a lot of social constructs that may...
Ep150: Planning your COVID Return?
May 05, 2020 11:35 - 32 minutes - 30.9 MBThere is lots of talk about re-opening businesses and returning to work right now, and it is undoubtedly on your mind. Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer to how or when is right for your business. But there are some important questions. Why is that important for business? What is re-opening going to look like for your business? Every industry is going to be different, every company will be different, every department will be different, and every person will be different. The...
Ep150: Planning to Return
May 05, 2020 11:35 - 32 minutes - 30.4 MBThere is lots of talk about re-opening businesses and returning to work right now, and it is undoubtedly on your mind. Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer to how or when is right for your business. But there are some important questions. Why is that important for business? What is re-opening going to look like for your business? Every industry is going to be different, every company will be different, every department will be different, and every person will be different. The...
Ep149: It's All Becoming a Blur
April 28, 2020 11:52 - 28 minutes - 27.4 MBTechnology allows us to do so much from the comfort of our homes. But just because we can doesn’t mean we should. Once everything is jammed into the same tech, it loses its texture and everything – personal and business – just becomes one blur. Why is that important for business? When we have the option of bringing everyone into a meeting now – because it can be done by the click of a button – we can make the mistake of prioritizing means instead of best outcome. There is no wrong or ...
Ep148: Missing Your Commute
April 21, 2020 09:00 - 24 minutes - 23.5 MBFor a lot of people, the morning commute to work has been reduced to about 10 feet. Theoretically, that is extra time we now have to do other things. But maybe that commute was exactly the break you needed in the day. So what now? Why is that important for business? Commutes can be a wonderful transition time to change between a work mindset and a home mindset. It’s time to think without an agenda, to decompress. It’s the lemon sorbet, helping you cleanse your palate between courses. Al...
Ep147: Are You Down with PPP?
April 14, 2020 12:14 - 23 minutes - 22.8 MBAre you and your business applying for support from your government during COVID-19? Your answer might say more about your style of entrepreneurship than you think! Why is that important for business? The very characteristics that make someone prepare for these kinds of circumstances in business are the same characteristics that make people apply for this help, regardless of urgency of need. The very thing that makes someone a billionaire, for another example, is the same thing that le...
Ep146: Pandemic Emotions & Business
April 07, 2020 09:00 - 28 minutes - 26.9 MBEmotions are running high right now, and while business leaders shouldn’t feel the need to become counselors, we are being called on right now for heightened awareness and a well-timed, “are you okay?” Why is that important for business? Right now, even in business, emotions are constantly creeping around the edges. And even our intrepid podcast favourites, Eliot and Jodi, can fall prey to the charms of frustration and emotional exhaustion. Luckily, their first “fight” (not to be mistak...
Ep 146: Pandemic Emotions & Business
April 07, 2020 09:00 - 28 minutes - 26.9 MBEmotions are running high right now, and while business leaders shouldn’t feel the need to become counselors, we are being called on right now for heightened awareness and a well-timed, “are you okay?” Why is that important for business? Right now, even in business, emotions are constantly creeping around the edges. And even our intrepid podcast favourites, Eliot and Jodi, can fall prey to the charms of frustration and emotional exhaustion. Luckily, their first “fight” (not to be mistak...
Ep145: So, Here's My Puppy...
March 31, 2020 09:00 - 25 minutes - 23.8 MBWe’re not here to Pollyanna the coronavirus, but one of the things we hope we can learn from this is that business is a human experience. There is a return to humanity in business, and we are here for it. Why is that important for business? Like most business stories right now, this story starts with, “so I was on a zoom call the other day”, includes feral children, and ends with this lesson: we are weirdly grateful for the return to humanity in business that this is providing us. Ther...
Ep144: The New Normal
March 24, 2020 09:00 - 27 minutes - 25.7 MB“Progress looks like a new set of problems”. As you evolve towards a goal, you have new problems to deal with that you’ve never had to deal with before. Apparently, it’s also true of the opposite of progress – this time of massive uncertainty. Why is that important for business? Right now, as businesses process this pandemic, the definition of what it means to be a leader is changing. Leaders might want to come int and try to maintain business as usual, to set an example that it can be ...
