Podcasts about feedback loops

In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom Podcast, host Stewart Alsop sits down with Ryan Marsh of thestack.io to explore what it really takes to build production AI systems. They discuss how production AI has evolved from simple prompt-to-API demos into complex systems requiring evaluation suites, human-in-the-loop feedback mechanisms, and sophisticated approaches to handling context and data retrieval. The conversation covers the challenges of domain mapping, the fundamental difficulty of translating messy human business processes into structured systems, and the role of ontologies in AI development. Ryan and Stewart also examine the limitations of LLMs, the debate between specialization versus generalization in AI models, consciousness and cognition in system design, and the regulatory landscape facing AI companies. They touch on infrastructure constraints, the democratization of AI through open source models, and whether we'll eventually hit a ceiling where human intelligence can no longer distinguish between increasingly capable AI models. Key Insights1. Production AI systems today fundamentally differ from demos through their reliance on comprehensive evaluation suites that function like unit tests to measure and maintain quality, though they cannot be as deterministic. The key distinction is that production systems require clearly defined metrics for what good looks like, along with feedback mechanisms that allow the system to evolve over time. Without this foundational understanding of success metrics and continuous improvement processes, a system is not truly production-ready regardless of how many users it serves.2. The fundamental challenge in building production AI systems is not the technology itself but rather mapping business domains into structured formats that models can work with effectively. This problem of translating messy, subjective human processes and language into precise specifications has plagued software engineering for decades. Different people within organizations use the same words to mean completely different things, and humans naturally operate with assumed context and imprecision that must be explicitly defined for AI systems to function reliably.3. Large language models excel at generalization but struggle with specialization, which creates friction in production environments where specific outputs or styles are required. While they can code in any programming language, getting them to write code exactly the way a particular engineer wants remains extremely difficult. This explains why professional documentation and specialized coding tasks often require extensive prompting and fighting with the models, as they naturally gravitate toward their trained patterns rather than highly specific user preferences.4. Modern production AI systems primarily solve classification problems wrapped in natural language interfaces rather than requiring true open-ended cognition. The models work best when they can leverage reasoning over provided information to make verifiable decisions, but they still lack common sense despite their vast knowledge. Success comes from teaching models everything about your specific domain and what good and bad outcomes look like, rather than relying solely on their general intelligence.5. Context retrieval in production AI systems is fundamentally a data storage, search, and retrieval problem that has been solved many different ways throughout computing history. The appropriate solution depends entirely on the type of data being accessed, whether through vector databases, graph databases, relational databases, or even simple text search. The harnesses and frameworks for orchestrating AI agents have matured significantly, making the real challenge the quality and structure of the data being fed to these systems.6. Human-in-the-loop feedback mechanisms are essential for production AI because models will inevitably encounter situations they have not been trained to handle. When confidence is low or novel scenarios appear, systems should flag these for human review rather than proceeding blindly. The feedback provided during these interventions must be captured and scored so it can be incorporated into the permanent behavior of the system, creating a continuous improvement cycle similar to how model vendors perform reinforcement learning on their base models.7. The rush to regulation in the AI industry is driven primarily by the fact that these companies are currently completely exposed to existing consumer protection and liability laws with no legal precedents to protect them. If AI agents cause harm, companies could be sued into oblivion under current law. By establishing compliance frameworks through regulation, these companies can create carve-outs and exemptions that limit their liability when they follow prescribed rules, similar to how heavily regulated industries like airlines and banking have become nearly impossible to enter due to compliance requirements. Timestamps00:00 Welcome and introduction to Ryan Marsh discussing production AI systems and what companies need to understand about building them at scale05:00 The cognitive load challenge of working with invariants and probabilistic systems, discussing how LLMs function like PhD students without common sense10:00 Building eval suites to measure AI performance, handling the long tail of edge cases in complex contracts using human-in-the-loop feedback systems15:00 Context as a data retrieval problem and the fundamental challenge of mapping business domains when humans struggle with imprecision and ambiguous language20:00 How different departments use the same words with different meanings and why LLMs generalize well but don't specialize effectively for specific coding styles25:00 The ontology debate and intractable problem of mapping subjective human systems to rigid structured formats with diminishing returns on perfect mapping30:00 Why humans struggle distinguishing what is from what ought to be and the challenge of creating SOPs when companies lack updated documentation35:00 The liability exposure AI companies face and why they're begging for regulation to protect themselves from existing consumer protection laws40:00 Open source knowledge transfer between Chinese and American labs, chips and power as the real constraint not algorithms for frontier models45:00 Reaching intelligence ceiling where specialists can't distinguish state-of-art models and fundamental physical laws limiting LLM scaling through layered optimization strategies LinksWebsiteX

The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk www.LearningLeader.com My new book, The Price of Becoming, is a USA Today, LA Times, Success Magazine, and Publishers Weekly bestseller! I think you'll find it useful. Connect with me on Twitter/X: @RyanHawk12 Instagram: @RyanHawk12 Sign up for Mindful Monday (it's free):  This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire one person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world has the hustle and grit to deliver. My guest: Danny Meyer is the founder of Union Square Hospitality Group and one of the most influential restaurateurs of his generation. He built New York landmarks like Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern, and Shake Shack... He's the author of the classic Setting the Table and the new What Could Possibly Go Right? Key Learnings "Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. It's that simple and it's that hard." "Optimists and pessimists die the same way. They just live differently." Shimon Peres. Danny prefers to live as an optimist. Most people respond to hope. A few will come out of a dark closet hopping on a pogo stick and a few will walk on the shady side no matter what. Most people start the day intending to make it better than yesterday, and they'll follow someone who shows them how that could happen. A growing business needs funding and leadership. It also needs soil. Like a plant needs sun and water and still needs something to grow in. The soil is the culture, and it determines whether anything you plant actually grows. Be explicit about which behaviors you celebrate and which you won't tolerate. Then be relentlessly consistent about both. That's how culture survives you not being in the room. Everyone is watching who gets hired, promoted, and paid. Every time you compromise on either the skills or the character, you send a message that you didn't mean any of the words. Probably unwittingly, but you send it. Curiosity is the behavior Danny celebrates most. If you want a team that treats every day as a chance to be better than yesterday, someone has to actually wonder what could be done differently. Entrepreneurs are upsighted. Danny's word. They only see what's up, only see what could possibly go right, and they look at existing problems that would make the world better if solved. A bad salesperson answers questions you never asked. Danny remembers a shoe store that hauled out everything from the back room regardless of what he wanted. The only two questions that mattered were does it fit and do I like it. A great one gets into your shoes and asks what you'd want. Sometimes they help you get to the question you actually have. There's no job that doesn't benefit from good sales skills, and good writing skills. Entrepreneurial athleticism is the trait Danny looks for in every leader. Talent gets you in the door. Athleticism is dedicating yourself to train plus the mental and emotional mettle to find a way to win. Day one mentality. The day a restaurant opens, nothing is scratched, every door works, nothing is smudged, and you assume everyone might be a critic. Day one of year 10 should be better than the original, because you have ten years of learning. Without that, it only goes backwards. The hiring formula is 49 and 51. Forty-nine percent is how well he thinks you can do the job, which is mostly technical and different for every role. Fifty-one percent is who you are. That 51 percent is Hospitality Quotient. The composite of optimistic warmth, curious intelligence, determined work ethic, empathy, self-awareness, and integrity. Someone with a high HQ is happier themselves when they make someone else feel better. "Cooking a great piece of fish only gets you to the 49-yard line." You need all 100, and it isn't just the servers who need it. It's everybody. A high HQ is a liability in an interview. Danny sometimes has to park his own at the door, because his job isn't to make the candidate feel good. It's to assess how they'll make the staff and the guests feel. Never ask if someone is self-aware. They'll say yes. Ask instead: "What's the greatest misperception other people have about you?" You can't answer it without self-awareness, because you have to know both what you are and what you're projecting. When hiring a chef, Danny already knows they can cook. What he's testing is the feedback loop. Will they get defensive? Grateful? He may well be wrong in the feedback, and he still wants to know early what it's going to be like to lead this person. Caitlin took a reservation and saved a woman's life. She was getting a phone number when the caller's voice started halting. Caitlin sensed something was wrong, asked permission to call 911, and got the address. It was a hemorrhagic stroke. The woman survived and had to relearn how to speak. Caitlin was so moved that she went back to school to become a speech therapist for people with aphasia. When the woman died recently, she left Caitlin the money to pay for it. A good employee books the table accurately. A great one changes someone's night, or their life. Danny's point about Caitlin: nobody trained her for that. The culture did. Mind share is what marketing earns. Heart share is what hospitality earns. Mind share means people know you exist and think of you first. Heart share means they love you and tell everyone they know. The golden rule of hospitality is not the golden rule. Do unto others as you believe they would want done unto them. Service is one size fits all. Hospitality is one size fits one. The salmon that changed everything. Soon after Gramercy Tavern opened, a Union Square Cafe regular told Danny what happened was inexcusable. Her salmon came well done when she'd ordered it rare. Danny's first reaction was that an honest kitchen mistake didn't seem so bad. The mistake wasn't the problem. The response was. At Union Square Cafe, she said, the server would have noticed, quietly removed it, brought soup so her guests could keep eating, recooked it properly, and probably taken it off the bill. At Gramercy, nobody came over while she picked at it. A manager eventually took the plate, handed her a coat check, told her the rest would be waiting at the door, and left it on the bill. "If you don't have language, you cannot teach." For ten years Danny led one restaurant by embodying the behavior he wanted. With two, wherever he was, he wasn't at the other one. It was the first time he had to lead by using his words instead of just embodying what he wanted to see. Enlightened hospitality, in this order: Each other first. How the team treats each other, with generosity and charitable assumption. Then the guests. Then the community and the suppliers. Then the investors, who end up with more because of everything above. Break it anywhere, starting with how people care for each other, and it doesn't work. Lead with generosity. You're in business for tomorrow dollars, not today dollars. His staff charged that woman for the salmon because they were afraid she was working an angle. Danny's response: where is the charitable assumption that maybe we just overcooked it? Nice and kind are different. Nice isn't a bad thing, but sometimes nice is how you avoid addressing a problem. Kind means I'm on your side, which sometimes means holding up the mirror. If someone isn't measuring up and you let it go, that isn't kind and it isn't even nice. Kindness takes the courage to give honest feedback without demoralizing the person. Laying people off during the pandemic wasn't nice. Doing it one at a time was kind. Several hundred people, and nobody got laid off by tweet or mass email. Everyone was spoken to by their own boss. Shake Shack started because Danny asked what could possibly go right. An artist needed someone to run a hot dog cart under an installation in Madison Square Park. His team said they were too busy running four restaurants. Danny's argument was that the park was the front yard of two of them, and you take care of your front yard. They staffed it with their coat checkers and served Chicago-style on purpose. The coat checkers had no work until the weather turned cold, so this gave them a summer job. Chicago-style has eight toppings, which let them find out whether four coat checkers could remember how every regular liked it. The point was proving hospitality isn't only for fancy restaurants. They lost money two years running, and the community started calling it "our hot dog cart." Danny heard the word "our" and knew people felt shared ownership. Then he gave away the building. He built a $750,000 kiosk and donated it to the park, so the park owns the building and his company owns the business. A percentage of every sale goes back into keeping the park beautiful and safe. That first Shake Shack still pays just under a million dollars a year in rent to the park. Danny's champagne moment a year from now: that the book actually meant something to people. He wrote it to teach himself, because that's how he learns. If the lessons he picked up scraping his knees turn out to be useful to someone else, it was worth it. Reflection Questions Which behaviors does your team know for certain you celebrate, and which do they know you won't tolerate? If you asked five of them, would you get the same five answers? Look at your last promotion. Did that person clear the bar on both the 49 and the 51? What did everyone else learn from watching it? Where are you being nice right now when the situation calls for you to hold up the mirror? Podcast Chapters00:00 Apply for the Learning Leader Circle 01:36 Meet Danny Meyer 03:23 "It's That Simple, and It's That Hard" 05:15 Optimists and Pessimists Die the Same Way 08:47 Culture Is the Soil 12:53 Why He Celebrates Curiosity 15:44 What Sales Taught Him 19:48 Entrepreneurial Athleticism 23:15 The 49 and 51 Hiring Formula 26:10 "What's the Greatest Misperception About You?" 28:32 Testing the Feedback Loop in an Interview 29:44 Caitlin Saves a Life 32:51 Mind Share vs. Heart Share 34:33 The Golden Rule of Hospitality 35:33 If You Don't Have Language, You Cannot Teach 39:10 Enlightened Hospitality 41:35 Nice vs. Kind 43:10 Laying People Off the Kind Way 45:03 How a Hot Dog Cart Became Shake Shack 50:08 The Champagne Question 52:08 EOPC  

