Podcasts about Friction

You’re busy all day but still feel like you’re not getting enough done. The culprit isn’t your to-do list — it’s hidden workflow friction. In this episode, Thanh and Brooks walk you through a practical Workflow Friction Audit: how to spot the invisible drains like context switching, setup overhead, unclear handoffs, and rework — and […]

What if the goal of great leadership isn't to eliminate friction, but to learn from it? In this episode of LeaderChat, Maggie Sass, PhD, and Ross Blankenship, PhD, authors of Friction: How Tension, Emotion, and Change Reveal Better Leaders, join us to discuss what tension can reveal about leaders, teams, and the systems in which they work. You'll hear about: The three places friction shows up: within ourselves, between people, and within systems How leaders can help teams navigate tension without simply smoothing it over Why emotions can provide useful information during uncertainty The difference between unhealthy conflict and productive tension What can happen when a team becomes too frictionless How to recognize when the system, not the individual, is creating the problem Practical ways to respond more intentionally the next time friction shows up If you're navigating change, uncertainty, or tension on your team, this episode offers a different way to look at those difficult moments—and what they might be trying to tell you.

1er épisode solo de la rentrée solo je vous raconte mon été, celui où je suis parti trois semaines à Stockholm écrire le livre sur lequel je travaille depuis un an et demi.Un livre sur ce que la technologie nous retire quand elle nous facilite tout.Ce départ est né d'une sensation que je traîne depuis longtemps, ce pincement au ventre chaque fois que je demande mon chemin à Google Maps plutôt qu'à un humain, chaque fois que je fais rédiger un texte par une IA, chaque fois que ma vie devient un peu plus pratique et un peu plus vide en même temps. Je me suis imposé une règle : aucune ligne de ce livre ne serait écrite par une machine. Et pour tenir cette règle, il me fallait un endroit où rien ne viendrait m'aider à fuir.Ce que je n'avais pas vu venir, c'est que je partais écrire un livre sur la friction dans le pays qui a le mieux réussi à la faire disparaître. Et que ça allait d'abord me mettre à terre.Dans cet épisode, nous parlons de la première semaine, celle où je n'ai adressé la parole à personne et où la solitude que je croyais désirer m'a serré le ventre pendant sept jours pleins. De l'effet de dévitalisation, ce mot que j'ai fini par trouver pour désigner ce qui nous arrive collectivement. Du papillon qui doit déchirer sa chrysalide lui-même sous peine de ne jamais voler. Du pigeon de Skinner, que je porte en moi chaque fois que j'essaie d'affiner ma routine du matin. De la nuit où j'ai décidé de jeter la moitié de mon manuscrit. Des Suédois qui s'effacent plutôt que de vous contredire, et de ce que ma sœur m'a dit à ce sujet qui m'a scié. Du Rat Park et de la cage confortable qu'on se construit tous. Et du moment où j'ai griffonné mon numéro de téléphone sur un bout de papier, à mon âge, pour le tendre à quelqu'un.Je me suis questionné sur ce que la solitude fait vraiment, sur la différence entre celle qu'on choisit et celle qui nous tombe dessus, sur ce qu'on croit épargner à nos enfants en leur retirant l'attente et l'ennui, et sur ce qui reste d'une société quand elle a poli tous ses angles.C'est un épisode long, personnel, et sans doute le plus intime que j'aie enregistré. Si vous vous êtes déjà surpris à ne pas savoir ce qui vous avait fait sourire ou pleurer dans la journée, il est pour vous.3. Citations marquantes« Comprendre un piège ne vous permet pas d'en sortir. Vingt ans plus tard, je suis plus accro que jamais. »« Je critique, je rejette, et je reste. C'est sans doute la définition la plus honnête de ma situation, et peut-être de la vôtre. »« J'ai reçu des mails de lecteurs qui me remerciaient pour ce texte que je n'avais pas écrit. Le fait que ça marche m'a prouvé l'efficacité du système et a creusé le vide encore un peu plus. »« Si vous ouvrez le cocon du papillon pour lui simplifier la vie, vous le condamnez : il ne pourra jamais voler. »« On est devenus des athlètes de la certitude dans un monde qui réclamerait plutôt des acrobates de la complexité. »(Bonus si besoin d'un sixième extrait pour les réseaux)« Je suis venu écrire sur ce qui nous arrive quand on retire toutes les frictions d'une vie, et je me suis retrouvé dans un pays qui a fait exactement ça, mais à l'échelle d'une culture entière. »4. Idées centrales discutées 1. L'effet de dévitalisation≈ 09:30 Les systèmes conçus pour nous retirer les frictions de la vie, l'attente, l'effort, l'ennui, le désaccord, finissent par nous vider de l'intérieur. Ils réduisent notre capacité à décider, nos compétences, jusqu'au sens qu'on donne à notre existence. On devient performants, productifs, et vides. Pourquoi ça compte : c'est le mot qui manquait. Tant qu'une sensation n'a pas de nom, elle existe dans le corps mais pas dans la conversation collective. Nommer permet d'agir.2. Savoir ne suffit pas≈ 03:10 Vingt ans à connaître parfaitement les mécanismes d'addiction des plateformes, et vingt ans à y céder quand même. La lucidité n'est pas un levier de changement. Pourquoi ça compte : ça disqualifie toute la littérature qui promet qu'il suffit de comprendre pour se libérer, et ça déplace la question du côté de l'environnement plutôt que de la volonté individuelle.3. Le vivant se renforce par la résistance, pas par le rendement≈ 21:00 La friction est un mauvais élève en ingénierie, on la supprime pour gagner en rendement. Mais un arbre se renforce sous le vent, les valvules du cœur avec le flux du sang, et le papillon a besoin de l'effort qui brise la chrysalide pour que ses ailes se remplissent. Pourquoi ça compte : les designers de la Silicon Valley ont appliqué la logique de la machine au vivant sans vérifier qu'elle s'y appliquait. C'est une erreur de modèle, pas une erreur de morale.4. Friction n'est pas souffrance≈ 23:00 La souffrance réelle, celle de la maladie, du deuil, de la précarité, ne construit rien, elle épuise et elle diminue, et elle demande de la justice et du soutien. Les frictions du quotidien, elles, font grandir quand on les traverse. Pourquoi ça compte : sans cette distinction, tout le propos bascule dans le discours réactionnaire du « c'était mieux quand c'était dur ». C'est le garde-fou de l'épisode.5. La bonne solitude a besoin de micro-liens≈ 32:00 Le flot d'écriture n'est pas venu de l'isolement pur. Il est arrivé au moment précis où j'ai commencé à échanger trois mots avec le type de la cantine et la femme de la sécurité. J'avais besoin d'être seul pour écrire et de ces quelques regards pour tenir debout pendant que j'écrivais seul. Pourquoi ça compte : ça renverse le mythe de l'artiste retiré du monde, et ça donne un dosage concret plutôt qu'un idéal.6. Ce n'est pas la substance qui crée l'addiction, c'est l'isolement≈ 51:30 Le rat seul se tue à la morphine, les rats du Rat Park en consomment jusqu'à dix-neuf fois moins, et ceux qui étaient déjà accros réduisent d'eux-mêmes une fois replacés dans la vie sociale. Pourquoi ça compte : appliqué à nos écrans, ça déplace tout le débat. La question n'est pas de savoir si TikTok est mauvais, mais de savoir dans quelle cage on le consomme.7. Le désaccord est un muscle qu'on a laissé fondre≈ 42:00 Les Suédois s'effacent plutôt que de vous contredire, et le résultat n'est pas un enfer, c'est doux, propre et sûr. Mais le prix, c'est un lien social qui se dévitalise. Nous suivons le même chemin avec les bulles de filtres et la disparition des lieux où l'on croisait des gens qui ne pensaient pas comme nous. Pourquoi ça compte : c'est la friction dont personne ne parle, parce que tout le monde a envie de s'en débarrasser. Et c'est peut-être celle qui nous manquera le plus.Questions structurantes de l'épisode(Format solo : ce sont les questions que je me pose à voix haute et qui portent le récit. Utilisables telles quelles pour les chapitres, les descriptions courtes, ou comme angles de relance sur les réseaux.)Pourquoi ma vie devient-elle un peu plus pratique et un peu plus vide en même temps ?Comment peut-on connaître parfaitement les mécanismes d'un piège et y rester enfermé vingt ans ?Qu'est-ce qu'une sensation qui n'a pas de mot ? Existe-t-elle vraiment tant qu'on ne peut pas la nommer ?Que se passe-t-il exactement quand on retire à un être vivant toutes les résistances qu'il rencontre ?Où passe la ligne entre la friction qui construit et la souffrance qui détruit, et pourquoi les confond-on autant aujourd'hui ?Est-ce que la solitude qu'on désire est vraiment celle qui nous fait du bien ?Qu'est-ce qui a changé entre une époque où l'attente était le décor et une époque où elle est devenue une agression ?Pourquoi cherche-t-on à affiner jusqu'à son repos, et qu'est-ce que ça dit de notre rapport au hasard ?Que faut-il pour accepter de jeter la moitié d'un travail quand une solution confortable est à portée de main ?Combien de décisions ai-je réellement prises aujourd'hui, et combien ont été prises pour moi ?Que devient une société qui a réussi à supprimer le conflit de ses relations quotidiennes ?Est-ce qu'on protège nos enfants en leur retirant l'attente, l'ennui et l'échec, ou est-ce qu'on les prive de ce qui nous a construits ?Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Are you tired of drowning in back-office busywork and wondering how AI can actually improve your freight operations without overcomplicating your daily workflows? Today, let's discuss the reality of freight automation with my guest, Alex Reed of Overroute, as we talk about how true AI in transportation is built not to replace but to empower people!  We get real about utilizing robotic process automation to 10x your output, strip the emotion out of your operational decisions, and meet your customers exactly where they are.  Whether you are a small brokerage or a massive enterprise, leveraging the right freight tech and supply chain automation tools is about simplifying the mundane so your team can focus on what actually drives revenue in this highly competitive trucking market.  If you want to stop over-engineering your business and start implementing tech that actually works, tune in to this episode!   About Alex Reed Alex Reed is the founding CEO of Overroute. He has spent his career commercializing technical software and optimization platforms in complex industrial environments. Previously, Alex was the founding CEO of Fluence Analytics, a Tulane spinout he led from lab-stage IP through global commercialization and acquisition by Yokogawa Electric Corporation in 2023. Earlier, he was Associate Director for Operations and Strategy at Tulane-PolyRMC. He was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (2016), serves as Entrepreneur in Residence at the Lepage Center at Tulane University, and advises founders and investors across deep tech and AI, both personally and through Founder Sherpas.   Connect with Alex Website: https://www.overroute.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/overroute/  

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) is joined by Max Spero, co-founder and CEO of Pangram Labs, which builds models that identify AI-generated text and images. Max goes under the hood to explain how AI detection actually works. They also discuss the institutions that quietly assumed writing was expensive: credit bureaus that negotiated the right to shred templated dispute letters, grant committees where reading the application is five percent of the work, and unemployment offices staffed for a world where claims cannot plausibly rise two hundredfold. –Full transcript available here: https://www.complexsystemspodcast.com/how-ai-detection-actually-works-with-pangrams-max-spero/ –Presenting Sponsors: Mercury & GranolaComplex Systems is presented by Mercury—radically better banking for founders. Mercury Spend hands your team and agents their own cards with limits you set once, so nobody waits on you to approve a SaaS invoice and nobody chases a receipt. Apply online in minutes at https://mercury.com/. If meetings consistently leave you with hazy action items and lost context, Granola handles the transcription so you can actually participate and gives you searchable notes afterward. Try it free at granola.ai/complexsystems with code COMPLEXSYSTEMS–Links:Pangram Labs: https://textguard.ai/ –Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(00:27) Why AI detection exists(01:42) Friction as a rate limiter(05:42) What Pangram actually does(06:57) Authorship identification at scale(11:01) Common Crawl and the crawling arms race(15:52) Being in the weights(18:08) Ghostwriting letters to banks(19:45) Templated letters and the FCRA loophole(22:38) The anti-memetic property of LLM text(25:28) Value above the weights(27:03) What happens to programmers(30:19) Sponsors: Mercury | Granola(33:39) Jevons Paradox and the compiler(36:44) What comes after the coding harness(40:19) Mode collapse and the dinner recommendation problem(43:00) The patio11 fan blog(45:58) Cognitive surplus and the dead internet(49:40) Is this fight winnable?(54:35) Reputation and disclosure norms(58:02) Training on books and moral standing(01:01:52) Attention, phones, and what we've gained(01:04:17) Wrap

