The Occupational Philosophers - A not-so-serious business podcast to spark Creativity, Imagination and Curiosity

Behavioral Expert, Author, Speaker and Curiosity Guru!  Dr Diane Hamilton is an expert in curiosity, perception, emotional intelligence, and behavioural science with nearly four decades of real-world experience and creator of the Curiosity Code Index®, the Perception Power Index, and the author of five books sold worldwide. She is a thought leader in the fields of leadership, sales, marketing, man...

In Episode 91, The Occupational Philosophers chat with Dr. Anthony Simcoe, a multi-hyphenate, creative polymath! He is as comfortable on stage as he is in infrastructure projects in leadership, interpersonal and communication skills, and organisational culture. He is an Australian actor, a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney and has appeared in over 20 TV shows and films...

In this short, sharp inbetweener episode The Occupational Philosophers explore Humility, and it's Sith brother, Hubris... Amongst other things, they discuss: How curiosity needs to be wedded to humility What the Greeks made of humility and why hubris was a crime Why you should listen to your father (Heads up Icarus!) What is an 'Idea Baby' and why you need to let your baby be called ugly How humil...

Have you been at a business event and someone, with a very serious face, stands on the stage and talks about a VUCA environment? If so, there is help! (and if not, still read on!) In this short, sharp inbetweener episode The Occupational Philosophers dive into the world of acronyms used to describe the current business environment/s we are in.  Amongst other things, they explore:  What does VUCA m...

In episode 88, The Occupational Philosophers chat with Friska Wirya: Top 50 Change Management Thought Leader | TEDx Speaker | #1 Best-Selling Author "The Future Fit Organisation" Friska is a change and transformation expert for nearly a decade, obsessed with all things organisational change. She’s led change programs influencing up to 23,000 people across 6 of the seven continents having worked fo...

In this reboot episode from 2021, The Occupational Philosophers chat with Dr. Brock Bastian - Professor, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne. Brock is a social psychologist whose research focuses on pain, happiness, and morality.  His book, The Other Side of Happiness, was published in January 2018.  Brock completed his PhD in 2007 and has published more than 100 pe...

In this reboot episode from 2021, The Occupational Philosophers chat with glorious, amazingly talented, and hilarious comedian and performer Tamara Campbell.  Tamara has literally performed all over the world: 23 countries in 6 different languages for over a million people in her 18-year career. Tamara believes that "laughter should be a force for good. Bringing humans together to share and connec...

As they take a quick break to record new episodes, The Occupational Philosophers wanted to reshare one of their favourite guests and their very first with Dr. Peter Lovatt. Dr Lovatt is a Dance Psychologist, multi TED speaker and best selling author, who through his work on the psychology of movement and dance, is more widely known as 'Dr. Dance'!  Listen in as Peter shares: 3 top tips for everyda...

In this short 'in the wild' episode, Simon (one-half of The Occupational Philosophers) connects with Dr Barbara Doran, Director of Strategic Innovation and Creative Intelligence live from the World Building Studio Day at the University of Technology (UTS)  In the episode, they explore:  The importance of a transdisciplinary approach to solving complex problems and navigating unchartered territory ...

In Episode 82, The Occupational Philosophers chat with the amazing Dr Cyndi Burnett - Author, Academic and Creative on a mission to infuse creative thinking into every classroom around the world! Dr Burnett has studied, taught, and written about both the art (expression) and the science (problem-solving) of creativity for the last 25 years. As an academic, she spent 20 years teaching deliberate cr...

In this special, 'In the Wild' episode , The Occupational Philosophers get out of the studio (well, one of them does) to have a nice, cosy fireside chat in a London pub, with Dr Samuel West, a previous guest on the show - Samuel was in London attending the Global Innovation Forum, and as well as speaking about the topic of failure, he had a travelling ‘Museum of Failure’ pop-up, with some choice e...

In this short, sharp Inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers discuss “What is Philosophy”, after a teenager asked Simon that very question and he struggled a little to answer! He set off to explore and their conversation together highlights just what he uncovered: How ChatGPT can help Philosophy sound cool to a 14-year old teenager Some definitions that help get to the essence of what P...

In this short, sharp inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers introduce their latest experiment, a new Radio play, The Parkers! Listen as Simon tries to convince John this is a good idea, before they lead you into the world of The Parkers with the first (and possibly last) episode. Parkers is a family run, pet care business, based in Peterborough, UK - meet Beryl, a (previously) high fly...

In this short-ish, sharp-ish inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers explore a test for curiosity called The need for cognition (NFC) What is the NFC?  It's a personality variable  reflecting the extent to which individuals are inclined towards  effortful cognitive activities (thanks Wikipedia)  Whilst it has originally come in a longer format, the one that The Occupational Philosophers...

In Episode 77, The Occupational Philosophers chat with Dr Marco Motta, who specialises in data analysis and visualisation, with a strong track record transforming the performance reporting culture of large organisations. He marries this with a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Queensland and uses his background in critical thinking to help organisations and clients identify, define, b...

In this short, sharp Inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers discuss what John discovered when he attended the recent ‘How the Light Gets In’ festival in London; a curly mash up of philosophy, music and comedy: What were the big themes being explored this year? [02:30] What is the golden rule to live by? [04:10} What 3 things did John learn from sitting with fellow chin-stroking, bat mi...

In episode 75, The Occupational Philosophers chat with Design Guru, Chi Ryan.   Chi is a designer, writer, researcher, learner, educator and all-round creative polymath. She is obsessed with design that puts experience first She helped everyone from hungry startups to global giants transform through design and has led, taught and been part of teams designing digital and physical products, services...

In this short, sharp inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers explore dreams and how they reveal the wild jungle of our mind! We have all had those bizarre dreams which connect random and seemingly disparate ideas; the koala surfing on a water buffalo, or a man made of cheese trying to sell you a time share apartment in Benidorm….or is that just us? Listen as we discuss: What can various...

In Episode 73, The Occupational Philosophers chat with Professor Sophie Scott, who is the Director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience , University College London and a Fellow of the British Academy.    Sophie is an expert in cognitive neuroscience studying human vocal communication, from speech and sound to social interactions and nonverbal emotional expressions, and has become very well k...

In this short-ish Inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers dive into and muse on the idea of Serendipity. Between them they explore:  Actually, what is Serendipity? (you will have to listen)  Why dumb luck isn't a thing - despite that person always getting a job they don't deserve or are qualified for  The danger of trying to manifest middle-class moments Why it's essential to be open to...

In this guest episode, The Occupational Philosophers chat with Dr Louise Mahler.  Dr Louise is the polymath's polymath and is recognised as a Top 30 Global Guru in both Body Language and Communication. She was an Opera singer for 10 years with the Vienna State Opera.  Louise’s qualifications include B.Econ; B. Mus; Post Grad Dip Music; L.Mus. A; Master of Applied Science in Organisational Change a...

In this inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers explore the seven deadly sins of power point presentations - we’ve all been there…you face an avalanche of slides, information overload, the back of someone’s head as they read the slides out loud….it’s time to discover a different way as we explore: How to ensure people do not suffer ‘Death by Powerpoint’ or any other attempt on their lif...

In this inbetweener episode, The Occupational Philosophers dive into the world of job advertisements - the good, the not so good and the inbetween (ers). Mmmm, did you see what they did there…? When you are being asked for flexibility, do you turn up in a Yoga outfit?  Does a workplace rockstar need to throw computers out the window and have half a shaved head?  Would a ninja need to have a set of...

In Episode 68, The Occupational Philosophers chat with Chris Barez Brown, author, keynote speaker, and founder of 'Upping Your Elvis', which looks to embed a human, energetic and creative working culture in corporations across the globe, making work easier, more fun, and more extraordinary in the process Chris has a deep passion to help people work out who they are, what they stand for and how the...

In episode 67, The Occupational Philosophers dive into the world of personal biases, filters and perceptions or the way we take in information.  And what did they discover? We ALL take in information differently - whether we believe it or not.  In this episode, they explore:  Confirmation bias  Perception bias and how two people can see the same situation differently Frequency bias. Why am I now s...