On the show today... The 2 things you'll be balancing this Fall Have you tried to ‘Feedback Loop’ your life? How many could you handle at the same time?? The other concerning 50% stat

Join Sam Kem, senior economic research analyst at CFC, as she looks at how U.S. fiscal conditions are amplifying global shocks in the bond market and contributing to higher borrowing costs worldwide.Read the transcript of this episode.Contact the Economic & Market Watch team at economicresearch@nrucfc.coop.Follow the Economic & Market Watch podcast.Visit us, download the intelligence brief and dashboard and explore economic insights on our website, nrucfc.coop/Solutions.

Welcome to the CanadianSME Small Business Podcast, hosted by Kripa Anand. A first aid certificate proves someone passed a course, but does it prove they are ready when an emergency actually happens? Today, we explore what training data reveals about knowledge retention and real workplace preparedness.Joining us is Ashkon Pour Heidary, Co Founder of Coast2Coast First Aid & Aquatics. A University of Toronto neuroscience graduate and experienced first aid instructor, Ashkon leads an organization that has certified over 150,000 people and captured more than half a million individual exam responses.Key HighlightsCertificate vs Capability: Why completing first aid training does not always mean being emergency ready.The Retention Data: What half a million exam responses reveal about workplace knowledge gaps.First Aid Compliance: Understanding evolving requirements and what employers need to consider.AI Powered Learning: How Coasty is helping learners prepare more effectively for first aid training.Workplace Readiness: The practical step employers can take to strengthen emergency preparedness.Special Thanks to Our Partners:UPS: https://solutions.ups.com/ca-beunstoppable.html?WT.mc_id=BUSMEWAADP Canada: https://www.adp.ca/en.aspxFor more expert insights, visit https://canadiansme.ca/ and subscribe to the CanadianSME Small Business Magazine. Stay innovative, stay informed, and thrive in the digital age!To learn more about how we are supporting the ecosystem, please visit the CanadianSME Small Business Foundation at https://smbfoundation.ca/.Disclaimer: The information shared in this podcast is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered as direct financial or business advice. Always consult with a qualified professional for advice specific to your situation.

Deborah Colombari: The Agile Team Destroyed by a Toxic Feedback Loop Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "Whenever we almost started to achieve norming, we went back to storming." - Deborah Colombari   Deborah shares the story of a team of about twelve developers and QA specialists that kept losing people one by one. The early signal was not a technical problem. It was turnover. A toxic direct leader created pressure, blame, and snarky responses whenever the team tried to explain what was happening. Because that leader's own manager behaved the same way, Deborah saw a reinforced pattern rather than an isolated personality problem. The team could not stabilize. Every time it moved toward norming, someone left or someone new arrived, sending the team back into storming. Knowledge walked out the door with the people who left, delivery dates slipped, morale dropped, and a fixed-date call center project was eventually canceled. Deborah's story is a sharp systems thinking reminder for Scrum Masters: sometimes the problem is not inside the team. The team may be showing the symptoms of a system that punishes honesty, overloads people, and teaches them that leaving is safer than speaking.   In this segment, we talk about Russell Ackoff, his systems thinking interview with Haynes Media Works, and the Tuckman model.   Self-reflection Question: What turnover or morale signals are you treating as team problems when they may be system problems? Featured Book of the Week: Russell Ackoff Interview by Haynes Media Works Instead of a book, Deborah recommends an old Russell Ackoff interview from Haynes Media Works. She connects Ackoff's thinking to Donella Meadows and to the practical work of Scrum Masters. Deborah highlights how Ackoff explains that the outcome a system is designed to produce affects how the whole system behaves. Her example is health care: if the system rewards treating sickness, it becomes a disease-care system instead of a health system. For Scrum Masters, the lesson is direct. Teams are systems, companies are systems, and the incentives around them shape what they do. Deborah uses Ackoff's work to remind us to look at feedback loops before assuming people are the problem.   [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Growers rarely taste the wine made from their grapes. At Hope Family Wines, Stasi Seay uses annual tastings to help them connect their farming decisions to what's in the glass.  Resources:  Apply for SIP Certified Wine Marketing Tips eNewsletter Real Stories, Real Impact SIP Certified Marketing Toolkit Tell Your Sustainable Story Online Course   Support the Podcast:  Make a Donation  Vineyard Team Programs:  Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing 

Are you just winging it, hoping no one notices you haven't actually mastered the art of receiving feedback yet? If you're tired of the "performative" stuff and ready for real, gut-level growth, this episode is your wake-up call. In this episode, Amy and I tackle the topic that makes most of us want to run and hide: feedback. We're getting real about why we treat correction like a punishment instead of the golden ticket for personal and leadership development that it actually is. Whether you're leading a ministry team or just trying to navigate your own personal growth, learning how to debrief and receive honest input is non-negotiable if you want to reach your full potential. We also dive deep into the messy, beautiful reality of mentorship transitions. Knowing when to start, when to stay, and—most importantly—when to end a mentorship well is an art form. We're stripping away the ego, getting practical about communication, and talking about how to create a culture where people don't just survive, they transform. It's time to stop shrinking and start growing.  Let's keep this conversation going! If this episode hit home, I want to hear about it. Screenshot this episode, tag @amylynnettee and me @biancajuarezofficial, and share your biggest takeaway on your Stories! Don't forget to like, subscribe, and drop a review - it helps us get this message of transformation into more hands. Love you, B Chapter Timestamps 00:00 Introduction to Feedback and Mentorship 02:09 The Feedback Loop and Its Importance 04:05 How to Conduct a Debrief 06:01 Leaving Ego at the Door for Growth 07:58 Distinguishing Performative Feedback from Genuine Growth 09:59 The Role of Affirmation and Constructive Criticism 11:47 Maximizing Capacity for Feedback 13:55 Knowing When a Mentorship Has Ended 16:01 Investing in Self-Development and Mentorship 17:57 Creating a Feedback Culture in Your Community 20:06 Practical Steps for Finding Mentors 21:47 Transitioning Out of Mentorship Gracefully 24:10 The Impact of Loving the Church and Its People 25:55 Practical Tips for Ending Well 27:58 Closing Remarks and Prayer Resources & Links Follow Amy Ayala: https://www.instagram.com/amylynnettee/?hl=en Bianca's Book: Grit Don't Quit: Developing Resilience And Faith When Giving Up Isn't An Option. https://amzn.to/3MO74OC Bible Study: Grit Don't Quit Bible Study https://www.biancajuaerzofficial.com/gdq All Resources: Learn more about books and other resources from Bianca. https://www.biancajuarezofficial.com/resources Support  Subscribe + Leave a Review: Don't miss an episode! Find We're Going There on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Stay Connected: Join the community today. https://www.biancajuarezofficial.com/  WGT Email: podcast@inthenameoflove.org Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BiancaJuarezOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biancajuarezofficial/  Thank You to Our Sponsors! We're Going There is Sponsored by: HomeChef: Go to HomeChef.com/WGT for 50% OFF your first box and free dessert for life! Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. http://tinyurl.com/WGTHomeChef  BetterHelp: Visit BetterHelp.com/GOINGTHERE today to get 10% off. http://tinyurl.com/WGTBetterHelp  Youtube https://youtu.be/8edWjHxAdfg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, wir sind Marc & Dave, zwei Unternehmer nach Gründung, Scaleup und EXIT. Wir wollen Wissen und Emotionen weitergeben und treffen uns regelmässig zum virtuellen Ping Pong. Wie damals beim Tischtennis im eigenen Startup

What if the software you use every day was actually designed to make you succeed, not just to make you subscribe? In this episode, Sean Weisbrot sits down with Bryan McAnulty, founder of a platform that has helped more than 10,000 creators turn their knowledge into thriving online businesses. Bryan shares why building in the SaaS space is uniquely challenging, because your customers have to make a deep personal commitment to becoming someone before they ever log in. You will hear how Bryan approaches this by layering education directly into the product experience, helping creators get clear on their offers, build landing pages, and nurture their audiences, all because a more successful customer stays longer. It is a masterclass in building software that earns loyalty by genuinely caring whether the person on the other end actually wins.------------------------------------

In Episode 271: The Outcomes Formula, I introduce a new coaching framework that represents a shift in the way I help missionaries and clients understand their thoughts, emotions, and actions. If you've listened to earlier episodes where I taught The Model, don't worry—I'm not throwing it out. Instead, I've simplified and refined the process into something I believe is more compassionate, more flexible, and easier to apply in everyday life. My hope is that this new approach helps you spend less time judging yourself and more time understanding what's really happening in your mind. Throughout this episode, I walk through each step of what I call The Outcomes Formula: Observation, Assessment, Feeling, Action, and Outcome. We explore how your brain naturally takes in information, assigns meaning to it, creates emotions, fuels your actions, and ultimately produces the outcomes you experience. Rather than focusing on whether your observations are perfectly factual, I explain why it's often more helpful to become curious about the meaning your brain is assigning to those experiences and how that meaning shapes the rest of the formula. If you've ever wondered why you keep getting stuck in the same emotional patterns, why anxiety or discouragement seem to repeat themselves, or how to interrupt those cycles with greater compassion and awareness, I hope Episode 271: The Outcomes Formula gives you a practical tool you can return to again and again. My hope is that this framework helps you better understand yourself, strengthen your emotional resilience, and recognize that lasting change begins with becoming aware of the stories your brain is telling you—not by trying to become someone different. As always, if you found this episode helpful, I want to invite you to subscribe if you aren't already, share this episode with your friends and missionaries you know, and write a review. I know this work will help LDS missionaries around the world and it would mean so much to me if you did. Until next week my friends.   00:00 – Introduction 00:54 – Why I'm Teaching a New Coaching Framework 03:30 – Introducing the Outcomes Formula 05:14 – Step 1: Observation (What You're Noticing) 08:11 – Step 2: Assessment (The Meaning Your Brain Creates) 10:57 – Steps 3 & 4: Feelings Fuel Your Actions 16:28 – Step 5: Outcomes and the Feedback Loop 19:49 – Why I Moved Beyond "The Model" 26:07 – Using the Outcomes Formula with Compassion Instead of Shame 29:34 – The Power of Changing Your Assessment   Website | Instagram | Facebook   5 Ways to Process Any Less-Than Happy Mission Memories Article: HERE   Get the Full Show Notes and Text/PDF Transcripts: HERE   Free PDF Download:  Podcast Roadmap   Free PDF Download:  Preparing Missionary Cheat Sheet   Free Training for Preparing Missionaries:  Change Your Mission with this One Tool   RM Transition Free Video Series:  3 Tools to Help RMs in Their Transition Home   Free Guide:  5 Tips to Help Any Returning Missionary   Schedule a Free Strategy Call:   Click Here

We dive into the Skeptoid mailbag to find your best listener feedback. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Feedback Loop Beneath Station SixBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/dark-mysteries-unsolved-mysteries-forgotten-secrets-unanswered-questions--5684156/support.Darkest Mysteries OnlineThis episode includes AI-generated content.