Motivation can get you started.Discipline is what keeps you moving when the excitement disappears.In this episode of The Level Up Podcast, Paul Alex breaks down why consistency matters more than hype and how your ability to tolerate difficult, repetitive work can become a serious competitive advantage.Every entrepreneur eventually reaches the point where the dopamine wears off.The work gets boring.The rejection gets heavier.And the results take longer than expected.That is where discipline takes over.In this episode, you'll learn:• Why motivation is too unreliable to build long-term consistency• How systems and standards keep you executing when your mood changes• Why difficult, unglamorous work creates a natural barrier to entry• How friction tolerance helps you outlast less disciplined competitorsThe truth is simple:Motivation gets you to the starting line.Discipline carries you through the race.Stop waiting to feel inspired.Follow the system.Do the work.Build the ability to execute even when you are tired, frustrated, or bored.When motivation fades, discipline has to take the wheel.Your Network is your NETWORTH!Make sure to add me on all SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS:Instagram: https://jo.my/paulalex2024Facebook: https://jo.my/fbpaulalex2024YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGhDAD1JyGGzSQUPD9lc9HQLinkedIn: https://jo.my/inpaulalex2024Looking 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.comFREE Copy of my book “Blue to Digital Gold - The New American Dream”www.officialPaulAlex.com

How AI and Behavioral Science Are Transforming Customer Experience    Shep interviews Roger Dooley, keynote speaker and author of The Persuasion Engine. He talks about how AI and neuromarketing tools help businesses predict consumer behavior, measure emotional reactions, and avoid costly customer experience mistakes.     This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:     How can businesses use AI to predict customer behavior accurately?   How can companies use AI and behavioral science to eliminate customer friction?     In what ways can companies use behavioral science to improve customer loyalty?   How do customer expectations directly shape customer experience?   How can predictive AI prevent negative customer reactions during policy or product changes?    Top Takeaways:      AI in customer service has moved beyond automation and support. Today, successful companies use AI to understand customer behavior. By tracking engagement like website clicks or scrolling patterns, companies can determine what customers like and dislike.    Technology such as eye-tracking, biometric sensors, and AI-powered simulators, at one time available only to a limited number of companies due to cost, is now more accessible to businesses of any size.     Customer experience and marketing are deeply connected. Understanding and predicting customer desires isn't just a marketing strategy. It is an important part of delivering a frictionless, positive experience.    Customer expectations strongly influence how they perceive the experience. For example, when the average customer is told that a bottle of wine is expensive, they tend to enjoy it more. This is seen in their feedback and even in their brain activity.    Small details can have a big impact when it comes to connecting with your customers. When companies remove small perks their customers are used to, the change might put off some loyal customers. Don't underestimate how small gestures can build long-term emotional loyalty.     Plus, Shep and Roger talk about insights from The Persuasion Engine. Tune in!    Quote:     "AI is better than most humans at predicting how people will react emotionally to any communication. Whether you change your loyalty program or alter your customer experience in some way, AI can predict and even prevent negative blowback."        About:      Roger Dooley is an author, speaker, and McCombs Business School lecturer known for bestselling books like Brainfluence and Friction. His newest book, The Persuasion Engine, discusses how AI democratizes powerful marketing tools for organizations of any size.    Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guffy Wright is an elite insurance producer. He has a multi-million dollar (commission) Book of Business, but only after figuring out how to remove the hurdles of Friction, overcome Stagnation, achieve maximum Velocity, and then Accelerate month after month. In this episode host Charles Specht walks alongside Guffy as they discuss how producers can get out of their own way, find and dominate a profitable Micro-Niche, overcome the limiting beliefs, and accelerate toward Book growth with a steady velocity. Key Topics: Guffy Wright on writing Attach High after his father's passing Removing friction means attaching to the client's best interest Stagnation vs. cruise control: knowing the difference matters Why failure beats stagnation, since failure creates clarity Three types of friction: not clear, not safe, not aligned Trust gets you in the room, alignment moves the decision The V3 framework: value, vulnerability, and validation Micro-niching builds the expertise needed for real alignment Velocity: directional movement once friction is removed Stagnation cost Guffy seven figures, personally and professionally Reach out to  Guffy Wright Charles Specht Visit: Permission Network Chief Sales Officer Permission Producer School Produced by PodSquad.fm

