Nobody is born a leader. Yet we seem to believe that there is a set of skills that will turn us into leadership perfection. Aga doesn't believe that one bit. This is why she wrote the book "Leadership by Design". It is a 12-week course in designing your personal leadership practice. In this bonus episode, łukasz asks Aga about the reasons for writing such a book in the first place and about the change a book like this can inflict on the life of a leader. LINKS "Leadership by Design" on Amazon "L...
Sep 27, 2023•30 min
Season 11 of the Catching The Next Wave podcast was about doing. But, it turned out that doing is not just about putting something into the world, it is a much more nuanced concept to ponder including aspects like curiosity, open-mindedness, accountability, and much more. We started by distinguishing between thinking and doing only to arrive at a conclusion that one is impossible without the other. We hope you will enjoy that season much as we did. LINKS “ Obliquity ” by John Kay...
May 10, 2022•43 min•Ep. 109
So many of us are afraid to be different and stand out of the pack. Our guest, Andrew Lacanienta, a senior strategist at George P Johnson Experience Marketing, thrives when he can share his uniqueness with others as long as what he does is truthful to himself. Andrew holds a PhD in Experience Design so we just couldn’t avoid the topics of experience and transformational design, however, we tackle them from both the personal and the business context. We also talk about the importance of embodied ...
May 10, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 108
What do life-long learning and building communities have in common? David Nebinski, the host of the Portfolio Career podcast and a Community Operations Manager for the Chief of Staff Network Community says that communities are places for a social learning experience, which allows for creating a common language and stimulates accountability. We dive into the need for flexing your mind in order to deal with uncertainty and use generosity as a way to expand your worldview. LINKS David's Portfolio C...
May 10, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 107
What can the mixture of curiosity and making things visual do to your collaborations? It is one of the many topics we discuss with our guest Anna van der Aa, a coach, researcher, visual facilitator, and songwriter. We discuss the notion of clean coaching using clean questions and we dive into evidence-based decision-making as a way to do things in an informed and wise way. And we try to figure out how people rock :) LINKS Anna’s website Anna’s song that surprised her after being produced Anna’s ...
May 10, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 106
How to define inventors of our times? This is a question, we try to answer with our guest, Daniel Owsiański, a VP of Technology at volt.io. We talk about the creativity of teams versus individuals, productivity versus effectiveness, and leadership versus management. We discuss the need for self-organizing teams and embracing the process, which is the only thing under our control. LINKS “ Thinking Fast and Slow ” by Daniel Kahneman “ Why We Sleep ” by Matthew Walker...
May 10, 2022•55 min•Ep. 105
Creative industries offer the potential for going global with local flavor, unlike any other scalable businesses that are alike everywhere you go says Alice Loy, a co-founder of the world's first accelerator for creatives called Creative Startups. Alice argues that we need a new economy based on new models of investing and she says that creatives need to be a part of that conversation because they have a crucial role in combining community and culture. We also discuss the good questions to ask a...
May 10, 2022•46 min•Ep. 104
What is hype and how mischiefs and propagandists can help you build it? Or, in other words, how do you get people to hear and follow you? This is one of the many topics we discuss with our guest Michael F. Schein -- a writer and the author of the book “The Hype Handbook”. We also talk about thinning in bets, the future of social media, and the trap of following the rules others live by. LINKS “ The Hype Handbook ” by Michael F. Schein “ The Medici Effect ” by Frans Johansson “ The Click Moment ”...
May 10, 2022•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 103
Every opportunity is a learning opportunity, says our guest Latifa Al-Khalifa – a Social Entrepreneur, STEAM education advocate, and a founding member of Clever Play, a purpose-driven startup with a mission to inspire, educate and empower 1 million children in MENA STEAM skills by 2030. In this insightful conversation we dive into the shape of the XXI century education (or rather learning). We discuss how it is no longer important what you know but what you do with what you know. And we talk tha...
May 10, 2022•50 min•Ep. 102
Culture can only be defined at an intersection of data argues our guest Theodore Edmonds – a creativity researcher, cultural futurist, artist, wellbeing entrepreneur, data analytics inventor, and a transdisciplinary academic. We talk about the third spaces, the different flavors of creativity, and Aristotelian notions of hedonism and eudaimonia and hope. We look for a definition of a new role of business and investment in the future world where not only financial gain is the growth motivator. LI...
