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  • On Behalf of HR Realizing Its Necessary Potential - Not as a Complaint Department

    On Behalf of HR Realizing Its Necessary Potential - Not as a Complaint Department
    2026/08/06
    Pat Garland is an HR leader, author, consultant and Adjunct Instructor at Loyola University’s Quinlan School of Business (in Chicago). Her career has spanned senior posts at Jim Beam, Anixter Intl, where she played a leading role in the company’s success over several decades. Pat is also an equestrian who finds dealing with horses easier than dealing with people (whose motivations often aren’t as clear, even to themselves). Too often the Human Resources (HR) function at a company gets reduced to being a “hall monitor” or “complaint department” in the words of today’s spirited and pragmatic guest: Pat Garland. HR, when it realizes its potential, should function not as some quasi-clerical payroll and benefits-focused operation (though those functions are vital) but as an enabler of business growth through respecting talent. Most importantly for HR, Garland observes, is starting by understanding the actual business, and then helping to design the flow of people and ideas that enhance its success. Note she doesn’t mention policies. Because she’s anti-policy. So she fit in beautifully at Anixter, which was high on accountability but allergic to running a business on policies. The Anixter culture understood, as Pat clearly does, that everything starts with trusting people. And building talent starts with getting people into roles where the work comes naturally because its a fit. For what kind of tasks are they best suited? Ultimately, the HR bottom line is pretty simple: back to “trust your people.” Enable them to grow, rather than creating rules that allow leaders and managers to cast the blame on HR when things don’t work. The real need in any business is for leaders to lead and coach people well. A great HR leader is part psychologist, part lawyer, part actuary, part accountant, and 100% a humanist. Pat clearly is the latter. And her book, 33 Ways Not to Screw Up HR (NetWorlding Publishing, 2022), proves it. Real Transformations: Business Change That Works from the Inside Out is co-hosted by Julie Anixter and Dan Hill, PhD, entrepreneurs with deep experience as corporate change agents, devoted to helping companies make continuous change work for everyone through clarity and connection. To learn about their keynote talks, workshops and labs, check out Real-Transformation.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    27 分
  • Nozomi Naoi, "The Land of Happiness: How the Japanese Department Store Visualized Modern Life" (MIT Press, 2026)

    Nozomi Naoi, "The Land of Happiness: How the Japanese Department Store Visualized Modern Life" (MIT Press, 2026)
    2026/08/04
    The Land of Happiness: How the Japanese Department Store Visualized Modern Life (MIT Press, 2026) explores the far-reaching influence of the Japanese department store on modern life and our imaginations. In this gorgeously illustrated volume, Dr. Nozomi Naoi explains how Japanese department stores modeled “the new modern Japanese life and identity” through print media and design, physical and imagined space, and the new experiences that these spaces offered. The stores created the notion of a modern subject enjoying a “land of happiness”—and this, in turn, shaped the wider sociological context, including emerging roles for women and perceptions of coloniality. The book focuses on three areas: the mediascape of proliferating department store posters, advertisements, commercial design, promotional magazines, and merchandise; the physical space, such as the Western-style architecture that characterized many of these early department stores, and the imagined “modern space” created within their walls; and, finally, the production of a novel “dreamworld,” which included dining spaces with children’s menus, new technology such as elevators and escalators, and more. Although the research on department stores and their role in the quotidian experience is vast, there is nothing like this study, which is uniquely grounded in an art-historical approach that draws on the visual media environment of early twentieth-century Japan and its impact on the everyday. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    43 分
  • Devin Kennedy, "Coding Capitalism: Computers and the Remaking of the Postwar US Economy" (Columbia UP, 2026)