Don’t miss the marketplace revolution! Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://theultimatepartner.com/ebook-subscribe/ Check Out UPX: https://theultimatepartner.com/experience/ In this episode of the Ultimate Partner Podcast, Vince Menzione sits down with AWS Marketplace leaders George Maroulakos and Arif Razvi to uncover the rapidly shifting ecosystem of technology procurement and partner transformation. They dive deep into the evolution of buyer experiences, the critical necessity of executive alignment, and how agentic AI is redefining software discovery and consumption. If you want to accelerate deal velocity and ensure your business isn’t left behind, this conversation outlines exactly why integrating the AWS Marketplace into your core co-sell motion is no longer optional. https://youtu.be/Avp0sIyxRU8 Key Takeaways Embracing the AWS Marketplace should be viewed as a natural extension of your co-sell motion, not an interrupt-driven exception. Successfully leveraging the marketplace requires top-down executive sponsorship to overcome internal friction across legal, finance, and revenue operations. Partners must prepare for global expansion by ensuring local entities and currencies are wired up to meet buyers where they are. Agentic AI and natural language queries are leveling the playing field for software discovery, moving beyond traditional SEO-driven presence. SaaS pricing models are shifting toward consumption and outcome-based structures, demanding highly detailed product metadata. The speed of deal closure is drastically increased when partners are prepared to transact seamlessly through the marketplace. If you're ready to lead through change, elevate your business, and achieve extraordinary outcomes through the power of partnership—this is your community. At Ultimate Partner® we want leaders like you to join us in the Ultimate Partner Experience – where transformation begins. Key Tags AWS Marketplace, partner transformation, buyer experiences, hyperscalers, co-sell motion, revenue operations, strategic alignment, agentic AI solutions, outcome-based pricing, metadata optimization, software discovery, private offers, global expansion, deal velocity, cloud centers of excellence. Transcript Arif Razvi and George Maroulakos Audio Episode [00:00:00] George Maroulakos: From my perspective, think about marketplace as a why not as opposed to a why. [00:00:06] Vince Menzione: You can feel it happening. The ecosystem is shifting beneath us, the way Hyperscalers are partnering, how AI is remaking the channel and what it means to win in 2026. [00:00:17] Arif Razvi: Welcome to the Ultimate Partner Podcast. I’m Vince Menzi, own your host. [00:00:22] Arif Razvi: And each week I sit down with leaders at the intersection of technology, [00:00:26] Vince Menzione: partnerships and outcomes. The voices shaping how ecosystems actually work. We talk about what’s real, what’s changing, and what it takes to lead in this era where the partner channel isn’t just part of the strategy. [00:00:39] Arif Razvi: It is the strategy because being in the room changes everything. [00:00:44] Arif Razvi: Let’s start. [00:00:48] Vince Menzione: I’m excited to, because we were talking about some of this earlier with Matt, but I thought this would be a great conversation. I’m gonna ask each of you to introduce yourselves, George and Arif, and your roles. ’cause you have two very unique roles. Uh. Contrasting roles, I would call it, within the AWS Marketplace Organization. [00:01:06] George Maroulakos: Yep. Happy to do so. So I think Vince just didn’t wanna say my last name, so that’s why I’m gonna introduce myself. Mayor. Very, very good. So Mayor Laki, George Meki, pleasure to meet. Hey, I can say that, uh, all of those that I haven’t met before, lots of familiar faces as well here. Uh, so it’s really great to see. [00:01:21] George Maroulakos: Uh, I’m part of the AWS Marketplace team and our center of excellence. That focuses on buyer experiences. So like why is a buyer guy here in this partner session? And I think, you know, I’m gonna help to try to bring some perspective around what our buyers see as the value for using marketplace and. [00:01:40] George Maroulakos: Working with all of these great partners that are here in the room and, uh, you know, the experiences that we see in helping to drive, you know, the blood to all organs. I’m using that a lot, Alison, to copyright it. It’s, it was really good. I love that, that analogy. But, um, for, but for both our partners as well as for our customers. [00:01:59] Vince Menzione: That’s awesome. [00:01:59] Arif Razvi: Hey everybody. I’m Arif Roski. I’m based here in New York City, although I’m a Celtics fan. Um, uh, go, go. I, I still supported the Knicks through the championship and I’m very happy for them. So excited to be here. Excited to be among, uh, other channel and alliance leaders. I’ve spent my entire 25 plus career in channels and alliances. [00:02:20] Arif Razvi: The last seven years, uh, on AWS marketplace where I lead, uh, a couple of functions. One is I support all of Matt Ian’s feature launches. So from a go-to market perspective, uh, I support his launches. I also focus on international expansion of marketplace. So, uh, Matt alluded to this earlier. I’ll mention some, I’ll talk about some stuff in a little bit. [00:02:39] Arif Razvi: And then, uh, we do some deep engagements with some of our most strategic partners to help them accelerate and unblock their marketplace business. By embedding a subject matter expert from my team into their organization to really help drive, uh, adoption of marketplace. [00:02:55] Vince Menzione: So important. Both of your roles. [00:02:56] Vince Menzione: By the way, this is standout roles. I, you know, I. I don’t want to get into trouble here. I talk about other hyperscalers, but I said this with Matt on stage earlier. You guys have been at the forefront of driving marketplace in such a strong way, having somebody who’s customer focused, right? And that lens is so important. [00:03:15] Vince Menzione: I don’t feel, I feel like that’s missed so many times. And then you also have. You know, quite a bit of an important role here in terms of what you’re doing in embedding resources. ’cause a lot of times people get lost in the process and it seems to be the, the common currents. So, um, really great both sides of the same equation here, right? [00:03:33] Vince Menzione: Buyer led, partner built, uh, let’s start George here. Um. Let’s talk about how buying has changed. Right. We go back to the early days of marketplace. It felt like it was a listing at first and it started to become important. Organizations like Work Span started to come to fruition and started to drive, at least in my part of the world. [00:03:53] Vince Menzione: And then we started talking a lot more about Marketplace. And of course the, the cus customer commits really started driving things in a different direction. You’ve got the customer, so talk about what your journey’s been like. [00:04:05] George Maroulakos: So I’ve been with Marketplace nine and a half years, which is pretty long time since the beginning of it, and watching the evolution of, of where things have come and where they started. [00:04:15] George Maroulakos: And I remember, uh, I was covering the, the northeast region when I very first started and working with, uh, you know, different enterprise accounts and financial services and, and, and healthcare and life sciences, and talking about this. This creation that occurred called, called AWS Marketplace, and even folks within AWS didn’t really know what that meant or how to talk about it or sell it. [00:04:38] George Maroulakos: So there was this creation of a infield based business development function to help supplement the account teams and the value and the importance of marketplace as a part of a customer’s AWS journey. And when I first started the, the, the highest, uh, or most frequently subscribed to products that existed were. [00:04:57] George Maroulakos: Uh, Amazon machine images a amis and it’s very specifically open source amis. So think of Bantu or Cintas as the predominant things that were being subscribed out of marketplace. So, um, by definition, not really revenue generating. You’re, these are not the a hundred million dollar transactions or the billion dollar club that we talk about today. [00:05:19] George Maroulakos: It was very much helping. The builders go again, go back 10 years, uh, who are just getting started with the cloud and how could they find partner solutions that they trusted or that they felt were secure and helping them to start to build out and migrate their workloads into, into AWS. Um, so I existed before the. [00:05:39] George Maroulakos: Very first private offer was transacted. Nice. Um, there’s actually a, a gentleman towards the back, uh, who helped with one of our very first private offers. I see you back there, Joe. Nice, nice. Um, so we, we worked on, uh, uh, uh, really big transaction with, uh, with, at the time AppDynamics, uh, and, and helping to get. [00:05:58] George Maroulakos: You know, a customer really up and running with their implementation that, so watching over the 10 years from, you know, the builder mentality of, of getting started with the cloud to really embracing all kinds of partner based, um, solutions that go along with AWS. It’s really been, uh, you know, a, a rocket ship you referenced earlier, moving to the top right quadrant, if we want to use the, the Gartner analogy, and I think we’re at another. [00:06:24] George Maroulakos: Inflection point because with what’s going on with Ag agentic solutions, the way that our customers are finding and discovering different partner solutions is better than ever I would think. And I think it gives much more of a equal opportunity in playing field for all partners of all shapes and sizes because you’re not driving your presence based on SEO or whether or not you have the best Google search results. [00:06:53] George Maroulakos: With AgTech and how you differentiate your solutions, you’re gonna be able to really get yourself in front of more customers more quickly. And as Matt talked about earlier, the, the, the really big penetration that we’ve seen thus far is real, is on the discovery piece, the, the research area, the pre-purchase activity, so validate what’s available. [00:07:13] George Maroulakos: So I think marketplace has really evolved over the 10 year, nine and a half years-ish that I’ve been there. And I think it’s gonna continue to change here in the coming months ahead. Yeah. [00:07:23] Vince Menzione: Any predictions? [00:07:25] George Maroulakos: Yeah, I, I think, you know, the, I, the, the importance of marketplaces is only going to continue to grow. [00:07:32] George Maroulakos: Uh, and I think we’re going to see, you know, even more innovation and expectation from our customers on being able to find the right solutions and being able to procure and deploy them as quickly as possible. [00:07:44] Vince Menzione: Nice. Arif, from your side. Partner transformation. So, you know, embedding resources with the partners. [00:07:51] Vince Menzione: Right. So you basically help kickstart a lot of the, the efforts, right? George? George is looking at it from the customer side, and then you’re kick-starting it on the partner side. [00:08:00] Arif Razvi: Yeah. Either kickstarting it, uh, on the initial stages with a strategic partner. Yeah. Or accelerating their adoption of something that’s already there. [00:08:07] Arif Razvi: Right. So what we’re seeing, what I’m seeing a lot of more recently is partners who say, I didn’t know you had capabilities for us to sell into Korea or Japan, or we just, we just launched India. Yep. Matt alluded to this easier, uh, earlier that we’re making it easier for partners to expand globally. And now partners are realizing, wait a minute, I can match my. [00:08:26] Arif Razvi: Uh, my business processes on marketplace, so revenue recognition, tax collection, locally, local invoices, and now they’re starting to set up multiple entities outside the US to meet those buyers, uh, where they are. [00:08:41] Vince Menzione: Nice. And you mentioned having these resources. How do you determine who gets resources and who? [00:08:47] Arif Razvi: Well, there’s, uh, staging and there’s, uh, there’s qualification mechanisms we use. We work with the PDMs for the partners. So any PDM, uh, any pd DM managed partner can be nominated for, uh, what, what we call a compensation. [00:08:59] Vince Menzione: So you’re overlaying that organization sense. [00:09:00] Arif Razvi: We’re overlaying the PDs. We’re not replacing, we’re only doing time bound sprints to unlock very specific activities. [00:09:05] Arif Razvi: Very [00:09:06] Vince Menzione: cool. So it’s not a poll. Yeah. Cool. You’re not, you’re not there forever. [00:09:08] Arif Razvi: No. [00:09:08] Vince Menzione: You’re there to get the job done. We [00:09:09] Arif Razvi: did that before. Uh, yeah, we’re, we’re doing short sprints now. [00:09:12] Vince Menzione: Yep. Let’s talk about how the buyers are using marketplace. You’ve done some really in, we talked about this earlier with Matt, but we’ve talked about some of the innovative things you’ve done. [00:09:21] Vince Menzione: You know, being, being able to embed into a website and in the storefronts. All these things seem to be unique to AWS. Talk to us about how the buyers are using the marketplace today. And [00:09:31] George Maroulakos: yeah, I think, you know, Matt talked about earlier the. Pre the, the preconception around why customers use marketplaces for the financial incentives, the, the financial benefits that go along with it, whether it’s direct incentives that are associated with the individual product that’s out there, or the Association of Marketplace to our private pricing agreements and the ability for. [00:09:55] George Maroulakos: Transactions that occur in marketplace to count towards those commits. Um, I’m gonna amplify a, a particular point that Matt made, uh, in his talk that, you know, we have many more customers who do not have PPAs with AWS than those that do. And the volume of transactions that take place in marketplace. [00:10:11] George Maroulakos: Dwarf, uh, in volume from those that, uh, are occur from our PPA customers. So yes, there are very large transactions that occur and there is Ben financial benefit that goes along with it. But there’s many other value points that our customers find from discovery. From ease of use, from consolidated billing, from post-purchase, um, you know, management and governance that goes along with it, and reconciliation that’s available, that’s, that exists. [00:10:36] George Maroulakos: Um, you mentioned storefronts. I’m really excited. That was one of the most exciting launches. That’s why I reminded him when he was talking about it, uh, around, you know, what that means. And it’s both a presence for, um, our partners and being able to create their own storefronts on behalf of, of customers or within their own property, but also for our buyers directly too. [00:10:54] George Maroulakos: Take that next generation of something that was previously, you know, our private marketplace and curate a catalog that is very specific and intentional for the things that they’re interested to innovate with and the partners that they’re interested in using. And so I think meeting our customers where they’re at. [00:11:10] George Maroulakos: And being, you know, marketplace anywhere and everywhere is I think really important for our customers. And then the other aspect, you know, in terms of how our customers use marketplace, there’s more than one persona at our customer that we need to be, be, be aligning with. Right. Interesting. We typically talk about procurement and the value points that procurement find in marketplace, but just as important as, as the technologists. [00:11:32] George Maroulakos: It’s the Cloud centers of Excellence. It’s the innovators who are looking for those business applications or those infrastructure solutions that exist and making sure that we have the right things from the right partners available to them. So we see value all over the place with our customers and how they inter interface with [00:11:47] Vince Menzione: more. [00:11:47] Vince Menzione: You brought up something really interesting, insightful, is the fact that all the different personas in the organization that are touching the marketplace, right? [00:11:54] George Maroulakos: And it’s at different points of the journey, right? Yeah. So while there may be early discovery and research and experimentation going on from, you know, the technologists or, or, or the, or the, the, the business application owners, um, as it progresses through the, the, the. [00:12:09] George Maroulakos: The opportunity lifecycle procurement and sourcing and legal, and the shared services then become a more important part of, of making sure that we get those opportunities closed and launched. [00:12:18] Vince Menzione: Yeah, and that was one of the things we were talking about earlier is the fact that how, how, uh, it, it, the work arduous it could be. [00:12:25] Vince Menzione: To go through that whole process at a customer side. Right? ’cause they have to. [00:12:29] George Maroulakos: It is, and and you know, I think when Cloud first got started, it was quite scary for procurement, right? It became another version of Shadow it. And we were seeing things that were getting purchased on P cards because they could quickly stand up infrastructure versus waiting for the IT team to do it. [00:12:44] George Maroulakos: And so now you introduce all of these other things that. Procurement kept near and dear to their heart, and here comes another wave of, is this truly positive disruption? Is it going to affect what’s, what I’m doing affect really my goals and objectives of supporting the company. And as you, you know, you continue to express the value of marketplace, they start to see, hey, this is actually very complimentary and helped me can get better control and governance in a way that I. [00:13:11] George Maroulakos: Perhaps didn’t have before with what was going on inside the cloud. [00:13:15] Vince Menzione: So this is a question for both of you actually, but I was thinking about these partners in the room and what did they get wrong? Like what are they doing? Like what are the things we always talk about, things that they’re doing right? [00:13:26] Vince Menzione: We’re having the happy talk about all the great success that’s been going on, but what is your advice to partners that maybe are not getting it right? Like what, what, what are the things you see that. The easy stumbling blocks that could be fixed. [00:13:38] Arif Razvi: Yeah. Well, probably the easiest is, uh, waiting to talk about marketplace at the last minute and not making it part of the full commercial journey [00:13:45] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:13:45] Arif Razvi: That the sellers will go through. Right. So, um, but that includes being able to have those internal conversations from the executive level, getting that executive sponsorship from marketplace upfront. That filters down through the rest of the organization. So you’ve gotta get rev ops teams, finance, legal, you know, the marketplace terms, the, the standard, uh, contract that goes into your listing has to be approved by legal. [00:14:08] Arif Razvi: Uh, and then you get down to the sales teams, making sure that you’re not penalizing sales teams for doing transactions on marketplace, which will create friction, then meeting buyers where they are, right? So local entities, local currency, um, having all that wired up. Uh, I met with a, a partner yesterday at Summit who is literally wiring up 10 new regions, 10 new entities in 10 new locations on marketplace in advance of what they know is a pipeline that’s going to be building into those regions. [00:14:37] Arif Razvi: So they’re getting ready and not waiting for the last minute for marketplace. [00:14:40] Vince Menzione: I love it. And the internal, go ahead. [00:14:43] George Maroulakos: Yeah, I, I echo definitely what Arif was saying and I think the, the other aspect of that is that our customers shouldn’t feel like it’s more painful. To use marketplace versus they would any other way. [00:14:54] George Maroulakos: And so whether that shows up in pricing, it shows up in awareness of what marketplace is and isn’t, or what it can or cannot do. Um, whether it’s introducing it naturally or it’s this, oh, by the way, on the end, like the, the more. Integrated marketplace is as a part of your co-sell motion, whether you’re doing it directly on your own or through a reseller or with AWS or all of the above. [00:15:17] George Maroulakos: Um, it’s, it should be a natural extension and a value point that you’re bringing to your respective customers, not some. Interrupt driven or, or exception based activity that goes along with selling your, your, your, your solution. [00:15:31] Vince Menzione: Why do you think customer, some customers or some partners are held back or what, what, what is, is it a mindset? [00:15:38] Vince Menzione: I mean, I talk about the principles, you know that, but like, is it mindset? What is it? Is it, [00:15:42] Arif Razvi: it’s, it’s internal. Friction. Yeah. A a a lot of what I see, especially in these, in, in embedded engagements is the amount of, you know, I have a lot of empathy for this room, right? Because you are the ones that have to go internally and navigate all of these stakeholders to be able to convince them that marketplace is the route to market. [00:16:01] Arif Razvi: It’s the preferred route to market, and it’s the way that a AWS wants to co-sell. With its partners. And that’s a hard thing to do if you don’t speak the same language that the tax legal, rev ops, finance, accounting, because everything changes. When you start doing transactions on marketplace, your revenue is booked differently, right? [00:16:20] Arif Razvi: It’s booked as a w from AWS and not from the, you know, from the, so things change and having that conversation is often challenging. Uh, we are working on some tools that will help make that conversation easier. Um, and we’ve already written blogs, and again, there are mechanisms that your partner managers have internally that they can request support and guidance. [00:16:43] Arif Razvi: Uh, and we’re happy to provide that. [00:16:45] Vince Menzione: What needs to change so that marketplace becomes a true go to market engine. [00:16:49] Arif Razvi: Top down, top down, top down where, where I’ve seen the most success. From a partner is where they’ve gotten strategic alignment at the executive level. That marketplace is the way we are going to, uh, sell globally. [00:17:02] Arif Razvi: Right? Then that starts to filter down, as I mentioned earlier, into the different teams and yes, it is a journey and you may start with the US or if you’re EMEA based. Partner, you may start with just amea, but eventually you will start to expand your, you’ll want to expand your business. Um, and marketplace is a great place to do that because we have all of those mechanisms globally to help you scale without adding incremental resources to handle the tax or the compliance or the invoicing and collection and all that stuff. [00:17:30] George Maroulakos: Yeah. I’ll add to that because I’m gonna steal a second thing you said, Allison, about centering around a customer. I, I loved a lot of Allison. Come on now. I’ll be your hype guy. I absolutely, but, but, but the but demand will drive supply. And I think to what you were talking about, Arif, when are customers, when. [00:17:46] George Maroulakos: Our customers come to you about wanting to use marketplace. Yeah. How are you ready to adapt to that? How are you ready to respond to it? And if it becomes a disjointed, not centered around a customer, bespoke based, independently based interaction with the customer, everybody loses. Versus if you’re ready to embrace what that means and how to make that as good of an experience, if not better, versus how they might have traditionally procured your solution and deployed it. [00:18:13] George Maroulakos: Um, now we have a much better together story. So I think understanding that customers more and more are going to use marketplaces, particularly AWS marketplace, and want to make use of partner solutions that embrace marketplace as a part of their way to procure and deploy. You have a much better chance of being successful with them. [00:18:33] Vince Menzione: You know, it made me think about this. Is there a seminal event? Like I think about, I think back to COVID changing buying behavior, right? I’m, we’ll use AWS, an example, three boxes show up in my house every day, right? That didn’t happen before. We used to go to the store. Is there a seminal event we’re waiting to happen? [00:18:50] Vince Menzione: I, I know that the millennial buyer, we talked about this earlier with Matt, is the new buying persona. Over 50% of buyers are millennial and they’re used to doing comfortable with phones and trust Is all there. Is there something else we’re missing or what do, what do you think’s gonna happen? [00:19:03] George Maroulakos: I really think it’s what in front of us right now. [00:19:05] George Maroulakos: Yeah. Vince, I think what. Agen solutions, what Agen SaaS offers, what the power of information and research that’s now directly available to customers versus maybe indirectly available through consultancies or deeper research. Um, the velocity of what our customers are going to be able to do and with partners that they may not have even heard of right before. [00:19:32] George Maroulakos: You know, they started their journey. I, I think this is a present day. Inflection point. Yeah. Um, going back, you know, over the past several years, the advent of supporting private offers I think was a pretty big milestone for marketplace. It allowed for our partners to be able to. Work through customized terms and conditions and commercials that were important for a particular opportunity in a customer. [00:19:54] George Maroulakos: But today, the here and now I think becomes the next inflection point for the success of marketplace. [00:19:59] Arif Razvi: That would [00:19:59] Vince Menzione: Go ahead. [00:20:00] Arif Razvi: I was just gonna add on top of that, but partners need to be ready for that. Right? And if they’re not ready to accelerate a deal and get it closed in days versus stalling it for weeks to negotiate. [00:20:11] Arif Razvi: Yes. Like they’re not gonna stand. Customers are not gonna stand for that. So partners need to be ready to move quickly. If you think about all the innovations that Matt is delivering for Marketplace and Partner Central. They’re about accelerating co-sell. They’re about accelerating deal velocity. They’re about, we know f from, from the Forrester studies and others that we presented, that we’ve made public that the deal value goes up when you’re dealing with marketplace and co-selling with AWS. [00:20:36] Arif Razvi: So how can we just accelerate that? Yeah. Partners need to be ready for that and move quickly. [00:20:40] Vince Menzione: And you use partners in sort of a, you know, plural sense, but I think about those organizations as so many multifaceted. We talked about finance, we talked about all of different functions in the organization. [00:20:51] Vince Menzione: What are you doing to help that? I mean, we talked about you’re doing a lot of readiness work, but I do feel like there’s a lot of evangelism still to be done internally with those organizations. How do you think about [00:21:02] Arif Razvi: that? Yeah, we, um, obviously events like this are fantastic mechanisms to at least get the conversation started and get your head thinking about what you need to think about. [00:21:10] Arif Razvi: But we have other activities. We have, uh, rev Ops squads, right? So revenue operations teams, and we bring them together, uh, around the world op, uh, ops squad, which is operational teams, so deal desks and others that help them, uh, understand the capabilities that marketplace can bring to accelerate deal velocity. [00:21:28] Arif Razvi: And then we have, like, obviously other events like the, the, uh, marketplace Seller Conference in September where we bring marketplace sellers together and give them, you know. Guidance. And so there are ways to get this information beyond just like getting somebody from my team, of which there are very few as you, you know, as we start to, to consolidate down. [00:21:47] Arif Razvi: But um, but they are available and there’s other mechanisms and we’re happy to share those out. [00:21:50] Vince Menzione: Nice, nice. Well coming here doing this and we’ll make a podcast episode out of this as well. Can you hear. I hear us all, uh, because I do think it’s important to get in front of, especially the Chief Finance Officer and operations and all those different departmental heads who aren’t really embedded into, like, they don’t come to these events. [00:22:07] Arif Razvi: Yeah. And they also don’t log into Partner Central. That’s right. So how do they get this information right? Yeah. So we have to one to one it with them. Yeah. But that doesn’t scale when you think about what’s gonna happen now with this next wave of GSIs and sis and, and others coming onto Marketplace who hadn’t been there. [00:22:22] Arif Razvi: Yes, they’re gonna need the same guidance. Yeah. So we have to start thinking about what we’re building is AI tooling to help with those conversations. [00:22:28] George Maroulakos: Well, and, and you know, if, when I think about it from, from our buyer’s perspective, even just yesterday we held a, a couple of round table discussions with some procurement leaders that were, we’re here for the summit and, you know, we do a lot of enablement and, and awareness. [00:22:42] George Maroulakos: With alliance leaders at our partners, and that’s certainly a, the tip of the spear of getting the conversation started, but it’s not enough. And one of the things that we hear from our customers is. Well, you may have a great partnership with particular partner A, but the individual experience that I had with that sales rep doesn’t match that. [00:23:02] George Maroulakos: And so yeah, the evangelism and the awareness, yes, and the understanding of marketplace has to go beyond just the alliance team. You guys are the amplifier to it. But the folks that not only are in the back office and all the, the, the operational teams, but on the front lines and field sales need to also understand and embrace, not understand all the features and capabilities of marketplace. [00:23:25] George Maroulakos: AWS needs to handle that, but understand how marketplace fits into the co-sell strategy in what’s going on for that particular customer is very, very important to make sure our customers get the right experience. [00:23:37] Vince Menzione: Well, I think Arif, you mentioned this earlier about compensation models. And that’s a, that’s a factor too. [00:23:42] Vince Menzione: ’cause people, people, um, they’re fearful of change. They’re fear, fearful of compensation changing. Especially, especially sellers. I, um, again, that’s a coaching area. [00:23:54] Arif Razvi: Yeah, it’s a coaching area. Um, it, it, it is, um. It’s probably one of the easier ones to solve. Um, and, and, and, you know, we have these conversations with partners about net, uh, cost neutral or uh, seller neutrality and things like that. [00:24:06] Arif Razvi: Once you show them the economics of how AWS can increase their deal value, those economics sort of, they go away. The problems go away, but they, you have to get in front of those. Uh, you know, senior leaders, the CROs and the CFOs, to have that conversation to then go, okay, I get what’s going on here. I get why I’m paying. [00:24:23] Arif Razvi: The listing fee is, is about funding all of these marketing activities that we do for our partners, right? [00:24:29] George Maroulakos: Well, and then you use the word neutrality. The other end of that neutrality problem or, or, or challenge is the pricing that goes along with the opportunities that are made available to customers. [00:24:38] George Maroulakos: And so to one of your earlier questions on points of friction or what, what stops it from taking off further? When, when partners and our customers have a disconnect on. What they’re expecting to pay when they use marketplace, or if there is a unnatural cost that goes along with procuring that solution through marketplace. [00:24:57] George Maroulakos: That also tends to bring a, a pretty bad experience, not only for that opportunity in front of them, but for respective opportunities that may, may be in play thereafter. So thinking about not, you know, having an a, an unnatural experience for our customers relative to pricing as well as compensation and, and everything else is, is also very important. [00:25:17] Vince Menzione: So we’ve got a few minutes left, and we haven’t really touched on ag agentic AI and agen AI solutions. A little bit different than the SaaS solutions per se. How, how are these solutions brought and sold differently than SaaS? [00:25:30] Arif Razvi: Uh, well, as Matt said, the SaaS apocalypse is not real. [00:25:34] Vince Menzione: Yeah. [00:25:34] Arif Razvi: Um, he doesn’t, I’m glad to hear that, nor nor do I. [00:25:37] Arif Razvi: Um, I, I think what, you know, where, where SaaS has been very user seat based, you’re moving now to a world that’s gonna be more consumption based or outcome-based pricing. And so that’s really changing the dynamic and I think partners need to think about what does an outcome-based, uh, pricing model look for My particular. [00:25:55] Arif Razvi: Um, product, uh, Zendesk is a good example of, Matt published a blog, uh, earlier this week, I think it was, where we, we referenced Zendesk pricing on closed tickets or, or resolutions to tickets, right? For, for outcome-based pricing. So I think we need to think about on the pricing side, how to reprice, how to think about pricing. [00:26:13] Arif Razvi: But on the discovery side, thinking about what your, what your listing looks like, it’s no longer about marketing copy. It’s about, it’s almost, I was talking yesterday about being an API contract. ’cause the agent needs to have all the details that a person doesn’t necessarily need to have in order to make a recommendation that your product is the best fit based on the technology that’s underlying that, where it’s gonna fit in the infrastructure. [00:26:37] Vince Menzione: So three and a half minutes left lightning round. Um, but seriously, what, what if I’m in the room or even any, any partner that’s listening today, what do I need to change in the next 30 days? [00:26:50] George Maroulakos: From my perspective, think about marketplace as a why not as opposed to a why. And if you change your mindset around marketplace can be better together in helping to accelerate and expand your opportunities with our mutual customers. [00:27:03] George Maroulakos: You’ll get a whole lot more value out of it. You’ll get away from the fud in the system or some of the traditional roadblocks that you either have been or could be encountering when you think about marketplace, uh, together with your, with your solution. So think about the why not think about the value that the, the, the total solution can bring to our mutual customers and integrate it much more naturally into your total sales motion. [00:27:26] Vince Menzione: Nice. [00:27:27] Arif Razvi: I would say maybe three things. One, um, don’t just sell globally. Operate locally. Think about how your buyers wanna buy and then meet them there, right? As a partner, even if you’re doing CPPO transactions, um, you know, meet them in the location. Number two, top down, go get that executive alignment so the problems start to disappear, or at least are easier to manage when you’ve got that executive alignment. [00:27:51] Arif Razvi: And the third was, uh, don’t wait till the last minute to introduce marketplace. Work with your sales teams to make sure it’s part of the early conversation versus no procurement leader wants to know at the end of the day, oh wait, it’s coming. I gotta deal with this marketplace thing. They don’t wanna deal with it on the buyer side. [00:28:06] Vince Menzione: No, absolutely. Alright, we’ve got time for like one question in the back. Is that Eric? Yeah, that’s [00:28:12] Guest: me. [00:28:13] Vince Menzione: Hey. [00:28:14] Guest: Hi, Eric Rosenstein, um, with Cornerstone Strategy XAWS. So George, you talked about, uh, tools around that customers can use to research for self discovery. So what guidance, uh, first of all, like what capabilities are these tools gonna bring and what guidance would you give an industry specific ISV? [00:28:36] Guest: So someone that’s focused on law enforcement or private equity. That solution may be Angen solution, or it may be something more SaaS related. What guidance would you give an ISV to think about how to best leverage those tools? Is it metadata? Is it like. The outcome that your solution’s gonna drive, how would you tell ’em to best utilize those coming tools? [00:28:58] George Maroulakos: Yeah, excellent question and, and I think this is gonna, going to continue to emerge in the days, literally in weeks, weeks ahead. But recently, I, I’d say over the last six months, the advent of agent mode I think has been a game changer and the ability for our customers to use marketplace directly to research. [00:29:18] George Maroulakos: Efficiently what’s in our catalog. Prior to that, we had a category based. Old school based, search based category, click through way, which became very buried beyond the first page for any solution that was out there. Now with natural language query and the ability to propose, what am I specifically looking for, it gives partners that were on the first page or the last page in equal opportunity to be surfaced. [00:29:48] George Maroulakos: So then for a partner being able to do many of the things you just enumerated. Better metadata, better keywords, better description and differentiation for what your solution offers allows for the Ag agent search, whether it’s natively within AWS or outside of AWS through Claude Chat, GBT Crock Pick your, your, your agent of choice. [00:30:10] George Maroulakos: To be able to identify and know that your solution’s available. [00:30:13] Arif Razvi: And from a partner side to your question, I would say, uh, rich metadata, uh, both so that agent mode can find it. Yeah. Use cases, problems, it solves, you know, uh, technical specifications, pricing where you can, right. So that agents can really understand the solution, uh, that the buyer is, um, is looking for. [00:30:33] Vince Menzione: GEO is. [00:30:37] Guest: Perspective should be like as detailed as saying, so this agent is gonna act on these various data sources. [00:30:44] Arif Razvi: Yes. [00:30:45] Guest: Bringing it all together to drive that outcome that you want the agent [00:30:48] Arif Razvi: drive, if you can include what it needs to connect to in order to deliver that outcome as part of the listing. [00:30:53] Arif Razvi: Absolutely. ’cause the agent will want to know. For sure. [00:30:57] Guest: Thanks. [00:30:58] Vince Menzione: Alright, we are at time and this was a great session. [00:31:01] Arif Razvi: Thank you Vince. [00:31:01] Vince Menzione: Great to see you, George. George and I grew up, uh, five miles away from each other and went to the same college. I love it. Great to, great to spend some [00:31:09] Arif Razvi: time with you, George. [00:31:11] Vince Menzione: Thanks for listening to the Ultimate Partner Podcast. If today’s conversation resonated, share it with a partner leader in your network. Subscribe where you listen, and head over to the ultimate partner.com. For show notes related content and the resources for this episode, and if you haven’t already, now’s the time to register for the Ultimate Partner Live Event in Reston, Virginia, October 26th through October 28th. [00:31:38] Vince Menzione: Until next time, keep showing up in the rooms that matter because being in the room changes everything.

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Welcome to Season 5 of the Braving Business podcast.In this season premiere, co-hosts PJ Benoit and Tal Zlotnitsky dive into a challenge that quietly undermines almost every organization: how to lead effectively through human difference. Rather than treating differences in background, communication styles, generations, or perspectives as obstacles to manage or suppress, what if leaders treated them as dormant capital waiting to be mined?Joining the show are two co-authors of the book All the Difference: How Great Leaders Create Value From Diversity: Lt. Gen. Leslie C. Smith (Ret.), former 66th Inspector General of the U.S. Army, and Stuart Kliman, founding partner at Vantage Partners and alumnus of the Harvard Negotiation Project.From combat operations to Fortune 500 boardrooms and high-growth tech startups, Gen. Smith and Stu share why navigating difference is not an HR checklist or standard DEI policy—it is a core leadership capability called Difference Intelligence.Inside the EpisodeDifference as an Asset: Why modern teams are more difference-filled than ever, and how viewing friction as "dormant capital" creates real competitive advantage.Leadership Through Love (Agape): Gen. Smith shares why true military leadership is rooted in love, care, setting the conditions for success, and serving those you lead.The 6 Target Actions: An inside look at the actionable framework from All the Difference, including Knowing Yourself, Returning to Respect, Activating Honesty, Seeing the Full Story, Igniting Togetherness, and Committing to Action.The 4 Leadership Landmines: How default certainty, inconsistency, reactivity, and justification derail even well-intentioned leaders.The Living Case Study: How three distinct co-authors (a 3-star general, a corporate strategy expert, and an executive coach) lived through their own friction, debates, and diverse perspectives to write this book.Preparing the Battlefield for Decisive Action: How investing in trust and transparency ahead of time makes tough, decisive leadership choices stick when the stakes are highest.Notable Quotes"Difference is gravity. It's part of the human condition. Poorly managed, it undermines your success; well managed, it becomes a source of tremendous value." — Stuart Kliman"Those who lead must first serve. Leadership is about taking people not only to where they want to go, but beyond where they think they have the ability to go." — Lt. Gen. Leslie C. SmithResources & LinksGet the book: All the Difference (available wherever books are sold)Learn more about our hosts and upcoming episodes: Braving BusinessCheck out Cara Tanamachi's new novel Kiss, Marry, Kill at Cara the AuthorCatch PJ on The Blackhawks Daily on YouTube and major podcast platformsConnect with Braving BusinessWebsite: bravingbusiness.comFollow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTubeDon't forget to follow, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Technology keeps trying to “fix” every small inconvenience in our lives, which has rendered us completely unable to endure basic hurdles such as sitting in silence, navigating unfamiliar social social interactions, and doing any kind of creative thinking. To reverse this, Kathryn Jezer Morton, writer of The Cut's “Brooding” column and author of the new book The Story of Your Life, proposes we “friction-maxx.” On today's encore episode, Kathryn joins host Kate Lindsay to figure out how to rebuild our tolerance for the very things that, it turns out, make us human.This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Technology keeps trying to “fix” every small inconvenience in our lives, which has rendered us completely unable to endure basic hurdles such as sitting in silence, navigating unfamiliar social social interactions, and doing any kind of creative thinking. To reverse this, Kathryn Jezer Morton, writer of The Cut's “Brooding” column and author of the new book The Story of Your Life, proposes we “friction-maxx.” On today's encore episode, Kathryn joins host Kate Lindsay to figure out how to rebuild our tolerance for the very things that, it turns out, make us human.This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Technology keeps trying to “fix” every small inconvenience in our lives, which has rendered us completely unable to endure basic hurdles such as sitting in silence, navigating unfamiliar social social interactions, and doing any kind of creative thinking. To reverse this, Kathryn Jezer Morton, writer of The Cut's “Brooding” column and author of the new book The Story of Your Life, proposes we “friction-maxx.” On today's encore episode, Kathryn joins host Kate Lindsay to figure out how to rebuild our tolerance for the very things that, it turns out, make us human.This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does the future of surgery look like in an AI-powered healthcare landscape? In this episode we sit down with Dr. Michael Guertin, Chief Perioperative Medical Director at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming perioperative care while keeping human expertise at the center. From risk stratification and surgical preparation to operating room efficiency, patient safety, and clinical decision-making, Dr. Guertin shares how AI can help healthcare teams work smarter, improve outcomes, and spend more time focused on patients. This episode is ideal for healthcare executives, perioperative and surgical leaders, digital health innovators, and clinical transformation professionals looking for practical insights into how AI can improve patient safety, operational efficiency, and care delivery while keeping human expertise at the center. Chapter Timestamps 00:00 Preview Clip 00:55 Introduction 04:56 Friction points in perioperative care today 11:29 Improving outcomes through enhanced surgical recovery programs 14:54 How AI is transforming perioperative care 19:42 Supply chain optimization and operational efficiency 24:22 The future of precision surgical checklists 29:41 AI as a coaching tool for healthcare teams 31:39 Digitizing informed consent and reducing errors 34:46 Leading AI adoption through effective change management 37:57 Leadership development and the future of AI in healthcare   Connect with Dr. Guertin on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeguertinmd Find Dr. Guertin's work at https://medicine.osu.edu Subscribe and stay at the forefront of the digital healthcare revolution. Find out why we're the fastest growing digital health channel on YouTube!  The Digital Healthcare Experience is a hub to connect healthcare leaders and tech enthusiasts. Powered by Taylor Healthcare, this podcast is your gateway to the latest trends and breakthroughs in digital health. Learn more about The Digital Healthcare Experience here. Taylor Healthcare empowers healthcare organizations to thrive in the digital world. Our technology streamlines critical workflows such as procedural & surgical informed consent with patented mobile signature capture, ransomware downtime mitigation, patient engagement and more. For more information about Taylor Healthcare, please visit imedhealth.com   The Digital Healthcare Experience Podcast: Powered by Taylor Healthcare Produced by Naomi Schwimmer  Hosted by Chris Civitarese Edited by Eli Banks Music by Nicholas Bach  

Most leaders are told to stay logical and remove anything that feels like friction. But real emotional intelligence in leadership starts with reading that friction, not erasing it.Dr. Mira Brancu sits down with organizational psychologists Dr. Ross Blankenship and Dr. Maggie Sass, authors of the upcoming book Friction, to talk about the emotional data most of us are trained to ignore. They make a simple case: friction is not a malfunction, it is a signal. The discomfort, the tension, the hard conversation you keep avoiding, all of it is information you can actually use to lead better. They get into why using AI to smooth everything out can quietly make your work vanish instead of easier and why leadership only becomes real the moment your decisions meet other human beings. If you have ever felt that leading people is harder than it looks, this conversation explains what is actually going on, and what to do about it this week.Subscribe for weekly conversations on leadership, burnout, and mental health at work.Find our guest here:https://www.tuesdayadvisors.com/ https://rossblankenship.substack.com/https://www.rossblankenship.io/https://www.talentsmarteq.com/articles/https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggiesass-phd/To find more of my work:

I sat down with personal growth coach Danny Kennedy for round two of one of the rawest conversations I've had on this show, on belief, identity and the team overhaul happening inside Geronimo right now. Follow the show: Spotify Apple Podcasts YouTube Instagram I had a heart attack. Four weeks ago I started therapy. In two weeks I start EMDR. I'm telling you this before anything else, because the biggest jump my business has made all year didn't come from a new funnel, a new hire or a new tactic. It came from the inside, on the exhale of a breathwork session where I genuinely felt like I turned into an eagle, and I came out the other side making decisions like a different person than the one who walked in. Danny is a personal growth coach to some of the biggest names in the game, and he sat me down and called it straight. You're not stuck because of your team, your market or your funnel. You're stuck because you haven't decided who you're being yet, and your team, your revenue and your capacity are all just catching up to that decision. This one gets into the belief work behind that shift, and the very practical, sometimes uncomfortable team redesign that's come out of it. In this episode you'll hear: Why acting as if sold out our newest coaching tier in a week, and the one question now running every decision in my business. The belief test that decides whether you build a $100 outcome or an empire, and why they take exactly the same amount of work. The real reason we ripped out every layer of middle management, and what the research on the top 8% of teams actually says separates them (it isn't talent). The morning non negotiables and the offline weekend that are producing my biggest ideas this year. Why nervous system regulation, not another growth hack, is about to become the real competitive advantage for founders. Chapters 00:00:00 - Why I'm finally airing this conversation with Danny Kennedy 00:00:44 - "Is this empire enough?" The question now running my business 00:02:03 - Normalise the next level before you actually hit it 00:04:15 - Identity shift over pushing harder 00:06:00 - The $100 note test, belief before proof 00:08:09 - Friction vs flow, control, and why $100k decisions differ from $100 million ones 00:14:01 - My morning stack, cold plunge, meditation, journaling 00:19:14 - Why we killed middle management at Geronimo 00:21:10 - A players are built, not bought 00:24:47 - Inside the super team model, psychological safety, experiments, deep work 00:27:48 - Best thinking happens when you stop thinking 00:33:32 - The breathwork breakthrough and the Joe Dispenza retreat 00:36:06 - Nervous system regulation, the next competitive edge 00:42:00 - Hardware vs software, and the real leadership hierarchy

Matt Moscano, ESPN Baton Rogue / Locked on LSU, provides all the details he knows regarding Jayden Daniels and LSU's dispute over his jersey number, The Heisman Trophy, and more.

Semis are in a bubble, according to Citi's indicator. Former Assistant AG Jonathan Kanter on prediction markets' legal hurdles. Plus, the disconnect between investors and developers when it comes to data center moratoriums.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Paul Krake is an investor, strategist, and independent researcher with three decades across macroeconomics, policy, and capital markets. In 2011, he founded the research platform View from the Peak after macro roles at Corus Capital, Caxton Associates, Moore Capital, Goldman Sachs, and Macquarie Bank. In this podcast, we discuss: The "Post-Cyclical" Economy The Reduction of Economic Friction Margins vs. Labour Share The Path to 10% Unemployment The "Lucas Tree" Multiple Problem Golden Age of Equity Investing The "55-Year-Old Man" Advantage Advice for Graduates: Atoms vs. Bits

By Doug Green “It certainly eliminates the speed bump.” That is how James Walters, VP Strategic Vendors and Alliances at Exclusive Networks, describes the impact of the company's appointment as a Fortinet Global Distributor. In this TR Podcast, Walters explains that the new designation builds on a relationship with Fortinet spanning more than 25 years, while giving Exclusive Networks a framework to better support partners and customers pursuing cross-border and multinational opportunities. At the center of the new model is a global deal desk designed to centralize multinational transactions. Walters says Exclusive Networks can help coordinate requirements that previously had to be handled market by market, including payments, tax alignment, support documentation and support-of-record issues. The result, he says, should be fewer administrative requirements, faster sales cycles and improved revenue recognition for partners and their customers. Under previous arrangements, multinational deals often required partners to work through local teams and local processes, creating inconsistencies in technical support, deal structure and transaction velocity. The new framework is intended to remove those friction points while preserving Fortinet's partner protections. It is aimed at global systems integrators and large international partners, but Walters says regional resellers with customers expanding internationally should also engage Exclusive Networks. The opportunity also extends to enterprise customers and MSPs. Enterprises operating across multiple countries can use the model to accelerate Fortinet deployments and strengthen security posture across locations. MSPs, meanwhile, can use Exclusive Networks' global go-to-market support to expand Fortinet technology across multinational customer environments, with support spanning pre-sales, point of sale, implementation and lifecycle management. Walters describes the designation as a natural next step in an already strong Fortinet relationship. His message to partners is straightforward: whether they are global integrators, MSPs or regional resellers beginning to follow customers into new markets, Exclusive Networks now has a broader global structure to help them take Fortinet solutions across borders with less friction and more consistent support. Visit www.exclusive-networks.com Watch the TR Podcast to learn more.

Do friction, struggle, and silence make you fully human?   AI can generate an answer, but it cannot suffer with you, worship, love a neighbor, or become wise. Host Curtis Chang and Andy Crouch, the partner for theology and culture at Praxis, explore how AI may weaken our minds, distort relationships, and tempt us to outsource the very experiences that form wisdom, wonder, and sacrificial love. From chatbot "companionship" and AI-assisted grief to medicine, spiritual counsel, and the loss of silence, Curtis and Andy ask whether convenience is quietly creating a kind of cognitive metabolic syndrome and what we can do about it.   00:01:22 - Introduction to AI's Impact on Our Minds. 00:04:35 - Lessons from Social Media's Evolution 00:08:26 - Cognitive Metabolic Syndrome 00:18:45 - What Is the Purpose of the Human Mind? 00:25:23 - Wonder vs. Power 00:26:49 - Love Requires Suffering and Friction 00:34:38 - The Limits of AI in Healthcare 00:40:53 - The Danger of Outsourcing Life's Hardships 00:51:23 - The Loss of Silence 00:58:11 - The AI Forced Conversation on Being Human 01:01:03 - Practical Ways to Protect Our Humanity   To give to Good Faith: https://goodfaith.org/donate   Mentioned in This Episode: Andrew Briggs and Roger Wagner's The Penultimate Curiosity: How Science Swims in the Slipstream of Ultimate Questions Thomas Fuchs' In Defence of the Human Being  Victor Hugo's Les Misérables Tristan Harris on How AI Worsens Ills Caused by Social Media (The Economist) Explore the work of The Future of Life Institute Emma Pearson's I'd Rather Risk Cancer Than See AI Move This Fast (The Atlantic)   Scriptures: Mark 12:30–31 (ESV) Matthew 22:37–39 (ESV) Deuteronomy 6:5 (ESV) Luke 10:27 (ESV)   More From Andy Crouch: Check out Andy's website Check out Andy's work at Praxis Read Andy's book: The Life We're Looking For Read Andy's book The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place    Follow Us: Good Faith on Instagram Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter) Good Faith on Facebook   The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

