Power

Dr. Bret Weinstein is an evolutionary biologist, podcaster, and author. He co-wrote "A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life" with his wife, Dr. Heather Heying, who is also a biologist. They both host the podcast "The DarkHorse Podcast."
www.bretweinstein.net

Richard Rumelt is a legend in the world of strategy. He’s the author of Good Strategy/Bad Strategy and The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists, both of which are often recommended by guests on this podcast. From his early days teaching in Iran at a Harvard-sponsored business school to teaching at Harvard Business School itself to over four decades teaching at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, Richard’s impact resonates globally. His strategic insights are sought after by major corporations including Microsoft, Shell, Apple, AT&T, Intel, and Commonwealth Bank and by governmental organizations such as the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. In this episode, we discuss:

• The essential components of a good strategy

• The importance of coherence in strategy

• Common pitfalls that create a bad strategy

• How “power” plays into strategy, and common sources of power

• The value of knowing history when developing effective strategies

• Why a strategy should simply be called an “action agenda”

• The need for one decider in an organization

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/good-strategy-bad-strategy-richard-rumelt/

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Where to find Richard Rumelt:

• Email: richard@generalimagination.com

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-rumelt-18520828/

• Website: https://thecruxbook.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Richard’s background

(04:29) What is a strategy?

(06:23) The essential components of a good strategy (the “kernel”)

(15:04) An example of good strategy

(16:55) Bad strategy

(25:17) The importance of focus and power

(28:19) Identifying and utilizing power

(34:38) Types of power

(41:13) Implementing power

(48:15) The importance of historical knowledge

(55:23) How to write an action agenda

(01:02:47) The crux

(01:10:40) Challenges to executing a strategy

(01:15:44) The need for a decider

(01:20:39) Strategy for startups

(01:26:04) Richard’s “value denials” exercise

(01:31:01) Closing thoughts

(01:33:57) Lightning round

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Referenced:

• China’s Xi says ‘reunification’ with Taiwan is inevitable: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/31/chinas-xi-says-reunification-with-taiwan-is-inevitable.html

• The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists: https://www.amazon.com/Crux-How-Leaders-Become-Strategists/dp/1541701240

• Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Strategy-Bad-Difference-Matters/dp/0307886239

• Fundamental Issues in Strategy: A Research Agenda: https://www.amazon.com/Fundamental-Issues-Strategy-Research-Agenda/dp/0875843433/

• Strategy, Structure, and Economic Performance: https://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Structure-Economic-Performance-Richard/dp/0875841090

• There’s more than the CIA and FBI: The 17 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community: https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-17-intelligence-agencies-20170112-story.html

• Programme for International Student Assessment: https://www.oecd.org/pisa/

• Gerstner: Changing Culture at IBM—Lou Gerstner Discusses Changing the Culture at IBM: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/gerstner-changing-culture-at-ibm-lou-gerstner-discusses-changing-the-culture-at-ibm

• Marvin Lieberman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marvin-lieberman-2a6b72/

• S&P 500: https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/indices/equity/sp-500/#overview

• Battle of Tora Bora: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tora_Bora

• Milton Friedman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman

• The Louvre: https://www.louvre.fr/en

• How does SpaceX build its Falcon 9 reusable rocket?: https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/how-does-spacex-build-its-falcon-9-reusable-rocket

• Charles Darwin: History’s most famous biologist: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/charles-darwin-most-famous-biologist.html

• Donald Rumsfeld: https://www.defense.gov/About/Biographies/Biography/Article/602800/

• Bush: The Decider-in-Chief: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-the-decider-in-chief/

• Woodrow Wilson: https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/woodrow-wilson/

• How the Sinking of Lusitania Changed World War I: https://www.history.com/news/how-the-sinking-of-lusitania-changed-wwi

• Nokia: https://www.nokia.com/

• The Rise and Fall of Nokia: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=46041

• Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/

• These New Windows Let the Summer Breeze In, But Block the Street Noise: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-new-windows-let-the-summer-breeze-in-but-block-the-street-noise-7906121/

• Stop it! (Bob Newhart): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvujypVVBAY

• The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business: https://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Dilemma-Revolutionary-Change-Business/dp/0062060244

• Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works: https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Win-Strategy-Really-Works/dp/142218739X

• Steve Jobs: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1982176865

• Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company: https://www.amazon.com/Only-Paranoid-Survive-Exploit-Challenge/dp/0385483821

• Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.: https://www.amazon.com/Titan-Life-John-Rockefeller-Sr/dp/1400077303/

