Unthinkable With Jay Acunzo

This story originated in my newsletter, Damn the Best Practices. It got such a great response that I'm syndicating it here. You can subscribe at http://bit.ly/damnpractices I first uncovered this psychological concept in the research for my book, Break the Wheel: Question Best Practices, Hone Your Intuition, and Do Your Best Work, now available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Break-Wheel-Question-Practices-Intuition/dp/1544501056/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Thanks for listening!

In Episode 3 of my docu-series with brand partner Drift, I continue to explore why the world's best B2B companies are betting big on brand. Today's most exceptional companies rely on creating great experiences to stand out from the commodity noise. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Damn the Best Practices, for one new story each week about questioning conventional thinking: bit.ly/damnpractices You can also say hi on Twitter @jayacunzo or Instagram @jacunzo My new book, Break the Wheel, is now available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Break-Wheel-Question-Practices-Intuition/dp/1544501056/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Order your copy of Break the Wheel on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Break-Wheel-Question-Practices-Intuition-ebook/dp/B07HQF97J7 ABOUT THE BOOK: Break the Wheel: Question Best Practices, Hone Your Intuition, & Do Your Best Work Our world is flooded by advice, ideas, and experts, but we shouldn’t make decisions based on “best practices.” Instead, we should do what works best for us, building careers and companies with the sort of clarity that leads to exceptional work. Only, first, we need to escape the endless cycle of stale approaches and trendy tactics that holds us back. We need to Break the Wheel. In this quick-hitting, powerful book, keynote speaker and podcaster Jay Acunzo hands us a sledgehammer. With a diverse range of real-world stories, Break the Wheel offers a simple but powerful way to think for yourself when surrounded by conventional thinking. Along the way, Acunzo offers six fundamental questions to ask in any situation to start making the best possible decisions, regardless of the best pr

Break the Wheel's NEW publish date is Oct. 1, 2018! That means this is the final week to get signed copies plus bonus goodies sent to you in the pre-sale. Visit jayacunzo.com/book for that, or head over to Amazon to purchase your print, Kindle, or audiobook version of Break the Wheel: Question Best Practices, Hone Your Intuition, Do Your Best Work. Today, the problem with dubbing an innovator or creator a "visionary," and how we, too, can act just like them. (Spoiler alert: The very idea that they possess any kind of foresight is BS. Like you'd expect me to say anything else?)

Big News: My book, Break the Wheel, is now available for pre-orders at jayacunzo.com/book! Today, Episode 2 of my new documentary series with brand partner Drift, where I go inside some of the world's best B2B companies to understand why and how they're proactively building their brands. "Brand" was a dirty word in many B2B companies for awhile, but these individuals are proving why it's arguably the most important strategy today for creating exceptional companies. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Damn the Best Practices, for one new story each week about questioning conventional thinking: bit.ly/damnpractices You can also say hi on Twitter @jayacunzo or Instagram @jacunzo

Visit jayacunzo.com/book for the pre-sale in the United States. Purchase single or bulk, and get each signed. Available now through October 2018 when the book launches worldwide. Also ... a story (obviously). 

Episode 1 of my new documentary series with brand partner Drift, where I go inside some of the world's best B2B companies to understand why and how they're proactively building their brands. "Brand" was a dirty word in many B2B companies for awhile, but these individuals are proving why it's arguably the most important strategy today for creating exceptional companies. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Damn the Best Practices, for one new story each week about questioning conventional thinking: bit.ly/damnpractices My first book, Break the Wheel, arrives this fall. First to know will be the newsletter.  You can also say hi on Twitter @jayacunzo or Instagram @jacunzo

While I work on Season 4 plus my book, Break the Wheel (Fall 2018), I wanted to share with you one of the most popular episodes from the backlogs: "Intuition." Insight into how the world seems to define intuition and why it's so darn broken. Then, we do something unthinkable: We try to define it together, not in some fluffy sense, but in a practical, real-world way, so we can proactively hone and use this skill. In this episode, we hear from one of the most legendary photographers on the planet and the founder/CEO of CreativeLive, Chase Jarvis. In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter, sharing one new story every Monday for being better than best practices. That's at http://bit.ly/DamnTheBestPractices

As I work on Season 4 of Unthinkable, I wanted to share with you one of the most popular episodes from the backlogs: Voices. The incredible story of Lisa Schneider and her warm, witty, and wonderful team working for ... the dictionary. What they did seemed unthinkable, until you hear their side of the story. Hope you enjoy! In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter, sharing one new story every Monday for being better than best practices. That's at http://bit.ly/DamnTheBestPractices

Anthony Bourdain inspired much of this very show. Though my style is a bit different than his, I've learned from his method, watched him work with my mouth hanging open and my eyes wide, and aspire to be the Anthony Bourdain of the business world. His window into the human experience was food. Mine is careers. In this episode, a tribute, pulled from my newsletter "Damn the Best Practices." Subscribe to that weekly email at bit.ly/damnpractices. Thank you, Anthony Bourdain, for sharing your art with the world. Rest in power...

As I work on Season 4 of Unthinkable, I wanted to share with you one of the most popular episodes from the backlogs: The Bias to Act. Two incredible stories and some inspiring-yet-weird-yet-warm commentary (yanno ... like every episode). Hope you enjoy! In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to the Maker Channel wherever you get your podcasts. TMC is where we release experimental episodes for shows still in development, plus go behind the scenes making great podcasts.  Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-maker-channel/id1372336578 Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Ie67mcy53xhoawnu5fo6wmo4igu Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/unthinkable-with-jay-acunzo/the-maker-channel    

I'm hard at work making Unthinkable Season 4 AND writing my first book, Break the Wheel, due out this fall (2018). The book is inspired by and pulls from the first three seasons of Unthinkable! For now, here's an oldie but a goodie -- a sneaky-good episode from the archives. Enjoy! Subscribe to get one new story or idea every Monday morning about being better than best practices: http://bit.ly/joinunthinkable

As I work on Unthinkable Season 4 and the book relating to this show, called Break the Wheel (Fall 2018), I wanted to dip into the archives and resurface a sneaky-good episode. Enjoy! Subscribe to get one new story or idea for being better than best practices every Monday morning: http://bit.ly/joinunthinkable

A final treat and sign-off until next season. Thank you SO. FREAKING. MUCH. for supporting for my work, from speaking to podcasting and beyond! So much in store for 2018, and I'm grateful to you for your time, feedback, and love. If you haven't yet, be sure to subscribe to get my regular Monday emails: bit.ly/joinunthinkable

In the Season 3 finale of Unthinkable, it's time for a story and a battle -- a story about a runaway creative success that flies in the face of conventional thinking and a battle that all of us face whenever we aspire to be better than average in our careers. Finally, at long last, we blame one dastardly demon for our nasty habit of always taking the easy way out, the accepted route forward. Finally, we enter the battle within, and things get hairy. Luckily, Tim Urban from Wait But Why is here to help. Well. Kinda. It's Unthinkable. SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER: bit.ly/JoinUnthinkable LINKS TO KNOW: Wait But Why Tim Urban on Twitter Tim's TED Talk The original post, Why Procrastinators Procrastinate

How does your intent for your work change your results? If your goal is to build something big, does that increase the odds? Why, then, do so many stories about huge successes start out the same way: with a shrug, and a quick, "I just wanted to brew some beer." ? Today, we explore the story of The Alchemist, makers of the industry sensation, Heady Topper.  SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER http://bit.ly/joinunthinkable LINKS TO KNOW The Alchemist brewery

Most brand-created podcasts are -- how shall I put this? -- IMPRESSIVELY terrible. So, naturally, Steve Pratt finds total creative fulfillment in that industry. Obviously. See, to invent the future of an entire industry and collaborate with some of the world's top brands, Steve gets to crash through one barrier after another. And as he excitedly does so, his weapon of choice isn't massive budget, a bestselling book, or a big "personal brand." No, instead, Steve calmly walks to the board and draws a simple graph for his clients to see.  From the outside looking in, his work is just so unlikely that you MIGHT call it ... Unthinkable. LINKS TO KNOW: Steve Pratt on Twitter Pacific Content Slack's podcast, Work In Progress SUBSCRIBE to Unthinkable via email at unthinkable.fm

Suzy Batiz had sworn off starting companies. NEVER AGAIN, she thought. But one sniff and one conversation later, she was obsessed. Her curiosity took over, and a decade later, she's built a 300-million-dollar empire. And all of it started by trying to solve a problem none of us care to even think about, let alone build a career around. It's Unthinkable. LINKS TO KNOW: Viral video link Company website

Nobody actually takes risks, especially in business, so what if the key to doing better work is making unconventional paths seem SAFER than the best practice? That's exactly what Clair Byrd, Clark Valberg, and the team behind Design Disruptors did. They took a massive project in scope and found a way to make each step seem safer than the last. They built a refreshing, eye-opening project without ever changing their team's goals. They did everything we aspire to do in our work in a way that seems, well, anything BUT Unthinkable. LINKS TO KNOW: Design Disruptors site Clair Byrd on Twitter Clark Valberg on Twitter The original Design Disruptors movie trailer

Looking for the video link? Scroll down! For now, a blurb on the episode: Unsurprisingly, one of the catchiest songs ever created topped the iTunes charts. It beat epic songs by Rhianna and Drake, and narrowly missed topping Adele and even Gangnam Style. Away from the charts, this song sparked a global movement -- merchandise and microsites, mobile games and parodies galore. One song and one video, going crazy viral, and snowballing into something much larger than itself. And while none of that seems all that surprising in our digital world today, when you learn about who created this song -- and the insanity that ensued -- it'll seem like pure insanity.  You might even call it ... Unthinkable. LINKS TO KNOW: The original DWTD video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw  The DWTD website: http://www.dumbwaystodie.com/  DWTD on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7lZ_iOz3NhA6krGfILerQA