Ep143: Decision Making & COVID-19
March 17, 2020 10:54 - 27 minutes - 26.2 MBThere’s so much to talk about with Covid-19, you can hardly blame us for having a second episode on it. Let’s talk about the behind-the-scenes decision making happening in businesses right now as they navigate these wildly uncharted waters. Why is that important for business? As businesses navigate the difficult decisions that come with this unprecedented time in our world, we want to remind you that there are often no clean solutions to problems in business (see our episode Stop Ignor...
Ep142: Leadership, Courage and the Coronavirus
March 10, 2020 13:58 - 30 minutes - 28.4 MBAre you prepared to deal with large scale problems, like the Coronavirus, in your workplace? Although we don’t have a ready answer for how to deal with issues like this, we do have some ideas in this episode. Why is that important for business? Adopting a plan for how to work through something like the Coronavirus is something to work through now. Do you have a culture of “being a hero through attendance”, where taking a sick day is a sign of weakness and powering through a sign of str...
Ep141: Metaphor and The Danger of Words
March 03, 2020 10:00 - 26 minutes - 25.5 MBFeeling misunderstood? Maybe you need a little metaphor in your life! Why is that important for business? “Metaphor is how we nail the jelly of reality to the wall”. Joe Moran, from First You Write a Sentence. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38470061-first-you-write-a-sentence So often, we feel like we have good communication - we think everyone knows what is meant by a word, but everyone has their own perspective of how they imagine that word. "The single biggest problem in ...
Ep140: Remember This One Thing
February 25, 2020 10:00 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBCollege is a really big buying decision, and it can teach us a lot about buying decisions in our business, and why it’s important to not just give information, but connect to wants, desires and fears. And potentially, to help people discover wants they didn’t even know they have (like bespoke librarians!) Why is that important for business? When making a sales or onboarding presentation, it can be interesting to notice what businesses (or colleges) decide to highlight. With colleges, yo...
Ep139: Customer Care in Terrible Times
February 18, 2020 10:00 - 24 minutes - 23.6 MBIf you handle it right, sometimes the biggest snafu can turn into real business. Why is that important for business? When the very thing you offer to clients - your core competency – hinges on someone else’s business, things can go bad completely beyond your control. Which is what happened recently with our texting app. Instead of taking our (non-paying!) business elsewhere, we opened a door to communication that ended with us turning into paying customers. When someone complains to...
Ep138: Boundaries and the "Quick Question"
February 11, 2020 10:00 - 26 minutes - 25.2 MBWe often rely on other people to self-screen in our relationships – to not ask too much of us, to know when “a quick question” turns into “I clearly need to hire you”. But when others breach your boundaries, sometimes you have to be the one to speak up. Why is that important for business? Sometimes setting boundaries on your expertise is a concrete or even legal issue – you can deflect blame to your lawyer, your association rules, or even company policy for why you can’t do something....
Ep137: The Need for Time Guardians
February 04, 2020 10:00 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBBeing the guardian of your time can bring up all kinds of issues. You want to be accommodating, and you don’t want to disappoint people. Which is why sometimes, you need to outsource to an Enforcer. Why is that important for business? If you aren’t naturally someone who can enforce policies, and also effectively filter them by understanding the nuances to needs, then it might be best to delegate that role to someone who is good at it. Even if you are still ultimately involved, having a...
Ep136: Support vs. Abandonment
January 28, 2020 10:00 - 26 minutes - 25.6 MBIt’s not often that you use a room full of orphans with puberty as a metaphor, but when you talk about abandoning new clients, who just bought a product and now have questions, you almost have to. Why is that important for business? What is your responsibility, as a business, to deliver and guide new clients and customers in a responsible way as they consume your products or services? How often are you theoretically trying to simplify an experience, but actually complicating it? And whe...