Alloutcoach

In the latest episode of the Alloutcoach Podcast I spoke with Dr. Pierantonio Russo, (Corporate Chief Medical Officer @Eversana), a cardiac and heart transplant surgeon, former Chief of Cardiac Surgery and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at a various top academic hospitals across the U.S. with expertise in machine learning, data analytics, health economics and population medicine with leadership roles at large national health plans such as Independence Blue Cross and Harvard Pilgrim Health. In this conversation he shares his enthusiasm for the potential of computation and technology to advance medicine and addresses critical topics of health equity, electronic medical records, and quality of care. Dr. Russo discusses numerous specific case studies from state of the art examples and publications from other innovators in medicine as well as from his career to explain how he has applied his experience as a clinical, administrative, and academic leader in medicine to impact large populations of patients using advanced data analytics, Machine Learning, AI and medical informatics. 3:42 What are some of the most memorable moments in your career as a cardiac transplant surgeon? 5:21 How did his experience as a cardiac surgeon spark his interest in studying the impact of computation and machine learning on advancing medicine? 6:59 How do you think health payers can partner with providers to help make better clinical decisions? 13:52 How are health providers who work at health plans responding to unprecedented growth in the volume of data to better identify and analyze patients? 16:31 Examples of predictive ML models in healthcare directly affecting and improving quality of care 22:06 Are there differences in access to genetic testing in the US vs other countries? 22:57 How can advanced ML models help identify genetic mutations earlier at the RNA level? 26:20 What is the focus of your current work at EVERSANA? 29:03 What type of data is required to ensure access to trials or treatments, adherence and maintenance of care? 33:03 How can patients hold on to their own patient records so they can expect to receive the same high quality of care as they move from one provider or health system to the next? 35:25 Dr Russo: Take caution when you interpret medical information across various social and other media outlets. 36:53 How do you hope to improve the explainability of ML/AI applications in medicine through your education and enthusiasm for their potential?

The latest episode on the Alloutcoach podcast features a critical discussion with a globally recognized leader in improving healthcare and strengthening systems to deliver better outcomes, efficiency, and sustainability, Dr. Rashad Massoud, about improving global healthcare quality by focusing on the personal elements of delivery of equity of care. Dr. Massoud, MD, MPH, FACP is visiting faculty at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is an inaugural Member of the Quality & Safety Academy of the International Society for Quality (ISQua), Advisory Board Member of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Global Report on Quality and Safety. Dr. Massoud has previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Program Officer at Americares overseeing the organization’s health programs worldwide for people affected by poverty or disaster, including its work with the uninsured in the United States, its Emergency Response team, and its global distribution of $1.25 Billion in medicine and supplies to more than 90 countries annually. He was Chief Medical and Quality Officer and Senior Vice President of the Quality and Performance Institute at University Research Co., where he was Director of the USAID Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems (ASSIST) Project and the USAID Healthcare Improvement (HCI) Project in 38 countries. He has traveled to 93 countries and worked with health systems in 104. In our discussion, he provides his commentary on the latest U.S. healthcare spending trends in relation to the rest of the world, defines healthcare quality as well as his personal lessons on improving care based on his vast experience, shares an international case study demonstrating improved quality and equity of care, contrasts preventive with rescue care and emphasizes the vital factor of delivery of care to complement drug, device or diagnostic development and innovation.

2:52 What drove you to dedicate your career to improving healthcare quality on a global scale?

5:36 What is your expert definition of quality of healthcare?

8:51 What is your personal theory of quality improvement in healthcare?

11:57 What are the lessons you have learned from your experiences and case studuies in some of the health systems in which you have worked?

15:00 Can you take a step back and take us through the process of quality improvement and share specific highlights from a health system with which you worked?

21:06 Healthcare spending has tripled in the last 20 years while the life expectancy is at its lowest in the US over the same period. When is healthcare a cost versus an investment, and what do the latest healthcare spending trends really mean to us in terms of innovation?

27:28 How can pharma and biotech play a more proactive role in transforming healthcare from a cost into an investment based on your lessons?

31:20 What is the next project or milestone in which you are stretching yourself and lifting others?

In this podcast episode Stefano Puntoni, PhD, Wharton Professor in Marketing, Behavioral Scientist, and a renowned, award-winning expert in Data Analytics, Economics, Brand Management, and Consumer Research, reveals his lessons and views on making stronger decisions as humans alone as well as together with AI and technology or data with purpose in an unpredictable world. He deconstructs the decision making process and explains why outcomes alone are irrelevant, providing real world examples from the perspectives of an individual business executive, organization, and a consumer. Most of his ongoing research investigates how new technology is changing consumption and society - a very timely subject today, and he speaks about the role of decision driven science in radically innovative companies as well as an exciting new research initiative at The Wharton School which will stimulate more insights on the relationship between new technology and consumer behaviors. 2:34 Inspiration to study both human behavior through marketing and data analytics

2:43 Early passion for architecture and enjoyment of applying both creativity and analytics using both sides of his brain at work

5:22 How the most innovative companies identify the unspoken needs

5:58 Difference between being market driven or market driving in radical innovation

9:03 Creating the bridge between the person who best understands the problem and one who understands the numbers

12:51 Unilever or Google are companies that are very advanced in combining domain experts with data scientists. Google is using consultative selling to improve their customer experience.

13:42 Ian Brown, Stanford Professor - "You can't judge decisions on outcomes alone"

14:15 How to make the best decisions most quickly and at the right time

17:01 How can we train our intuition to make better decisions? Einstein: "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a servant. We have created a society that honors the servant but has forgotten the gift".

21:20 Gird Gigerenzer: Intuition is instinctively knowing what to discard and what is not essential.

22:06 How do you utilize AI or technology to make the right decisions on determining your audience?

22:36 Why very few real advertisers who know how to really do it well and reproduce their results

26:44 Pharma case study of interpreting analytics from Medical Education programs delivered via social media

27:21 Problem-based learning in pharma is very effective - "WhatsApp" case studies in emergency care medicine

28:22 Story of an Ad Campaign with the right SEO algorithm for Health Insurance Marketplace that deceived and misled many patients in the U.S.

29:49 Tips for consumers can to make better decisions

31:36 How objective quality of marketed products relates to consumer reviews and prices

32:43 Stefano Puntoni is Co-Director with Bob Mayer of a new "Impact of Technology" research initiative at The Wharton School to promote and stimulate the impact of behavioral science work on technology across different industries

There has never been a more appropriate time than today to reinvigorate and add life to our workplace. To discuss why inspiring a certain company culture as well as innovation can increase engagement and performance, I interviewed Rebecca Friese, co-founder of FLYN, leading management consultant, keynote speaker and author of "The Good Culture: The Leader's Guide to Creating a Workplace that Doesn't Suck". By identifying outdated practices from the ground floor to the boardroom, Rebecca helps a wide range of organizations from Fortune 500 behemoths to hopeful start-ups, build the capacity to implement market-leading cultural changes. At the moment, Rebecca is on a mission to help organizations not just be better, but exceptionally innovative, engaging, and forward-thinking places to work. In our informal and candid conversation, we discuss how company culture becomes visible or invisible in a typical organization, why it influences performance, how we can keep ourselves accountable with KPIs or performance metrics for performance as well as behaviors or culture, growing culture over time despite successes and failures, why engagement and innovation is so relevant to all of us today, and real world case studies of leadership approaches to implement the environment or culture with intentionality that delivers innovation.

