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Overview

In the midst of rapid technological change and uncertainty about the future, how can we foster a position of agency and optimism about what comes next?

I had been looking forward to sitting down with Adam Russell for a long time. Adam is one of those rare thinkers who has an incredible ability to connect ideas across disciplines, helping us see familiar challenges in entirely new ways. As a social anthropologist working at the intersection of AI, organizations, and human behavior, he has a way of asking the questions that make you stop and reconsider your assumptions.

In this episode, we explore how our ideas about work have evolved, why productivity and value aren't the same thing, why to embrace an explorer mindset, the power of collective intelligence, and what AI is revealing about the systems we've built. Rather than focusing on fear or replacement, Adam offers a thoughtful and hopeful perspective on how AI can help us rethink work, leadership, and the future.

I left this conversation feeling more optimistic about the future. The path ahead of us may not be clear, but we have an opportunity to shape it together.

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Overview

Have you ever wondered what might happen if you stepped away from work for more than just a vacation?

I'm a believer in sabbaticals. But as glorious as they can be, they're also a lot like life: they rarely go exactly as planned. I have found that having a plan going into one can make all the difference: thinking about how you want to use the time, how you'll make choices, and how you'll move with whatever unfolds along the way.

Which is why I’m excited to be in conversation today with DJ DiDonna about his experiences with and research on sabbaticals. We talk about why sabbaticals are critical for Sustainable Ambition, the sabbatical archetypes he identified in his research, and, of course, practical steps for planning one. 

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Overview

Pauses can be powerful. 

There’s a Japanese concept called ma that translates literally as gap, space, or pause. It’s the meaningful negative space in art and in life. Well-placed, it’s the held breath, the intentional space, the moment of tension that makes what comes next inevitable and impossible to ignore. When it doesn’t land, it interrupts the rhythm of a performance, an artwork, or even a conversation. 

During my break from recording this show, I’ve been thinking a lot about the value and power of strategic pauses. I’ve been exploring, researching, and following my curiosities without directing them to an end point. All the while, I’ve also needed to shift into execution mode and get certain things done. 

As I return to the podcast, I want to share what I’ve found about dancing between states of exploration and execution, frameworks that have helped me create context and shape for how I’m using my time, and the ideas and themes I’ll be exploring in upcoming episodes.

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Overview

Most of us are pretty bad at creating space for ourselves. Yet we need space for rest, for metabolizing and connecting experiences and ideas, for making sense of things.

In today’s installment of the Ambition In-Between series, I talk about the gap between knowing we need space and actually creating it and allowing ourselves to take it. And I’m sharing my own failures and stumbles in this area, what I’ve learned from them, and the new strategies I’m putting into place. 

As part of creating space for myself to process and look ahead, I’m putting the podcast on pause for a bit. But I do want to talk about why I’m doing that now, and what I’m already envisioning when I return in a couple of months.

I’m practicing Sustainable Ambition right alongside you, and I don’t have it all figured out. I hope that hearing what I’ve learned the hard way may help you avoid those same stumbles.

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Find the recording and check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned.