In this episode of the Sense & Signal Leadership & Sensemaking podcast, co-host Dan Tarker delves into how non-teleological thinking can help leaders navigate the metacrisis. He spends time defining what the meta crisis is, investigating the concept of moloch as defined in the Bible and Allen Ginsburg's poem Howl, and how these concepts inform our response to global crises like the war between Israel and Hamas. He then provides a history of John Steinbeck and Ed Rickett's trip on the Western Flyer that resulted in the book "The Log From the Sea of Cortez" and the 14th chapter where they present their ideas on non-teleological thinking. After defining non-teleological thinking, he connects it back to the metacrisis and complexity theory to begin to lay a foundation for non-teleological thinking as a sense making tool in our complex times.

Joe Gow has been fired as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse after the Board of Regents learned that he and his wife Carmen Wilson had been publishing pornographic content on OnlyFans and PornHub. In this micro episode of the Sense & Signal leadership and sensemaking podcast, Dan recaps the Joe Gow pornography scandal, discusses other scandals Joe Gow and his wife Carmen Wilson have been involved with, considers the role of a college chancellor in the board of regents decision to fire him, explores issues around freedom of speech especially in regards to matters of public concern, and fumes about how much time this enterprise must have taken Joe Gow to work on. He also provides a brief review of Joe Gow and Carmen Wilson’s cringy cooking with porn stars YouTube show.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is going to jail and his cryptocurrency exchange - the largest in the world - is paying 4 billion dollars in fines to the US Justice Department. I’m this episode of the Sense & Signal leadership and sensemaking podcast, Dan explores what leadership lessons we can learn from Changpeng Zhao’s Icarus like fall. Dan reviews the charges against Changpeng Zhao and Binance, assesses Changpeng Zhao’s personality through a dark quadrad lens, and reviews some of the leadership approaches Changpeng Zhao shared on various Binance blog posts. Some of the Binance founders recommendations include keeping meetings short, publicly criticizing employees, shuffling teams at work, not praising employees, and acting ethically - and the irony of the last one isn’t lost. Dan also reviews some of the criminal activities Changpeng Zhao and other Binance management knew was taking place on the Binance exchange including money laundering for criminal and terrorist organizations, dark web transactions, transferring profits from ransomware attacks, and letting individuals and states under US sanctions transfer money. Ultimately, we find ourselves facing a complicated leader in Changpeng Zhao or CZ. Some of his leadership principles were effective in growing the Binance platform into the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. But Changpeng Zhao clearly should have listened to his own leadership advice on ethics.

What is influence leadership and how can leaders use influence to move their teams forward? Is there something we can learn from leader influencers like Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Bill Gates, and Sam Bankman-Fried? In this micro episode of the Sense & Signal leadership & Sensemaking podcast, Jodah and Dan delve into the definition of influence, discuss how leaders can develop influence by building relationships and trust, explore why knowing your audience is important when trying to influence people, touch on the importance of influence in this age of artificial intelligence and distributed organizations, and consider the importance of emotions when influencing others. They also discuss Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure to distinguish between Machavellian type influence versus Lao Tzu’s more invisible influence leadership approach. Finally, they touch on the emergence of social media influencers / organizational leaders such as Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Sam Bankman-Fried.

Sam Altman has been re-hired at Open AI after a Succession level coup attempt by the nonprofit Open AI board. In this micro podcast of the Sense & Signal leadership and sensemaking podcast, Dan and Jodah discuss the implications of this soap opera unfolding at Open AI. What does it mean for the future of artificial intelligence that Sam Altman was restored as CEO of Open AI? What is the future of the nonprofit Open AI board? Is Sam Altman now unstoppable? And what does it signal that Larry Sommers was appointed to the Open AI board? They ultimately determine the future of AI foundation models like ChatGPT will be unchecked without government regulation which will likely post a risk to many jobs and our future economic stability.

In this micro episode of the Sense & Signal leadership and sensemaking podcast, Jodah and Dan explore the sudden firing of Sam Altman from Open AI, the organization that brought the world ChatGPT. While Dan cheers this move by Open AI, Jodah wants to dig deeper. They discuss two fundamental tensions that may have led to Sam Altman’s firing from Open AI. The first is the governance structure of Open AI. Is it sustainable for them to try to be a mission driven nonprofit and a for profit tech company at the same time? And how will they reconcile the tension between people who want to accelerate getting artificial intelligence products like ChatGPT to the public versus those like Ilya Sutskever and Mira Murati who are on the cautious and safety side of the debate. They also discuss whether Open AI’s board may be spooked by a sudden advancement in artificial intelligence, Open AI’s recent Dev Day event as an inflection point, and a possible deal with the Chinese to develop a new AI chip as possible causal factors for Sam Altman’s firing by the Open AI board.

