DangerMouth: The Innovation Station

Mix mythology, ecology, craftology, farmology, with a forest, a field and the sea and you are approaching the foothills of Blandines fractal mindscape. A complex weave of wonder that she manifests in a very material way. Worth a listen, if only for the jerboa.

John Bicheno has dedicated his career to the subtle Art of Lean, nurturing a complex and nuanced philosophy that is habitually eroded when passed through the reductionist, monetizing filters that drive Western consultancy. Under his care that seed grew from a car centric creed to encompass wider horizons. In this episode he looks back on his legacy with a wry smile. His legacy lives on in the 6th...

In this episode of Danger Mouth, Darrell Mann, Mike Conroy, and Shana Finnegan dive into the polarizing spectrum of AI—from the hype-fueled "snake oil" promises to the potential for total human economic redundancy. The trio explores why AI currently excels at simple sorting but stumbles over the "Three C’s": Complexity, Counterintuition, and Causality. Using a botched train itinerary as a starting...

In this episode of Danger Mouth, hosts Darrell Mann, Mike Conroy, and Shana Finnegan sit down with Dr. Gopichand (Gopi) Katragadda , a man who might just be one of the last true polymaths on the planet. From his high-octane career as the CTO of the Tata Group and Managing Director at GE’s Jack Welch Research Center to his current ventures in AI and theater, Gopi shares a masterclass on balancing t...

A delicious appetiser not to be missed!  This episode of Danger Mouth centres on a conversation with Olly Hawes , a portfolio artist, actor and writer whose work probes the limits of human connection and the points where society strains. It moves easily between the physical and the reflective, from Ollie’s account of being accidentally stabbed on stage during a production of Julius Caesar to a bro...

This is an episode of the Danger Mouth podcast, hosted by Darrell Mann, Mike Conroy, and Shauna, featuring Swedish guest Per Lindstedt , co-author of The Value Model. The Value Model defines value as a ratio — satisfaction of customer needs divided by use of customer resources. Per breaks this into 6 strategic levers: three to increase satisfaction (solve an undiscovered problem, improve performan...

This episode features Joe Pine (author of The Transformation Economy ) in conversation with Darrell Mann, Mike Conroy, and Sharna Finnegan. The Transformation Economy Pine argues that economic value progresses through five stages, commodity, product, service, experience, and transformation, and that we're now at a tipping point where consumers want more than memorable experiences; they want meanin...

In this episode, DangerMouth drifts closer to something interesting. The place where things almost fall apart but don't. Where a system holds itself right at the edge of tipping over, and that turns out to be exactly where it works best. There's a name for this. Self-organized criticality. It sounds technical but the idea is simple. Some systems don't need anyone to tune them. They tune themselves...

In this episode of DangerMouth, hosts Darrell, Mike, and Sharna join author John Julius Reel to dissect the provocative strategies of Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power. The conversation traverses the thin line between tactical mastery and moral bankruptcy, comparing Greene’s "win-lose" Machiavellian world to the "win-win" principles of systematic innovation and Spiral Dynamics. Through raw personal...

In this episode we welcome special guest Daniel Friedman the President of the Active Inference Institute.  Shana and Darrell smoothly switch up several intellectual gears as they engage with Daniel to explore the physics of transformation. Later on Mikey tries to illustrate the basics of the notoriously complex and nuanced FEP, using vague outlines while Daniels fills in the colours. Focused conce...

In these turbulent times, humor may be the only glue strong enough to hold people together. It’s no joke. Mike and Darrell welcome Barbara Plester from the University of Auckland Business School, who has an eye for the unserious. Essential listening for trainee jesters.

Back in the heyday of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a very interesting experiment in management training took place. Darrell and I were among the guinea pigs. The lessons learned lasted a lifetime. A few years later, our guest today, Steve Thomas (http://www.grassroutes.co.uk/), a very wise, principled, and incredibly brave, visionary educator, resurrected this protocol and added the g...

Our guest is Anthony Lopez-Vito has kindly taken time out from running the Matrix to hang out with the gang!  What Joy! You might find this fun as well: https://tinbin.com/

The team chat with Frank, its a classic. Frank Devine’s Cathedral Culture System turns leaders into architects of shared purpose—not bricklayers chasing quarterly targets. Discover how it operationalises Rapid Mass Engagement (RME) to create employee-owned high-performance cultures that fix themselves. We map its pillars—higher purpose, recognition, coaching, and feedback—against complexity princi...

Darrell and Shana have written a book. Have a listen and see if it's your cup of tea. Mikey is playing Steve Barlett and interviewing the authours - Saints preserve us!   Buy it On Amazon   Find Out More

In this Danger Mouth episode, the team dissects "Meaning" via the ABCM model (Autonomy, Belonging, Competence, Meaning). Darrell defines meaning as the coherence between purpose, pattern, and participation. Personal drivers range from legacy and human connection to the joy of play. They analyze societal S-curves, arguing that crises require "Yellow" systemic thinkers to guide "Orange" executors. U...

Danger Mouth’s 2025 finale explores TRIZ systems thinking. Darrell breaks down the 6-element model (Engine, Tool, etc.) vital for functionality. The team discusses workplace complexity and using AI for perspective. Key insight: Success comes from solving contradictions and "Wow persistence."

Find the Gap! The DangerMouth team likes breaking things, (at least Mikey does).  We love disruption. But boundaries and reality are a very good check on mindless vandalism. Our guest today Costas Papaikonomu, has many scars from trendy, bold, brazen and totally misguided disruption efforts and experienced the wretched consequences. He makes a compelling case for exploring the often over looked an...

The team welcome back DangerMouth regular Jolly Contrarian Olly Buxton to ponder what goes wrong when the fuzzy trail of recent history is brutally cleaved with the sword of justice.

In this episode Darrell is squarely in his happy place as we welcome special guest, Conductor, Soprano and Academic Yajie Ye to discuss the conjunction of innovation and classical music and the skills needed to thrive and survive in time of rapid change. Find out more about Yajie Ye on her excellent website: https://www.yajieye.com/

In this episode we welcome special guest Rob Hygate, serial innovator and founder of eWATER a supplier of clean water systems in Africa. The conversation ranges from the genesis of his book "The Logical God: An AI Stewardship" the perennial difficulties of promoting good ideas that break with tradition and a great deal besides.   References: eWATER The Logical God: An AI Stewardship Reid Hoffman o...

Its over 50 years since Robert Pirsig's book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAM) was published.  ZAM is the story of Robert Pirsig's struggle with various paradoxes, a story with no tidy endings. In this era of omni-crisis the questions raised are more relevant than ever and hold clues for the innovator who wants to integrate Mythos and Logos and strive for Quality.  This episode also...

In their forthcoming book "1%ers" Shana and Darrell argue that we humans need to restore the balance between science and the humanities to thrive in the age of AI. Step one in this process is to shake off the over reliance left brain reductionist thinking. This new mindset requires overcoming ingrained habits. This episode is a discussion about how to change your mind.   https://www.youtube.com/wa...

This episode was triggered by the inciteful review/final chapter of the book Champion Thinking by Simon Mundie which appeared in the April Issue of the Systematic Innovation Ezine (issue 277). The theme of the book is that "success" in life, sport and innovation is held back by a series of common illusions/beliefs that need to be discarded.   The Ezine is available here: https://si-shop.org.uk/fre...

In this episode the team welcome special guest Andy Brunskill, who shares his insights of how Green World Innovation techniques can be effective in the Red World of continuous improvement. Find out more about Andy here: https://sapartners.com/team/bio-andy-brunskill/