If you work with an agency, there are a few things you usually only learn once the campaign is already running. In this special in-person episode, Michael sits down with Belkins Managing Director Alex Sribnyi to talk about what actually happens behind the scenes of B2B lead generation: why some agency-client relationships work, why others fall apart, what companies often misunderstand about outbound, and how the role of an SDR is changing. Alex has spent more than 10 years in the industry, managed hundreds of SDRs and Account Managers, and worked across thousands of B2B client strategies. So this conversation goes well beyond theory. Michael and Alex get into:

This interview was recorded for GOTO State of the Art in April 2026.https://gotopia.techRead the full transcription of this interview here:https://gotopia.tech/articles/450Abby Bangser - Principal Engineer at Syntasso & Team Topologies AdvocateCharles Humble - Freelance Techie, Podcaster, Editor, Author & ConsultantRESOURCESAbbyhttps://bsky.app/profile/abangser.bsky.socialhttps://twitter.com/a_bangserhttps://github.com/abangserhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/abbybangserhttps://www.syntasso.io/members-area/abby/profileCharleshttps://bsky.app/profile/charleshumble.bsky.socialhttps://linkedin.com/in/charleshumblehttps://mastodon.social/@charleshumblehttps://conissaunce.comLinkshttps://blog.container-solutions.com/paula-kennedy-on-platform-team-responsibilities-patterns-and-anti-patternshttp://sites.libsyn.com/406853/syntasso-coo-paula-kennedy-on-platform-team-responsibilities-patterns-and-anti-patternshttps://www.oreilly.com/library/view/platform-as-a/0642572243777https://github.com/Cloud-Native-Platform-Engineering/cnpe-community/issues/79https://www.kratix.iohttps://leaddev.com/ai/nobody-knows-what-programming-will-look-like-in-two-yearshttps://leaddev.com/ai/shipping-faster-thinking-less-the-ai-code-verification-traphttps://www.cncf.io/blog/2023/11/20/announcing-the-platform-engineering-maturity-modelhttps://platformengineering.com/features/portals-and-pipelines-arent-enough-avoiding-the-platform-facadeDESCRIPTIONAbby Bangser opens with a clear-eyed status report on platform engineering: the concept of centralizing shared capabilities with self-service delivery is well understood, but the execution keeps going wrong in the same way. Organizations move from DevOps to platform engineering, but their platform teams end up becoming the new bottleneck — a centralized group drowning under the weight of the entire organization's requests, which is exactly what DevOps was supposed to fix. Abby traces this to an architectural problem: too many platforms are still built as centralized Terraform machines rather than as a marketplace of composable offerings. Her "platform as a product" test is blunt and useful: has the team ever said "no" to a feature request, or deprecated something?If not, they don't have a product — they have a request queue.The AI dimension is where the conversation gets most urgent. Abby's position is direct: AI agents are the new forcing function for platform maturity. The biggest misconception she wants to dismantle is the persistent equation of platform engineering with infrastructure-as-code: renaming your Terraform team doesn't count. Platform engineering is about building an experience — for human developers and increasingly for AI agents — that is self-service, compliant, and coherent at organizational scale. The Team Topologies model of interaction modes (from high-collaboration to fully automated on-demand APIs) gives a useful health check for where a platform actually sits on that maturity curve.RECOMMENDED BOOKSChankramath, Cheneweth, Oliver & Alvarez • Effective Platform Engineering • https://amzn.to/3OnxN8iGregor Hohpe • Platform Strategy • https://amzn.to/4cxfYdbBlueskyInstagramLinkedInFacebookCHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUSJoin this channel to get early access to videos & other perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/joinLooking for a unique learning experience?Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.techSUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!

Episode 207: Feedback loops, optimizing campaigns, and leading with Dustin Jackson by IT Labs

John Taylor Gatto uses Robert Kiyosaki's rocky path, including bankruptcy, to argue that real learning comes from experience and mistakes, not classroom instruction. For homeschoolers, this raises a core question: how do we build environments where our kids can safely run their own "personal feedback loops" instead of fearing failure? Show notes are at https://www.4onemore.com/358

Charles Schwab's Liz Ann Sonders begins her analysis with CPI and overall inflation expectations. She adds that Kevin Warsh's commentary this week can move markets due to the Fed's apparent pullback in communications. Liz Ann then talks about the market "feedback loop" as churn and rotation grips investors. Jim Ferraioli offers insight into the crypto trade, discussing Bitcoin Improvement proposal 110 while touching on why debate on the legislation is so contentious. ======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/ About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

Today I'm talking about something that's been on my mind as I've been writing Love Quotient: the two feedback loops that quietly corrode almost every relationship we have. I explain how our dominant cognitive function becomes our personal "channel" for expressing and receiving love, and why a mismatch with the people we care about can spiral into the exact same withdrawal on both sides, until the relationship falls apart.From there I dive into Pride and Prejudice, using what I know about personality and temperament to offer a fresh, more sympathetic read on Mr. Bennett and the entailment that hangs over the Bennet family. I also share a personal story about my border collies that mirrors his situation surprisingly well. Then I take a hard turn into artificial intelligence, walking through how I used "vibe coding" to build a free tool that helps you read the world's great literature, in the original Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Aramaic, with computer-assisted definitions built right in.In this episode you will learn:(00:00) Why our relationships are being steadily corroded by two feedback loops we rarely notice(02:27) How our dominant cognitive function becomes our personal channel for expressing and receiving love(05:15) What entailment meant for the Bennet family and why it set the entire plot of Pride and Prejudice in motion(08:22) Why Mrs. Bennett was so openly focused on marrying off her daughters to rich men(11:57) How "goodness of fit" and temperament theory give us a more sympathetic read on Mr. Bennett's parenting(15:32) What my border collies taught me about Mr. Bennett's distance from his younger daughters(18:45) Why artificial intelligence is simultaneously overhyped and underhyped right now(18:45) How human and machine intelligence complement each other when it comes to parsing language(22:01) How I used "vibe coding" to build a reading tool from scratch in a single day(24:45) What's inside the Andrew Winkler Reading Room, from the Septuagint to Shakespeare to UlyssesLet's connect!linktr.ee/drprandyRead, with computer assistance, the best literature the world has ever producedandrew-winkler-reading-room.overskill.appLove Quotient: Stop Dying of Thirst in an Ocean of Love Kickstarterhttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amwphd/love-quotient Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“We can track everything.” Connect With Our SponsorsSolventum - https://go.solventum.com/clarityGreyFinch - https://greyfinch.com/jillallen/A-Dec - https://www.a-dec.com/orthodonticsSmileSuite - https://getsmilesuite.com/ Summary In this episode of Hey Docs!, Jill sits down with Scott Hansen to discuss his journey in the orthodontic field and the creation of LeadSigma, a company focused on improving patient engagement and practice growth through innovative solutions. The discussion highlights the critical importance of managing new patient calls, leveraging AI technology for better patient interaction, and understanding patient attribution to make informed marketing decisions. The conversation emphasizes the need for collaboration between orthodontic practices and marketing agencies to achieve optimal results. Jill and Scott discuss the integration of marketing and operational systems in healthcare practices, emphasizing the importance of a feedback loop to measure marketing investments. They explore the role of AI in enhancing business efficiency, sharing insights on practical applications and the need for cohesive team collaboration. The discussion highlights the potential of technology to transform practices and improve patient engagement, while also addressing the challenges of implementation and the importance of providing value in networking. Connect With Our Guest LeadSigma - https://www.leadsigma.com/ AI Model Training Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Pb6FFSHbguxIQwCxbC_lSYDUeKYoQhuNi3IU8u-iAjk/edit?usp=sharingTakeaways Scott Hansen went from managing an orthodontic practice to founding LeadSigma.Missed new patient calls represent a significant revenue loss for practices.LeadSigma's AI technology helps practices manage patient calls effectively.Understanding patient attribution is crucial for marketing success.Data-driven decisions empower practices to optimize their marketing strategies.Collaboration between doctors and marketing agencies enhances practice growth.Practices often overlook the importance of follow-up on missed calls.Tracking leads and conversions provides valuable insights for practices.Effective communication is key to converting leads into patients. The integration of marketing and operational systems is crucial for practice success.A feedback loop is essential for measuring marketing investments.Practical tools and systems must be in place for effective AI implementation.Team collaboration is key to leveraging AI effectively.Networking should focus on providing value to be effective.Chapters 00:00 Introduction04:38 Missed Calls and Lost Revenue10:14 CoPilot AI Receptionist13:39 Marketing Attribution and ROI21:38 Feedback Loop and Accountability24:55 Using AI Inside LeadSigma28:54 AI Call Coaching and HIPAA34:00 Context Engineering Tips34:29 How to Contact Scott and LeadSigma Episode Credits:  Hosted by Jill AllenProduced by Jordann KillionAudio Engineering by Garrett LuceroAre you ready to start a practice of your own? Do you need a fresh set of eyes or some advice in your existing practice?Reach out to me- www.practiceresults.com.    If you like what we are doing here on Hey Docs! and want to hear more of this awesome content, give us a 5-star Rating on your preferred listening platform and subscribe to our show so you never miss an episode.    New episodes drop every Thursday!   