2:51 - Highlights from Rebecca's career

6:08 - Definition of Company Culture

8:22 - Rebecca's Signature Approach to assisting organizations with Company Culture

13:30 - Designing performance metrics/KPIs that inspire accountability for behavior and stimulate the best culture

13:48 - Without aligning culture to our everyday strategy and operationalizing it through metrics or accountability there is a gap which questions the value of the culture we want to design as leaders.

16:59 - Recent case study from a Tech company with a leader of a high-performing team that was asked to leave the organization

19:42 - New trending internal metrics of managers: manager engagement indicator (MEIs) surveys

22:04 - Metrics can improve a sense of belonging of an employee when you know what part of your effort contributes to the overall success of your organization

22:35 - Rebecca's personal real world story of being mislead to be performing well without any direct feedback

25:52 - Maintaining a certain culture through company successes and setbacks

30:59 - How Rebecca's approach to helping organizations with culture has changed over the last few years

31:21 - Focus on design thinking at FLYN Consulting

32:07 - Biggest challenge is to address the unspoken needs of individuals in the workplace

33:58 - How Rebecca is linking company culture to innovation with Fortune 500 companies

34:58 - People are motivated by their ability to learn and grow

35:08 - Customers often do not know or cannot yet imagine what they really need

36:52 - Explaining what "behavior" means to a 2-year old by adding incentives, transparency, feedback, consistency, and recognition

38:26 - Innovative organizations have to unlock the basic needs of all humans for autonomy, mastery, and purpose based on Daniel Pink's book "Drive"

40:18 - How everyone can be innovative in an organization

43:11 - How Rebecca is stretching herself and lifting others currently: her mission is to help people love their workplace

In this special episode I interviewed the winners of the first ever month-long Medical Affairs Innovation Olympics competition in pharma and biotech in the fall of 2022, CEO and Co-Founder of Discreedly, Vinay Tharayil, MD, BCMAS and Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Gibu George, MD. My guests discussed why education and interactions between pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers need to evolve and how they are extending the reach and awareness of quality, fair-balanced medical education to not only academic physicians but those in the community using their platform, Discreedly.

1:55 - Vinay Tharayil - Background. GSK Vaccines. Medical Affairs Excellence and Operations at Astellas. Passion for Medical Affairs and the MSL role. MSLs bring lots of value to the healthcare system but often go under the radar.

4:59 - How they came up with the app @Discreedly

5:27 - Vinay and Gibu's vision and philosophy of Medical Affairs

5:46 - What makes Medical Affairs critical today in influencing health care?

6:43 - Main driver for Medical Affairs is education, scientific exchange and communication

8:53 - We want to bring medical education to the community of physicians, not just academic hospitals. Discreedly aims to increase the reach of Medical Affairs to a wider audience, including the community level physicians whom we typically do not target or educate.

11:57 - What is the relevance of a pharma company communicating more information to ensure access to care and health equity today?

13:33 - We can follow patients in EPIC via electronic health records, to be able to provide pricing information immediately.

14:14 - Putting the Provider in the Captain's Chair to be able to govern the direction of the frequency of the communications they prefer with Pharma, to allow access to quality medical information in a centralized platform.

15:12 - Physicians can search product information including formulary coverage, tier level on the health plan all at their fingertips.

15:30 - We are also exploring making social determinants of health related data available to them as well.

16:06 - Why did you call the platform "Discreedly"?

18:15 - How would pharma companies use the Discreedly App?

18:24 - Back-end channel for Pharma in this platform. Med Affairs companies will be uploading content, products, disease state related information, formulary, media that may be generated. MSLs may also be available on demand, virtually, ready to engage and educated HCPs. Providers can schedule meetings with Field MA or Medical Information. The program enables real time live chatting with HCPs, live updates / notifications.

21:39 - How do the users ensure alignment with their compliance and regulatory policies to guide what information may be shared on this platform?

22:19 - What part of the Discreedly program makes it more appropriate for the community level physicians?

23:29 - We secured a partnership with Doximity and use their SSO. They do not have to create a new account if they are already registered with Doximity.

25:30 - Extensive research of preferred formats of medical education shows high variability - the way many community oncologists learn about new treatments is a private WhatsApp group

27:02 - How does your program improve quality of healthcare at the clinical point of care?

27:17 - Integration of Electronic Medical Records (EMR)/EHR data

29:47 - Can the patient's health data be submitted by their provider or hospital?

33:26 - Message to those interested in Medical Affairs or this platform

36:13 - How are you stretching yourselves and lifting others in your next project?

36:36 - Key Lessons from Vinay and Gibu: "Be bold. The only way you will find the answer is by asking the question and taking that first step. By being bold you find out that you are capable of a lot more than you think. Be ready to adapt."

This is an episode recorded a few months ago after my guest, Johan Lauritsen, CEO & Founder of PROBE, had won the Evidence Generation category in the first-ever Medical Affairs Innovation Olympics hosted by Amedea Pharma. Johan is a medical student with prior gene editing experience, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, as well as a chronic Spinal Muscular Dystrophy type 2 patient. He is dedicating himself to facilitating and accelerating appropriate and timely patient access to clinical trials by developing a new program that researches and lists all the clinical trials across the globe for which a patient who is subscribed to his program is eligible based on health records submitted, and even directly connects the patients to the research investigator of the given study. Johan's passion and professionalism are both incredible gifts we can admire as he is in the progress of publishing the company's first prototype which is aimed at accelerating innovation in healthcare and democratizing patient participation, screening, and management of their own health. Lauritsen speaks about his personal journey as a chronic patient, and his modern perspectives on adding knowledge, transparency and technology to make clinical trials more accessible to all patients and relevant to them. Enjoy this candid conversation which showcases a new solution to improve health equity, health literacy, and patient engagement in research. You will hear Johan's tremendous accomplishments and calls to action for patients, their relatives and healthy volunteers to sign up for clinical trials and participate. 1:38 Can you share your unique background with the audience? 1:53 Johan was born with Spinal Muscular Dystrophy Type 2 (5qsma2) 5:59 For those not in healthcare, can you describe CRISPR gene editing? 8:03 Can you describe some of the processes people to know about and how clinical trials have changed. 13:25 Q: Is there routine prenatal screening or testing for SMA? In late 2022, all hospitals in Denmark implemented pre-natal screening for SMA. Johan fell when he was 3 and could no longer get back up. 14:33 SMA patients have won the Olympics before as well as the first ever Medical Affairs Innovation Olympics in the case of Johan 17:23 How has the data exchange in clinical trials accelerated and improved lately to ensure patients know about their results as soon as possible? 18:24 Clinical trials represent the most expensive, time consuming, and critical part of drug development. Patient recruitment continues to be a challenge because inclusion criteria are often determined from the investigators' perspectives rather than those of patients. Patients' inclusion criteria have now become more loose, allowing us to include more patients. 21:20 "Pharma companies do not have a realistic grasp of the real world patient population in a disease state for which they are developing treatments. Thus their study inclusion criteria are often inaccurate or irrelevant." 21:33 Only 15% of the minority populations are represented in clinical trials according to latest research. 22:10 Q: What is your company PROBE doing to improve access to clinical study for patients worldwide? 24:33 PROBE - While establishing a community of people that wants to participate in clinical trials, we are developing a tool that makes them accessible to them. We are also addressing health literacy as many patients want to be in a trial but they do not know where to find it or how to interpret the inclusion criteria or their own condition. 26:36 What kind of tool or app has PROBE created for clinical trial patients? 27:30 The App shows patients a list of clinical trials for which they are eligible. It connects the patients with the researchers, and therefore is a win-win for both researchers and patients. 29:47 Can the patient's health data be submitted by their provider or hospital? 31:34 Who are the members of the PROBE team? 34:13 Expecting to release its app at the end of January 2023.

