Jenny Blake
363: 🌈 Taking a Quiet Sabbatical and ...

As I round the corner into this ninth year of podcasting, after over 700 episodes today, I’m announcing a pause for both shows.

Listen in to hear what factors helped me reach this decision across time, money, energy, depressing industry articles, the pace of both shows’ growth, and mix of additional business factors that make this an important moment to pause and regroup. You might also appreciate the even deeper dive with my longtime friend (and first coach) Adrian Klaphaak in Pivot episode 360: 📦 Unpacking a Big Business Decision and Dissolving Related Doubts.

Jenny Blake
362: Setting Creative Intentions Instead of ...

“Expectations are the enemy to the creative process. Sometimes you have to let go of the known to see the unknown.”

Today I’m speaking with James McCrae, an author, poet, and meme artist based in Austin, Texas. He is the founder of 🌻 Sunflower Club, a global school and community dedicated to conscious creativity.

Jenny Blake
361: On Decision Engineering and Evaluating ...

Good decision-making is not about omniscience or clairvoyance—it's more about resilience, according to today’s guest, decision engineer Michelle Florendo. “Decision-making is harder than ever before, and it's not your fault,” Michelle says. “People feel like they ‘should just know’ how to decide.”

Today we’re talking about a framework more helpful than pro-con lists, tuning into your head, heart and gut; why the quality of your decision is not equal to the outcome—did good or bad things happen; keeping a decision journal to evaluate the quality of your decisions regardless of the outcome; and how to drop the guilt of “bad” past outcomes.

Jenny Blake
360: 📦 Unpacking a Big Business Decision ...

What happens when you make a big decision but still have lingering doubt, fear, and even despair? How do you know when a “download” from the universe is worth following, and what does test-driving a decision look like? What happens on the other side or when a pivot is taking far longer than planned?

We’re unpacking all these topics in today’s twelfth and final (for now) conversation for the Pivot x Career Pathfinder series with Adrian Klaphaak.

Jenny Blake
359: “You can’t give what you don’t have” — ...

“You can’t give what you don’t have.” That’s just one of the powerful lessons that Nataly Kogan learned the hard way seven years ago, after suffering a debilitating phase of burnout. As a former refugee from the former Soviet Union, she began her American journey in the projects and on welfare, then going on to build an impressive career as a finance and tech executive and serial entrepreneur over the next 25 years. Until she crashed at thirty-eight years old and needed to find a new way of moving forward.

As part of her healing process, Nataly began to paint when she was 40 by signing up for a painting retreat in Tuscony (that turned out to be for semi-professional watercolorists), and now her paintings are on the cover of her books—front and center as part of her bold self-expression.

Pilot

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[Best Of] Stay Relevant and Solve Difficult Problems with Stephen Shapiro

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[Best Of] Stay Relevant and Solve Difficult Problems with Stephen Shapiro

(Originally released May 2020) Why are so many of us allergic to the word innovation, solving the wrong problems, and experiencing idea-fatigue? Because, as Stephen Shapiro brilliantly shares in his book, Invisible Solutions: 25 Lenses that Reframe and Help Solve Difficult Business Problems, what we’re really aiming for is relevance.

How can you apply the 5D’s of disruption to solve difficult problems? We dive into that and so much more during this conversation—one I can’t wait to listen back to at least twice more to absorb all the powerful pivot-related concepts! I’ll tell you one thing: you’ll never brainstorm the same way again . . .

Check out full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/215

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254: The Practice—On Generosity, Peculiarity, and Showing Up with Seth Godin

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254: The Practice—On Generosity, Peculiarity, and Showing Up with Seth Godin

"The marketing-industrial complex has been on a tear for a hundred years to make almost everyone feel inadequate, because it's the single best way to sell you something. If that game isn't giving you joy, don't play that game.”

My next guest needs no introduction — though he deserves one nonetheless! Seth Godin is an inventor, thought-leader, contrarian, mentor, mensch, and an ongoing inspiration to so many of us. He is the author of 19 bestselling books, and this week we are celebrating his latest! The Practice: Shipping Creative Work, one that inspired me to get back on the mic after a two-month hiatus, to record this interview in early September.

Listen in as we celebrate our (almost) ten-year friendiversary and discuss a range of topics for those in the business of playing with ideas: shipping creative work even when tired, generosity and building with word-of-mouth in mind, choosing which information “rooms” to hang out in online, Tik Tok and social media tourism, and speaking to (and selecting for) the yearning of the people you seek to serve.