Executive Summary In this episode of The Prosperity Podcast, Kim Butler and Spencer Shaw explore how feedback loops, as a concept borrowed from technology and systems thinking, apply directly to financial success. The conversation begins with a timely warning about AI: when you feed a tool only your existing assumptions, it hands them back to you polished and amplified. Kim calls it an echo chamber. The fix, she explains, is intentional. Kim introduces the Strategic Coach 5% rule: the first 5% of any AI-assisted process must be your own thinking, and so must the last. That principle holds especially true with money. Without your own judgment anchoring both ends of the process, AI becomes a confident repeater of whatever you already believe, right or wrong. Kim and Spencer unpack how the same dynamic plays out in budgeting, savings, and cash flow tracking, and why most families stay stuck despite good intentions. The heart of the episode is Kim's cash flow control structure, a proven app-based system that functions as a financial feedback loop on its own. Families using it for as little as 60 to 90 days begin to see the momentum that consistent savings behavior, not investments, creates. Kim makes the case that savings as a behavior is the foundation most financial planners skip, and that a system designed to give real feedback can make a $2 million difference over a lifetime for the average family earning six figures. Links & Resources Mentioned The Prosperity Podcast - https://prosperitythinkers.com/podcasts/ Prosperity Parents - http://prosperityparents.com/ Kim Butler on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@KimDHButler Access the Cash Flow App: hello@prosperitythinkers.com Strategic Coach (mentioned): https://www.strategiccoach.com Keywords financial feedback loop, cash flow management system, whole life insurance, savings behavior, financial momentum, Prosperity Thinkers, Kim Butler, AI personal finance, cash flow app, financial freedom, Prosperity Economics, budgeting alternatives, wealth building, family savings, financial planning alternatives, cash value life insurance, savings as a habit, financial education podcast, feedback loop investing, wealth preservation Episode Highlights [00:00:00 - 00:00:40] Spencer introduces feedback loops as a tool for financial and personal growth [00:00:41 - 00:03:48] Kim explains AI echo chambers, the Strategic Coach 5% rule, and how feedback loops amplify results [00:04:04 - 00:06:33] Spencer shares his AI breakthrough tracking feelings alongside work tasks [00:06:34 - 00:08:57] Kim introduces the cash flow control structure and the $2 million lifetime impact [00:08:58 - 00:10:31] Spencer and Kim discuss multiplying feedback loops and access to the app [00:10:52 - 00:11:43] Closing thoughts on momentum and why money affects everything that matters

Most companies recruit interns to take work off someone's plate. Your Health does the opposite — and it's why several of its current executives, including a Chief Information Officer, first walked in the door as interns. In this episode, Jamie sits down with Heather Bower, Director of Experiential Learning, who has taken the reins of Your Health's internship, mentorship, preceptorship, and apprenticeship programs. Heather shares how a long-standing program is being rebuilt with structure, data, and intention — organized into semester cohorts, anchored by a four-day all-company orientation, and designed so every intern owns a project with genuine stakes. In this conversation, you'll hear: Why "get interns because they're cheap" is exactly the wrong spirit — and what replaces it How one MBA intern's shadowing experience redirected him toward nursing school The "spreadsheet whisperer" intern who taught regional leadership to pull data faster What surprises interns most once they're inside healthcare: the human complexity How Your Health uses feedback loops to move interns toward roles where they'll actually shine If you're early in your career and unsure where you fit, this episode is a map to possibilities you may not know exist. Press play and rethink what an internship can really be. www.YourHealth.Org

What if optimizing for AI output is actually slowing your company down? When code becomes nearly free to produce, the organizations still measuring productivity by output are solving the wrong problem.In this episode, Mik Kersten, author of “Project to Product” and the forthcoming “Output to Outcome,” shares why the real challenge of the AI era isn't generating more code — it's building organizations that can turn that output into customer and business value. Drawing on Carlota Perez's model of technological revolutions and the theory of constraints, Mik explains how AI has removed the output bottleneck that software organizations were built around, and where the new constraints now live.He introduces three core models from the book — the outcome loop, the product operating model, and the outcome tree — as a framework for adapting how organizations plan, fund, and deliver value. Mik also addresses one of the most pressing decisions leaders face today: whether to cut headcount based on AI productivity gains, and why doing so without outcome visibility is a dangerous bet. The conversation covers how organizational structure, decision-making accountability, and leadership roles all need to shift — not just development practices.Timestamps:(00:00:00) Trailer & Intro(00:02:40) What Makes Output to Outcome Different From Project to Product?(00:05:02) Why Did Mik Write Every Word of This Book Without AI?(00:08:18) How Do the AI Prompts at the End of Each Chapter Work?(00:11:53) What Happens to Organizations When AI Makes Software Output 10 to 100 Times Cheaper?(00:15:03) How Do Past Technological Revolutions Help Us Understand the AI Era?(00:19:25) Is the Traditional Software Developer Role Gone for Good?(00:23:30) Why Do Some Companies Experience an AI Productivity Paradox?(00:27:47) What Does “Outcome” Mean in Outcome Management?(00:31:50) Has the Product Operating Model Finally Become the Industry Norm?(00:34:24) How Do You Apply the Cynefin Framework to Your Organization?(00:37:18) Why Should AI Augment Human Decision Making in Complex Domains?(00:40:52) Why Are AI-Driven Layoffs a Risky Bet Without Outcome Visibility?(00:43:32) How Can Leaders Increase the Feedback Loop for Strategy and Budgeting?(00:46:07) What Is the Optimal Organizational Structure for an Outcome Management Model?(00:49:50) How Can We Apply Architectural Modularity to Organizational Design?(00:53:17) What Are the Seven Shifts in the Output to Outcome Model?(00:55:10) Will AI Make Middle Management Obsolete?(01:00:55) 3 Tech Lead Wisdom_____Mik Kersten's BioDr. Mik Kersten is an independent technology strategist and creator of the Flow Framework, best known for his bestselling book Project to Product. He founded Tasktop and led it as CEO until its acquisition by Planview in 2022.Mik began his career at Xerox PARC, where his team created the first aspect-oriented programming language. He then earned his PhD in Computer Science at UBC, pioneering the integration of software development and collaboration tools — work that laid the foundation for Tasktop and the field of Value Stream Management.Today, he helps leaders shift from output-driven to outcome-driven operating models, enabling organizations to harness AI in a human-centric way.Follow Mik:LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/mikkerstenSubstack – mikkersten.substack.com Preorder Output to Outcome - https://a.co/d/0aPlI2IFBook's Website – outputtooutcome.orgLike this episode?Show notes & transcript: techleadjournal.dev/episodes/262.Follow @techleadjournal on LinkedIn and Instagram.Buy me a coffee or become a patron.

A feedback loop amplifies whatever is fed into it. In Galatians 6, Paul describes a community where the Spirit dwells and grace is produced, ever increasing — but only when the self gets out of the way. Austin Pfeiffer looks at specific ways the self breaks the loop: through self-righteous wish dreams of community, through a la carte theology, and through expecting to be served rather than to serve. The answer isn't a program or a principle. It's the cross — where Christ let go of his throne, poured out his blood, and adopted us as sons and daughters of the King. Small Group Questions: Where do you find yourself curating your faith — taking what feels comfortable from scripture and leaving the rest — and what might it look like to surrender that to sound teaching and community? What did this passage reveal about God's character that challenges the version of Jesus you may have quietly assembled from your own preferences and experiences? How does this passage demonstrate that the feedback loop of grace is only possible because of justification by faith alone, not because of our own effort or spiritual performance?

Perfecting your business behind the scenes feels productive, but is it actually slowing you down? In this episode, Michelle explores why relationship marketing isn't just a growth strategy; it's one of the fastest ways to test ideas, sharpen your messaging, and get real-world feedback before investing months of time and money. Through practical examples and a fresh look at market research, she explains how getting in front of real people can reveal answers no amount of planning ever will. Resources The Michelle Warner Networking That Pays Free Workshop Previous Episodes

When the sex you're having doesn't go according to plan, most men go quiet, spiral into "woe is me," and wait for their partner to reassure them, instead of taking the lead. In this episode, I break down a recent client breakthrough that shows why that pattern keeps your sex life stuck and what changes this feedback loop.The real win isn't staying hard or "performing" perfectly. It's how you respond when things don't go ideal. That's the moment that sets a new trajectory and standard, builds your partner's trust, and starts a completely different feedback loop. We get into why this is a pressure problem rather than a sex problem, the difference between chasing relief and feeling calm and grounded, and how showing up with conviction changes how your partner responds to you.If you're tired of waiting for things to magically go right in your sex life, this one's for you.Want personalized help with your specific sex challenge?Check out my new offer, Built Daily: You can submit your question anonymously and get an audio coaching answer with your next step to take. 

How do you write when your heart is broken? How do you go back into the publishing business after years away, knowing it's a very different industry to the one you left? With Jami Albright. In the intro, InAudio is now distributing audiobooks to BookShop.org; The Feedback Loop that Makes Better Writers [Author Nation Podcast]; Bones of the Deep on Goodreads. This episode is sponsored by Publisher Rocket, which will help you get your book in front of more Amazon readers so you can spend less time marketing and more time writing. I use Publisher Rocket for researching book titles, categories, and keywords — for new books and for updating my backlist. Check it out at www.PublisherRocket.com This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Jami Albright is the bestselling author of the Brides on the Run romances and the co-host of the Wish I'd Known Then Podcast. Today we're talking about her new novel, The Summer That Changed Us. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. Show Notes How Jami started writing fiction at 47 and waited a year before publishing her first book Why she fictionalised her sister's terminal cancer story rather than writing a memoir The difference between writing as therapy and writing for the reader Reactivating an email newsletter after almost two years of silence Going wide with a standalone women's fiction novel after years in KU and rom-com Letting go of the frantic hustle of indie publishing and redefining what success looks like You can find Jami at JamiAlbright.com. Transcript of the interview with Jami Albright Jo: Jami Albright is the bestselling author of the Brides on the Run romances and the co-host of the Wish I'd Known Then Podcast. Today we're talking about her new novel, The Summer That Changed Us. So, welcome to the show, Jami. Jami: Thank you, Joanna. I've made it. This is my first time on The Creative Penn, so I can retire tomorrow. Jo: And we were saying before the show, I really thought you had been on the show before, because over the years we've connected a lot. We met over a decade ago, didn't we? At the Smarter Artist Summit. I was like, “I'm sure you've been on the show,” and you haven't. So, yes, welcome. Jami: Thank you. You've been on our show, though. We did an interview with you a few years ago. Jo: Yes. Well, anyway, for anyone who doesn't follow your show— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and publishing. Jami: Okay. So I am the co-host of the Wish I'd Known Then Podcast for Writers. Sara Rosett and I have been doing that podcast since January 2020. Little did we know what was coming, and it really saved me, just mentally, being able to talk to people every week. I never wrote a word of fiction until I was 47. I'd never really written anything. I have really bad grammar. I tell a lot of stories, and I would make up stories, but I'd never write them down because of the grammar thing. But my reading buddy had her birthday coming up in about three months, and I thought, “You know what? I'm going to write Jennifer a book for her birthday. She doesn't care if I have bad grammar.” I just thought it would be on brand. It was so hard. I wrote myself into a corner very fast. When I told her, she said, “Well, now you have to.” So I got Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies, I read that, and I started writing what is now Running from a Rock Star. But then my computer crashed and I lost it, and I was like, “Well, I'm not a writer.” So that was fine. Then I turned 50, and I told my family, “I think the only thing I regret is not finishing that book.” Of course they were like, “Well, you need to just do it again.” I was like, “No, I had 30,000 words.” A few weeks later my daughter came in and said, “Mom, I found this flash drive in my car. I think it has your book on it.” And it was 20,000 of the 30,000 words. So I was like, “Well, it's now or never.” So I joined Romance Writers of America and got involved in a critique group, and they absolutely kicked my butt for a good six months. I think every week they were surprised I came back, because it was so brutal. I knew I didn't know anything, and they taught me to write. Six months after I joined that first critique group, I won my first contest with the first 10 pages of that book. Then I just continued on. Three years later, I published Rock Star. I was going to publish it two years later, but I went to the Smarter Artist Summit, where I met you. I was advised by Julia Cant and Sean Platt and some other people to wait—preferably to have more books written. I had the second book written when the first one came out, but it still needed to be edited. So I waited a year, learned this business, and sold plasma to pay for my edits because I was poor. It was the best decision I ever made. Going to that conference, first of all, was the best $500 I've ever spent, and waiting that year really helped me learn this business. When I published the book, I had an email list of 1,200 people before the book ever came out. None of those things would have been set up had I published right after the Smarter Artist Summit, which is what I'd thought I would do, in the summer. So waiting gave me time to get everything set up so that when I published that book, it really took off from day one. I had 1,200 people on that newsletter list who wanted that book, because I had done a preview promo. Instead of putting out the whole book, I think I put out four chapters, and then people signed up. I don't know that that works anymore. Jo: I was going to say that. We should say to people, what was that, around 2016? Jami: 2017. Things have changed. Jo: Yes, things have changed, and I think this is so important. I had a question about this, and what they were implying was things that, like you said, we learned a decade ago. Things have changed. We'll come back to how you're doing it now, but just in terms of finishing off how you got started—those books did really well, didn't they? You had a couple of years there. How many books did you do? How did that go? Because you did have real success. Jami: Yes. From 2017 until really the beginning of 2021, if you look at my sales graph and my income, it just increased, increased, increased. 2019 was my very best year, but 2020 was only slightly lower as far as book sales and income. I only put out a book a year after the second book. The second book came out about six months after the first one, and after that it was about every nine months to a year that I put a book out. Everyone said you can't make money doing that, but I did. I think those books are very tropey. They're very hooky. That helped. I also think the timing of those books was really good. Rom-com was really coming up, and my rom-com is pretty wacky, but it's also really emotional too. If I get any critiques about them it's usually that “this book was way more emotional than I expected, and I was looking for something a little lighter.” They're just really wacky. They're rom-coms. Wacky circumstances. Small town, so there's all these small-town people. I just think it was a good time to release those. Those were good years. I miss those years. Jo: It's a good lesson, because it's not always up and to the right, is it? We're going to come back and revisit that. So then the pandemic hit, and on a more personal level, over the last few years, you've had a deeply difficult time that has led to The Summer That Changed Us, your latest book. So talk a bit about what's happened, why this book, and also why fictionalise it rather than write a memoir? I had that question. Jami: Okay. So 2021, my income was dropping, but it was still okay. I was still making more than enough that—thank God I don't have to make all the money in our household—but there was a level that I wanted to. At the end of 2021, my sister, who was the fourth of five sisters, had lived with cancer—non-smoker's lung cancer—for 10 years. She had the kind that, if you had a certain mutation, there were medications that worked amazingly well. Until they didn't, and then they put you on another class of that medication. So for 10 years, that's what she did. She missed work maybe three times in 10 years. People who met her never knew she had cancer unless they knew us. She just never acted like she had cancer. We would have to say, “Remember, you have cancer.” At the end of 2021, they ran out of that class of drugs. There were some being tested, but none had been approved. When she was diagnosed, she was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. You don't survive very long having stage four lung cancer with no medication. So I saw the writing on the wall pretty much at the end of 2021, but of course I was very hopeful that they could do something. By May of 2022, it was clear things were not going well. In July of 2022, she got a six-to-twelve-week diagnosis. She just went in one day thinking she was about to get radiation, not knowing anything, and they were like, “No, we can't do radiation, and you should get your affairs in order because you have six to twelve weeks to live.” Jo: Oh. Jami: People who've been through it know this feeling. It's like being hit by a wrecking ball. It just knocks everything off your axis. Your whole world implodes into this one moment, this person that you love. I live four hours away from my family. They all still live in the same small town. I was in Dallas at my daughter's at the time, and they live about 30 miles outside of Dallas. So I went to my mom's, and I stayed there. I was there for almost six months, if you count the time I was back and forth, because she was not doing great but she was still okay. She had always rallied and come back. But once she got the diagnosis, I stayed. She would go home, but she would come back to my mom's during the day, because her husband worked. She was a teacher, so she was off during the summer. I was just there, and we all just took care of her. When she decided to go on hospice, she wanted to be at my mom's. She didn't want to be at home—they lived out in the country. She wanted to be at my mom's, so we set her up in the living room. We're redneck country people. We bring our crazy people in, our sick people, just out for everybody to see. She was just in the middle of the living room in her hospital bed, and the world just revolved around that hospital bed. Once that happened, once I knew at the end of 2021 that things were not going to go well—I really did not believe she would die. But she died a month after she went on hospice in October of 2022. That whole year, I was useless. I could not write. I couldn't think of anything to write. I write funny. How do you write funny when your heart's broken? I couldn't do it. After she died, I knew it would take a while. I knew it would maybe even be a year. But as the weeks turned into months and the months turned into years, I haven't written—except for her obituary—I've not written a word since she died until I started writing this book a year ago. I started it on April 19th. Jo: I mean, the stories of grief—there seems to be no way of escaping whatever it ends up being. You didn't choose your response. Your deep grief was just there, and you couldn't write. I feel like sometimes people just try and force it. It sounds like that's what you needed, and you have done that. So what then gave you the impetus to finally write—and to choose fiction? Jami: I didn't write memoir. I did think about doing a memoir, but I don't read memoir, and I don't know how to write it. I was already behind the eight ball, trying to write a book at all because it had been forever. I don't need to learn how to write something completely different. Plus, it just felt too close to write the memoir. I had been in Mexico City with my daughter, who has an event planning company, and we were there scouting locations for one of her events. Janet Margot lives in Mexico City, so I reached out, and we had dinner. We were talking, and she had had two big losses about the same time that my sister passed away. So we were talking about how difficult it is afterwards, just getting your head back into a space of being creative at all. She said, “You really should write this book. You should tell this story. It hits everything: middle-aged women dealing with middle-age things. You've got your parents that you were dealing with, and then your sister. You should write this story.” I said, “No, thank you. I lived it. I don't want to write it.” But it just wouldn't go away. I couldn't figure out how I would tell it. Whose point of view? I couldn't do it from the dying sister's point of view because I didn't think I could be authentic. I was afraid to tell it from multiple POVs because the book has a lot of characters in it. My family is gigantic—my immediate family, my sisters, husbands, nieces and nephews, my kids, my mom and dad—there are 35 of us. Almost all of those are in and out of my mom's house all the time. So I knew I couldn't do multiple point of view. One day, I was driving home to my mom's house, and it just hit me. The whole story laid out in front of me, and that's what I did. The first draft was pretty much just a retelling of what happened to us. I added some fictional elements, but I just wanted to get the story out. It was hard. I started Adderall on April 19th of 2025—I know that, because that's the day I started this book. I do call this the book that Adderall wrote, because I could sit and focus for three or four hours, which I'd never really been able to do. I would come to Starbucks and I would sit and write this book, and I would cry sitting in Starbucks, like a crazy person. People would walk by and slide a napkin onto the table and just keep walking, because I'm sitting there crying like crazy. I was so superstitious, and things were working so well, that I was afraid not to come and write at Starbucks. Staying at home, I think, would have been really hard. I would maybe have sunk into a depression had I done this at home. So I just wrote the whole book at Starbucks. After I wrote the first draft, I went back in and made it more fictional. But a lot of the book—especially her stuff—is a lot of what happened. She was just crazy. I tell a story in the book that, this is the absolute truth, this happened. She was in college, and she had convinced my younger sister to go to a honky-tonk club because they were having a Miss Honky-Tonk contest. Before she could get up on stage to compete as Miss Honky-Tonk, she got in a fight with some girl, and the girl hit her in the head with a bottle and split her head open. She was bleeding. My youngest sister was like, “We've got to go to the ER.” And she just refused, because there was a $300 cash prize for winning, and she needed it to make rent. So she borrowed a towel from the bartender, wrapped it around her head, competed with that bloody towel on her head, and won that stupid contest. That story in and of itself was my sister. Everything about her is in that story. So a lot of the stories in there happened to her in one way or another. What happens to June in the book happened to my sister. Jo: This is interesting, because the same thing memoir writers face is something perhaps you face: how much of the writing is therapy and how much is for the reader? You said you sat there crying. Absolutely, writing for therapy is very important—but when you come to edit, there might be things that your therapy side of you is like, “That's so important to me.” How do you kill your darlings when you're editing your sister's life? Jami: That was hard. I had to take out a lot of what was in the first draft, mostly the stories. Once she came home on hospice, it was just a steady stream of people coming in, and everybody had a story about her. What I found in editing was that Hope, the main character, was mostly a spectator in those scenes instead of being actively part of them. So I had to take those out, because they didn't serve the purpose of the book. I committed early on to: while I wanted to tell the story, I did not want it to be self-indulgent. I did not want it to be a therapy session that I sold to people as a story. Because of that, I think that really helped. I really did think about that as I was revising. I sent it to a developmental editor, and I don't know how great she was, but she gave me some really good advice about a couple of things. One was, “There's just not enough conflict in this book. You say that Hope and the father have this really contentious relationship, yet we don't see it. There's a little bit of it here and there, but you're not really digging into that.” It's hard, because while the rest of the world doesn't know, my family knows that this is a lot of our story. I just had to let that go and not worry about what my family thought. They had all given me permission. I'd sort of said, “I want to do this. Are you guys okay with that?” I talked to her husband, and everybody was okay with me doing it. But I couldn't worry about what they were going to think. I would repeat to myself: if they want to tell this story, they can write their own book. I'm writing what I saw and telling a fictionalised story that will hopefully honour her, but also help other people feel like they're being seen, and also be entertaining. If you're going to write a book, it needs to be somewhat entertaining. Jo: I don't think you can help yourself. You're funny. Jami: Yes. The book is really funny. I tell people that and they're like, “Hmm, really?” And I'm like, “It is really funny.” But it's also really sad. Jo: Well, I think that's the truth—to defend myself. There is a lot of humour in grief. There is death and dying, and it's a human condition. Jami: It is a human condition, yep. Jo: There's comedy in all of the human condition. That's just the way it is, right? I heard you mention on an interview, I can't remember where it was, that you feel very connected to this book, and you're worried that people judging it or giving it a bad review might feel like an insult to your sister. How are you dealing with these kinds of fears about how to separate ourselves from our books? Jami: I've been in therapy—like, literal therapy—for that, because I felt like that would be hard. So far, I've only gotten a few reviews back. They've all been good reviews. I haven't had anyone say they hate it. I just have had to separate myself. It's not personal. Reviews are never personal. People not liking your book is never personal. That's just a mindset. I've had to change my mind about that. Knowing that's a pitfall I could fall into, I really keep it top of mind. My family knows that's an issue, so they know they have to pull me out of that hole if I drop in. So that's really how I've handled it so far. We'll see. Jo: Maybe it's time as well. You're almost back to the “book is your baby” situation. As the years pass, the book almost becomes separate, doesn't it? How you feel about your first bride book is probably like, “It's not even me anymore.” Jami: Right. I learned early that your book isn't really your baby. Once you publish it, it's your product. So that has never been very hard for me. I still hate bad reviews, and I take them personally like everybody else does, if I let myself. But ultimately, this is a book that I'm putting out for entertainment. Yes, it's very personal. Yes, it means a lot to me. But if people don't like it, it isn't because they don't like my dead sister. They just don't like my writing. Jo: It's tough, but it's good to talk about, because this is something many people feel. My memoir Pilgrimage—it's not the same at all—but I was just so scared of judgment. The fear of judgment. What people would think of me. That's kind of different, but— It's this question of how it'll land. The reality is, not many people read these books anyway. Jami: Well, I have worried about how it would land, but mostly I worry about how it would land with the people I love. My mom read it last week. I was there while she was reading it. That was no fun. She laughed, but it was devastating to her. She's like, “It's great, and I hate it.” Because it is so raw and real to her still—well, to all of us. That's where I worry, how it's going to land with them. But again, I've had to let that go. I had to let it go during the writing, because if I worried about that, then I would not have told an honest story. That was another thing—I didn't want it to be self-indulgent, and I wanted it to be honest. As honest as I could make it, even to the point of making people uncomfortable. There's a line. Once you cross it, there's no getting you back after that. So I walked that line really carefully, because I did want it to be honest about how I felt, how other people I know who've been through something like this feel. Also, just relationships. Because when you're in a big family like my sisters and I—we adore each other, but we can also go toe-to-toe real fast. It can get ugly, because we know each other really well. We're also a little bit redneck, so we don't pull any punches. Your sisters are always the most honest people in your life. I wanted that to be true in this book too—both sides of that story. Jo: Let's circle back to the business stuff and some of the things we talked about, because obviously this has been a really difficult time. There was no way to deal with it in any other way, but your business has changed. You had these great few years, good sales, and then you had other priorities. So how are you rebooting the business? Lots of people end up taking a few years out for whatever reason. How are you rebooting the business to try and sell some books? Jami: To be honest, I have the remnants of a business. I have tried over the last four years to run some ads to get the Bride's books going, but here's something that's very interesting, and if somebody can tell me why this happened, I would love to hear it. These books that have sold so many books—I mean, so many books—I could not give them away. It didn't matter what I did. I changed covers, I changed blurbs, I put them on sale, I took them off sale, I ran ads. Ads wouldn't really move the needle. I know that at a certain point, when you haven't published and your books get pushed down in the algorithm, that is an uphill battle. But it was almost like, one day they just fell off, and once they started falling, I could not get them back. I just couldn't. So that I didn't make myself crazy—because also during this time, I was just trying to keep my head above water—when I would deal with my books or go into my dashboard, I would feel horrible. I was already feeling horrible, so I didn't need to feel more horrible. So I just sort of let them go after a certain point. I've now started running some Facebook ads. I have one Facebook ad that's working really well, knock on wood, right now for my first Bride's book. The problem is, this book and my Bride's books are different. The voice and the tone are the same, but they're really different in a lot of ways. They're the same in a lot of ways. This book doesn't have any sex; the other books don't have anybody dying. But some of the things are really similar. So I may have some crossover. For whatever reason, this ad is working. My book one is ranked better than it's been ranked in forever—really good. I'm not spending a ton of money to do it. So I don't know what changed. I don't know if I'll ever know. I've revised my newsletter, and that's worked well. I still have around a 35 to 40% open rate on a newsletter that I didn't send out for almost two years. I was sending it out, but then I kind of stopped, and then I started again. Jo: I was going to ask you about that, because I often get people emailing me. They're like, “I have a really old newsletter from several years ago. I haven't emailed them for years.” So what did you say in that first email? Like, “Hey, I'm back”? Jami: I mean, I'm just like, “Remember me?” It really was kind of like that. Just, “I'm back. You guys know life has happened. I'm sure you understand. If you're still here, thank you so much. I have been writing. I have this book that I think some of you will really love.” That's really how it was. From the first email, even that first email had a higher open rate. I think it was close to 45%. I had not sent out a newsletter in two years literally. Jo: People were like, “What happened?” Jami: They're like, “Oh, she didn't die. That was her sister, not her.” But I've just been really fortunate. They've been really encouraging. Every time I send one out, I get really encouraging emails back. So I've sent out about the book. The majority of my readers are KU readers because my books are in KU. But this book is going wide. One of the things I'm doing because I have been a little concerned about… Janet Margot does a lot of Amazon ads stuff and she knows a lot about Amazon. We've talked a lot about whether I should use my real name, my pen name, or come up with another name. Should I worry about my readers buying the book and messing up my Also Boughts? All of those things, because my readers are romance readers. Some of them read women's fiction, but for the most part, they're romance readers. I've decided to stick with Jami Albright and not worry about it. There are just things you can't control, so I've had to hold everything with a really open hand with this book. I am offering the book on my website. I'm selling it at $7.99—I chose a high price point, because I just feel like, to sit with the other books that I want it to sit with, I need that price point. So I'm offering it on my website, starting at the end of this week, for $5. If they're KU readers and they don't buy books, but they want the book, they can get it for $5 on my website, which I think is reasonable. Jo: Mm. Absolutely. Jami: If that's too much for them, I understand and I get it. Time, things are hard right now, and if they can't do that, it's going to be in libraries, so they can request it at their library. But right now that's the plan. Hopefully that helps with the Also Boughts a little bit too. Even though, again, I just can't worry about those things. As a gift to my readers, I want to do this for them as well—give them a discount. Jo: And obviously this is a standalone, right? This is not— Jami: Yes, it is. Jo: Again, a bit like memoir, all the book marketing we talk about in fiction is “write a series.” It's much easier. So it is difficult to market a standalone in general. And this is something that happened, so it is a standalone situation. So do you feel like you're back in terms of writing? Have you got plans for more books, or is this a business for you going forward? Do you feel like you want to re-enter this whole world? Jami: I do. I have an idea for a book similar to this one—not in the same kind of genre, I mean, of women's fiction, kind of midlife fiction stuff. I have an idea. I had nothing for months and months and months, and a couple of months ago, this idea kind of came to me. I was like, “Oh, that's not bad.” So I'm mulling it over—I do a lot of mulling—and that's the next book I think I will write. I don't know that I'll write rom-coms again. Not because I don't love them. I do, and I love my rom-coms. But I'm just different. You do not go through something like this and come out on the other side the same. I don't know that I could carry an entire rom-com through without it being even more emotional than mine are now. So for right now, I'm going to write another one of these kinds of books where it's got a lot of emotion, family dynamic, tension and dynamics. Jo: That's great. I do feel like once you've written the book that was waiting—your sister's book—then more things arrive, and it's great to hear that that is arriving for you. And of course, we change. One of the nice things about writing for the long term and building more of a name brand is that you change, and your readers either follow you or they don't, but it's your life. So I think that's a good reason to have one pen name. I obviously have two, but my fiction pen name I've written all kinds of genres under. Why else would we keep doing this? I don't want to write the same book over and over again. Jami: Right. Believe me, I've had to eat a lot of crow over the last four years, and it's tasty with ketchup. I have decided that a lot of the stuff I said is true: about you write in one genre, you give the people exactly what they want, and you give it to them over and over again. I believe all of that. I still believe those things. It's just that I don't know that I'm capable of doing that right now. Also, I'm older. I am about doing the things that bring me joy and are not a drudgery. I want to say this, because I miss the success. I miss who I thought I was during that time. I miss the recognition. I'll freely admit it. I miss being the person doing the thing that everybody said couldn't be done. “You can't make money with one book a year.” Well, watch me. And I did. I miss that. What I don't miss, and I've had to be really, really honest with myself, which has been difficult—I don't miss the anxiety that came with that. There was a lot of franticness. I think that if you are in a lot of groups, you see that franticness. I've had to step back, like I've had to step back, and then go back into these groups, you hear authors and see authors, and there's just this frantic sense that we're losing everything, and we have to hold on so tight to everything. I was like that. I checked my ads constantly. I checked my dashboard constantly. My mom used to say, “This should be fun.” I'm like, “Mom, it's a business. It's not fun.” But I recognise that I loved that so much that I held onto it so tight. I don't want to go back to that. I don't have the energy for that. Since this all happened, I've gained four more grandchildren than I had. I have six grandchildren now. I want to spend time with them. I want to spend time with my adult children. I want to spend time with my mom and dad. So I can't be frantic about my sales—are they going up, are they dropping?—and give emotionally to the people I love in my life. If the last four years have taught me anything, it is that the one thing you can never get back is time. You can never get it back, and that is so important to me right now. With this book—and one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you when we were talking about when I would do it—I wanted to do it before it came out, because I've already won. Writing this book, writing a book that honours the bravest person I've ever known and doing the second-hardest thing that I've ever had to do, is the win. That's the win. Whatever happens with this book afterwards is just what happens with this book afterwards. It doesn't change who I am, and you told me that when we were in Vegas two years ago. That conversation really changed a lot for me, because you said, “You are a successful author.” I was still trying to come up with a plan to be a successful author again, and you were like, “You are a successful author. You've had success. That makes you a successful author. You don't have to chase that.” That changed so much of my thinking. If I could leave listeners with anything, it is that we need to recognise the things we can't control and just deal with the things we can control. That's kind of how my sister lived. She could not control her cancer, but she could control how she responded to it and how she went forward. I think a lot of times, when bad things happen, we want to make sense of them. We want a reason for them. And a lot of times there's just no reason. There's no reason my sister died. There's no reason she left two kids and a husband devastated and a family that just has a giant hole in it. There's no reason for that. What defines us is not figuring out why that happened. It's what we do with that going forward. I think that's important for me to remember when I start getting caught up in all the franticness of this business. Jo: Yes. Or not, as the case may be. You can just let the book be what it is. And I do feel like these deeper books, they're more slow burn. You wrote books that ran, ran like the bride. Now we're not running like the bride. Jami: I'm tired. I don't run unless a wild animal's chasing me. Jo: Exactly. Look, we're out of time, but just tell people, if they haven't listened, a bit about your podcast, Wish I'd Known Then with Sara Rosett. Tell people what they can find over on that podcast and why you're still doing it. You've been doing it throughout the whole time. While not writing, you've still been podcasting. Jami: It absolutely saved my life. It's kept me in this business. While I haven't been publishing, I still know what's going on. I know about direct sales, I know about what's happening behind the scenes, with Facebook ads. I've kept in touch with those things because of our podcast. It's an interview podcast like yours, but we talk to people about what they wish they'd known about indie publishing. Most people have some certain thing that they've been working on or doing, and we talk to them a little bit about that too. We ask the same questions every week to every guest, and it's so interesting how different the answers are, and yet how similar they are. I think that helps when you're going through it and you're like, “God, I must be the only one feeling this way.” But you tune into a podcast, and you hear week after week, “Oh, no, there are other people feeling the same way I'm feeling, or struggling with the same things I'm struggling with.” Hopefully we give people things to shoot for and to aspire to. We have some amazing guests. They've all been really gracious and really honest. I don't know if it's the questions, or just because Sara and I are our style, but they're really honest with us when they answer the questions. Jo: It's a great show. I recommend it a lot. Jami: Thank you. Jo: Where can people find you and your books online? Jami: You can find me at JamiAlbright.com—that's J-A-M-I-Albright.com. I'm on all the socials as Jami Albright Author. My books are on Amazon right now, but this book is actually now on all the retailers. So that's where you can find me. Jo: Brilliant. Well, thanks so much for your time, Jami. That was great. Jami: It was an honour. Thank you so much.The post Writing Through Grief And Rebooting an Indie Author Business With Jami Albright first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Most people don't fear change itself — they fear the moment before they know if they're going to be okay. And according to Dr. Jimmie Williamson, that gap between uncertainty and clarity is where organizations either hold their people together or quietly lose them. In this episode of Your Health University, Jamie sits down with Dr. Jimmie Williamson, Chief Behavioral Health Officer at Your Health, in the middle of a real organizational merger — making this conversation as timely and personal as it gets. Dr. Williamson draws on decades of clinical experience, behavioral health expertise, and his own career pivots (including leaving a 28-year career to step into healthcare) to walk us through what change actually does to the human brain and body — and what it takes to move through it well. Key topics include: Why even positive change triggers a physiological threat response — and what science says is actually happening in your brain The five stages of change people move through (shock, resistance, exploration, and beyond) and why getting stuck isn't a character flaw Dr. David Rock's SCARF model — the five psychological domains (Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, Fairness) that determine whether people feel safe or threatened during transitions What leaders most commonly get wrong when communicating change — and the one mistake that always creates a narrative vacuum Why insecurity in leadership is more dangerous than the change itself The one self-care practice you can start today if you're feeling the weight of uncertainty Change is positive. It is good. And it is inevitable. This episode will help you believe that — and act like it. www.YourHealth.Org