Last week the Biden adm8nistration released an Executive Order addressing the safety, security, and trustworthiness of artificial intelligence. In this Sense & Signal leadership and sensemaking micro podcast, Dan takes a dive into this executive order on artificial intelligence - especially where the administration fears danger. He discussed the section on dual use foundation models like ChatGPT, cybersecurity, AI model weights, and threats of AI models like ChatGPT being used for bio-terrorism if their weights are released. He also looks at some research on spicy AI models that provided people with the ingredients to recreate the Spanish influenza virus. He also weighs whether our fears of artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT are justified or not. Briefing on the Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence Safety: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/10/30/executive-order-on-the-safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence/ Weighs, dual use, and biological weapons https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/ZuzK2s4JsJcexBJxy/will-releasing-the-weights-of-large-language-models-grant

Dan explores LinkedIn Drama on this Sense& Signal micro podcast. Is servant leadership lazy or micromanage - or neither?

Who is to blame for Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto crimes? Is he to blame? Is it the system? God? His parents? The spaghetti monster? Dan begins to unpack this question in this Sense & Signal micro cast. He discusses the essay Sam Bankman—Fried’s mother Barbara Fried wrote on blame and moral responsibility in the Boston Review, the concept of hard determinism versus libertarian free will in terms of the Sam Bankman-Fried case, interrogates Barbara Fried’s position that there can be no blame if there is no free will, shares dissenting comments about Barbara Fried’s stance on determinism and free will from Princeton philosophy professor Gideon Rosen, and reflects on the literary level of irony of this article in light of the criminal charges Sam Bankman-Fried and his parents face. Barbara Fried’s article on blame and free will: https://www.bostonreviewu.net/forum/barbara-fried-beyond-blame-moral-responsibility-philosophy-law

In this segment of the Sense & Signal podcast, Dam reflects on the new and possible last Beatles song “Now & Then” and the ethical issues around AI and dead artists. What are the ethical implications of using AI to create new art from the work of dead artists like John Lennon and George Harrison. There is a reflection on the impact the Beatles had on our culture, their history of innovation, the deaths on John Lennon and George Harrison, the process of creating this new song “Now and Then”, the creativity and leadership lessons learned from Peter Jackson’s documentary on the Beatles “Get Back”, and the artistic merit of the song “Now and Then.”

In this segment of the Sense & Signal podcast, Dan reflects on the Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) verdict and what it can teach us about Imagology and ethics. Dan reviews the general fraud and conspiracy case against Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX, and Alameda Research. He gives Sam Bankman-Fried a dark quadrant performance review to determine if he is narcissistic, Machiavellian, psychopathic, or sadistic. He then discusses Sam Bankman-Fried’s rise to fame and fortune through the lens of Imagology and ponders whether the West’s fixation on youthful disruptors played a role in his success with the media. He also explores the ethical aspects of the case especially in regards to Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried - who are scholars on economic ethics. Finally, ponders the ironies in the case especially in the context of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and Web 3.0. This case reinforces the need for more ethical leadership training, the need for more scrutiny of the cryptocurrency markets, and awareness of the impact of Imagology.

Last week the Biden administration released an Executive Order addressing the safety, security, and trustworthiness of artificial intelligence. In this first of two segments on the Sense & Signal leadership and sensemaking podcast, Dan takes a dive into one of the documents informing this executive order on AI - the proposed AI Bill of Rights. Dan addresses concerns from both sides of the spectrum about this government response to generative artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT, reflects on the damage the tech industry has caused to society due to their handling of social media, and then delves into the five pillars of the Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights - safety and security, algorithmic protections against discrimination, data privacy, notice & explanations , and human alternatives. This is the first of two segments exploring President Biden’s Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence calling for deeper investigations into how all forms of AI - but especially large language models like ChatGPT - will impact society. The AI Bill of Rights is a set of guidelines that outlines five key protections to protect US citizens against AI harms. The document provides an important framework for how government, technology companies, and citizens can work together to ensure more accountable AI. Here’s what’s key to understand about the new guidelines - both what they cover, what they don’t and what other work is being done in for AI accountability. The five principles of the AI Bill of Rights are as follows: People should be protected from systems deemed “unsafe or ineffective.” People shouldn’t be discriminated against via algorithms and that AI-driven systems should be made and used “in an equitable way.” People should be kept safe “from abusive data practices” by safeguards built in to AI systems and have control over how data about them is used. People should be aware when an automated system is in use and be aware of how it could affect them. People should be able to opt out of such systems “where appropriate” and get help from a person instead of a computer 1234. The need to resolve issues around the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become increasingly important for countries, citizens, and businesses over the last eight years. Approximately 60 countries now have National AI Strategies and many have, or are creating, policies which allow for responsible use of a technology which can bring huge benefits but, without adequate governance, can do significant harm to individuals and our society. The AI Bill of Rights is a critical starting point but wish more checks and balances existed to keep AI accountable 1. While technology brings many benefits, without governance it can bring significant harm. The AI Bill of Rights provides an important framework for how government, technology companies, and citizens can work together to ensure more accountable AI. The AI Bill of Rights is a critical starting point but wish more checks and balances existed to keep AI accountable 1.