Although I’m at my awkward finest when interviewing my biggest heroes, Seth chief among them, I hope you enjoy this conversation on all things leadership and creativity :)

Links Mentioned:

❤️ Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call: http://pivotmethod.com/insider

💌 Get my curated weekly(ish) PivotList newsletter at http://pivotmethod.com/pivotlist

💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey at http://pivotmethod.com/survey

🗣 Submit a question or comment for future episodes at http://pivotmethod.com/ask

🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to ‘casts: https://pod.link/1054817076

📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/254

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251: Listener Q&A on (Furry) Imposter Monsters

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251: Listener Q&A on (Furry) Imposter Monsters

Solo episode on a sanity-saving strategy for #2020 on the perks (and quirks!) of staycationing in the city you live in . . . especially when hotel rates are at record lows :) Pardon the mic noises — it’s a travel mic and therefore part of my #PerfectlyImperfect audio that gets the episode out at all.

Key questions: What makes your soul sing? What is most important to your spirit? Remember, Radical Reimagining means everything is up for grabs.

HotelTonight: Use my code JBLAKE9 to get up to $50 back after your first HotelTonight booking.

Heart-Based Business Owners: Join us in the private Momentum Community

❤️ Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call with Jenny: http://pivotmethod.com/insider

📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/podcast/staycation

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250: Staycation in the City

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250: Staycation in the City

Solo episode on a sanity-saving strategy for #2020 on the perks (and quirks!) of staycationing in the city you live in . . . especially when hotel rates are at record lows :) Pardon the mic noises — it’s a travel mic and therefore part of my #PerfectlyImperfect audio that gets the episode out at all.

Key questions: What makes your soul sing? What is most important to your spirit? Remember, Radical Reimagining means everything is up for grabs.

HotelTonight: Use my code JBLAKE9 to get up to $50 back after your first HotelTonight booking.

Heart-Based Business Owners: Join us in the private Momentum Community

❤️ Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call with Jenny: http://pivotmethod.com/insider

📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/podcast/staycation

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247: Cultural Appreciation and Remote Team-Building with Chris Littlefield

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247: Cultural Appreciation and Remote Team-Building with Chris Littlefield

(Recorded July 2020) Thanks to Chris, we’ve got a new term for 2020: “Coronavating” — a portmanteau of coronavirus and innovating. Chris is an expert in employee appreciation, recognition, and workplace culture, and I think you’ll love this episode on how to build trust and teamwork even in virtual (and often chaotic) settings. He is the founder of Beyond Thank You, and author of 75+ Team Building Activities for Remote Teams – Simple Ways to Build Trust, Strengthen Communication, and Laugh Together from Afar.

📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/247

❤️ Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call with Jenny: http://pivotmethod.com/insider

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246: What is Your Job Today? (You Decide)

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246: What is Your Job Today? (You Decide)

What’s your job today? It might not be what you think . . . and you get to decide anew every day, especially for sanity and health preservation in #2020. In this solo episode, I’m riffing on perfectionism, streaks, and combinatorial questions to create possibility.

Peloton—If you're in the US, Canada, or the UK, use referral code 7ED7VQ to receive $100 towards accessories at purchase.

❤️ Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call with Jenny: http://pivotmethod.com/insider

📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/246

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[Best Of] Penney & Jenny 2: Dreams and 24-Hour Consciousness (May 2016)

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[Best Of] Penney & Jenny 2: Dreams and 24-Hour Consciousness (May 2016)

Happy summer, friends! I’m taking a short break to pause and design what’s next for the podcast content-wise. Please enjoy this series with Penney Peirce, released M/W/Fri in keeping with my latest experiment.

Penney is consistently named as a listener favorite when I get feedback notes, and after our first interview together we jokingly started naming these follow-up conversations “The Penney & Jenny Show.” Until now, these interviews were spread out over the last four years — now they’ll be bingeable as a consecutive series :)

🗣 Want to help shape what’s next? Take the listener survey if you haven’t already! http://pivotmethod.com/survey »

📝 View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/podcast/penney2 »

***

Original air date: May 8, 2016

“At night, the soul is rejuvenating the personality. All dreams are data about our own personal process of growth and evolution.”

—Penney Peirce

Dreams. Although we often laugh them away today (if we remember them at all), many ancient and tribal cultures treated the dream world as absolutely real and worthy of our respect, an extension of the waking world. As Penney Peirce writes in Be the Dreamer, Not the Dream: A Guide to 24-Hour Consciousness (previously published as Dreams for Dummies), “Everything we do in the dream world is real; it’s just happening at other dimensions of our awareness.”

So what’s going on in that noggin’ of yours in the (hopefully) 8 hours of the day that you’re not on your feet? In today’s show we talk about the fascinating and ever-elusive subject of dreams: how to better remember and even program dreams, how to interpret them, and much more.

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241: Get Off Autopilot & Be Your Own Benefactor with Antonio Neves

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241: Get Off Autopilot & Be Your Own Benefactor with Antonio Neves

What happens when you find yourself on autopilot, even with a perfect-on-paper role or business? It can be hard to admit—even to oneself—not being 100% #grateful, #blessed, and #fulfilled.