This is part 2 of a memorable conversation I recently had with Peter High, President at Metis Strategy, a premier advisory firm in business strategy, data transformation, international growth, mergers & acquisitions. Peter is the host of the first, longest-running technology podcast called "Technovation", keynote speaker, regular Forbes columnist, and author of the book "Getting to Nimble". The audio podcast is available across all platforms. In this part of the discussion, Peter candidly shares his lessons redefining productivity, performance metrics, and the legacy of information technology and modern enterprise executives in general. Enjoy the show - here are the highlights below!

PEOPLE AND PRODUCTIVITY Q: Recent studies have published how many different employers began to use data to monitor their employees (“the worker productivity score”) which backfired because they were more likely to break rules. Q9: How do you interpret such results and what recommendations do you have in applying the new technology now available and analyzing data appropriately to guide decisions that impact our employees? LEGACY AND RESPONSIBILITY Q: What is your personal opinion and recommendation to CIOs and Tech leaders about the need to integrate and incentivize Corporate Social Responsibility, Type B Corporations and Responsible AI training and policies into their businesses? DATA MATURITY Q: What are the different stages of becoming a digitally mature company? Q: What makes the DevOps specialty in technology companies an important case study to learn from for other industries such as pharma and companies?  METRICS Q: How do we design the types of contests and metrics that matter in a competitive environment whether or not we generate revenue directly? Are there particular trends you have seen in various organizations or industries in some of the most effective performance metrics?  LEGACY Andy Warhol once said: “The idea is not to live forever but to leave ideas that will.” Q: As you look ahead into the future of some of your favorite innovative companies, what are some specific examples or the elements of a potential legacy and timeless values that businesses in the Tech industry will leave for future generations to come? Peter High: "It's the ideas they leave behind that leave a legacy and philosophy.  It's the family tree we leave behind. How many reports of ours go on to lead other organizations?"

1:55 - Q1: How did this popular #NephJC journal club start? 5:46 - Journal Club based on "Flipping the Classroom" concept 6:59 - Journal Club audience is mainly physicians aged 40+  8:20 - Structure of the NephJC Journal Club is supported by  multi-channel learning with re-informcement  (1. Blog Summary, 2. Visual  Abstract, 3. Tweetorial, 4. Podcast, 5. Weekly Newsletter) 10:11 - Q2: How do the busy physicians find time to attend a new format of education online and find it valuable? 11:07 - Modern Form of Medical Education - Conversational Tone 13:03 - Q3: How has the use of social media changed during the pandemic over among physicians?  14:09 - Pandemic Case Study: NephJC created critical new resources for  nephrologists to address concerns or rumor about ACE-inhibitors and  their effect on COVID 16:00 - Started to build evidence review teams on the fly to analyze  treatment guidelines, ACE evidence, etc. They built isolated webpages -  COVID in dialysis, COVID in transplant, in hypertension, etc. We created  an incredible resource for the community at a time when they had lots  of questions. 17:02 - Pandemic resources increased NephJC website visits 10x 17:45 - Q4: Can you contrast Twitter vs other social media platforms and share success factors of building a community there? 22:40 - Q5: Was there a turning point when the #NephJC exploded? 23:16 - #NephJC started a global internship program. Interns from 35  different countries participate and are trained on writing blog  articles,  Tweet chats / tweetorials, virtual abstracts, podcasts.   They then started many projects of  their own. One of the spinoffs of the Curbsiders is the pediatricians'  version called "Cribsiders". Website called "Nephpocus" - point of care  ultrasound. 26:25 - Q6: Can you describe your system of multi channel communication and how it all works together? 28:41 - Q7: What is a Tweetorial and how does it work? 30:25 - Q8: What are some of the most effective formats to educate in your opinion? Do you use video on Twitter? 31:42 - Q9: How do you test the quality of the education via social  media? Ian Lang quote "Teaching without testing is like cooking without  tasting, reading without writing" 33:15 - Q10: How do you incorporate all of the different parts of your system together most efficiently? 35:14 - Q11: Are you pursuing any new channels or topics at #NEPHJC? 37:45 - Q12: How do you extend your education to patients? 38:25 - Comment: Lots of poor quality medical information online - patients beware! 39:23 - Need to Close the Knowledge Gap in Medicine that Increases over time despite Experience years gained 41:31 - Q13: Q: How do you think pharma companies can educate patients and physicians via social media?

What happens when you add the role and duty of "inspiring people" to your title of a leader whether or not it is in your job description? It becomes a secret ingredient to your team's success, your legacy, high team engagement, recognition and awards. Larry Freedman, an award winning pharma executive is the type of inspirational leader I had the fortune of working with at a global pharma company, AstraZeneca, who personifies success. He has authored a new article called "The Sequence of Success" based on his determination to make inspiring others his duty. In our introspective reflection of his career and philosophy, he explains how he led "two levels deep" to turn around a slow launch of a global cardiovascular product and earn the company's most prestigious CEO Award to go on to become one of the most decorated award winning leaders in his organization and discusses many other pressing management topics of today.

3:19 - Q1: Key Factors to Career Success?

3:37 - 1. Perform 2. Network outside of your function to let others know you 3. Think strategically about your skills and even 2 jobs ahead. 4. Be grateful

5:53 - Q2: What are your leadership lessons and sequence in which we should follow them?

7:29 - Difference between Holding Someone Accountable and Inspiring their Accountability.

7:47 - Vulnerability, Humility, and Authenticity creates Trust and Followership.

8:13 - Candid Feedback without a relationship = criticism

8:26 - One person with passion is better than 40 that are merely interested

8:36 - The Last Leadership Lesson is Leave People better than you found them.

9:10 - Q3: How were you able to shorten the perceived distance between you and your team members as a second-level leader?

9:30 - Visibility and relationships that were two levels deep.

11:59 - Q4: How did you reward technical performance vs behaviors and culture to inspire accountability?

15:32 - Q5: Is sales a transfer of emotion?

17:13 - Q6: What are some of the specific approaches you have to increase engagement among new employees entering the work force today?

17:32 - Authenticity, Consistency, and described the Frequency to be in front of people. We focused on culture and took the results of the bi-annual culture survey very seriously. We dissected results to find the strengths and weaknesses. Diversity and Inclusion grants a competitive advantage. A Speak Up Culture.

18:48 - A speak up culture is not only not being afraid to state your opinion but being encouraged to.

19:17 - Two reasons why people don't speak up, 1) they are afraid of reprisal / retaliation from senior management or difference of opinion; 2) they are afraid even if they speak up nothing will change anyways. I consistently explained why I supported a particular suggestion or complaint or did not and earned trust over time.

21:44 - Q7: Do you feel it was the relationships you prioritized early that helped you overcome adversity?

21:58 - I felt a tremendous responsibility to my team whether my team was 5 or 50 or 500. The belief system is the same. When you lead you have the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives.

22:42 - People feel when there is care and concern beyond what they can do and who they are as people. That taps into their discretionary effort!

23:39 - Q8: Success is a sequence and also a cycle. How do you continue to have the Leadership foundation when Recognition at all costs is so tempting?

24:19 - How do you continue along that path of the Leadership Foundation when Recognition alone is so tempting now?

26:58 - Q9: What is the most common or favorite compliment you usually receive?

28:33 - Q10: What is the next project in which you are stretching yourself and lifting others?

30:37 - Q11: What is the next project in which you are stretching yourself and lifting others?

As a long-time fan and supporter of the author of the best-selling book "Predicting the Turn", Dave Knox, I enjoyed the opportunity to sit down with Dave to discuss the journey of businesses that incorporate a culture of innovation in a systematic manner and the results that follow. Dave Knox is a brand builder, venture investor, international keynote speaker, digital innovator, business coach, and award winning author. He was the leading digital voice and advocate at Procter and Gamble, Chief Marketing Officer at Rockfish, a leading digital marketing agency, after which he had built a non-profit start-up business / accelerator "The Brandery" which transformed 85 startups. Here are some of the highlights from our conversation: 02:50 - How did you develop the instinct of observation of innovation early in your career? 3:04 - Why Dave pursued "Brand Building" 4:47 - Views on Entreprenurship 7:10 - The concept behind "The Brandery" authentic to the city of brands, Cincinnati 7:46 - Why Brands are often misunderstood 9:14 - Examples of startups "The Brandery" helped transform 10:32 - The end result of "The Brandery" was receiving an endowment that today is funding the next generation of entrepreneurs. It allows businesses in Cincinnati to receive grants to grow their organizations and keep them going. 11:32 - Q: At what point do you stop making observations and start implementing and making decisions as a startup? 11:47 - Dave Knox's "Continuous Beta" concept 12:51 - Dave's Innovation Matrix from his book - Core Innovation, Adjacent Innovation, and Transformational Innovation. 13:03 - Devote 70% to Core Innovation, 20% to Adjacent Innovation, 10% to Transformational Innovation 13:43 - Q: What is the formula to innovation that leads to companies taking out their competitors completely in the brutal business environment today? 14:07 - Uber's extension of its Total Addressable Market (TAM) size 15:46 - Innovation Case Studies from Dave's book 16:05 - Spotify's transition from music streaming alone to "share of ear" audio company and Under Armour's journey in consumer data 20:19 - Q: What is the subtle difference between adjacent and transformational innovation according to your definition? Procter & Gamble and Tesla examples 25:02 - Q: Are there certain Innovation strategies that are more successful than others according to your research? Contrast in innovation approaches between Venture Capitalists and Corporations 26:17 - Why you should consider a combination of approaches to innovation: 1) direct or strategic investments; 2) being an LP into other venture funds; 3) partnerships / individuals helping you engage with the ecosystem 27:26 Q: Metrics - How do you inspire and evaluate the quality of innovation that benefits society? 27:49 - Ben Franklin anecdote on editing a marketing billboard 31:42 - Coca-Cola acquiring insight into new selling operations from Dirty Lemon case study 34:49 - Q: What does "predicting the turn" mean to you in light of the pandemic and the last two years? How has its definition become relevant or changed? 35:44 - Alcohol Industry's transformation and new laws after the pandemic 38:01 - Evolution of Autonomous Cars Technology, future use cases and predictions 46:13 - Views of the role of technology on social responsibility 

I recently had a truly unique  opportunity to discuss a complex yet rapidly evolving topic of how to use and update our social media and digital communication policies with social and healthcare responsibility while improving our impact on the quality and timeliness of medical decisions! Darshan Kulkarni, PharmD,  MS, Esq is a dynamic expert educator in this field who owns his private law firm, is a life sciences  counselor, speaker, author, board member, and host of the DarshanTalks podcast who shared his perspectives on the latest developments in this field. Below are the highlights from our discussion.

6:20 Pharma and device social media / digital communication policies are highly variable across small and mature companies. Some smaller teams are building them from scratch, yet others are not updating them either deliberately, not prioritizing them, or are not addressing off-label discussions and their impact. 7:52 There have been several court cases that have admonished the FDA for being overly aggressive with its enforcement. The FDA released a 60-page memo in which it acknowledged that it does not know what to do with off-label discussions in social media or via multiple digital channels.8:30 In 1998 there were 195 or so warning letters from the FDA's DDMAC division and last year there were only 6. The FDA is trying to get its bearings on what is happening. Many companies have not updated their HCP engagement policies. The Pharma organization updated its policy in mid-January. There are discussions around "space limited" engagements. On social media, you have to decide whether or not your will have social media pages that are product based, company based, or claims-based. 11:44 What are any differences in risk and liability of a Medical vs Sales organization in pharma today? The DOJ had several court cases in the early 2000s that said either you have a Medical Affairs department that is absolutely separate or you both abide by commercial speech standards, not Amendment 1. For decades, the FDA regulated based on approvals, so if the requirement based on the standard of "truthful not misleading" is thrown out it may upend the entire regulatory schema that existed. So the court responded that the 1st amendment has been changing since the 1980's but the FDA has not updated it. 16:03 The FDA is convening a Task Force to address 1st Amendment application concern in pharma. 17:22 Most pharma companies are still operating under a clear distinction between Medical and Sales from early 2000s but this will likely change in the next 2-5 years. 17:40 Q: What are some types of social media activities that are safe vs others that are more scrutinized? 21:48 CDRH in Medical Devices has significantly less resources than CDR's OPDP in pharma, and this is why the regulations in medical devices are much more loosely defined. 25:05 Has the line of "misleading" changed over the last few years? How can we balance the misleading medical information used by patients themselves? 27:05 Confident and Reliable Scientific Evidence (CRS) FDAMA114 - lowest level of truthful not misleading information. The second is Substantial Scientific Evidence (SSE) which is rarely if ever used. The third level of information used for claims is Substantial Evidence, classically referred to as two randomized controlled studies (RCTs) needed for drug approval. The New Patient Focused Drug Development FDA guidance is now advocating for pharma to communicate with patients. EMA has lay summaries to communicate clinical trial results in a language accessible to the general public. Many ICMJE journals now require for trial sponsors to provide a lay summary for patients prior to consideration of publication. 41:20 How are the current latest regulations impacting how transparent we can or have to be in reporting clinical trials? There are 7 levels of clinical trial transparency (discussed in detail). 

A big part of the reason my latest podcast guest, Rohit Sood, has become a successful and recognized leader, mentor and growth advisor in the pharma industry, is because he has been able to build successful teams. This is how his colleagues describe his unique success story as a recognized pharmaceutical industry scholar, Rutgers Business School lecturer, expert in organizational change, investor, and senior executive in life sciences who currently serves as Executive Vice President of Global Commercialization at EVERSANA. Rohit prefers to make deep and deliberate connections in business and he shares some truly unique, practical case studies and solutions on performance metrics, hiring, team dynamics, mentorship, growth mindset, and execution in this episode. 3:10 - Q: What were some of the strongest teams you worked with or led in your career that you still remember today? 6:47 - Q: What are the principles to building a strong team? 9:32 - Q: How do you design a structure around a team with a strong culture and vision? 13:45 - Q: Why do teams with best products and best performers fail? 19:27 – We discuss a story of a state tennis champion three years back to back who plays on a high school basketball team as a bench player the entire season, wins a state championship, and later admits openly to his teammates that winning as a bench player was his biggest accomplishment to date because he was a member of a team even though he had won individual tennis state championships. Rohit: we all have certain role players on our teams. You do not have to be at the center of every play or decision of your team. One of my favorite interview questions - tell me about a time when you were a role player - what was your contribution to the success of failure, and reason? 21:12 - Q: Performance metrics - Do you think performance metrics can be designed to promote collaboration as well as healthy competition? The Net Promoter Scores at Eversana are very high. Team Collaboration will be one of our metrics we will be tracking at Eversana that will be a part of the variable compensation of our employees! We will capture these metrics by gathering feedback from various brand teams across different functions. Did you feel included? Did you know what decisions were being made? We have also implemented frameworks around processes and operations. Our philosophy is that leaders have to be consistent. And consistency does not just happen. There have to be operations and processes in place that allow for consistency in execution. In summary, we are focused on 3 KPIs - 1) internal behaviors that ensure a collaborative culture; 2) behaviors that stimulate our clients and stakeholders' satisfaction of the quality of our products through their feedback; and 3) operations and processes to ensure consistency. 25:56 - Metrics also impact how you think about your goals for the year. We have three tiers of goals at Eversana. The first goals are tied to organizational performance. The second are corporate citizenship goals - make sure to do something in your role that impacts work outside of your day job! The third level of performance goals are related to individual interests. 33:06 - Aspirational idea of 1 single global metric - earnings per share. If not met, individual metrics come into play - hierarchy / tiered approach. 36:45 - Q: How do you recalibrate teams after successes or failures? 38:39 - Case study of a recent team member's problem with a deadline 41:28 – Q: Do you think the sense of belonging is what helps the best teams to succeed specifically? 45:24 - Q: How do you manage transitioning from team to team as often as we do today? 49:43 - Q: Should everyone start a team of their own regardless of their role or experience? 58:54 - Key Final Messages from Rohit!