Here is the scenario I want you to picture. A casting director, an agent, a direct marketing client lands on your page. They have 17 seconds and zero obligation to stay. In those 17 seconds your website either answers the question, can this person do what I need, or it does not. Most voiceover websites do not answer that question. Not because the actor is not talented. Because the website is not doing its job. And I say this as someone who has had a big reality check handed to me that I feebly and graciously accepted. So today I am going to walk you through five questions so you can audit your own website right now. Pull it up on your phone. Mobile is actually better because most people are hiring voice actors on mobile. Got it? Good. Let's go. Question One: Is Your Demo Above the Fold Above the fold means visible without scrolling. You land on the site and boom, there is your hero audio. This was an issue for me for about ten years. I had an image of myself, a little blurb, logos, and then my audio came. If someone lands on your homepage and has to scroll past a hero image, a headline, a bio paragraph, three sections of copy, and more logos before they hear a single second of your audio, you have already lost most of them. Your demo should be the first thing. The audio is the product. Everything else is context. Friction does not have to be enormous to be fatal. Even one extra click, one moment of confusion, one second of wondering whether the page is broken is enough to lose someone who has 80 other submissions waiting. Question Two: Is There Any Text Around Your Audio Player This one surprises people. Google cannot listen to your demo. If there is no text on your page describing what your demo covers, what vertical it is, what kind of clients you work with, Google has nothing to index. Your demo could be perfect and completely invisible to search engines. Here is exactly what I write and what you can adapt. Two to three sentences above the player. Mine says female commercial voiceover for national and regional brands. Warm, conversational, bright, retail, luxury, and everything in between. You can also add text below the player including your actual clients. Clients include blank. Source connect ready. Most projects delivered within 24 hours. That is not even 60 words. Do this for every audio section on your site. It is the single fastest SEO fix available and almost nobody does it. Question Three: What Does Your Page Title Say Go to your browser tab right now and hover over the tab your website is in. If it says Home or Professional Voice Actor or just your name, you have a problem. The page title is one of the most important SEO signals on your entire site and most voice actors leave it as the default. It should say something like female voice actor, commercial, e-learning, characters, your name. You can change this in your backend. In Squarespace it is the gear icon next to your homepage. While you are there also update your favicon, the little image that shows up in the browser tab. Casting people and agents have a lot of tabs open. Make it easy for them to find you. Use your headshot, not a generic microphone icon. Question Four: How Many H1 Tags Does Your Homepage Have The answer is one. One. An H1 tag is the main heading that tells Google what your page is about. Most voice actor websites built on drag and drop platforms accidentally tag every section headline as H1 because the builder defaults to it. I am raising my hand because that was me. Your main headline should be heading one. Everything else should be heading two, three, or normal. Go through and fix every one that is wrong. Question Five: Does Your Homepage Tell People What to Do Next This is the one almost everybody skips. Is there a clear call to action? Not a generic contact me buried in your footer. A specific visual next step. Hire me, listen to my demo, send me a project, ask me about a quote, contact me for a custom sample. If someone wanted to reach you after listening to your audio, how many clicks does it take? If the answer is more than one, that is too many. And if your contact form has too many required fields, fix it. You need their name, their email, and their message. That is it. Anything else and people will pass. The Bottom Line Your website has one job. Answer the question, can this person do what I need, before the visitor leaves. If it is not doing that right now, you now know where to start. Fix at least one thing today. Then fix another one tomorrow. This stuff compounds, and it will help you show up in search. Want to Keep the Conversation Going? I have a full 32-point checklist covering technical SEO, audio placement, content, conversion, design, and platform. It is in my Substack and will be in the show notes. Grab it and go through it. I also do something called a website colonoscopy. You can schedule that the same way you would schedule time with me. Reach out at mandy@actingbusinessbootcamp.com. Share this with another actor who needs to hear it. See you next time.        

Parents, Mr Jim's StorybuttonGo audio player is now available at Storybutton.comAbout Mr. Jim:What started as a dad recording bedtime stories for his kids while traveling for work has become a phenomenon. Jim Jacob never set out to launch a podcast, he just needed his family to hear his stories. Hundreds of thousands of listeners later, that accidental solution has become one of the most beloved children's audio adventures on the internet.Welcome to Spyology Squad — where science becomes a superpower and every mission is a new discovery.Join Jayden, Ava, and Mr. Jim as they face off against the diabolical Dr. Stinkybreath and his Purple Ninja army in a world of spyience-fiction a blend of pulse-pounding spy adventure and real scientific thinking designed to light up young imaginations. Each episode drops kids ages 6–12 into a fast-moving mission where the only way to save the world is to think like a scientist.What makes Spyology Squad special? This isn't science dressed up as entertainment, it's adventure that sneaks in genuine learning. Episodes are crafted to complement what kids are actually exploring in school, turning concepts like physics, chemistry, and biology into plot twists and mission objectives. New episodes release three times a week, so there's always a new mission waiting.Whether it's a car ride, bedtime routine, or a rainy afternoon, Spyology Squad turns screen-free time into something genuinely exciting. Jim and his wife Jocelyn built this for their own three kids — and now they're building it for yours.Subscribe and join the Squad. There's a new adventure around every corner.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

C&R jump into the Crosby/Cousins "suspension!" Is it friction, or fire? Danny G., the show's resident Raiders fan weighs-in. Plus, Rich slides down the 3rd rail with a WNBA take!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 21:00:00 GMT http://relay.fm/focused/262 http://relay.fm/focused/262 David Sparks and Mike Schmitz David & Mike discuss owning your ideas and staying sharp with the values-based application of AI. David & Mike discuss owning your ideas and staying sharp with the values-based application of AI. clean 3629 David & Mike discuss owning your ideas and staying sharp with the values-based application of AI. This episode of Focused is sponsored by: Scribe: AI-powered workflow documentation. Get your first month free. Squarespace: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code FOCUSED. Links and Show Notes: Deep Focus: Extended ad-free episodes with bonus deep dive content. Is AI Killing Writing? 12 Different Answers | How I Write Podcast Intentional AI | Relay Wispr Flow Productivity Field Guide | MacSparky

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 21:00:00 GMT http://relay.fm/focused/262 http://relay.fm/focused/262 The Strategic Deployment of Friction 262 David Sparks and Mike Schmitz David & Mike discuss owning your ideas and staying sharp with the values-based application of AI. David & Mike discuss owning your ideas and staying sharp with the values-based application of AI. clean 3629 David & Mike discuss owning your ideas and staying sharp with the values-based application of AI. This episode of Focused is sponsored by: Scribe: AI-powered workflow documentation. Get your first month free. Squarespace: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code FOCUSED. Links and Show Notes: Deep Focus: Extended ad-free episodes with bonus deep dive content. Is AI Killing Writing? 12 Different Answers | How I Write Podcast Intentional AI | Relay Wispr Flow Productivity Field Guide | MacSparky

You know how you want to lead. You want to delegate without taking the work back, to say what you mean without burying it in over-explanation, and to give your team enough room that you're not managing their every move. You want to stay grounded when someone questions your judgment, disappoints you, or reacts in a way you didn't see coming. Then pressure enters the room, and something else takes over. You start controlling the outcome. You avoid the conversation you need to have, or soften the message until it barely says anything, and pick up responsibilities that were never yours to carry. That gap between what you consciously intend and what takes over in the moment isn't a lack of discipline. It's hidden friction: subconscious emotional patterns that once protected you and now quietly shape how you lead, communicate, and respond to uncertainty. In this episode of Your Passion, Purpose, and Personal Brand, Lisa McGuire welcomes Dr. Ursula Lentine back to the podcast for a conversation about emotional triggers, trust, control, and the patterns that drain a leader's energy without her noticing. They explore why accomplished women can know exactly what needs to change and still struggle to access a different response when the pressure is real, and how hidden friction shows up as perfectionism, micromanagement, over-responsibility, conflict avoidance, and the quiet belief that being needed is proof of your worth. Information alone rarely creates transformation. A new strategy can tell you to delegate, set a boundary, or become more visible, but it can't touch the part of you that still believes control keeps you safe, that disappointing someone puts the relationship at risk, or that carrying everything is what makes you valuable. Real change means looking beneath the visible problem to find the decision underneath the decision, because a role can keep running long after the identity that built it has moved on. In This Episode, You'll Discover Why conscious intention gets overridden the moment real pressure hits What's actually activating beneath the surface when a trigger fires The energy cost of hidden friction, and what it limits in your leadership How control and perfectionism become survival strategies for high performers Empathy and emotional responsibility, and how they turn into an invisible burden Where delegation breaks down when trust hasn't been addressed The way old protective behaviors calcify into present-day limits Understanding a change versus actually embodying it Why people-first leadership demands deeper internal integration, not just better tactics How ArchitectHER Day #2 helps women move from achievement into authorship This episode is for the leader who has done the work: learned the frameworks, gathered the information, and still notices that knowing what to do isn't the same as having access to a new response in the moment. The work now is noticing which part of you has been leading, and letting something truer take over. Ursula is a previous podcast guest at episode #132: Leverage the Power of the Subconscious Mind to Nurture Wellness with Dr. Ursula Lentine CONNECT WITH URSULA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ursulalentine/ Website: https://www.ursulalentine.com/  CONNECT WITH LISA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-mcguire/ Website: https://lisamcguire.com/ Successfully Stuck: The First Truth Kit: https://go.lisamcguire.com/first-truth-kit  ArchitectHer Website: https://architecther.org  Bonus: Mention that you heard about ArchitectHer on this podcast and receive a complimentary one-hour Identity Integration Session with Lisa upon enrollment in the ArchitectHer experience.

Parents, Mr Jim's StorybuttonGo audio player is now available at Storybutton.comAbout Mr. Jim:What started as a dad recording bedtime stories for his kids while traveling for work has become a phenomenon. Jim Jacob never set out to launch a podcast, he just needed his family to hear his stories. Hundreds of thousands of listeners later, that accidental solution has become one of the most beloved children's audio adventures on the internet.Welcome to Spyology Squad — where science becomes a superpower and every mission is a new discovery.Join Jayden, Ava, and Mr. Jim as they face off against the diabolical Dr. Stinkybreath and his Purple Ninja army in a world of spyience-fiction a blend of pulse-pounding spy adventure and real scientific thinking designed to light up young imaginations. Each episode drops kids ages 6–12 into a fast-moving mission where the only way to save the world is to think like a scientist.What makes Spyology Squad special? This isn't science dressed up as entertainment, it's adventure that sneaks in genuine learning. Episodes are crafted to complement what kids are actually exploring in school, turning concepts like physics, chemistry, and biology into plot twists and mission objectives. New episodes release three times a week, so there's always a new mission waiting.Whether it's a car ride, bedtime routine, or a rainy afternoon, Spyology Squad turns screen-free time into something genuinely exciting. Jim and his wife Jocelyn built this for their own three kids — and now they're building it for yours.Subscribe and join the Squad. There's a new adventure around every corner.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's likely you've never thought as deeply about the sales process as you will in the next 52 minutes – especially if you're among the 82 percent of people who came into real estate with no formal sales training. My guest on today's podcast is not only a powerhouse Baltimore team leader, but also the creator of the Control Selling Method.  Andrew Undem joins me to unpack the 9 “C”s that empower you in every sales scenario and how to incorporate them into your process.  Andrew goes deep on: Why sales skills are even more important in the age of AI How to embed your “close” early in the sales process – “Even more important than being a good closer is being a good opener.” 6 objectives you must achieve before beginning your actual presentation When and how to spell out the unique value you bring to a transaction   And so much more! Your ability to influence people has never mattered more, and the Control Selling Method is the modern sales approach every professional needs right now. Also… this episode is just the start of a much deeper examination of the Control Selling Method, so watch or listen now to lay the foundation for your future growth. Should Andrew and I go deeper on this topic? Go to www.ControlSelling.com to get on the wait-list for more.