in this Halloween edition of the Sense & Signal podcast, Dan shares some ghost stories for leaders. He starts off with a review of the Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix and what we can learn about leadership from it. Then we get a ghost story about a Banshee at an Amtrak Station, Lyndon B Johnson’s encounter with another presidential ghost, the sale of a leadership consultant who was really a succubus, and a tale about a vanished guest who was investigating a famous CEO about his occult activities.

In this episode of the Sense & Signal podcast, Dan explores some ethical questions we should be considering around generative artificial intelligence. Should we approach AI ethics as a critical theory? Should we tag synthetic art created by AI? How do we manage AI creating digital dopplegangers of dead famous people? Is it OK for a lonely person to develop a romantic relationship with an AI bot? Is it unethical for educators to refuse to teach students how to use AI? Lots of ethical AI questions to wrestle with on this episode.

Latest trends in leadership development In this episode of the sentence signal podcast, Jodah and Dan dive into some of the latest conversations and research about leadership development. They discuss whether growth mindset is a valid theory, strategies to train leaders in hybrid work environments, distinctions between empathy and compassion when thinking about leadership, and the difference between horizontal and vertical leadership. This episode has a lot of different dimensions to it for those wanting to think about some of the latest trends and leadership development.   Articles referenced in this episode:   PROOF POINTS: Does growth mindset matter? The debate heats up https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-does-growth-mindset-matter-the-debate-heats-up/   What Leadership Development Should Look Like in the Hybrid Era by Julian Birkinshaw, Maya Gudka, and Steve Marshall https://hbr.org/2022/06/what-leadership-development-should-look-like-in-the-hybrid-era   Empathy Is The Most Important Leadership Skill According To Research By Tracy Brower, PhD https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2021/09/19/empathy-is-the-most-important-leadership-skill-according-to-research/?sh=194414733dc5   Connect with Empathy, But Lead with Compassion Rasmus Hougaard, https://hbr.org/2021/12/connect-with-empathy-but-lead-with-compassion   Developing Talent? You’re Probably Missing Vertical Development https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/developing-talent-youre-probably-missing-vertical-development/   Vertical Leadership Development–Part 1 Developing Leaders for a Complex World By: Nick Petrie https://static1.squarespace.com/static/539ca55fe4b00a440d97d43a/t/543c7996e4b0f4b200091d97/1413249430380/VerticalLeadersPart1.pdf

In this episode of the sense and signal podcast, Dan does a solo show to talk about political leadership. In our dysfunctional, two party political system, how can you be an adult in the room as a political leader? We explore the issue of age and political service. When is a person too old to serve as a president or Congress person? We also talk about personal conduct, and the dress code of politicians, especially as it relates to recent controversies around politicians like John Fetterman. We dove into the history of Jimmy Carter, who is celebrating his 99th birthday – and who might’ve been the last adult politician in the room. We touch on the budget extension and the ramifications of that. And finally we explore the TikTok “How often do you think about Rome” meme.