Longtime friendtor Antonio Neves and I talk about how to find the courage to boldly go your own way—to be your own benefactor—even when your next direction isn’t a proven Pivot yet. You’ll hear about Tony’s aha moment that helped him kick a secret coping habit, and starting taking authentic steps in a new direction into a new phase of life and work where he’s betting on himself.

📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/241

🎧 Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call: http://pivotmethod.com/insider

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237: 16+ Software Tools Behind the Pivot Podcast

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237: 16+ Software Tools Behind the Pivot Podcast

Software geeks, rejoice! In today’s show I’m sharing every tool I use to produce the Pivot Podcast. This episode builds on 233: Stepping up Systems—How I Shifted to Daily Podcasting (across five key areas: mindset, motivation, systems, skills, and software).

Both are in preparation (and to give you a head-start) for my upcoming LIVE (He)art of Podcasting masterclass! I have the ambitious goal of taking you from zero to show, because the world needs your voice, and we need it now.

I’m facilitating a 3-hour workshop on June 25 where you can ask me anything, get my best templates for visioning, interview prep, and post-production, and request walkthroughs of the most confusing aspects of podcasting and systems. Learn more at http://pivotmethod.com/heart »

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/237 and the full Pivot podcast archive at http://pivotmethod.com/podcastarchive »

I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey at http://pivotmethod.com/survey and submit a question for future episodes at http://pivotmethod.com/ask

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231: Vulnerability As a One-Way Ticket to Trust with Billy Anderson

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231: Vulnerability As a One-Way Ticket to Trust with Billy Anderson

“Vulnerability is a one-way ticket to trust,” says today’s guest Billy Anderson, founder of The Courage Crusade and mutual friend of longtime friendtor Michael Bungay Stanier (two-time guest of the Pivot Podcast).

Billy is the author of Your Comfort Zone is Killing You: Finding the Courage to Be You. In this conversation we cover finding the courage to move past others’ expectations toward greater authenticity, transparency, vulnerability, and self-expression.

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/231

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227: "Super Extrovert" Pivot Strategies with Photographer Phillip Van Nostrand

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227: "Super Extrovert" Pivot Strategies with Photographer Phillip Van Nostrand

When Michael and I were throwing together our very agile wedding at City Hall in New York City back in November 2018, with just a few weeks notice I asked two friends for a photographer recommendation. Both separately replied with the same person, today’s guest, which was all the serendipity I needed to say yes!

That photographer is Phillip Van Nostrand, an instant friend and exactly the kind of guy you’d want on board for big events. When Phil told me how he was networking during the pandemic, and earning more revenue than ever despite so many events cancelled, I knew I needed to have him on the show. A self-described super extrovert, he’s provides a much-needed balance to my introverted curmudgeon :)

We’ll also dive into his recent Medium article, How to Live an Epic Freelance Life (in the time of Covid-19), where he describes what he’s been up to for the past five weeks to help my (photo) business and how he put over $15,000 into his bank account during this time.

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/227

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🦠224: Riffing on Rogan, Education, and Superskills with Dr. MJC (Part 1)

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🦠224: Riffing on Rogan, Education, and Superskills with Dr. MJC (Part 1)

Dr. MJC is back for the first time since episode 203, when we talked about re-opening three weeks ago. Today we riff on a range of timely topics: Joe Rogan’s exclusive Spotify deal and how it mirrors larger pandemic and content-creation trends, “blue” versus “red” ocean when it comes to competition, and the important meta skill of self-education.

And for curious minds! Our new word of the episode: ar·ma·men·tar·i·um (är′mə-mĕn-târ′ē-əm)

  1. The complete equipment of a physician or medical institution, including books, supplies, and instruments.

  2. The complete range of materials available or used for a task.

What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask

Check out show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/224

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223: Stepping up Systems—How I Shifted to Daily Podcasting

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223: Stepping up Systems—How I Shifted to Daily Podcasting

Today I’m peeling the curtain back on the shifts I’ve made to move from weekly to daily podcast publishing during the pandemic across five key areas: mindset, motivation, systems, skills, and software.

Interested in learning more? Join me LIVE for a much-requested update on my (He)art of Podcasting course!

I’m facilitating a 3-hour masterclass on June 25 where you can ask me anything, get my best templates for visioning, interview prep, and post-production, and request walkthroughs of the most confusing aspects of podcasting and systems. Learn more at http://pivotmethod.com/heart »

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/223 and the full Pivot podcast archive at http://pivotmethod.com/podcastarchive »

I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey at http://pivotmethod.com/survey

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222: Pronoia and Why I Love the Placebo Effect

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222: Pronoia and Why I Love the Placebo Effect

Can the universe possibly be always working “for” you and not just happening to you? How can that be if bad things that happen to good people?

In this episode I respond to a listener question with my take on helpful ways to apply the placebo effect and pronoia, the belief that “the world around you conspires to do you good.” I talk about noticing what you’re noticing, and how to discern fears versus wants through your inner magnet (aka intuition).

As Eckhart Tolle writes in A New Earth, “Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment.”

If you are a recent grad looking for a portable coach to help you hold your highest vision even while navigating the nuts-and-bolts of adulting during these challenging times, check out my first book Life After College (first launched 2011, revised edition launched 2018). Compliment it with Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, and you’ll be well-equipped to navigate change now and in the future.

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/222

I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey at http://pivotmethod.com/survey

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219: Swimming Upstream—A Tale of Two Platform Pivots

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219: Swimming Upstream—A Tale of Two Platform Pivots

“Everything is the pandemic’s fault,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of nascent streaming platform Quibi last week. Is it? I share my thoughts in this week’s riff on how streaming companies are responding and piloting during this time.

Building on episode 142: Creative Economy Lessons from “The Great Race to Rule Streaming TV”, I share a tale of two platforms — and encourage you to examine where you might still be stuck in unhelpful thinking.

I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey at http://pivotmethod.com/survey

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/213

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216: Pivoting Stand-up (NY) with Dani Zoldan

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216: Pivoting Stand-up (NY) with Dani Zoldan

Dani Zoldan is a lifelong entrepreneur. In 2008, he purchased Stand Up NY, the famous comedy club on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that made its name in the 80’s and 90’s with many of the world’s best comics including Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Robin Williams, Louis CK and Jon Stewart.

Today, (at least pre-pandemic when we could still gather in person!) the club has been home to many current A-listers including Amy Schumer, Michael Che, Pete Davidson and Judah Friedlander.

I met Dani through James Altucher, who bought into club ownership in 2016, and was honored to participate in their inaugural Podcast Row. When I saw Dani quoted in the New York Times March 18: Open Your Laptops, the Comedy Show Is About to Begin, as businesses started shutting down, I knew he’d have an interesting Pivot perspective to share!

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/216

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215: Stay Relevant, Sense What's Next, and Solve Difficult Problems with Stephen Shapiro

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215: Stay Relevant, Sense What's Next, and Solve Difficult Problems with Stephen Shapiro

Why are so many of us allergic to the word innovation, solving the wrong problems, and experiencing idea-fatigue? Because, as Stephen Shapiro brilliantly shares in his new book, Invisible Solutions: 25 Lenses that Reframe and Help Solve Difficult Business Problems, what we’re really aiming for is relevance.

How can you apply the 5D’s of disruption to solve difficult problems? We dive into that and so much more during this conversation—one I can’t wait to listen back to at least twice more to absorb all the powerful pivot-related concepts! I’ll tell you one thing: you’ll never brainstorm the same way again . . .

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/215

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213: Flex Your Flywheel (for Solopreneurs)

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213: Flex Your Flywheel (for Solopreneurs)

Building on the previous episode that covered virtuous circles (or cycles), this is an excerpt from my Pivot to Profit course where I go deeper into Jim Collins’ Hedgehog and Flywheel concepts. This will help you think more strategically about the highest impact activities in business and career that create self-perpetuating, unstoppable momentum.

Join us in Momentum at http://pivotmethod.com/momentum

I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Pivot listener survey at http://pivotmethod.com/survey

Help us tip Pivot over the 200 reviews on Amazon milestone! At the time of recording, we are just TWO reviews short!! Visit http://bit.ly/Pivotpaperback

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/213

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🦠203: Re-Opening: What's Next? When and How Will You Leave the House? With Dr. MJC

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🦠203: Re-Opening: What's Next? When and How Will You Leave the House? With Dr. MJC

(Recorded 4/30/20) No matter when your area “opens back up,” when and how will you go on public transportation, or to restaurants, for example? (If you have the luxury to make that choice independent of your livelihood)

These are the questions Dr. MJC and I tackle in this week’s pandemic podcast conversation. We start with a brief overview of how different states and countries are approaching re-opening, and how we are wrapping our minds around it.

We don’t have the answers, but we are exploring how to frame thinking and important questions about risk, safety, and personal responsibility.

What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask

Check out show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/203

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197: Should You Start a Podcast? "It's A Love Game" — Interview by Petra Kolber

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197: Should You Start a Podcast? "It's A Love Game" — Interview by Petra Kolber

Is the market too saturated? Have people stopped listening to podcasts given that they no longer have a commute? Is it worth all the effort? How do you know if you have something meaningful to say?

Building on yesterday’s Listener Q&A around Agile Public Original Thinking, I’m sharing the interview from Petra Kolber’s recent Re-Imagine summit on the pros and cons of podcasting.

What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/197