Daily Boost Podcast You Need Some Swagger August 7, 2026 | Episode 5515 Host: Scott Smith Episode Description Successful people hire me all the time — smart people with everything going on who are stuck and can't quite figure out why. You'd never guess the number one thing they need. Swagger. Not arrogance — walking as you've already decided. A little edgy, with a smile on your face. The nicest renegade you ever met. Self-doubt is debilitating, and it hides quietly behind confident faces. Today I'll show you exactly when swagger shows up, why friction always arrives first, and the one small decision that can bring your confidence back today. Featured Story I have been that man at two o'clock in the morning — a couple glasses of wine, staring in the mirror, asking, what the hell, dummy? Smart in every possible way, good decisions my entire life, and I couldn't figure it out right now. That's what self-doubt does to capable people. On the surface, everything looks fine. You've always been the one who could make a decision, the one everybody relied on. Now you're second-guessing yourself, sitting on ChatGPT until five in the morning researching what everybody else lost at three in the morning thinks. Then you make one real decision — and your posture, your voice, your walk all change in a second. Important Points Swagger isn't arrogance. It's walking as you've already decided — a little edgy, with a smile, sure of your move. Self-doubt devastates capable people quietly. On the surface, everything looks fine; at 2 a.m. it's another story. Confidence returns after action, not before it. One small real decision today starts rebuilding your evidence. Memorable Quotes Swagger isn't arrogance. It's walking as you've already decided, like you know what you're doing and things are cool. Swagger shows up after you make a decision. It's like motivation — motivation shows up after you take the action. Friction is not a stop sign. When friction shows up in your life, it's proof that you've touched onto something real. Scott's Three-Step Approach Make one small, real decision today — something that moves you forward — and say it out loud so it actually counts. Notice what changes the moment you decide: your posture, your voice, your walk. That's the swagger coming back on. Expect friction to show up first, every time. Treat it as proof you're onto something real, and keep on deciding. Chapters 0:11 - Your whole life can change in a single second 0:39 - Chasing Mount Whitney with a world record crew 1:29 - What successful stuck people really need 3:54 - Self-doubt at two o'clock in the morning 5:06 - Swagger shows up the moment you truly decide 6:55 - Tiny decisions rebuild your confidence fast 7:21 - Friction first, always — and a permission slip Connect With Me Search for the Daily Boost on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify Email: support@motivationtomove.com Main Website: https://motivationtomove.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/dailyboostpodcast Instagram: https://instagram.com/heyscottsmith Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/motivationtomove Facebook Group: https://dailyboostpodcast.com/facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode OverviewIn this thoughtful and grounded conversation, Amy Wheeler sits down with Marlysa Sullivan, a physical therapist, yoga therapist, and educator working within the Veterans Administration and at Notre Dame of Maryland University. Together, they explore the Niyamas from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali as living practices—less about rigid rules and more about ongoing self-inquiry, ethical reflection, and alignment in daily life.Rather than presenting the Niyamas as fixed ideals, this episode invites a more nuanced approach: one that considers context, relationship, and the evolving nature of what it means to act with integrity. The conversation weaves together classical yoga philosophy, modern clinical experience, and real-world application, offering a grounded pathway for both practitioners and clinicians.Key Themes ExploredEthics as a Living Inquiry Ethical practice is not static. Marlysa emphasizes that what is “right” depends on context, relationship, and discernment. This requires ongoing reflection: What is most relevant, kind, and supportive in this moment?Śauca (Clarity and Inner Cleanliness) The discussion reframes purity away from moral judgment and toward clarity. Rather than “fixing what is wrong,” the practice becomes one of noticing what clouds perception—habit patterns, past impressions, and emotional residue—and gently clearing space for more skillful action. Santoṣa (Contentment as Stability and Action) Contentment is explored as a steady inner ground, not passivity. True contentment allows for both acceptance and meaningful action. The conversation highlights the balance between deficiency (chronic dissatisfaction) and excess (avoidance or spiritual bypassing).Tapas (Right Effort and Friction for Growth) Tapas is described as the willingness to meet discomfort in service of transformation. It is the moment where inner clarity meets outward action—often requiring courage to move beyond familiar patterns.Svādhyāya (Self-Study and Honest Reflection) The practice of self-study calls for humility and relational support. Amy and Marlysa emphasize the importance of trusted relationships that can reflect blind spots and support deeper self-awareness.Īśvara Praṇidhāna (Surrender and Letting Go of Outcome) Surrender is presented as an essential counterbalance to effort. One does the work with integrity, then releases attachment to results. This is especially relevant in complex systems, where control is limited and trust becomes necessary.Integrating Kriyā YogaThe final three Niyamas—Tapas, Svādhyāya, and Īśvara Praṇidhāna—are explored as Kriya Yoga, a practical pathway for transformation.Together, they form a cycle:Act with intentionReflect with honestySurrender the outcomeThis dynamic process supports both personal growth and therapeutic presence.Clinical and Real-World ApplicationDrawing from her work in the Veterans Administration, Marlysa highlights how these teachings translate into practice:Healing is not one-size-fits-all; each individual responds differentlyCuriosity supports humility and clinical effectivenessRelationship and co-reflection are essential for growthYoga therapy must move beyond biomechanics to include meaning, perception, and lived experienceThe conversation reinforces that how we approach a simple movement—like stretching a hamstring—often reflects how we approach life itself.Practical ReflectionFor those beginning to work with the Niyamas:Start with the one that feels most relevant or meaningfulReflect on where you tend toward excess or deficiencyUse curiosity as a guide rather than judgmentEngage trusted others in your process of reflectionClosing InsightThis episode reframes ethics not as obligation, but as an enlivening and relational practice. When approached with curiosity and sincerity, the Niyamas become a guide for living with clarity, integrity, and connection—to oneself and to others.Learn MoreVisit Marlysa Sullivan: www.marlysasullivan.comExplore the foundations in The Yoga Sutras of PatanjaliContact Amy Wheeler:www.TheOptimalState.com Optimal State App for iPhone:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/optimal-state/id1604424804 The Yoga Therapy Hour Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/yoga-therapy-hour-with-amy-wheeler/id1564687158 School of Integrative Health at NDMU:https://www.ndm.edu/academics/integrative-health Master of Science in Yoga Therapy at NDMU:https://www.ndm.edu/academics/integrative-health/yoga-therapy Explore NDMU's Post-Master's Certificate in Therapeutic Yoga Practices, designed specifically for licensed healthcare professionals:https://www.ndm.edu/academics/integrative-health/yoga-therapy/post-masters-certificate-in-therapeutic-yoga-practices Try our Post-Bac Ayurveda Certification Program at NDMU:https://www.ndm.edu/academics/integrative-health/ayurveda/post-baccalaureate-ayurveda-certification #IntegrativeHealth #HealthcareEducation #InterprofessionalEducation #GraduateSchool #NDMUproud #SOIHproud #SOIHYoga #SOIHAyurveda #NDMUYoga #NDMUAyurveda #SOIHGraduateSchool Our new book-  https://www.amazon.com/Applying-Therapeutic-Yoga-Integrative-Health/dp/1032888628/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RFZ3L5MCCNPH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.I7harQDOLulfRbd3dx2vVa5VUZa840PHcWB7dDiT3_bB2nravzO7_9Xs9shMhcy2Iwu0wtTA1PxeUG4TTugEQJuK_OEpvzQ-OyVvtsUkXsc.ViqLrL-EQPX7s09wZF6_2eCpLCimHa7Ohfbw-F7Yuk4&dib_tag=se&keywords=applications+in+therapeutic+yoga+wheeler&qid=1775224796&sprefix=applications+in+therapeutic+yoga+wheele%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1

Parents, Mr Jim's StorybuttonGo audio player is now available at Storybutton.comAbout Mr. Jim:What started as a dad recording bedtime stories for his kids while traveling for work has become a phenomenon. Jim Jacob never set out to launch a podcast, he just needed his family to hear his stories. Hundreds of thousands of listeners later, that accidental solution has become one of the most beloved children's audio adventures on the internet.Welcome to Spyology Squad — where science becomes a superpower and every mission is a new discovery.Join Jayden, Ava, and Mr. Jim as they face off against the diabolical Dr. Stinkybreath and his Purple Ninja army in a world of spyience-fiction a blend of pulse-pounding spy adventure and real scientific thinking designed to light up young imaginations. Each episode drops kids ages 6–12 into a fast-moving mission where the only way to save the world is to think like a scientist.What makes Spyology Squad special? This isn't science dressed up as entertainment, it's adventure that sneaks in genuine learning. Episodes are crafted to complement what kids are actually exploring in school, turning concepts like physics, chemistry, and biology into plot twists and mission objectives. New episodes release three times a week, so there's always a new mission waiting.Whether it's a car ride, bedtime routine, or a rainy afternoon, Spyology Squad turns screen-free time into something genuinely exciting. Jim and his wife Jocelyn built this for their own three kids — and now they're building it for yours.Subscribe and join the Squad. There's a new adventure around every corner.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Meghan Chin is Chief Executive Officer of BIMM, a digital experience and technology agency within the kyu Collective.With more than 20 years of experience across customer experience, loyalty, and enterprise digital platforms, Meghan has partnered with brands including Ford, Scotiabank, Scene, Tangerine, and Audi, leading complex, multi-market programs across automotive and financial services.Since joining BIMM in 2020, she has advanced the agency's digital platform capabilities and led large-scale, multi-market experience initiatives for global enterprise clients.As CEO, Meghan is focused on evolving BIMM into an AI-native experience and technology company, embedding intelligent systems into design, production, and delivery while scaling the agency's operating model for its next phase of growth.

Send us Fan MailWe argue that “friction” is not always a flaw and can be a deliberate shield against bad collective decisions. We use Buchanan and Tullock's public choice framework to show why supermajorities, veto points, and other transaction costs can protect rights while still leaving room for day to day governing. • contrasting cheap outrage with intentional institutional friction • explaining why constitutional amendment rules use supermajorities • breaking down external costs versus decision-making costs • applying the framework to routine policy versus foundational rules • linking cancel culture to collapsed coordination costs and lost buffers • spotting designed friction in bicameralism, vetoes, jury unanimity, central bank independence, corporate charters, and treaties • testing objections about minority rule, the filibuster, and who classifies “big” decisions • discussing ballot initiatives, referenda, and easy-to-amend constitutions • sharing listener letters, egg market notes, and a book recommendation Links:Shruti Rajagopalan on TAITCThe Senate is the Enemy... (claims it comes from "The West Wing," but this is a story that I heard in the 1980s. West Wing just used it. Strange that people think a TV show is a SOURCE. It was just the MEDIUM, people!)Book-o-da-week:  Benjamin Labatut, THE MANIACIf you have questions or comments, or want to suggest a future topic, email the show at taitc.email@gmail.com !You can follow Mike Munger on Twitter at @mungowitz 

In this episode of the Facilitation Lab podcast, host Douglas Ferguson interviews Joe McLean, Group Product Manager for the AI Stream at Miro, who led the overhaul of Miro's Sidekicks and Flows AI surfaces launched at Canvas 25. Joe traces how his hobbyist love of Eurorack modular synthesizers shaped Flows, arguing that visible, patchable connections reveal what a chat box hides, and that a good tool's structure can enable rather than constrain creativity. He and Douglas dig into what he calls the "visual trace" - treating an AI agent like a new hire who needs onboarding, check-ins, and a replayable record so a whole team, not just one operator, can trust and build on its work. The conversation covers how cheap execution is reshaping product development, from teams showing up to meetings with working prototypes instead of slide decks, to Miro's internal VibeLab tool solving the "Git problem" of AI-generated design branches, to the rise of throwaway personal software built for an audience of one. They close on a candid discussion of the switching costs of chat-interface lock-in and Joe's conviction that the healthiest relationship with AI comes from building things with it, not just asking it questions.

Dr Sarah McKay will tell you that the most common question she hears from women is also the least useful one. What is wrong with my brain? She is an Oxford-educated neuroscientist, founder of Think Brain and The Neuroscience Academy, presenter on ABC Catalyst and the author of The Women’s Brain Book, Baby Brain and Brain Health For Dummies. She has been a neuroscientist since 1993, when she fell in love with the subject in a first year undergraduate lecture, and she has spent the years since translating brain research into something people can actually use. So when Catherine raised the widely repeated idea that the ageing brain shrinks, Sarah did not soften her answer. No, your brain is not shrinking. Some menopause research actually shows grey matter volume increasing across the transition. Other research shows very little change beyond what ageing alone would explain. The volume loss we do see, through adolescence and first pregnancy, is a streamlining and refinement of connections rather than a decline. Sarah is careful to point out that a big part of what she tries to do is counter the assumption that the brain is inherently broken, or inevitably will be. She would rather learn something new about it than berate herself for not knowing it sooner. A map, not a diagnosis What Sarah offers instead is the most useful thing in the conversation, and it asks nobody to become a neuroscientist. Picture your brain inside your body, inside your world, and ask what information it is receiving and making meaning of. That information arrives from three directions. Bottom up is the body talking to the brain: sleep, hormones, stress physiology, inflammation, movement, nutrition, pain and energy. Outside in is the world shaping the brain: relationships, caregiving, work, culture, safety, expectations, social connection and cognitive load. Top down is the mind shaping experience: attention, beliefs, predictions, identity, self-talk and what we think our symptoms mean. Across puberty, cycles, pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause and ageing, all three are always at work. Which is why Sarah swaps the question. Not what is wrong with my brain, but what is my brain responding to, and which system needs support first? Brain fog is a systems puzzle Applied to brain fog, the map changes everything. Oestrogen helps set the thermostat in your brain, and as it shifts the thermoregulatory zone narrows, so a small rise in body temperature gets read as an emergency. If that happens overnight, sleep architecture fractures. Waking once at 3am is not great. Waking for weeks or months on end is different. As Sarah puts it, it does not take long until you are lying there thinking, I am always awake, and then you will find something to worry about. Tired but wired slides into hypervigilance, and hypervigilance slides into anxiousness, which disrupts sleep further. Alongside that, oestrogen is one regulator of how neurons take up glucose to make energy, so thinking can feel slower and more effortful. Brain networks also become less specialised with age, so reaching a solution takes a little more mental labour. None of it is decline. All of it is a system under load. The input almost nobody counts Then there is the piece that surprised Catherine most. Research shows that a phone face down on the table still drains you, because the effort of not looking at it consumes working memory. Sarah’s own view is that mobile phones have reached a level of salience close to that of a newborn baby. Her solution is refreshingly physical: a small device on her fridge that blocks apps until she walks over and taps her phone against it. Friction, deliberately restored. Why you cannot think your way out Sarah’s most contrarian point is worth sitting with. Knowing how the brain changes does not mean you can think your way into changing it. Using your thoughts to change your thoughts, she says, is the hard way around, and often the road to rumination. Change an input instead. Move your body into a different environment, the way she did in Antarctica, where her anxiety simply faded because life became linear. Sarah leaves the audience with three golden nuggets: What is draining my brain this week? What is nourishing my brain this week? What is one thing I can change? Not a full renovation. One thing. Get it out of your head and onto pen and paper, and Sarah guarantees you will come up with a far more strategic plan, and it will change your brain. Watch the full conversation on YouTube. Find Out More About Dr Sarah McKay Website: https://www.drsarahmckay.com Instagram: @drsarahmckay Facebook: Your Brain Health

Galatians 2:11-21 The Friction That Leads To Formation SouthPoint/Brett Spross

IMPORTANT: This episode uses a lot of photo's, which you will probably want to look at. To do that, please watch this episode on our Patreon or YouTube. Enjoy! Trip report! Being world famous (and very handsome!) MotoGP-journalist, you wouldn't believe the places that Mat and Peter have been. But even for them, there's some places you just don't get to go to. Places like the country of Sweden, for example. Yet that's exactly where we went, just north of Stockholm, to visit the elusive factory of Öhlins. We all know that the suspension is one of the most immediately noticeable crucial parts of a bike and its setup, so imagine what happens behind closed doors at the biggest provider of suspension systems in the tournament. Or actually, don't! Because why imagine, when we can just tell you?So come join us on one hell of a trip as we dive deep into a world of springs, pumps, pressure and carbon in places where you wouldn't expect it…and then stick around for the industrial espionage, the truth about manufacturer exclusivity in the tournament, previously classified devices for Ducati and machines that can condense any race track in the world into a machine barely more than a few meters big. Interested? Then let's go! Want more? Visit our website or support us on Patreon. With big thanks as always to Brad Baloo from The Next Men and Gentleman's Dub Club for writing our theme song. Check out The Nextmen for more great music! And additional thanks to flowerhead, who's music you can find here. Oh, and a quick word in regards to sponsors: If you're interested in connecting with a really unique MotoGP audience — we're working with Smash Brand Group out of Sydney to manage partnerships. Curious? Just head to smashbrandgroup.com.au and get in touch!