We all encounter bias at work. In this episode of the Sense & Signal podcast, Jonah and Dan take their audience on a tour of different kinds of biases that may be impacting our workplaces. They define the term biass, describe several types of bias, and differentiate its benefits and significant drawbacks. They also explore bias in the hiring process, attractiveness bias, bias around clothing - especially during job interviews - and bias around age and the generational war that the media maybe artificially propping up

In this episode of the Sense & Signal podcast, Jodah and Dan welcome systems thinking experts Dr. Derek Cabrera and Dr. Laura Cabrera - founders of the Cabrera Research Lab on Systems Thinking at Cornell University - to talk about leadership, systems thinking, and complexity.  They share their story about how they met and became the dynamic duo of systems thinking research, their work teaching kindergarteners about systems thinking, respond to criticisms made by Cynefin founder David Snowden, delve into the characteristics of complex systems and emergence, describe their DSRP Sensemaking framework, advise leaders how use systems thinking to work in complex environments, and how incorporate systems thinking and complexity into strategic planning. A fascinating conversation with a charming and insightful scientific team, perfect for educators and leaders who want to incorporate systems thinking into their work.   Derek Cabrera and Dr. Laura Cabrera are distinguished Systems Thinking innovators renowned for developing the DSRP theory—Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, Perspectives. Their transformative approach simplifies intricate challenges by dissecting them into fundamental components, fostering insightful problem-solving. The Cabrera’s are authors of Systems Thinking Made SImple: A new hope for solving wicked problems and Flock Not Clock, a book for organizational leaders who want to do systems thinking at the organizational level.  They are also the faculty directors of the Systems thinking, Modeling and Leadership Program at Cornell University and founders of the Cabrera Research Lab in Ithaca, New York.  Their work empowers individuals to navigate complexity, cultivate innovation, and make informed decisions across diverse domains.   MORE ABOUT DAN TARKER https://www.linkedin.com/in/dantarker/ https://www.danieltarker.com   MORE ABOUT JODAH JENSEN From parts unknown.  Possibly not of this earth.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodah/

In today's fast-paced business landscape, startups and teams face a myriad of challenges that demand decisions with far-reaching consequences. From resource allocation and product direction to hiring choices and strategic pivots, each crossroad presents an opportunity to mold the future. But with these opportunities come the inevitable, sleepless nights of contemplation, the debates that stretch the boundaries of innovation, and the moments of bold risk-taking that define industry leaders. Lets pull back the curtain on the decision-making processes that occur behind closed doors in this episode of Sense and Signal. Drawing on the experiences of visionary entrepreneur Everett Harper, a battle-hardened executive and industry thought leader. In this hour aim to illuminate the path to effective decision-making while maintaining your grit through all the rough patches. . Join Dan, Jodah, and Everett harper for this great hour of leadership exploration. MORE ABOUT EVERETT HARPER Everett is the CEO and Co-Founder of Truss, a human-centered software development company. He is the author of the new leadership book Move to the Edge, Declare it Center (Wiley), published March 22, 2022 https://amzn.to/3Hsh2PW Truss was named as an Inc 5000 fastest-growing private company for 2020 and 2021. He is a rare combination of Black entrepreneur, Silicon Valley pedigree, National Champion, sought-after public speaker, and a proven record for solving complex problems with social impact. MORE ABOUT DAN TARKER https://www.linkedin.com/in/dantarker/ https://www.danieltarker.com MORE ABOUT JODA JENSEN From parts unknown. Possibly not of this earth. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodah

0In this thought-provoking hour-long podcast episode, we delve deep into the captivating realm of modern-day AI technology and its profound implications on society and the working class. Engaging experts and futurists, we explore the awe-inspiring plusses of AI, from revolutionizing industries to enhancing healthcare. However, we don't shy away from dissecting its potential minuses, including ethical concerns and job displacement. Thoughtful discussions on AI's role in inequality and the future of work make this episode a compelling listen for anyone seeking a comprehensive understanding of the promises and challenges that AI brings to our rapidly evolving world. Prepare to be enlightened and challenged. MORE ABOUT JACK WANG Jack Wang, Associate Professor of Microbiology at The University of Queensland in Australia, videographer, and YouTuber. Brings education in IT. In 2020 named Australian university teacher of the year. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-t-wang/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCwQSuFEwIzuEq3epknQbBkA Web: https://jackwang.com.au MORE ABOUT CHRISTINA INGE Christina Inge is a best-selling author on digital marketing, digital strategist, and marketing teacher. She has two decades of experience leading digital strategy and managing complex marketing technology projects. She specializes in articulating effective, efficient digital strategies for organizations using the latest channels to drive results. Her areas of specialty include go to market strategy, marketing analytics, SEO, inclusive digital media, and data-driven marketing. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinainge/ Marketing Metrics by Christina Inge: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B758YR39/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0 Thoughtlight: https://thoughtlight.net MORE ABOUT DAN TARKER https://www.linkedin.com/in/dantarker/ https://www.danieltarker.com MORE ABOUT JODA JENSEN From parts unknown. Possibly not of this earth. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodah/