Looking Outside

In episode 29 we peek back in time and look at the future that comes from the past, exploring the field of Archives with Senior Manager of the McDonald’s Golden Archives, Archivist Mike Bullington . As an information gathering profession, often thought to be buried in old relics and secret data, Mike shares how he turns the knowledge into action, amplified by people throughout the organization, by...

We start a new year with a new way of Thinking , approaching the topic of careful consideration, extrapolation and explanation in a critical way. Joining us is self-proclaimed overthinker, award winning writer, leading cultural commentator and Foresight & Strategy Lead at Reddit, Matt Klein . As can be seen by his intro, Matt takes on a lot and he takes in a lot. He starts by sharing how he lo...

We end 2022 on a pragmatic but aspirational note, reflecting on the ability to make positive change without needing to disregard nor fully transform the current dominant system. We discuss Good business that can also be Profitable, with Do Good Foods Co-CEO and Co-founder, Justin Kamine. As an ambitioned leader of a company progressing the agriculture industry forward on climate action, Justin pro...

In this episode of Looking Outside we learn how to weave together the voices of the future, the agents with vision, to create Coalitions of Change , with Cat Tully , Founder and Director of the School of International Futures . With a broad, and ‘mongrel’ background, Cat shares how her mixed experiences from across multiple sectors, government to private, have helped her to fine tune learned behav...

Episode 25 of Looking Outside welcomes prize-winning author, former professor, social worker, and activist, Dr Nora Gold to explore the perception and potential of Narratives ; those stories we tell others and ourselves that ultimately limit or empower us. Passionate about fiction, and writer of her own stories, Nora shares both her perspective and the social science research on how fictional stor...

Be prepared to teeter on the edge of excitement and cynicism, as we explore The Metaverse in this episode of Looking Outside , with technology futurist and Metaverse expert, Theo Priestley . Theo is CEO and Co-Founder of Metanomic, a complete web3 economic platform for developers, but he is also one of the public voices ready to poke holes in Metaverse concepts commonly spouted. To peel back the p...

In this episode of Looking Outside we look closer at the numbers and what they are telling us, exploring the predictive human powers of Demographics . For this we chat with fellow Aussie, Bernard Salt , Founder & Executive Director of The Demographics Group. As a well known personality, famous for injecting a bit of humor into his public speaking events and newspaper columns, Bernard shares hi...

In this slightly poetic episode, we look both inside and outside the often simplified topic of Identity , exploring what it means to be, create and become who we are, with Creative Strategist and Founding Poet at Brand Poetry Inc., Theophilus Wells IV . Naturally philosophically minded, Theo shares his observations on the dichotomy of human nature and will in shaping our individual identities, str...

We start season 3 digging deep into human values , while speculating on their evolved expression into the future, with futurist and Associate Professor at University of Houston's Foresight Program, Dr Andy Hines . Having authored a book on the topic of values, ConsumerShift , Andy shares how defining what a value is and how it is expressed by people with differing typologies, helps us perceive the...

We end Season 2 of Looking Outside with a frank look at the very topical topic of activism in business. We do this not theoretically or observationally but first hand with activist entrepreneur and CEO of Eat the Change , Seth Goldman . Seth speaks to why 'acting' is critical in activism, as he's done first hand by venturing into organic packaged food, healthier fast-casual restaurants and planet-...

In Episode 19 we speak with marketing strategist and successful author, Mark Schaefer on the way to generate and leverage Influence , for both your personal and professional brands. Author of nine books including Return on Influence and Cumulative Advantage, Mark shares his research and experience in the area of content marketing. He explains why it’s not enough to simply generate content; why you...

In the latest episode of Looking Outside , we explore Exploration itself, and what it means to be truly curious about people, places and the future, with Zak Dychtwald , Founder of Young China Group and author of Young China. Zak shares how he approaches exploration: from visiting countries that are ‘misunderstood’, to immersing himself in stories about the far off possible future, to building an...

Episode 17 of Looking Outside shows us the courage, self-awareness and patience needed to make a Career Pivot , or in the case of Nihal Advani, Founder & CEO of QualSights … several! What mindset does it take flip your life around and try something completely different? Nihal takes us on his personal journey from professional tennis player, to tech ‘idea guy’ at Microsoft, to creating and lead...