3:17 Q1: What were some of the episodes or who were some of the people that determined your career path?

4:50 I was blessed throughout life to have someone always see something in me.

5:52 - Johnny had previously gone to a predominantly black school where he served as President, but during school de-segregation he had to go to a predominantly white local school where he was now a minority. He tells the story of this transition during which he no longer went to the new school but one gentleman, his first mentor, followed him throughout high school and picked him up in the mornings to force him to go to school.

9:02 - Story of his first work experience @Gen Mills as an ambitious young employee who was quickly taught a lesson of respect and human resource optimization by his management 

11:54 - Why Johnny almost left Procter & Gamble (P&G) where he would spend over 32 years

16:44 - I've seen so many people leave organizations because they were not clear about what was expected of them, nor did they know how to communicate to their leaders what they wanted and needed in order to succeed.

19:16 - How do you recognize talent early to hire the right employee in the first place?

20:51 - 1. Get a broad base of good talent. 2. Behavioral interviewing - try to get the candidate to talk about themselves, their likes. Ask if they have not just the technical skills which they can learn cognitively but also the emotional intelligence skills and the resilience.

24:12 - When did you first observe that you knew how to observe and recognize people?

28:37 - Q: After you hire the right person, how do you inspire them to collaborate with each other?

34:26 - Q: How do you approach measuring performance / metrics?

45:17 - Diversity and Inclusion - In the House vs Out of the House Example. Diversity is one of the most powerful tools we have in the workplace.

46:11 - About 20% of the workplace feels like they are not included or shut down. It's not that they do not know information or do not have the skills. They have simply been invited to the dance, but nobody is asking them to dance.

48:14 - What are some stories of conflicts you have managed that have stayed in your memory?

53:26 - How important is the timing of resolving a particular conflict?

56:40 - What are the key success factors of making the right or best decision?

1:01:07 - Q: What are the best accomplishments across different environments as you moved from working in manufacturing, Sales, HR to working for the state government?

1:05:44 - My passion is helping others navigate through their workplace life cycle more easily. You go through a cycle in life that consists of three stages during which you are raw, you are cooked, or you are burned, and start all over again! 

1:07:39 - What's the next project you are pursuing to reinvent yourself? 

Listen to this global overview of the digital wearable landscape in this educational discussion I truly enjoyed with Joao Bocas, a global Top 100 Digital Health Influencer, Keynote Speaker, and Consultant, CEO of Digital Salutem, a company that enables healthcare companies to brand and market their digital health and wearable solutions as well as to implement digital transformation on an organizational level rapidly using world class technology. Connect with Digital Salutem, and Joao Bocas on Twitter and LinkedIn and follow his YouTube Healthcare Channel called "Digital Health and Wearable Series"!  

1.17 Did sports inspire you to pursue starting a business in wellness, fitness, and healthcare wearables? 

4.06 How do those who are not experts in digital wearables separate the signals from the noise among the growing availability of such devices? 

5.28 What are some of the new products among consumer health or medical device wearables that pique your interest?  

8:11 - About half of the consumers stop using wearables after 6 months. No engagement means no data, and no data means no value. 8:56 - How do you validate the accuracy of the data of the wearables as well as the privacy? 

12:36 - What are the types of companies or wearable brands you consult the most? 

14:09 - Has it become easier to bring a wearable device to the market? 

16:09 - What are the key factors that play a role in adoption and utilization of wearables?

19:34 - COVID highlighted the potential for wearables and what can be done with digital health. A few months ago, we could not go to the hospital or go to the doctor because of the pandemic. So how do you monitor your patient's conditions, and what is important to act on urgently to make clinical or treatment decisions, the answer to all of which is in healthcare wearables.  

21:23 - What tips do you suggest for businesses wishing to enter the market to differentiate their wearables? 

23:24 - Can you share a glimpse of your organization at Digital Salutem and what services you offer? 

26:11 - What are some best practices and metrics of how wearables have improved patient outcomes? There are medical devices now that tell diabetic patients how much insulin they need at a given time. There are types of wearables that provide you with 8-9 different datasets, and the busy provider usually selects 2-3 datasets. So wearables generate an abundance of data which is a challenge for clinicians to identify particular trends quickly to make important decisions. And if providers are successful in quickly filtering the data as rapidly as possible to identify an arrhythmia among all the data available, wearables can bring a lot of value in my opinion

29:11 - Do you believe wearables can bridge our fragmented system of healthcare? 

30:54 - Slovenia is a small country, but it is the most digital economy in the world. All of the electronic health records are in one place in Slovenia. Three years prior, the country prioritized and planned ahead, and decided that in three years they would gather all electronic health records in one location. Finland and Denmark are two other countries that plan ahead, execute well, and are more open-minded in exploring innovative approaches to healthcare. I must say that these are smaller countries where implementing such technology may be simpler however the process of execution is the same so let's not make excuses if we live in larger countries with 300 million people, for example. Slovenia, Finland, and Denmark are three countries that incentivize and support innovation. Yet, because we are so fragmented in our healthcare system in the U.K. we are far behind in consolidating our healthcare patient records.