    Devin Kennedy, "Coding Capitalism: Computers and the Remaking of the Postwar US Economy" (Columbia UP, 2026)
    2026/07/31
    Long before Google, Amazon, or Microsoft, computer technology shaped how people worked, how markets operated, and how businesses became big. After World War II, military officials and their partners in industry looked to the newly invented electronic computer as they sought to cut costs, speed up labor, manage supply chains, and—they hoped—bring stability to the postwar economy. Their efforts would shape early computer science and the first applications of computer technology in manufacturing and business, with profound consequences for workers and managers alike. By the 1960s, practices originally developed to improve industrial efficiency were being used by Wall Street, influencing how markets worked and even how traders thought. Digital technology became central to finance, tying together far-flung trading floors and automating decision making—with alarming consequences, including the 1987 Black Monday crash. In Coding Capitalism: Computers and the Remaking of the Postwar US Economy (Columbia University Press, 2026), Dr. Devin Kennedy offers a new history of the digital economy, showing how the computer emerged from—and transformed—capitalism in the United States. He traces how computer science and technology were made by industry, which molded computation to manage factories, financial markets, and entire firms. Drawing on the archives of businesses, computer researchers, regulators, and financial institutions, Coding Capitalism retells the story of the postwar economy and the computer, revealing how mid-century business laid the foundations of the digital world. Bridging business and economic history with the history of science and technology, this book uncovers the prehistory of big tech and demonstrates how capitalism has shaped computing since its invention. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    57 分
  • Re-Evaluating CX in the AI Era

    Re-Evaluating CX in the AI Era
    2026/07/30
    Michael Brand is a CX strategist and trainer, based in Switzerland, who has been named a Thinkers 360 Top 50 Global Thought Leader on Customer Loyalty. Dr. Vincent Covello directs the Center for Risk Communications, and is a nationally and internationally recognized trainer, researcher, consultant, and expert in emergency, crisis, risk, and change communications. Deanna Leonard is a futurist, executive coach, and AI transformation leader. Her career has spanned senior leadership posts across a wide range of Fortune 500 companies. In this freewheeling, one-hour roundtable discussion, the focus is on the Customer Experience through the lens of both the opportunities and misuses that AI involves. The topics addressed include the following: 1) the importance of active listening, 2) the 20 words that can make or break an exchange with a customer, 3) how front-line CX employees can be enabled to do their jobs better, and 4) the need for training budgets to be protected, if not increased. In emotional terms, two feelings rise to prominence in this session: fear (of not being heard and responded to) and trust (rooted in the demonstration of caring before knowledge gets shared or an action-step taken). The answers as to who people trust, and why, when experiencing stress will be sure to surprise you. Real Transformations: Business Change That Works from the Inside Out is co-hosted by Julie Anixter and Dan Hill, PhD, entrepreneurs with deep experience as corporate change agents, devoted to helping companies make continuous change work for everyone through clarity and connection. To learn about their keynote talks, workshops and labs, check out Real-Transformation.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    43 分
  • David J. Teece and Sohvi Heaton, "Dynamic Universities: How Strategic, Entrepreneurial Leaders Can Strengthen Higher Education" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

    David J. Teece and Sohvi Heaton, "Dynamic Universities: How Strategic, Entrepreneurial Leaders Can Strengthen Higher Education" (Cambridge UP, 2026)
    2026/07/26
    In times of deep uncertainty, the university needs to transform itself into an entrepreneurial entity to maintain long-term evolutionary fitness. Dynamic Universities (Cambridge University Press, 2026) explores how strategic, entrepreneurial leadership can help US higher education institutions thrive amid unprecedented challenges. Drawing on the dynamic capabilities’ framework, David J. Teece and Sohvi Heaton provide a strategic roadmap to help university leaders identify emerging opportunities and threats, take decisive action, and sustain competitiveness. Through compelling case studies including Stanford and Berkeley and interviews with global university leaders, this book offers practical insights into managing complexity, fostering innovation, and building resilient academic ecosystems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 時間 8 分
  • Amy Brann, "Make Your Brain Work: Perform at a Higher Level" (Kogan Page, 2025)