In episode 16 we get grounded in how a strategist thinks, and their process in creating impactful strategy , with Mark Pollard , CEO Sweathead. A guide to many creative thinkers and long-time strategists, Mark discusses the role of chaos within orderly processes, the purpose of finding personal meaning in your thinking, and the need to balance intellectualism with practicality. Having written a bo...

Episode 15 takes us outside the comfort zone in looking at the darkness in life and in people. We’re talking about True Crime with Jenn Vogel , Chief Revenue Officer, Voxpopme. Both fans of the true crime genre, Jenn and Jo discuss their seemingly irrational (but actually very rational) fascination with criminal acts, and the true circumstances surrounding them, and what that tells about human lim...

In Episode 14 of Looking Outside we explore the mindset needed to break out and do something on your own - successfully. Today we’re chatting with Julie Meyer , Founder and Co-CEO of Eat Well Global , about Entrepreneurship . Having created her own company, and constantly writing and reflecting, Julie shares her motivations for bringing ideas to life, as well as what meaningful ‘real why’ lies beh...

Looking Outside Episode 13 tackles deeper, critical and courageous thinking, with industry leader on disruptive Rethinking , Tom Goodwin , Co-Founder of All We Have Is Now and world-renowned speaker on business transformation. As someone who proclaims to ‘profoundly not give a shit’, and voices his views regularly to a large audience, Tom shares how he braves feedback and negative perceptions by f...

In Episode 12 of Looking Outside we explore the influence of music with music lover and the ever-insightful, Adam Conley , Director of Insights for North America at Mars Wrigley. While music plays subtly in the background of our lives, it defines our cultures, shapes our psychology, and even influences our physiology. Adam helps us examine music’s impact over time, at a universal human level and a...

Welcome to the second season of Looking Outside. To broaden our perspective, in Episode 11 we bring the Curiosity mountain to us direct from the source, with the original Chief Curiosity Officer, former VP of Consumer & Market Insights and Foresight at L'Oréal Groupe, and now Chief Data Officer at Pierre Fabre, Sarah DaVanzo . Sarah shares her vast experience in “strategic curiosity science”;...

In Episode 10 of Looking Outside we traverse the past and present of storytelling with educator, scholar, and my good friend from Australia, Dr Belinda Calderone , Philanthropic Proposals Manager at Monash University. Belinda shares her learnings in creating a compelling case for change through human focused storytelling. As well as the pitfalls of storytelling, where a clear start and end is miss...

In Episode 9 of Looking Outside we discuss the evolving expectations of market research with MRX guru, Jamin Brazil , co-founder and CEO at HubUX. Jamin shares techniques he’s developed over 20 years in obtaining deeper market knowledge by evaluating new technologies, embracing social platforms and understanding cultural communities. As a voice of influence in the industry, Jamin also speaks to th...

In Episode 8 of Looking Outside we explore the power held by words with wordsmith, curious human and Senior Insights Leader at Mars Inc, Jessica Southard . Jess and Jo explore how words can be magical, can empower and motivate, but also how they can be destructive and divisive. To do that, Jess shares her personal experience of communication in her Army intelligence days leading soldiers, the tran...

Episode 7 of Looking Outside takes us deeper into culture and beyond pre-defined ideas, with Cultural Anthropologist and CEO of MotivBase, an AI Anthropology agency, Ujwal Arkalgud. Today we’re looking outside meaning (whatever that … means?). Ujwal speaks to core concepts of culture, which is in everything around us, and how all things carry the weight of meaning, even seemingly simple concepts a...

For Episode 6 of Looking Outside we invite thought leader, Maneesh Kaushik on the show, Insights and Trend lead at PepsiCo . Today we’re looking outside insights . Maneesh outlines how he breaks apart conventional thinking used in business to understand humans of today and showcases how his team pushes to the human of tomorrow. Jo and Maneesh discuss the transformation that has taken place in the...

We go to philosophical and thoughtful places in Episode 5 of Looking Outside with strategist Philip Ryan , Partner and Head of Innovation & Futures at Ipsos Strategy3. Today we’re looking outside perspectives . Philip shares how his curious mind explores varied and broad topics, which allows him to pull in vast perspectives, that lead directly to more robust strategic thinking. Jo and Philip a...