This is a recording of the type of critical, candid, yet fun conversation that is also a hands-on expert lesson on how to think creatively with purpose in a distracted world with one of the brightest and creative individuals I have met. I sat down with Jonah Sachs, a true original thinker, marketing executive, speaker, philanthropist, and author of "Unsafe Thinking" and “Winning the Story Wars” who shared his personal perspectives on unlocking creativity with social responsibility and purpose to spread the ideas that matter! Highlights: 04:19 – What inspired you to write “Unsafe Thinking”? Jonah: This book describes my personal journey to answer how I along with my ad agency could re-learn to break the rules once again which is how we had originally become successful. 7:08 – What are some of the ideas that matter to you today? Jonah: I have now moved from marketing to philanthropy and am very concerned as a father about the state of our climate and the ecological crisis we are about to face. 9:19 – Do you have to have a clear vision in order to spread the ideas that matter? 10:04 – Jonah: Scene from “The Matrix” where Neo is tied up and Agents Smith 11:12 – There is a story in your book “Unsafe Thinking” about an expedition to discover the new source of the Nile river that captivated me. What are some of the lessons from it you wanted to convey to the readers? Jonah: In 2005, one adventurer, Cam McLeay and his team navigated the Nile all the way from the mouth to what they call its new source, farther than anyone had ever done. They were expert navigators and included an expert aviator and were able to make their boats fly by attaching wings to their boat to fly over the top of the waterfall. It took one small innovation at a time at every challenge to accomplish this feat. 13:32 – Jonah: Use Fear as Fuel - Mahatma Gandhi case study of learning to embrace and manage his fears. 16:50 – Tim Grover, Michael Jordan’s personal coach of many years, and the author of “W1NNING” states that fear teaches you how to win, while doubt merely teaches you what to do in order not to lose. 18:35 – What kind of feedback have you received while touring for your book “Unsafe Thinking” for 2 years globally? Jonah: The most common response is “I would love to take risks but my boss or my company or my clients just will not let me “. We live in a world that constantly rewards conformism so an important lesson I have learned is to be an explorer, not an expert. 21:45 – Jonah: Study of 20,000 so-called recognized “experts” by Philip Tetlock at Berkeley 23:42 – Dr. Barry Marshall’s unconventional approach that led to the cure of ulcers and his Nobel prize. 27:37 – Yuval Harrari, a globally renowned lecturer, writer, and history professor from Oxford, says that “our history began when we created Gods and our history will end when we become Gods”. 28:45 – Jonah: Harrari has another fantastic quote – “The Scientific Revolution was kicked off when we started being more interested in what we did not know than in what we know.” 29:33 – Question from the LinkedIn Live Audience: What are your thoughts on tactics for convincing the expert that maybe the newbies/outsiders’ ideas are better? Jonah: Shared information bias is a situation in which teams of people gravitate towards what most agree upon. 32:36 – How can we utilize technology in a way to make the ideas that matter go global? Jonah: We consulted Tristan Harris on the famous Netflix movie called “Social Dilemma”, which talks about how we are being manipulated by social media. But distraction may also be a big part of our creativity. 36:35 – Your ideas and dedication to social responsibility is inspiring. As Andy Warhol said, “the idea is not to live forever but to leave ideas that will”. Jonah: Any piece of advice taken to the extremes will lead you to the safe thinking cycle. Listen to the experts, take it all in, and live a varied life of unexpected moments of discovery!

I had the honor of interviewing a gifted economist, successful entrepreneur, socially responsible healthcare consumer and digital health expert who has been able to "bio-hack" her own struggle with autoimmune disease and personally helped many others with similar conditions - Mette Dyhrberg, CEO of an innovative platform called MyMee that manages a wide range of autoimmune diseases. Make sure to listen as she shares many details of her personal and entrepreneurial journey to integrate her background and analytical approach while critically improving the course of complex disease conditions with limited treatment options for many patients in the process. 1:42 - Mette suffered from autoimmune disease for 20 years and has developed a protocol that allows patients to identify triggers in order to reverse symptoms of their immune conditions. MyMee's digital platform has helped reverse symptoms of >67 different autoimmune diseases of the >100 known such conditions. While autoimmune diseases can attack various different areas and targets, the digital platform asks why it attacks the body and what causes its symptoms. 3:45 - Is MyMee a digital therapeutic and what were the requirements of its approval? 4:50 - How long did it take you to build this platform? I started out 10 years ago, journaling and keeping a spreadsheet to see the effects and causality between what I was doing and how I was feeling. After 5 months, I was no longer at cardiac risk, prior to which I was required to have weekly EKGs, take blood thinners and cholesterol medications since I was 24. And after 16 months, I was able to become symptom-free, and have been drug and symptom free ever since. While I was working at my last company, I became extremely fascinated with the idea of biohacking and over the first couple of years I helped 33 other patients achieve the same results I had obtained. 9:36 - What are some success stories of COVID long-hauler patients that are utilizing your MyMee digital health platform? 12:09 Can you describe the platform and your healthcare team that interacts with patients at MyMee in more detail? Our platform is comprised of 3 parts: - 1) self-tracking of patient symptoms and body signals - 2) converting the noise of the data collected into understanding using computers and analytics that identify the triggers of the symptoms and find solutions - 3) transforming data analytics into behaviors through interactions with a healthcare team of nurse practitioners, dieticians, nutritionists, and doctors that have previously reversed their own autoimmune conditions 15:50 - How can patients access your platform and how does it integrate into the physicians’ clinical work flow? 19:15 – What are some learnings or future plans to work with other health payers? 20:46 – What is the primary lesson you have learned throughout your journey building this novel digital health platform? 23:56 – Could you share one final message with our listeners as well as how they can contact you? As someone who has been struggling with autoimmune disease for 20 years, I understand that the element of hope becomes challenging but ever so critical. In fact, what I call the “hope bank” can get empty when no approach seems to work. So I would like patients with such complex chronic conditions to understand that there is something they can do whether it is MyMee or something else. There are life habits such as sleep that have significant impact on their disease that they may not always take into account. So it is important for listeners to understand that the help and the hope in these conditions stem from small, incremental baseline habits and changes in behaviors. They can visit MyMee.com and contact the MyMee team which has this name because of the ideas that the platform mimes you and is a mirror of yourself as instead of implementing hundreds of rules and restrictions to manage disease, we help you find a blueprint to understand what exactly works for you.

I recently sat down with Talya Miron-Shatz, PhD, a researcher, speaker, consultant, organizational psychologist, behavioral economist, science communicator, and author of the book “Your Life Depends on It: What You Can Do to Make Better Choices about Your Health”. The book (link to order it: https://talyamironshatz.com/your-life-depends-on-it/) has received glowing reviews so far: Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman - “People who expect to stay healthy forever need not read this wonderful book. The rest of us should. With a fine combination of humor, compassion and vast knowledge, Talya Miron-Shatz offers clear and useful guidance for the hardest decisions of life.”; Next Big Idea Club (Adam Grant, Malcolm Gladwell, Daniel Pink, Susan Cain) “The past year has shown that confusion exists prominently in our medical conversations. We need a new guide to navigating these complex decisions, and psychology professor Miron-Shatz is here to provide one.” Talya has spent two decades as a researcher – including at Princeton University where she worked with the Nobel Prize laureate Daniel Kahneman, as well as a lecturer at Wharton University. She is now a full professor at Ono Academic College and a Visiting Researcher at Cambridge University. Miron-Shatz also has extensive industry experience, as she consults numerous pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Abbvie, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, and others on projects around leading physician advisory boards, designing patient outreach, and sales rep training. Talya has worked with technology giants, such as NantMobile, where she led teams of engineers in introducing an entire layer of psychological drivers to facilitate adherence to medication and she has helped multiple startups – from Healarium to Glucome to hone their operating mechanisms in conveying health information to change patient behavior. Here are some of the highlights from our discussion with its timeline: 2:47 – Why Talya pursued researching Medical Decision Making 3:32 – Gap between knowledge and understanding in genetic counseling, organizational psychology 4:28 – Work with Nobel Prize Laureate Daniel Kahneman 5:43 – What do we mean by “Healthcare Consumers” 6:44 – Real world cancer treatment example of the impact of medical decision-making 7:24 – Why Healthcare Consumerism is a “hit or miss” 7:36 – Patients now demand medical treatments – 2017 research from Dr. Heather Lu showing physicians prescribe medications/treatments they do not believe in themselves 10:35 – Key factors in Patient Outcomes: Comprehension of and Adherence to Treatment 11:50 – Health Literacy & Ability to Ask healthcare providers 12:24 – 90 Million Americans indicate low health literacy – e.g. role and probability of prenatal testing, hereditary cancer 13:47 – 2007 Exercise with Genetic Counselors 16:07 – Medication Adherence, errors, and patient education rooms in doctor’s offices 19:29 – Problem with Continuity of Care across health insurance plans (payers), providers, hospital systems, polypharmacy 21:02 – Role of the Patient-Doctor relationship 22:24 – A trusted healthcare profession – pharmacy 23:40 – The real world value of physician’s empathy from Mount Sinai Hospital’s palliative care oncologist 26:42 – Why medical credentials and personality equally critical 28:16 – The definition of making “Every Effort” in a Medical Decision – case: unplanned cesarean section deliveries 32:08 – Specific Tips to make better, more informed medical decisions 33:24 – Ask physicians what matters to you first – 1) risks, then 2) benefits, and finally 3) alternatives 36:14 – Final Conclusions for patients and healthcare professionals 39:48 – How to contact Dr. Miron-Shatz 41:00 – New book release details – available for pre-order now, officially to be release on September 28, 2021

Listen to this absolutely candid and introspective conversation with a  Senior Pharmaceutical Industry Leader, Sports Athlete, Coach, Mentor,  Danielle Day, PhD. She shares amazing personal stories and specific tips  for conflict management, giving and receiving feedback, hiring, and  managing people as well as other common real-world scenarios related to  staying relevant, competitive, productive, healthy, and well throughout  this pandemic, in gymnastics, sports, life, and at work.  