Could your agency be missing its next level of growth simply because mistakes are going unnoticed or feedback isn't acted upon?In this episode of The Agency Blueprint podcast, we discuss how fast, structured internal feedback loops can be the secret engine of profitable agency growth. We explain how by embedding intentional feedback at every stage of client work, agencies can turn mistakes into actionable data, refining processes, communication, and decision-making.Don't miss this episode to learn more about the power of normalizing constructive feedback and empowering teams to propose solutions to create a culture of continuous improvement!Key Questions:[01:13] At what points during your client engagements do you intentionally gather internal feedback?[03:28] Are you empowering the team members closest to the work to provide meaningful feedback that improves your agency's processes?[11:23] Is feedback embedded into your agency's operations as a regular habit?What You'll Discover: [01:13] How to structure feedback checkpoints throughout a project and why many agencies fail to improve.[03:28] The importance of bottom-up feedback for agency growth and collaborative problem-solving rather than blame.[05:41] How poor feedback cultures lead to hidden mistakes and unresolved issues, which eventually escalate into larger problems.[07:08] Why feedback must feel safe and objective, focusing on systems rather than blaming individuals.[08:23] How normalizing mistakes as part of improvement allows agencies to refine their workflows and systems continuously.[11:23] How building feedback directly into operations turns continuous improvement into a daily habit rather than an occasional exercise.[13:19] How empowering team members to propose solutions boosts morale and ownership.[14:09] How feedback cultures increase team commitment, because employees feel they've contributed to shaping the agency.[15:26] Why managers should understand that their performance is judged by their team's results, making feedback essential.[17:41] Understand that the best agencies do not fear mistakes; they harvest them as opportunities for growth.

Julius Korfgen, Co-Founder von Uplane, spricht im "Marketing From Zero To One" Podcast über seinen persönlichen Lebensweg vom Fashion-Startup Unternehmer zu Schulzeiten über seine Zeit als Founders Associate bei Enpal bis zur Gründung seines KI-Startups Uplane. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Idee, Performance Marketing durch KI massiv zu automatisieren: von der Erstellung und Optimierung von Ads bis hin zu personalisierten Landingpages und datengetriebenen Kampagnen. Außerdem geht es um die frühen Vertriebserfolge über LinkedIn, die Bewerbung und Aufnahme bei Y Combinator, seinen bevorstehenden Umzug nach San Francisco und um die Frage, wie KI aktuell Marketing-Agenturen, Unternehmensstrukturen und Produktentwicklung verändert. 04:19 - Erste unternehmerische Schritte & FREISCHWIMMER 06:51 - Rocket Startup in Kopenhagen & Responsibly 08:26 - Virales T-Shirt & erster Durchbruch 09:20 - Studium in Maastricht & Nebenprojekte 11:07 - Familie, Kreativität & Unternehmertum 12:03 - Einstieg bei Enpal & Hypergrowth 14:16 - Entstehung der Uplane-Idee bei Enpal 16:38 - Die Grundidee hinter Uplane 19:09 - Erste Ads, KPIs & Marketing-Experimente 20:10 - Erste Kunden & Startphase von Uplane 22:44 - Erste Vertriebserfolge 24:46 - Pilotkunden & Vertrauensaufbau 26:11 - KI, Daten & schnelle Marketingzyklen 28:15 - Bewerbung beim Y Combinator 31:13 - YC-Interview & Zusage 34:05 - Funding & Umzug nach San Francisco 36:07 - Launch-Video & erste große Aufmerksamkeit 37:32 - Zielgruppen, Startups & Enterprise-Kunden 39:55 - Markenführung & Brand-Compliance mit KI 42:07 - Schnelles Wachstum & erste Enterprise-Cases 42:57 - Service Company vs. Software Company 44:19 - Managed Growth & Enterprise Software 47:26 - Vertrieb, LinkedIn & Account-Based-Marketing 49:11 - KI im Unternehmen & interne Prozesse 50:28 - Brand-Compliance & Grenzen generativer KI 51:50 - Daten, Feedback-Loops & Marketing-Optimierung 53:33 - KI-gestützte Produktentwicklung & Coding 55:29 - YC-Mindset & großes Denken 58:23 - Umzug in die USA & neue Wachstumsphase 58:55 - Namensfindung & Entstehung von Uplane 01:00:29 - KI-Agenten, Automatisierung & Zukunft der Arbeit 01:03:22 - Eigene KI-Tools & tägliche Nutzung 01:03:45 - Arbeitsalltag, Produktivität & Routinen 01:05:19 - Abschluss & Ausblick

Join our next FASO Show Live!https://artists.boldbrush.com/p/the-faso-showLearn the magic of marketing  with us here at BoldBrush!boldbrushshow.comGet over 50% off your first year on your artist website with FASO:FASO.com/podcast---What does it actually mean to make it as an artist? Not the Instagram version — the real version. The one that looks different at 25 than it does at 50. The one that shifts quietly under your feet while you're busy just trying to keep painting.I've had the privilege of sitting down with some of the most seasoned working artists I know, and when I ask them about success, the answers always surprise me. So today, I've pulled together some of the most honest, hard-won perspectives from past guests — on what success actually requires, what it costs, and what it turns into over time.Episodes Mentioned:100 Kevin MacPherson101 Joseph Gyurcsak105 SC Mummert130 Scott Ruthven140 Donald Yatomi

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of ENGINEERING CH∆NGE®, I take a systems-centered look at one of the biggest conversations happening across engineering organizations and society right now: AI.While many organizations are focused on AI models, tools, productivity, and technical readiness, this episode explores a deeper question:What happens when AI is introduced into systems that already struggle with communication gaps, lack of trust, inequitable processes, or flawed decision-making?Drawing on examples from industry and recent research, we'll discuss:• The disconnects AI adoption is exposing between leaders and employees• How AI acts as an amplifier within organizational systems• Why “human in the loop” must involve accountability, not just oversight• How people-centered organizational systems shape AI outcomes• Systems-level questions leaders should be asking before scaling AI adoptionI also introduce MESA® (Measure, Evaluate, Strategize, Act), a framework we use at The PEER Group to help organizations navigate change and continuous improvement.If you've been thinking about AI primarily as a technology issue, this episode invites you to consider the organizational systems shaping what AI will ultimately produce.Grab a latte and listen.Request your free copy of the ebook Engineering for Society at engineeringchangepodcast.com.If this conversation resonates with you, follow ENGINEERING CH∆NGE® and leave a five-star review to help more engineers and leaders join the conversation.Support the showENGINEERING CHΔNGE® is a registered trademark held by Dr. Yvette E. Pearson for producing and providing podcasts.

In this episode, we answer questions that listeners submitted on my Instagram. We discuss: contentment, compounding, and slow feedback loops. We also give an update on our restaurant, Another Broken Egg Cafe.Please share the show with a friend:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/built-for-more-with-jacob-oconnor/id1594231832Jacob's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacoboconnorBuilt For More Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bfmpodYouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@jacob-oconnor

Thanks for listening! We pray you are blessed by this and that you experience the love and closeness of Jesus through it!Here's the scripture referenced in the message:Genesis 2:1-3 1 Samuel 3:9 1 Kings 19:12-13 Psalm 46:10 Habakkuk 2:1 Luke 10:41-42 Mark 1:35 Luke 6:12 Matthew 14:23 John 1:1 Matthew 11:28-30 First time or new here? Visit https://newlifetucson.com/firststepWebsite: https://newlifetucson.comChurch Online: https://newlifetucson.liveFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/newlifebiblefellowshiptucsonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/newlifetucson/Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2195491

Most marketing teams hand sales a stack of brochures and never hear back. In this episode of Content to Close, Nat Norris, VP of Marketing and Customer Success at Model 1 Commercial Vehicles, breaks down how his team gets out of the trophy case of unused white papers and into the rooms where deals are won and lost. Nat walks through how he embeds marketers inside the company's three sales segments (public, commercial, and retail), why he forces his team into weekly quote review and deal loss meetings, and the data hygiene work he had to do in Power BI before any of it could function. He also shares the FAB framework (Features, Advantages, Benefits) he carried over from his catalog days, with a simple rule: push the benefit, self-serve the feature. And he closes with the two governors he uses to decide when there's enough data to act: the 80/20 rule and the "front page of the newspaper" worst-case test. If you've ever wondered how to turn marketing collateral into something sales actually uses, this one's for you.About NatNat Norris is the VP of Marketing and Customer Success at Model 1 Commercial Vehicles, a nationwide commercial dealership selling work trucks, cargo vans, school buses, and shuttle buses. Based in Indianapolis, Nat has spent about 17 years in B2B marketing for equipment, with stops in e-commerce and large holding-company environments before landing at a single-family-owned business. His group leads marketing, customer experience, product information, customer care feedback, and inside sales lead qualification. Nat is a self-described data and dot-connecting nerd whose old product-management instincts shape how he thinks about content, storytelling, and what salespeople actually need in the field.Show Notes- Connect with Nat on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natnorris/Text us what you think about this episode!

What makes Elon Musk mentally different from everyone elseJonathan Cohen sits down with entrepreneur and author Eric Jorgenson to unpack the mindset, mental toughness, and high-agency thinking behind Elon Musk's success. From Tesla's obsession with efficiency and first-principles thinking to Musk's relentless focus on mission-driven work, this conversation explores leadership, resilience, purpose, innovation, and the psychology of world-class performers.The episode also dives into feedback loops, ambitious thinking, meaningful work, and why focusing on the most important problem can completely change your life and career.

In this episode of The Fitness League Podcast, we dive into the psychology behind consistency, effort, and long-term behavior change in health and fitness. We explore why so many people lose momentum, how broken feedback loops sabotage progress, and why celebrating small wins may be one of the most powerful tools for sustainable change. This conversation breaks down the science of motivation in practical, real-world terms—from behavioral activation and competence building to the importance of autonomy, relatedness, and visible progress signals. We also discuss the psychology behind "open loops" and how the Zeigarnik effect can either keep you engaged… or mentally drained. L5 Health Score Quiz https://score.lvltnhealth.com/ The Fitness League app https://www.fitnessleagueapp.com/ Join the Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lvltncoaching Alessandra's Instagram: http://instagram.com/alessandrascutnik Joelle's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joellesamantha?igsh=ZnVhZjFjczN0OTdn Josh's Instagram: http://instagram.com/joshscutnik Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Fitness League Podcast 01:00 The Importance of Completing Tasks 05:32 Psychological Insights on Progress and Completion 10:44 Understanding the Self-Determination Theory 14:40 The Impact of Unfinished Tasks on Mental Health 15:31 Decluttering and Open Loops 19:41 The Psychology of Commitment 22:20 Taking Action and Building Motivation 23:46 Redefining Progress and Feedback Loops 29:54 Maximizing ROI on Efforts 32:06 Building Consistency and Trusting the Process

In this episode, Sharona and Boz explore what assessment might look like in a world increasingly shaped by AI. Starting with a recent article from faculty at Middlebury College challenging institutions to recenter learning rather than ranking students, the conversation moves into a provocative discussion of oral exams, authentic assessment, and the growing limitations of traditional testing. The hosts unpack a history professor's experiment with 71 oral final exams in 12 days, reflecting on the power of conversation-based assessment to deepen feedback, strengthen trust, and reveal genuine student understanding in ways that written exams often cannot. Along the way, they connect these ideas to their own classroom experiences, the challenges AI poses for validating student work, and the need for assessments that emphasize creativity, revision, human interaction, and meaningful thinking over rote production. Ultimately, the episode argues that the future of grading reform may depend not only on changing how we grade, but on fundamentally reimagining how we assess learning itself. LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!Recentering learning when we talk about gradesWhat I learned from giving 71 oral exams in 12 daysFinding Meaningful Moments in a MergerResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Thanks for watching! We pray you are blessed by this and that you experience the love and closeness of Jesus through it!Here's the scripture referenced in the message:2 Timothy 4:1-5 2 Cor. 11:3-4, 13-15 Tim. 4:3-4 Tim 4:1 Matt. 16:18  Tim 4:2 Tim. 4:5 Matt 16:24 2 Tim. 4:5 First time or new here? Visit https://newlifetucson.com/firststepWebsite: https://newlifetucson.comChurch Online: https://newlifetucson.liveFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/newlifebiblefellowshiptucsonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/newlifetucson/Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2195491

You've probably spotted those little circles of your friends' faces popping up on Facebook Reels. They look simple enough, but building them was a proper engineering challenge. In this episode, Pascal chats to Joseph and Subasree about Friend Bubbles, a feature that surfaces which of your close friends have been watching and reacting to the same Reels as you. We get into the details of how prefetching keeps things snappy without wrecking scroll performance, why the team's ML model had to move from survey-based friend rankings to real-time interaction signals, and the surprising discovery that showing fewer bubbles actually made the whole feature click. If you've ever underestimated a "simple" feature, this one's for you. Got feedback? Send it to us on Threads (https://threads.net/@metatechpod), Instagram (https://instagram.com/metatechpod) and don't forget to follow our host Pascal (https://mastodon.social/@passy, https://threads.net/@passy_). Fancy working with us? Check out https://www.metacareers.com/. Links https://engineering.fb.com/2026/03/18/ml-applications/friend-bubbles-enhancing-social-discovery-on-facebook-reels/  https://engineering.fb.com/2026/04/21/ml-applications/modernizing-the-facebook-groups-search-to-unlock-the-power-of-community-knowledge/  Timestamps Intro 0:06 Meet the Engineers: Backgrounds and Roles 1:53 Goals and Aspirations in Video Recommendations 4:20 The Origin of Friend Bubbles 4:41 Defining Success: Metrics and User Experience 5:40 Client-Side Constraints and Challenges 6:57 Feature Description: What Are Friend Bubbles? 8:31 Initial Challenges and Performance Issues 9:29 Architectural Changes for Performance 11:34 Impact of Performance on User Experience 15:14 Addressing Client-Side Challenges 16:58 Model Development: From Surveys to Interactions 20:07 Evolving the Model: Real-Time Data and User Interactions 23:35 Exploring Model Training and Performance 24:58 Feedback Loops and User Engagement 25:56 The Role of AI in Development 29:49 Collaboration Across Teams 32:17 Future Directions for Friend Bubbles 34:02 Safe Rollout Strategies for Features 35:22 Outro 37:31 Bloopers 38:27

Thanks for watching! We pray you are blessed by this and that you experience the love and closeness of Jesus through it!Here's the scripture referenced in the message:Romans 16:17-18 Titus 3:10-11 Romans 12:2 Genesis 1:27 Galatians 3:28 Matthew 7:3-5Ephesians 4:29 Colossians 4:6 First time or new here? Visit https://newlifetucson.com/firststepWebsite: https://newlifetucson.comChurch Online: https://newlifetucson.liveFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/newlifebiblefellowshiptucsonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/newlifetucson/Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2195491

Confidence is important in business, but the wrong kind of feedback can quietly keep you stuck. In this episode of The Level Up Podcast, Paul Alex breaks down how positive feedback loops can become one of the biggest threats to your growth as an entrepreneur. When everyone around you agrees, praises your decisions, and avoids challenging your ideas, it becomes easy to miss the blind spots that are holding your business back. The truth is, growth does not come from constant validation. It comes from honest feedback, objective data, and the ability to separate your ego from your strategy. In this episode, you'll learn: Why constant agreement can weaken your decision-making How praise can create blind spots inside your business Why constructive criticism helps you catch problems before the market does How seeking opposing viewpoints can make your strategy stronger Why the best leaders value truth over comfort When you build a business around honest feedback instead of applause, you create room for better decisions, stronger execution, and faster growth. Because the feedback loop that feels good is not always the one that helps you win. Your Network is your NETWORTH! Make sure to add me on all SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS: Instagram: ⁠https://jo.my/paulalex2024⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://jo.my/fbpaulalex2024⁠ YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGhDAD1JyGGzSQUPD9lc9HQ⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://jo.my/inpaulalex2024⁠ Looking for a secondary source of income or want to become an entrepreneur? Check out one of my companies below to see if we can help you: ⁠www.CashSwipe.com⁠ FREE Copy of my book “Blue to Digital Gold - The New American Dream” ⁠www.officialPaulAlex.com⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Garth Heckman The David Alliance TDAgiantSlayer@Gmail.com      #The brotherhood manifesto #TripleCsurvivor    Jesus spoke the truth even when it hurt. To the Pharisees, to the people of didn't understand he was the bread of life, to the disciples… who do people say I am.. to Peter - get behind me satan, to Peter again you will deny me… he did not hold back. I belive he always spoke it in love, but nonetheless he spoke it. `   This is the "Hidden Invoice" for the leader. While you've focused on the financial cost to the company, the personal cost is often more devastating because it's a slow-motion erosion of your professional soul. A banana in your backpack.    As a powerlifter, you know that if you have a hitch in your technique, you can muscle through it for a while—but eventually, that technical flaw becomes an injury that ends your career. Leadership is no different.   1. Burnout via "Emotional Friction" Avoidance is actually more exhausting than confrontation. The Insight: When a leader ignores a culture issue (like a Gen Z employee checking out), they don't actually stop thinking about it. They spend cognitive energy rehearsing conversations they never have, worrying about the "Contagion Effect," and managing the fallout of the dysfunction.   The Personal Cost: This constant "mental background noise" is what leads to burnout. You aren't tired from the work; you are tired from the friction of the things you aren't saying.   2. The Feedback Loop of Imposter Syndrome In your notes, you mentioned that Accountability must be seen in the top tier. When a leader fails to address a toxic team member or a lack of clarity, they know they aren't living up to their own standard.   The Insight: Every time you avoid a hard truth, you send a signal to your own brain: "I am not actually in control here." * The Personal Cost: This creates Imposter Syndrome. You feel like a fraud because you are wearing the "Boss" title but refusing to do the "Boss" work (which is the hard, honest conversations). You stop trusting your own judgment because you've stopped acting on it.   3. Career Stagnation & "Reputational Gravity" In the 2026 workforce, a leader's "Vessel" (their reputation) is their most valuable asset. The Insight: People talk. If you are a leader who allows "Ambiguity Tax" to run rampant or ignores "Ethical Dissonance," that becomes your brand. High-performers (the "Gold Standards") will stop wanting to work for you. The Personal Cost: You find yourself "stuck" managing a team of C-players because the A-players have all fled. Your career stagnates because you can't hit the "High-Velocity" goals that get you to the next level. You become the leader of a "holding pattern" department.   4. The "Relational Debt" at Home This ties directly into your focus on how work helps real life. The Insight: You cannot turn off the "Avoidance Mindset" at 5:00 PM. If you are avoiding the truth with your Gen Z employees, you are likely training your brain to avoid the truth with your spouse and children. The Personal Cost: The stress of the "Unsaid" follows you home. You are physically present but mentally "reading the room" of your own household, looking for the same cracks you ignored at the office.   The "Diagnostic" for the Leader In your speech, you can give them this brutal metric to measure their own personal cost: "Look at the one conversation you've been avoiding for the last month. The mental energy you've spent avoiding it is likely 10x more than the energy it would take to actually have it. Avoidance is a high-interest loan; Truth is a one-time payment. Which one are you paying today?"  

It's really refreshing to hear from you, our listeners and fellow strugglers living in high-energy modernity (affectionately known as Crazy Townies). This mailbag episode offers the element of surprise, as it gives Jason, Rob, and Asher a chance to respond with delight and spontaneity to your questions and comments. Join the guys as they apply their dubious intellectual powers, subpar comedic talents, and underwhelming insights to your Crazy Townie queries. Originally recorded on 3/6/26.Sources/Links/Notes:Tradable Energy QuotasCarfree City AllianceBraver AngelsMaclean Art BlogRelated episode(s) of Crazy Town:Episode 19, “I Can't Drive… 35! The Rationale for Rationing”Episode 45, “Feedback Loops and Climate Catastrophe, or… the Story of the Baseball Bloodbath”

Is feedback helping or hurting you? Sam Cotterill, Lee White, and Anthony Wheeler share the most effective approaches for receiving and applying critiques.

It's not left v right, it's us v them. 00:00 Introduction and Overview 00:27 AI Lawsuit and the Return of “Technology Panics” 01:04 The “Werther Effect” and Historical Media Fears 04:47 Does AI Cause Harm or Reflect the User? 07:46 Should AI Come With Warnings? 12:05 Hungary Politics and Viktor Orbán's Defeat 15:29 Foolishness of the Week: Conspiracy Theories and Flat Earthers 18:14 Artemis II and the Persistence of Irrational Beliefs 20:28 Partisanship, Audience Reactions, and Perceived Bias 24:10 Why Both Parties Drift Toward Authoritarianism 28:55 Are Democrats and Republicans Actually Different? 32:37 “Them vs Us”: The Political Illusion 36:24 The Feedback Loop of Polarization 40:35 Debate Culture, Civility, and Online Discourse 43:23 How to Argue Without Attacking People 47:38 Final Thoughts: Be Skeptical, Be Civil, Be Kind Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, I sit down on the We Might Be Drunk Podcast to discuss the massive shift happening in media and technology. I encourage you to stop fearing the future and start understanding how AI-driven tools like perfect dubbing and digital avatars are going to provide unparalleled opportunities for creators to reach global audiences. I also discuss my "over-indexing" ad strategy and why sports tribalism is the best way to understand human behavior in 2026.You'll learn about:The Power of "Organic First" ContentHow AI Will Eliminate Language Barriers for CreatorsThe Rise of Live Social Shopping (Commerce-tainment)Why "Overexposure" is an Outdated ConceptHow to Use Social Algorithms as a Real-Time Feedback Loop