What’s up Awesome Officers, this week we’ve got a special episode featuring a talk that Sean gave at the recent SHFM National Conference in Arizona.

In it, Sean describes what he believes to be the single most important thing - not just in the workplace, but in life - that we must focus on in order to live happy, productive and fulfilled lives. And we’ll tell you right now, it’s probably not what you think.

As Sean admits, this episode is personal. In crafting this talk, Sean strove to be as vulnerable, open, and transparent as possible in order to connect with his audience. The talk was by all accounts a success in that regard, and we hope that you’ll connect with the ideas in this podcast too. 

Key Takeaways

• Sean explains why human connection is the most important thing in life, and details the evolutionary science that helps explain why this is the case. 3:46
• Sean explores why gossip was actually a matter of life or death to our prehistoric forebears. 4:50
• Sean explains why the common conception of the successful dominant “alpha male” isn’t quite right. 5:53
• Sean points out a contradiction: why human connection is at an all time low, despite the fact that we live in the most connected age in human history. 7:00
• Sean shares a personal story about growing up in Northern Michigan, and some choice advice from one of his mentors. 8:34
• Sean takes a critical look at himself as an entrepreneur in his twenties, and why describes why he felt like it was him against the world. 9:29
• Sean tells us how he learned he’d become something he’d never thought he’d be - a (biological) drug addict. 10:55
• Sean breaks down the feel good chemicals that drive our behavior, and names the analogous street drugs that mimic their effects. 11:28
• Sean describes the moment he realized he was addicted to selfish chemicals, and wasn’t focusing enough on the social chemicals the enable longer lasting happiness and fulfillment. 16:17
• Sean identifies what he believes is the source of all suffering, and the quickest way to alleviate it. 16:30
• Sean explains why Millennials are poised to bring about radical social change, and create a world that emphasizes social bonds and human connection. 16:50
• Sean revisits the advice his mentor gave him, and modifies it in light of what he learned since he became an entrepreneur. 19:05

Links

• @Seanpk on Twitter'
• Sean on LinkedIn

Recommended Reading

• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
• The Fourth Turning by William Strauss

Megan Miller wants to know… why aren’t you eating bugs yet??

And for good reason - evidence suggests that protein sourced from insects just might be the key to fixing the world’s global food system.

Luckily for all of us, the bugs in question come in the form of delicious BittyFoods snacks, which include chocolate chip cookies and Chiridos, their signature tortilla-style chips.

Megan Miller is a digital strategist turned food pioneer, and the co-founder of BittyFoods, a company that makes a bevy of snacks made with their signature high-protein cricket flour.

The environmental science behind cricket farming is fascinating, but what we loved about our conversation with Megan was hearing how her vision and fearlessness empowered her to create something, well… a bit crazy.

Megan launched the company from her kitchen, baking and mashing crickets she purchased from a local pet store. Since then, she and Bitty have come a long way. The company has earned accolades and attention from national media, and recently secured national distribution for their products. (They also use much higher quality crickets these days.)

Megan was a delight to interview as she described how she and her co-founder have staked a claim at the intersection of deliciousness and craziness. We think you’ll really like this one.

Key Takeaways

• Megan tells us how she got into the whole cricket business in the first place. 4:35
• Megan describes the taste of cricket flour for people who haven’t had it before, and explains how they sourced the original insects. 8:35
• Megan breaks down the environmental advantage of cricket protein versus other types of protein. 10:15
• Megan describes how regions of the world that eat insects helped inspire the flavors of some of their signature products. 15:02
• Megan talks about the genesis of the name Bitty and considers the possibility of expanding to other insects. 16:05
• Megan describes her real apprehension about becoming the “crazy cricket lady.” 17:00
• Megan explains the process of sustainably raising crickets, and the possibility of certification for cricket farming in the near future. 19:43
• Megan goes back to her Childhood and tells us an experience that shaped her personality and helped her developed her grit and resolve. 21:15
• Megan talks about bootstrapping the company in its earliest days. 23:58
• Megan describes the greatest challenges the business has seen, and how they overcame it. 25:55
• Megan explains how she keeps her sanity while running a fast-growing business in such an unusual niche. 31:55

Links

• BittyFoods.com
• Megan on LinkedIn
• Justin’s Nut Butters

The beautiful thing about innovation is that it almost always starts the same, humble way - with a person and an idea.

Our most impactful technological achievements - the printing press, the internal combustion engine, the iPhone - all started with someone who saw a problem and dared to envision a solution.

It’s what Chris Powell calls “the art of the possible,” and it’s what has sustained his passion for the HR space for the last two decades.

Chris Powell is the CEO of BlackbookHR, a software company that equips organizations to leverage workforce insights that impact productivity, performance, retention and culture.

Chris also represents a bit of a rarity in the world of HR tech - a founder who actually spent most of his career in HR.

Because while most founders in the space come from a software development background, Chris has spent 20 years in the trenches as an HR exec with companies like Marriott, Scripps, and Deloitte.

This means Chris has tackled people issues from every side of the equation, and for all types of companies, from major corporations with thousands of employees in offices around the globe, to nascent startups experiencing growing pains for the first time.

As you’ll hear in the episode, Chris took some time from a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard to share some of his veteran insight with us. We talked to him about why companies tend to know their customers and vendors better than their own employees (and why this is a problem), why human behavior doesn’t allow for stasis, and how to foster the art of the possible with your employees.  

Of course, two decades in HR means that Chris has seen and heard it all, and he also shares his most outrageous story from the front lines of the HR desk. (Trust us, it’s a good one.)

Key Takeaways

• Chris explains why he got into the HR space, and what inspired him to stay in the field for more than two decades. 5:09
• Chris describes the “holy grail” that he’s been chasing in his career. 6:39
• Chris breaks down why human behavior doesn’t allow for stasis, and why it’s therefore the wrong state to strive for in business. 7:39
• Chris shares the #1 lesson he learned from his days selling cars to Ford dealerships that he still applies as a CEO and business leader. 9:07
• Chris relates a story from his days as an HR exec at Scripps, and tells us why relationships are more important than competency. 11:34
• Chris tells us about his childhood growing up in Memphis, TN, in a family with 7 siblings, and how that experience taught him how to deal with people. 12:45
• Chris also shares a story about a family trip to Nashville that taught him a valuable leadership lesson that he carries with him to this day. 14:43
• Chris explains why companies tend to know their customers and vendors better than their own employees, and what leaders can do to change that. 18:04
• Chris explains the genesis of BlackbookHR, and the ways they surface insights for the companies they serve. 28:43
• Chris tells us his craziest story after 20 years on the frontlines on the HR side of the house. 33:42

Links

• BlackbookHR
• @xrispowell on Twitter
• Chris on LinkedIn

Recommended Reading