Highlights

1:53 - Q1: Who were the people and what where the events that shaped  your character? 3:04 - Standing up for a frustrated teammate to confront a Gymnastics  Coach in College 5:23 - Q2: How have you maintained your self-identity and character to  be successful across academia, sports, and corporate environment in the  pharmaceutical industry? 6:40 - Fighting for what you believe 7:25 - Receiving negative feedback about character and adapting the  personal "fire" at work 9:49 - Q3: What sacrifices do you have to make as you transition into a  people management role? 10:00 - Reaction to a post about the 5 Sacrifices we all must make in  life 18:38 - Applying the "Strengths-finder"  21:56 - Importance of "Sportsmanship" and scientific mindset in every  competition across work/life  23:35 - Q4: How do you define winning in Medical Affairs in the pharma  and medical device industry? 26:34 - Being creative and strategic to apply business acumen to advance  science 26:52 - Medical Insights case study and example 28:06 - Advice to individuals and businesses on adapting during the  pandemic crisis 29:55 - Work from home issues and management 31:25 - Authenticity and Mindfulness during crisis - examples 34:52 - Virtual productivity threshold during the pandemic 37:02 - Case studies of teamwork, compassion, and musical relief during  the pandemic 38:02 - Q5: How do you hire based on character and behavior? 39:25 - Searching for diverse skillsets among MSLs (Medical Science  Liaisons) more than experience 40:18 - If hiring managers continue to have the same mindset, they will  have the same results 40:36 - Tips and new approaches for job candidates during the interview  process  43:09 - Interview question reflections on landing the first MSL role and  role of authenticity 43:52 - Mentoring tips for landing a job vs. staying and succeeding 45:59 - When do you behave out of character? What happens when you are  constantly behaving out of character at work? 47:21 - Case study of a boss that challenged subordinates to justify  decisions through deliberate questions 48:40 - Interpreting and giving feedback: case study 53:52 - Q6: Can you describe episodes of extending personal and  professional boundaries you have observed? 56:08 - Upcoming Medical Affairs Workshop on Metrics / KPIs (key  performance indicators) at Medical Affairs Professional Society (MAPS)  Meeting in 2022  56:44 - Q7: If you could change 1 thing about Medical Affairs today,  what would it be? 58:18 - Communicating Value of Medical Affairs and alignment of Medical  and Corporate Strategy 59:53 - Shifting focus on self-care, virtual productivity, and wellness 1:01:56 - Redefining our "Pandemic Intelligence" to inspire and engage  employees 1:02:51 - Business Networking opportunities during the pandemic  1:03:40 - Inspirational story of U.S. Gymnastic Champion and Olympian Chelsey Memmel

In this special episode of the Alloutcoach Podcast, I sat down with  Donald Rattner, a renowned architect, speaker, lecturer, educator, and  author of his new book "My Creative Space" who shares some unique  research and detailed tips all of us can use in every field to spark,  capture, and apply some of our most creative ideas. His insights truly  break new ground in merging our left and right sides of the brain to  integrate our analytic and creative types of thinking when and where it  counts most!   Discussion Highlights  1:00 - Inspiration for architecture and Background 3:25 - Definition of "Evidence-Based Design" (EBD) - research of how our space impacts our behaviors 6:11 - When are we most creative? 6:37 - Four different "chronotypes" of people and their peak times of creativity 7:22 - Most people's idea generation is highest at 9 am - 1 pm 8:26 - Blue color and natural light tied to solar cycle tied to improved idea generation 9:22 - Tip: Color-changing bulbs in your office to spark creativity 10:10 - Tip: Nigh-shift mode on smartphone 10:43 - Case study of no windows in office and solutions 12:40 - Analytical type thinking  16:22 - Biophilic Design and Hypothesis: Human Affinity for Natural Environment 19:19 - Traveling in Time and Space through Space you create 21:47 - Donald's commentary on using virtual backgrounds in remote meetings 24:18 - Our Brain's "Seesaw Effect" concept and its relation to  creativity: Conscious vs. Unconscious Thinking, Finite Attention Span,  etc. 28:00 - Significance of timely idea capture 28:21 - Tip: use waterproof note pads you can use in the shower for best idea capture 28:55 - Idea generation during sleep and capture 29:40 - Salvador Dali and Thomas Edison's tricks to quickly capture creative ideas 32:05 - Why Stress is the #1 Creativity Killer 33:14 - Creativity in absence of stress 34:00 - Culture and Organizational Policy 34:07 - How shape or position of furnishings at home or at business meetings impacts creativity 37:34 - Tips on stimulating creativity in business meetings 41:37 - Tip: whiteboard wall paint in the office space 43:42 - Research case study of the role of color on creativity from an art trade show in 2006 46:12 - Role of sound on creativity: 70 decibel magic number and white noise 48:45 - How should people use the book? 52:02 - Final takeaways - Space Matters

I recently sat down with Michael Rubin, a former Netflix executive, successful serial executive, an accomplished and well-known film editor with experience of working with Oscar-winning worldly renowned directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci and Michelangelo Antonioni, writer, photographer, and independent thinker. In our discussion, Michael was extremely generous sharing lots of exclusive, behind the scenes stories of working at Netflix, Adobe, major film productions, start-up businesses he has owned so listen to the life lessons and diverse business work environments from which he has learned and grown to discover your own inspiration and creativity. This is a truly special episode which you can also see as a video podcast with bonus footage of some of Michael's photography works and personal masterpieces. Here is the timeline below for some of the highlights from our unforgettable discussion. Enjoy, subscribe, and share this episode with your friends and network! 1:18 - Career Turning Points and Overview. 6:00 - The value of crossing over industries. 8:33 - How to convince others to see the future with no immediate return in sight. 9:16 - Netflix vision of streaming movies. 11:37 - Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and company's failures. 13:46 - Netflix's early decision to focus on the U.S. market. 16:36 - True danger of not making a decision. 18:00 - Every executive director required to make at least a $1 million dollar mistake @Netflix. 19:24 - Why you sometimes need to upset the current customer to gain more new customers. 22:19 - Socratic debate process in decision-making @Netflix. 24:19 - Meaning of Culture at Netflix. 29:20 - Unhealthy self-confidence 29:55 - Role of persuasiveness in Michael's success. 31:53 - Stories of working with Oscar-winning film directors Bernardo Bertolucci, Michelangelo Antonioni. 34:44 - Key goal of film editing and its application in life. 36:20 - The Adobe experience and culture. 39:21 - Entrepreneurial journey, Lucas and Pixar, Michael's personal projects Droidmaker and Neomodern. 42:24 - When are creative thinkers most inspired? 44:40 - Key performance indicators of innovation? 46:40 - Change how you see to change how you think. 47:33 - Brachiation analogy to adaptability in life/career. 51:32 - Theory on entrepreneurship - roulette analogy. 53:03 - Beauty of naivete, "beginner's mind". 1:02:38 - One timeless lesson Michael has learned in life