    Amy Brann, "Make Your Brain Work: Perform at a Higher Level" (Kogan Page, 2025)
    2026/07/25
    Make Your Brain Work By Amy Brann Neuroscience expert, author, consultant and global speaker Make Your Brain Work: Perform at a Higher Level (Kogan Page, 2025) is a practical, science-backed guide to improving focus, performance and mental energy without burning out. Written for people balancing multiple responsibilities, the book explains how to stay productive, mentally sharp and in control, even when demands and pressure are high. The book also explores the neuroscience of smarter leadership, high-performing teams and innovation. Brann examines working memory, what the mind needs to achieve goals and how to help the brain perform at an optimal level. Drawing from current neuroscience, Amy Brann translates complex research about the brain into clear strategies readers can apply in everyday work and life. She explores why attention fades, distractions take over and decision-making becomes more difficult when the brain is tired or under stress. The book emphasizes that high performance is not simply about pushing harder. It is about understanding what the brain needs to function well and creating habits that support focus, creativity, resilience, clear thinking and sustainable success.  Key Ideas: The brain performs best when its limited attention and energy are managed intentionally. Understanding working memory can help us process information, solve problems and pursue goals more effectively. Mental rehearsal can activate neurons and strengthen neural circuits even when an action is only imagined. For example, imagining your finger contracting can prepare your brain and muscles to perform the movement more effectively. Neuroscience can help leaders make smarter decisions and create the conditions for high-performing teams. Brain-aware leadership can encourage collaboration, creativity, innovation and meaningful change. Mental fatigue can weaken focus, self-control and the quality of our decisions. Working with the brain, rather than continually forcing it beyond its limits, can support greater success while helping to prevent burnout. Key Takeaway from the Conversation: One of the strongest ideas from the conversation is recognizing that our brain can help us become smarter leaders, more creative thinkers and stronger performers. Brann’s insights about working memory and high-performing teams show that success is not only about effort. If you read the book, you’ll learn how to think clearly, innovate, collaborate and achieve meaningful goals. Brann does not focus only on managing fatigue or avoiding burnout. She also demonstrates how understanding the brain can help people lead more effectively, develop innovative ideas, make smarter choices and perform at a higher level.  About Podcast Host Angela Marie Hutchinson is the author of “Create Your Yes! When You Keep Hearing No,” named a Forbes No. 4 book to advance your career. She is a podcast host for New Books Network, where she leads conversations for the neuroscience and Christianity channels. Hutchinson is also a talent and intellectual property executive, former social media professor and BBC commentator. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband and three children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    53 分
  • Max H. Bazerman, "Negotiation: The Game Has Changed" (Princeton UP, 2025)

    Max H. Bazerman, "Negotiation: The Game Has Changed" (Princeton UP, 2025)
    2026/07/24
    The world has changed dramatically in just the past few years and so has negotiation. Traditional negotiating tactics, while still effective, need to be tailored to vastly different situations and circumstances. In Negotiation: The Game Has Changed (Princeton University Press, 2025), Harvard Business School professor Max H. Bazerman, a legendary pioneer in the field of negotiation, shows how to negotiate effectively today by adapting proven negotiation principles and strategies to challenging new contexts. Negotiation is a fundamentally new way of thinking about the importance of context in negotiation.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 時間 10 分
  • Systemic, Non-Linear Change Is Today’s Path Forward

    Systemic, Non-Linear Change Is Today’s Path Forward
    2026/07/23
    Ilene Fischer is the founder and CEO of Sophia Network, where she guides executive leaders through the turbulence of disruptive change, mergers, reorganizations, and breakthrough innovations – applying her signature Innovation Ecosystems methodology to turn strategic vision into reality. Earlier in her career, she was a partner at Charlie Kiefer’s Innovation Associates and managing director at the Tom Peters Company, and has been an advocate for women’s causes in an array of fields. “Innovation theatre” in which changes are promised without ever happening is Ilene’s bete noire. Give me a corporate culture steeped in fear, and you can be sure that vital experimentation won’t be valued. In this interview, she makes a strong case for constant iteration that cuts across departmental silos in order to keep pace with the nine disruptive factors she sees as happening simultaneously in the business world today. Is AI big? Yes. But so is what quantum computing makes possible. One of the biggest points she makes in this conversation is that companies are starved for multidisciplinary talent, and the talent they do manage is attract will leave promptly if not given a license to apply that talent and achieve results. Change starts with deep listening (no judging) and grows exponentially into a virtuous circle if done with respect; fail that test, and a vicious cycle will emerge instead. Ilene's book Innovation Ecosystems: A Dynamic Blueprint for Organizational Success and Engagement is published by John Murray Press, a division of Hachette. The book will be released on October 20 and is available for preorder now. Real Transformations: Business Change That Works from the Inside Out is co-hosted by Julie Anixter and Dan Hill, PhD, entrepreneurs with deep experience as corporate change agents, devoted to helping companies make continuous change work for everyone through clarity and connection. To learn about their keynote talks, workshops and labs, check out Real-Transformation.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    28 分