This is a re-release. Read Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many organizations invest in new technology but overlook the friction that's holding their teams back.In this episode of Teamwork: A Better Way, Spencer Horn and Christian Napier welcome leadership strategist and conflict resolution expert DaSjaun Rose. Together, they explore how leaders can reduce hidden conflict, align people and expectations, and leverage AI to improve communication, accountability, and execution.Discover why sustainable performance isn't just about better tools—it's about creating teams that work better together.Free Team DiagnosticTranscript

This episode is a re-release. "This is the economy now. Not a distribution of opportunity. A redistribution of friction. But friction isn't the enemy!!!! It's information. It tells us where things are straining and where care is needed and where attention should go.And it's not all bad news. Because friction is also where new systems can emerge. Every broken interface, every overloaded professor, every delayed flight is pointing to something that could be rebuilt with actual intention."THE SOURCE: https://kyla.substack.com/p/the-most-valuable-commodity-in-theRead Julie's Medium Blog.Support JULIE (and the show!)Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTune in on INSTAGRAM AND YOUTUBE or TIKTOK.Info on War Tax Resistance.Donate to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and the Sudan Relief FundThe opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT http://relay.fm/paperplaces/28 http://relay.fm/paperplaces/28 Kerry Provenzano Chris Bailey joins Kerry to discuss how he forged a writing career in the year after business school. They talk about Chris' productivity experiments and how a lower dopamine altitude can help writing focus. Chris Bailey joins Kerry to discuss how he forged a writing career in the year after business school. They talk about Chris' productivity experiments and how a lower dopamine altitude can help writing focus. clean 3359 Chris Bailey joins Kerry to discuss how he forged a writing career in the year after business school. They talk about Chris' productivity experiments and how a lower dopamine altitude can help writing focus. This episode of Paper Places is sponsored by: Making Light: Craft a daily ritual to focus on what matters most. Get $10 off your first order with the code 'PAPER26' BookBaby: Self-publish and print your book. Guest Starring: Chris Bailey Links and Show Notes: Support Paper Places with a Relay Membership Subscribe to KL Provenzano on Substack Submit Feedback Get Signed by Lucinda Halpern (Chris' agent) Chris Bailey's website Buy Chris' books Buy Intentional, the new release from Chris Bailey How to Get Your Brain to Focus | Chris Bailey | TEDxManchester Chris' experiments ("Watch him suffer") Take the Values Test

The 94WIP Morning Show discuss how Jalen Hurts and the Eagles' offense show early promise during training camp with a shift toward more pre-snap motion and explosive backfield involvement. The conversation then turns to the Phillies' internal tensions as Dave Dombrowski and Bryce Harper appear to be at odds over trade deadline strategy. 03:08 - Merrill Reese Moment #49 04:34 - Eagles Training Camp Impressions 08:14 - Jalen Hurts Leadership Growth 13:08 - Saquon Barkley Catching Concerns 18:07 - Phillies Trade Deadline Strategy 25:30 - WIP Marconi Award Finalists 29:20 - Tarik Skubal Trade Speculation 31:08 - Harper and Dombrowski Friction

Friction is what reduces our enjoyment of language learning, so in this video I go through the nine forms it takes and what I do about each one.

The Friction Tax: Are You Trapping Customers? Signing up takes less than a minute. Canceling takes 45. The cancellation button is buried. Customer support is difficult to reach. Returning a product requires multiple steps. A "retention specialist" keeps a customer on the phone until surrender feels easier than leaving. That is more than poor customer service. It is the customer friction tax: the extra time, effort, confusion, and frustration customers must absorb because a company benefits from making it difficult to cancel, return, receive help, or leave. In this episode of the Customer Service Revolution Podcast, Denise Thompson and John DiJulius examine when ordinary operational friction becomes deliberate customer exploitation—and what that friction reveals about an organization's priorities. When Customer Friction Becomes Part of the Business Model New York City recently adopted a click-to-cancel rule for automatically renewing and continuous-service subscriptions. Beginning October 1, 2026, covered businesses must clearly disclose subscription terms and provide consumers with a straightforward way to cancel. The fact that cancellation procedures need government regulation raises a larger customer experience question: Can an organization call itself customer-centric when it intentionally makes leaving difficult? John explains that ease of doing business should apply throughout the entire relationship—not just when the customer is ready to buy. That includes reaching support, resolving a problem, returning a purchase, changing an agreement, and canceling a service. Bad Profits Create Long-Term Damage Some companies generate revenue through what John calls "bad profits": hidden charges, excessive fees, restrictive policies, complicated contracts, or deliberately difficult cancellation processes. These practices may protect short-term revenue, but they can also: Destroy customer trust Generate complaints and negative word of mouth Increase service and staffing costs Create opportunities for competitors Force employees to defend policies they believe are unfair Increase frontline frustration and turnover Produce retention numbers that disguise customer dissatisfaction Blockbuster once generated approximately 16% of its revenue from late fees. That revenue made abandoning late fees appear financially dangerous—but it also prevented the company from adapting to a subscription model that customers increasingly preferred. Retention Is Not the Same as Loyalty A customer who remains because canceling is difficult has not been retained through loyalty. That customer has been trapped through friction. Healthy customer relationships produce repeat business, referrals, trust, and advocacy. Customer captivity may temporarily improve retention metrics, but it does not create customers who create more customers. Leaders must look beyond cancellation rates and ask why customers stay. Are they staying because they value the relationship—or because switching, canceling, or finding an alternative feels like too much work? Customer Friction Also Damages the Employee Experience Frontline employees frequently bear the consequences of unreasonable policies they did not create and cannot change. When employees repeatedly have to say, "I don't make the rules," it signals a larger system problem. Employees become the messengers for decisions designed to protect revenue, absorbing customers' anger while lacking the authority to make things right. Removing unnecessary customer friction is therefore both a customer experience and employee experience strategy. How Leaders Can Find Their Biggest Friction Points John recommends that leaders experience their organization as customers do. Purchase something. Attempt to return it. Try to cancel. Contact support. Track how many screens, calls, transfers, explanations, and approvals the process requires. Do not merely ask whether the process works. Ask how hard the customer must work to make it work. Leaders should also: Listen to customer calls and analyze customer sentiment Identify recurring complaints and escalations Examine policies that produce fees or prevent cancellations Compare earned sales from repeat customers and referrals with sales purchased through advertising Track retention after contractual obligations end Give employees appropriate authority to resolve problems Remove incentives that reward short-term revenue at the customer's expense Making it easier for unhappy customers to leave may feel risky. But making every customer feel trapped is far more dangerous. Trust is more valuable than captivity. Key Takeaways Ease of doing business must apply to the entire customer relationship, including cancellation, returns, support, and service recovery. Retention does not prove loyalty when customers face barriers to leaving. "Bad profits" may increase short-term revenue while damaging trust, referrals, employee morale, and long-term growth. Frontline employees suffer when they must defend policies they know are frustrating or unfair. Customer complaints and service-recovery situations are opportunities to demonstrate empathy and rebuild loyalty. Leaders should personally test their organization's customer journey. Repeat business and referrals are stronger indicators of loyalty than cancellation rates alone. The critical question is not whether a process works, but how hard customers must work to make it work. Memorable Quotes "Not all profit is good profit." "A customer hasn't been retained through loyalty. They've been trapped through friction." "Every company's job is to create customers who create customers." "You wouldn't have to chase new customers if you were keeping the existing ones." "Leaders need to spend time on the front line so they can feel the pain." "Don't ask whether the process works. Ask how hard the customer must work to make it work." "Trust is far more valuable than captivity." Episode Chapters 00:46 — The hidden friction tax customers are paying 02:12 — What ease of doing business really means 04:15 — Poor experience or calculated business decision? 06:29 — How leaders can recognize deliberate friction 08:58 — Can a high-friction company be customer-centric? 10:52 — Service recovery and rebuilding customer trust 14:55 — When retention dashboards hide dissatisfaction 18:32 — How bad policies affect frontline employees 20:28 — Charles Schwab's campaign against bad profits 23:48 — The difference between loyalty and captivity 25:47 — Why retention and referrals matter 28:45 — How to uncover your biggest friction points 30:16 — The customer journey every leader should test ROX Dashboard:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/rox-dashboard/ The DiJulius Group Methdology: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/x-commandment-methodology/ Company Service Aptitude Test:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/c-sat-forms/individual-c-sat/ Schedule a Complimentary Call with one of our advisors:  tdg.click/claudia Ask John!  Submit your questions for John, to be aired on future episode:  tdg.click/ask Customer Experience Executive Academy: https://thedijuliusgroup.com/project/cx-executive-academy/ Experience Revolution Membership:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/ Books:  https://thedijuliusgroup.com/shop/ Contacts:  Lindsey@thedijuliusgroup.com , Claudia@thedijuliusgroup.com If you want to learn how world-class organizations build cultures customers cannot live without, explore The Experience Revolution Membership. Inside the membership you'll gain access to livestream workshops, practical frameworks, and proven strategies used by organizations around the world. Learn more at https://thedijuliusgroup.com/membership/

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode. Ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump today in the White House, mediators believed they were close to a breakthrough that would revive the memorandum of understanding signed by the US and Iran last month. Reportedly, decisions are to be made following the leaders' meetup. Horovitz explains why resurrecting the MOU is not necessarily a positive step for Israel's aims and discusses other points of friction between the two leaders. Also on hand in Washington, DC, is Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who recently staged an attack on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea. What could Ukraine's flex mean for the balance of the conflict? Last week, Andy Burnham officially became Britain’s new Labour prime minister, raising questions about how he will navigate policy on Israel and rising antisemitism in his country. Horovitz discusses how Burnham came to office, who has so far been appointed to his government and how they may influence UK-Israel relations. And finally, we turn to Israel's upcoming October 27 election and reports last night that a new television poll showed Netanyahu neck and neck with his foremost challenger, former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot, when respondents were asked who they would choose to lead the country. How do these polls affect public opinion -- and how we report on the run-up to elections? Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: Ahead of Netanyahu-Trump meeting, mediators believe US-Iran breakthrough near At odds with Trump on Iran, Netanyahu heads to DC to seek agreement where he still can Where does new UK premier Andy Burnham stand on Israel and antisemitism? UK PM Burnham’s new solicitor general met with Hamas in 2010 10 clues on how new UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband could deal with Israel Poll shows Eisenkot and Netanyahu neck and neck as public’s preferred PM Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do projects get stuck? This summer I developed new curriculum around this question, and on today's podcast I'm sharing a concept from that new curriculum: transition friction. Many stuck writing projects can be explained by the resistance we feel transitioning from one phase of the project to another. In this podcast you will learn: Why transition points cause friction. How to get over the friction to keep your writing project moving. How embracing the discomfort of transition friction can liberate you from feeling stuck. Sign up for the Fall Writing Planning Session on August 10: https://scholarsvoice.org/writing-planning Join my next LIVE Submit Your Almost-done Article in 3 Days Workshop: https://scholarsvoice.org/submit-in-3/  Join my signature program, Navigate, to publish your backlog of papers: https://scholarsvoice.org/navigate/ Sign up to my FREE email newsletter, In The Pipeline, for weekly emails on academic writing and publishing. Scroll to the form at the bottom of the page: https://scholarsvoice.org/ 

Alan Mikhail describes how the couple settled in Manhattan as ambitious farmers but faced friction with neighbors who used "the Turk" as a xenophobic insult. Their contentious behavior led to their banishment to Gravesend, Long Island. Mikhail highlights the clash between Dutch property rights and indigenous use-rights. (11)1650