• Yellowstone on Paramount+: https://www.paramountnetwork.com/shows/yellowstone

• Smart telescopes: https://milehighastro.com/collections/smart-telescopes

• Cassandra Clare: https://cassandraclare.com/

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

Alex Berenson is a journalist who writes the Unreported Truth Substack (https://alexberenson.substack.com) and the award-winning author of 13 novels and three non-fiction books. He is currently suing the Biden Administration and senior Pfizer officials for their efforts in 2021 to ban him from Twitter; he is the only person ever to be reinstated by Twitter after suing the company over a ban. His most recent book is "Pandemia: How Coronavirus Hysteria Took Over Our Government, Rights, and Lives."

(0:00) Bestie intros!

(3:03) Sacks goes behind the scenes on the DeSantis Twitter Spaces experience

(28:18) Debt ceiling, government spending, and lack of accountability

(40:44) Ways to force more government accountability, who really wins from higher taxes

(57:46) Nvidia up 30% due to massive Q2 guidance, rebuilding and upgrading cloud infrastructure, understanding phases of value creation in technology

(1:06:20) Adobe's new AI product, why they might have overpaid for Figma

(1:11:43) State of Silicon Valley, VC, and startups; dealing with failure

(1:33:36) Bestie wrap!

Follow the besties:

https://twitter.com/chamath

https://linktr.ee/calacanis

https://twitter.com/DavidSacks

https://twitter.com/friedberg

Follow the pod:

https://twitter.com/theallinpod

https://linktr.ee/allinpodcast

Intro Music Credit:

https://rb.gy/tppkzl

https://twitter.com/yung_spielburg

Intro Video Credit:

https://twitter.com/TheZachEffect

Referenced in the show:

https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal

https://twitter.com/joebiden/status/1661496322980028423

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ron-desantis-presidential-campaign-twitter-announcement-ead63b25

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/25/iowa-voters-dont-think-desantis-twitter-failure-is-real-life-00098777

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/05/ron-desantis-elon-musk-2024-announcement

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fitch-puts-us-negative-credit-watch-2023-05-24/

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/slimmed-down-us-debt-ceiling-deal-takes-shape-sources-2023-05-25

https://youtu.be/50MusF365U0

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-23/pentagon-can-t-account-for-thousands-of-f-35-parts-the-gao-says

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYFRGDA188S

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorization_for_Use_of_Military_Force_of_2001

https://twitter.com/friedberg/status/1658163970979823616

https://www.270towin.com/1980_Election

https://www.google.com/finance/quote/NVDA

https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-financial-results-for-first-quarter-fiscal-2024

https://twitter.com/carlquintanilla/status/1661761614918426624

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huang%27s_law

https://twitter.com/scottbelsky/status/1660992735040663553

https://twitter.com/chamath/status/1661467059341914112

https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2023/05/15/2669326/0/en/Rumble-Acquires-Podcasting-and-Live-Streaming-Platform-CallIn.html

https://www.google.com/finance/quote/RUM:NASDAQ

If you feel that something’s missing from your life but have no idea exactly what’s missing or where to begin looking for it, today’s episode will help you reconnect with your power and find greater meaning in your life.

Dr. Thema Bryant is the current president of the American Psychological Association. She trained at both Duke and Harvard, published multiple best-selling books, and has dedicated decades of her life to researching how we connect with each other by first connecting back to ourselves.

Her work has been so profound for me personally that, right off the bat in this conversation, I get emotional.

Dr. Thema is a national treasure. Her presence and her voice will put you at ease. And she has the unique gift of weaving together psychological strategies for healing with the deeper spiritual cornerstones of faith and trusting in "that which cannot be explained."

In this episode, you’ll learn:

-6 signs that you are disconnected from yourself

-what it means to be "psychologically wandering"

-how to handle people in your life who are chronically irritable and angry

-the surprising signs of "irritable depression"

-the three words to say to yourself before you can begin healing

-why self-care is critical if you are in a toxic workplace (you are more than your labor)

-why you need to stop talking about your significant other and your boss in therapy.

-where to find therapy when you can’t afford it.

You are so much more than a highway for other people to get where they’re going. With Dr. Thema’s wisdom and tactics, you’ll reconnect with yourself and take the wheel on your own incredible journey in life.

