Episodes

Rabbi Lapin is one of America’s most eloquent speakers and his ability to extract life principles from the Bible and transmit them in an entertaining manner has brought countless numbers of Jews and Christians closer to their respective faiths. In 2007 Newsweek magazine included him in its list of America’s fifty most influential rabbis.

Ed and I discussed Peter Block’s seminal book, The Answer to How is Yes: Acting on What Matters.In my first discussion in May 2004 with Ed

We are honored to have the opportunity to interview Dr. Reed K. Holden, Founder of Holden Advisors, and a world-renowned expert in pricing. Reed had a major impact on Ron since he first read him back in October 1998. His book, co-authored with Thomas T. Nagle, The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing (STP) is a seminal work, adorning the bookshelves of anyone who takes pricing seriously. Ed and I have also had the pleasure of meeting and corresponding with Reed innumerable times, exchanging ideas, di...

In today’s competitive business environment, low self-esteem is a competitive disadvantage while high self-esteem among your people confers a competitive advantage. Yet how can folks feel good about themselves, their work, their service to the customer and the greater community if they believe they are commodities, and are constantly being beat up over their price? Ed and Ron will tackle the issue of self-esteem, heeding what Lord Chesterfield wrote: A man had better overvalue than undervalue hi...

Ron and Ed interview Father Robert A. Sirico, the president and co-founder of the Acton Institute and the pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, both in Grand Rapids, MI. A regular writer and commentator on religious, political, economic, and social issues, Rev. Sirico's contributions have been carried by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Times, CNN, ABC, CBS, NPR, and the BBC, among others. In his recent book Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Fre...

The average knowledge worker is so busy doing they do not have the time to reflect on what they have done, let alone discover major breakthroughs. The Army’s use of After Action Reviews began in 1973, not as a knowledge management tool but as a method to restore the values, integrity, and accountability that had diminished during the Vietnam War. Perhaps we ignore innovations in the military because its mission, to break things and kill people, is so divergent from that of a civilian organizatio...

Top Ten Business Myths, Part 2 (Myths 5-1). This episode is dedicated to the possibility that many myths exist about business and it would be better to rid ourselves of these ideas. Thinking about these myths is difficult because it requires us to examine some of our most deeply held beliefs and either dismiss them or at least think differently about them. If you are interested in challenging the conventional wisdom about these business myths, you are invited to listen to this episode of The Sou...

Top Ten Business Myths, Part 1 (Myths 10-6). This episode is dedicated to the possibility that many myths exist about business and it would be better to rid ourselves of these ideas. Thinking about these myths is difficult because it requires us to examine some of our most deeply held beliefs and either dismiss them or at least think differently about them. If you are interested in challenging the conventional wisdom about these business myths, you are invited to listen to this episode of The So...

Ed and Ron will explore the moral hazards of measurements. Exact measurements of the wrong things can drive out good judgments of the right things, imperiling our future. The illusion of certainty in our measurements creates, to borrow an important concept from the insurance industry, a moral hazard. If people are insured, they may just act carelessly and cause the very thing they are insured against. Fire insurance causes arson; unemployment insurance allows people to not be as diligent in find...

This episode is dedicated to the possibility that the majority of leadership thinking is wrong as it is ultimate based on manipulation - trying to “get someone to do something.” Coming to terms with this idea is difficult and not for everyone because it requires us to examine some of our most deeply held beliefs and either dismiss them or at least think differently about them. If you are interesting in hearing a conversation about healing leadership, you are invited to listen in as Ed and Ron in...

Ed and Ron will explore the Corporate Social Responsibility movement, since even the most ardent defenders of capitalism seem to have contempt for businesspeople and entrepreneurs. An often-heard remark is: The problem with capitalism is capitalists. It appears capitalism suffers from a unique paradox, it's better in practice than it sounds in theory. Businesses are often praised for what they do worst, e.g., social work, fighting inflation, reducing welfare, and denounced for what they do best,...

We are excited to announce that Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy Group UK, in London, will be our guest on August 29, for the entire show. Rory has delivered several TED talks, along with many others, including our favorite, a Zeitgeist talk at Google. They are all incredibly thought-provoking, and rooted in behavioral, and Austrian, economics. In his spare time, Rory collect self aggrandizing job titles. He was president of the Direct Jury at Cannes in 2007, and was elected President of t...

On this show, Ron and Ed will explore how we humans are comprised of both Mr. Spock—our rational side—and Homer Simpson—our irrational side, and how to optimize decisions from both sides. Learn why economists assume people are “rational” even though, at times, this assumption seems to be false––e.g., why do we leaves tips in restaurants we will never visit again? Anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of human behavior, explore the ideas of the world’s most innovative economists, as wel...

All businesses have a vested interest in virtue. Business is dependent on the moral and cultural institutions of a free society. The economic and ethical point of a business entity is to serve others. Business is a morally serious enterprise, in which it is possible to act either immorally or morally. It requires moral conduct to thrive in the long run. Yet business ethics means a great deal more than obeying the civil law and the various accountancy acts and regulations. It means imagining and ...

Why did the Industrial Revolution happen where and when it did? Our guest will be the Distinguished Professor of Economics Deirdre McCloskey, who teaches economics, history, English, and communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Ron and Ed will focus on her latest book, Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World (2010), which argues that it was an ideological change, rather than saving or exploitation, that made us rich. The book is the second in a widely notic...

Do you know anyone who was motivated going into, or coming out of, their annual performance appraisal? Most organizations and employees are dissatisfied with the performance appraisal process, so it remains a curiosity why this methodology continues to exist. Performance appraisals don’t improve performance and they don’t drive careers; they are an incidental effect of other dynamic systems. In essence, appraisals are the paper-shuffling ritual that sanctifies decisions already made. Ed and Ron ...

Ed and Ron will explore the following insight from Thomas Sowell: After all, the caveman had the same natural resources at their disposal as we have today, and the difference between their standard of living and ours is a difference between the knowledge they could bring to bear on those resources and the knowledge used today. We will also discuss the five stages in human economic history, from hunter and gatherers to the Industrial Revolution, and now a knowledge economy; the differences betwee...

On our July 11th show we discussed The First Law of Marketing: The Value of Value. The Second Law of Marketing—that all prices are contextual—is just as critical to help your organization communicate value, and help convince your customers to pay for that value. Most customers are not price sensitive; they are value conscious. So how can you communicate value, rather than simply competing on low price? One of the most customer-centric strategies your company can deploy is to offer an array optio...

Adam Smith was confounded. One of the greatest economic and social thinkers in the history of ideas struggled with the so-called diamond-water paradox. None of us would be able to live beyond a couple of weeks without water, yet its price is relatively cheap compared to the frivolous diamond. Most people resolve this paradox by replying the supply of diamonds is scarce compared to water. But this theory lacks explanatory power. Ron and Ed will compare and contrast The Labor Theory of Value with ...

Ron and Ed discuss the Cult of Efficiency beginning with an explanation of Frederick Winslow Taylor the father of so called Scientific Management. Business aren’t paid to be efficient. There's nothing more useless than being efficient at doing the wrong things. Industries at peak efficiency are destined for obsolescence, think buggy whip manufacturers. Effectiveness trumps efficiency and creates true competitive advantage. Would you want an efficient or effective heart surgeon? This is why Walt ...