May 10, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 101
To do or not to do? This is the question for this 11th Season of the Catching The Next Wave podcast. We hope to investigate the difference (or the connection) between thinking and doing. We also hope to dig into understanding how our guests help themselves to put things out in the world and what helps them to do so. Stay tuned for the new season of Catching The Next Wave.
May 03, 2022•16 min•Ep. 100
In the anniversary 10th season of the Catching The Next Wave podcast, we went down quite a few rabbit holes with our guests. Some of them were challenging, some were reflective, some were eye-opening. We discussed topics of abusing natural resources, cracking own productivity, dealing with change, learning, innovating, experiencing, and transforming. All of them are important for every one of us and the question is - how deep are there rabbit holes for you? LINKS GoGoDone website “Design to Chan...
Nov 11, 2021•37 min•Ep. 99
Have you ever thought about whether for an experience to be memorable does it have to always be extraordinary or is ordinary also an option? This is one of the rabbit holes we visit together with our guest Mat Deurden, an Associate Professor of Experience Design and Management in the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University. We unpack a transformative process as tripping over the truth you never realized. We discuss the difference between a transformation that is a small “t” versu...
Nov 11, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 97
Everything is connected much more than we have ever realised. We are dependent on the nature that surrounds us much more than nature is dependent on us, in fact. This is why we should stop perceiving nature as something to conquer and start seeing it as our life-support system, argues our amazing guest, dr Sylvia Earle, also known as “Her Deepness”. We discuss the ways in which oceans and life that inhabits them are treated today and how they should be treated from now onward. We discuss tuna an...
Nov 11, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 98
It is no longer enough for governments to measure GDP, they should finally use knowledge of sociology and psychology to figure out how to measure the quality of life. And part of these metrics should be about the value of experiencing rather than possessing things. Together with James Wallman, the author of “Stuffocation” and “Time and how to spend it”, and a co-founder of the World Experience Organization, we dig into the topic of how to measure experiences, and how to use these metrics to prov...
Nov 11, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 96
Have you ever considered how being human-centered might not be a good idea? How any centricity is a wrong focus for design? With Gilbert Cockton, a professor emeritus from the Northumbria University and the University of Sunderland, we discuss the need for a big picture to be able to strategically move forward with any project. We talk about the design approach in the era of post-humanism, the agency of objects, and a fetish of rationality creeping into the design profession. We underline the im...
Nov 11, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 95
The pandemic showed us that change is non-optional. But what remains to be figured out is how to make it good and lasting. With our guest Ruud Janssen, the co-author of “Event Design Handbook” and “Design to Change” we discuss what it takes to implement change you wish for. We deliberate what is more important, process or outcome, and we look into events as pivotal moments for change. We also wonder whether it’s possible to design for how people spend time at work. LINKS “ Design to Change ” by ...
Nov 11, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 94
Everyone can sing better, it’s just a matter of the right training. With the world-famous vocal coach, Greg Enriquez, we talk about the strange instrument that is our voice. We talk about the unrealistic expectations technology raises for musicians and how it should be replaced with daring to try things that are tough early on. Greg points out how learning to sing is a never-ending journey rather than a destination and gives advice on how to effectively exercise your voice and also how to find a...
Nov 11, 2021•54 min•Ep. 93
Have you ever considered that risk-taking is a muscle that needs to be regularly exercised? In this conversation with a productivity nerd, coach in Seth Godin’s Akimbo community, and an entrepreneur at GoGoDone, Heather Chavin we talk about creating conditions to ship your work. We talk about how so many of us are obligers responding to the external rather than internal stimuli and why we need a powerful community to overcome that. We agree that it is important to mourn projects we say ‘no’ to b...
Nov 11, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 92
In order to face change straight up you can’t do things the usual way. You need a new, unusual approach to doing business. In this conversation with Joy van Baren, the Growth Acceleration Director at Ordina, we discuss the importance of the right mindset, the new way of looking at risk as a risk of missed opportunity. We investigate how important is brutal honesty to stay innovative and how to create a safe place for it. We also wonder what the success rate is for innovative projects. LINKS “ Pi...
Nov 11, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 91
More than three years ago we jumped the rabbit hole of producing the Catching The Next Wave podcast. In this anniversary intro we share the kitchen view on how it all happens. We also introduce the theme of the 10th season - "Down the Rabbit Hole" and chat about the meaning of this statement for both of us. And, as usual, we unravel a few of the mamazing guests we lined up for you in this season.
Nov 05, 2021•31 min•Ep. 90
Anthony Rocco and Pim Schachtschabel, our great guests from previous seasons, decided to put their forces together to develop an online course that aims to awake curiosity in people. Together with Łukasz, we got a preview of this course live that got us grateful, confused, and more. Check it out to see what condition your curiosity is in. LINKS The architecting curiosity program “ A curious mind ” by Brian Grazer...
Sep 22, 2021•1 hr 5 min
As usual, our Season 9 guests at Catching The Next Wave podcast took us into directions we dared not to wander ourselves. We heard daring business and artistic stories, we discussed how to become more daring as a leader and as a person but above all we were taken for a roller-coaster ride to learn the amazing things they all undertook in their personal and professional lives. LINKS “ Designing Experiences ” by Rob Rossman and Mat Deuren The EQ Method workshop by Brent Lamphier The College of Ext...
Jun 01, 2021•36 min•Ep. 89
What is the difference between transformative and experience design? Our guest, Paul Bulencea, compares it (after professor Martin Seligman) to the cosmetic versus curative treatment. Together we explore the transformative journey as a way to re-wild yourself, to reconnect with your true nature and your path. Using the example of the College of Extraordinary Experiences, Paul is a co-founder of, we define the difference between the safe and the brave space and chat about the importance of being ...
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 88
Born in the US and relocated to Syria at the age of 14, our guest Randa Taftaf found a way to combine the two so different cultures. She experienced the start of the war in Syria and then moved back to the US to start a publishing house that aims to create books for Arabic learners that are engaging and true to the cultural heritage of the Arabic world. In this conversation, we explore with Randa how you can embrace diversity and live a humane experience. We also discuss the issues related to mi...
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 87
Our lives are interconnected with nature. Our art is too. With our returning guest, Jericca Cleland, an incredible filmmaker, we talk about the notion of meaningful entertainment and how it can redefine our relationship with the world. We dig into the reasoning of why we all are so wired to storytelling and what authentic storytelling is about. These are only a few themes we explore in this amazing conversation. LINKS “ My octopus teacher ” on Netflix...
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 86
The cultures we originate from carry inspiration that never ends - in food, in dance, in singing, in writing, in symbols, you name it. With our guest, Lukas Cabalka - artistic director and founder of Creativiva, we talk about creating entertainment that’s memorable and meaningful. We explore the future of the entertainment world through mixing genres and coming out of the theaters and closed scenes back on the streets. We try to figure out where inspiration comes from and how cooking is a great ...
Jun 01, 2021•57 min•Ep. 85
Can you imagine yourself standing in front of a 30 000 audience singing “I feel pretty”? Our guest, Kasia Santi-Sperczyńska doesn’t have to anymore. Nor does she have to be fearful of singing on the stages such as Carnegie Hall and Banquet Hall of Hotel Plaza in NYC. How did a tiny girl from a tiny Polish village make it happen? We dissect the notion of bravery being true to yourself and allowing your inner child to guide you. LINKS “ The Gifts of Imperfection ” by Brene Brown “ Daring Greatly ”...
Jun 01, 2021•57 min•Ep. 84
What is the posture that makes others follow you? Why are questions so crucial? What can you do to develop your emotional intelligence? What does sonder mean? How is vulnerability helping your leadership? These are only a few of all the questions we investigated with our guest, Brent Lamphier, a seasoned AltMBA coach and a creator of the EQmethod workshop, where you will practice skill-building, deep listening, and connection. LINKS The EQMethod workshop by Brent Lamphier “ The Dip ” by Seth God...
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 83
Leadership is like yoga. You are never fully trained, there is always more to learn. So you go and exercise it every day. We unpack this daily exercise with our guest Phillip Collins, a Global Leadership Coach, heading a team of internationally based coaches and facilitators at Action and Theory. We discuss how to embrace risk, minimize waste and create with what is - the three elements Phil applies both to his professional work and his cooking. And we dig into the need for conscious reflection ...
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 82