Xo Mel 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• 2:45: I got really emotional when I acknowledged how my life used to be.
• 6:30: 6 powerful signs that you are disconnected from yourself and what that means.
• 9:00: Even if you’ve never felt home with yourself, you can learn to be home with yourself.
• 11:00: The West African fable that gave me chills and should be required reading for everyone.
• 16:00: This is the first and most powerful step to your “homecoming.”
• 22:00: Do people with an attitude actually have depression?
• 25:20: What is healing, anyway?
• 27:00: How do we handle people in our lives who are irritable, frustrated, and angry?
• 30:00: It’s a big mistake if you wait for this before you start your own healing.
• 36:30: How to know if you need therapy or you need spirituality.
• 41:00: How do you heal from a lifetime of messaging that you’re not worthy?
• 44:00: This is how you handle working in a toxic work environment.
• 48:50: Look to these resources if you can’t afford therapy.

Disclaimer

How do you find your power when life knocks you down? 

What do you do when you are in the middle of an emotional tsunami? 

How do you respond when the universe is testing you? 

This is the ultimate episode about resilience, confidence, and taking your power back. 

Yes, you can take control with simple tools whenever you feel that insecurity spiral kick in. You can pick yourself up, shake off the sh*t, and you can make it a win for you.

In this episode, I take you into my life as my 22-year-old daughter gets news that sent her spiraling: her ex was now interested in one of her friends.  

This episode unfolds live, over the phone, in real-time, and it is about way more than dealing with heartbreak. 

This is for everyone, including you.

This is about how you can make those moments of insecurity a win. It’s about finding your confidence when self-doubt comes in. It’s about getting your power back. 

And this is also about how you can make better decisions. How to align your actions and reactions with what you want out of life, rather than letting your emotions hijack you.

This is powerful stuff. 

During this deeply relatable conversation, you’ll laugh, nod along, and probably think of a dozen friends who need to hear this too. My daughter and I unpack the situation live, and you’ll hear Kendall process her feelings, rise above the noise, tap into her power, and start coaching herself forward from a place of confidence and clarity.  

Honestly, as her mother, I’m incredibly proud of what she shares in this episode.

I want you to listen because I want you to feel empowered too. 

In one hour, you will learn how to turn hurt feelings into a WIN for you. You’ll hear the best advice I’ve ever received when life knocked me down, and how you can use it to make your life and your attitude 10X better. 

You’ll understand how to break old patterns of self-sabotage and kick them to the curb for good.

Holy sh*t…I almost forgot! There is swearing in this episode! If you have any kids around, put those headphones on!

And seriously: for anyone in your life struggling with insecurity, do them a favor and remind them of who they are. Send them this episode so they can take their power back.

Xo Mel

Oh its a goodie.  How we bring indigenous wisdom into our modern day lives, transform our relationship to the earth, leadership and living fulfilled lives.  Sustainability at it's core, in this rich tea, Mac & Rachel share stories offering ideas on a new way to lead, one that creates a future with integrity for generations to come.  This is heart work and offers the opportunity to find an inner settling and knowing within. It did for us at least!

Their cuppa journeys so much; life being a sphere, belonging and the importance of place, watching TV - Colin Stafford Johnson - The Wild Gardener, Dyscalculia which is like dyslexia with numbers, compromise, feeling broken hearted and whether its smarter to live a "middle of the road" life, life happening in the small moments, how do we listen and be with opposing views to our own, the bloody history of the land we stand on, the original instructions, Childrens Fire and the possibility of a new way of leadership.  Its life giving and real.

This is Cuppa 33 of 40, on Rachels quest to explore what it is to be human in this new decade.  40 for Tea is on Instagram.

Mac is an international speaker, writer and change-maker. Mentored by indigenous people over many years, he has acquired profound and original insights into questions preoccupying many contemporary leaders. Mac seeks to inspire the emergence of the leader in each of us, the leader who will take courageous action for a better world. Championing A New Story of Sustainability lies at the heart of this.

Talking about power often turns our minds to Marvel Super Heroes with their unique super powers. And that might make us seem kind of...normal. Powerless, even.

Let's talk about some powers that everyday normal people possess, including your own, and why it's important to start recognizing them.

The Powerhouse Women Series:  Women who found their purpose & share their passion. Which one to listen to?  

 Rach gives us a quick review of topics covered in Season 3 so far + how she is and what's new.  She wants to know who you are and get chatting with you!

The Powerhouse Women Series:  Women who found their purpose & share their passion. 

This lively, informative tea, is jam-packed with informative approaches to stress through nutrition and sleep.  Rach and Sarah explore what we can practically do, exchanging thoughts on diet, hormones, stress & sleep.