This is a truly rare opportunity to learn from one of the leading analytical minds of our time who researches and helps transform global businesses through organizational change, Ron Carucci. He is the managing partner of Navalent, a boutique management consulting company, best-selling author, multiple TEDx speaker, and regular Forbes and Harvard Business Review contributor who discusses the lessons he has learned over the past 15 years from thousands of interviews with top global executives and organizations which he has published in his latest book "To Be Honest". Ron and I discuss case studies and intricate details regarding the latest statistics he has gathered to suggest why it pays to be honest in business today. Here are the highlights of the discussion and timeline. Enjoy the episode and share it with your friends and colleagues! Highlights: 2:24 - Why Ron specialized in organizational transformation as a career 3:53 - What inspired Ron to write "To Be Honest" 5:46 - How Ron conducted his research and analysis of thousands of global organizations and executives over a 15 year period 7:18 - The 4 factors that predict whether or not employees will be honest at work 7:53 - Factor #1. Clarity and Identity - Be Who You Are and how this manifests in organizations 8:44 - Factor #2. Accountability 9:45 - Factor #3. Decision-making 10:36 - Factor #4. Cross-functional Collaboration. 14:53 - The outcomes of being more honest in business from his research 19:00 - How can we hire based on Ron's research 24:30 - Does culture and honesty scatter at times of success or failure? 25:52 - Do we use the right metrics to measure our own accountability in business? 30:03 - How honest are we in business meetings, and what impact does meeting facilitation have? 32:09 - Case study of lack of cross-functional collaboration and an unfortunate indictment 34:10 - Case Studies of Dishonesty with grave consequences (Patagonia & DuPont) 37:32 - Thoughts on whether agility training can overcome barriers to dishonesty in business 

Listen to a unique success story of a bright, serial entrepreneur who has integrated the latest technology platforms with a trademark strategy and deeply-rooted vision of culture to hire and scale his businesses with limited resources to over 8 figures / $10 million in sales consistently. Nathan Hirsch merges metrics, processes, and systems with a particular philosophy of leadership and teamwork seamlessly, and teaches his trademark tips and approaches at www.outsourceschool.com, many of which he previews in our conversation. Here are some timeline highlights from this conversation: 1:32 - His early experimentation and hiring experiences, 3:20 - His steps to scaling, 4:38 -  Why you need to have a system in place in every business, 5:50 - Value of Virtual Assistants and their Potential, 6:18 - Range of Roles of Virtual Assistants - Nathan's "Followers, Doers, and Experts" approach to hiring, 8:07 - Advantages of Hiring Abroad, 11:53 - Data Privacy Issues, 13:15 - Tips to Remote Employee Retention, 15:04 - Job Interview Questions and Relevance to the Role during Hiring, 16:42 - Secrets to Maintaining a Strong Culture, 18:05 - Role of Culture in Scaling any Business, 18:45 - Prioritizing across Multiple Businesses Simultaneously, 21:38 - Addressing the Skeptics of Metrics, KPIs and SOPs, 23:19 - The Ultimate Role of Technology, Its Utility and Our Intelligence to address Elon Musk's Neuralink among others!

In the second episode of the second season of my @Alloutcoach podcast I spoke with David Alto, a LinkedIn influencer, coach, keynote speaker, author of the new book "Fear of  Confidence". He has over 40K followers effective today (Feb 16, 2021) and about 15K connections on LinkedIn, is a renowned job resume and  career coach, with decades of sales leadership experience. In our  conversation, David shares some unique insights and LinkedIn tips that  you do not want to miss! Here is the timeline of our chat:  1:51 - Introduction / Background 3:47 - Follow vs. Connect on LinkedIn - what is the difference? 6:36 - Most Recommended LinkedIn Features: audio introduction & pitch, etc. 8:18 - David's opinion on LinkedIn Stories 9:59 - How David built his large following on LinkedIn in the last 2 years 13:03 - Why the Message of your post is Most important, not the format, etc. 13:49 - Did David have a particular audience in mind when he built his network? 15:33 - His experiences with Imposter Syndrome 17:51 - How do you use LinkedIn Articles? 21:17 - Free vs. Subscription based LinkedIn features  24:56 - LinkedIn Live Application Process and Expectations 27:39 - Posting Strategy for the Busy Professional LinkedIn Skeptic 28:31 - Specific Tips about Hashtags to Use on LinkedIn  32:34 - Time Strategy for Posting 34:25 - Apps for Posting and Smartphone Video Stabilizer for Social Media 37:28 - David's Opinion on Posting Personal Moments on LinkedIn 43:03 - LinkedIn's Mission to Provide Economic Opportunity to every Professional 43:24 - The Inspiration for His Book "Fear of Confidence" 53:48 - LinkedIn Polls - Current Trends & Practical Uses 55:37 - Virtual Assistants Experience on LinkedIn

Last year I had a unique opportunity to pass the baton to an amazingly gifted class of about ~300 doctors of pharmacy embarking on a career in the pharmaceutical industry and address the generational gap and evolution of leadership over the 15 year period after my graduation from the same program. Here is some raw footage that is full of incredibly candid life stories of successes, failures, and lessons learned from my keynote speech at the 2019 Rutgers School of Pharmacy Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowships. There were some audio quality and slide issues for which I ask for your forgiveness. However, make sure to pay attention to many of the Alloutcoach Academy perspectives on the following topics:

Medical Science Liaison role, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Communication Tips, Conflict Management, Company Culture, Authenticity, Social Media Influencers, Leadership Cycle, Coaching, Mentorship, and Next generation leadership.

It is so tempting and so gratifying to hear we are great at something that we often prefer a false YES to a true NO we receive from others. And it is exactly this common and natural preference we have to aim for "YES" in people's responses to us that is what keeps us from maximizing our potential and reaching the next level in life. In my latest @Alloutcoach podcast episode, I sit down with Steve Herz, owner of IF Talent Management, now merged with Montag Talent Management Agency, which has represented some of the top celebrities, renowned leaders in the sports, entertainment, and broadcasting industries to discuss the premise behind why he wrote the book "Don't Take YES for an Answer" and its most critical life lessons. Steve shares some surprisingly profound and refreshing insights on self development, success, and the power of feedback. In this book, he tells some vivid, real-world stories of celebrities, coaches such as Tom Coughlin, broadcasters, physicians, personal friends, family members or colleagues that will inspire you to explore and maximize your potential farther through the feedback you search and receive from formal or informal mentors, as well as through the observations of others you learn to master. Throughout our conversation we talk about the systemic trends and reasons why we hear YES much more often at work, we talk about healthcare quality, the differences between medical care and the communication of medical care, the patient physician relationship, sports, NFL football, NY Giants, Tiki Barber, law school, education, teaching profession, energy management, and build upon mentorship and self awareness.

Here is the Timeline Index of our Discussion

0:10 – Intro

0:52 – Steve Herz’s Early Career / Background

2:45 – Why did Steve write the book “Don’t Take YES for an Answer”

5:05 – Story about Steve’s memorable law and other professors’ energy

7:31 – Steve’s AWE Concept – how do you build authority?

9:32 – What is the outcome / benefit of building your authority / presence?

10:58 – Steve’s friends in Healthcare and Tim’s latest start-up with a new product approved during COVID19

13:01- Important Quote from Dr. Levine - It's not about the Delivery of Medical Care but the Communication of the Delivery of Medical Care; Patient-Doctor relationship

14:35 – Tim’s Personal Comments on Authority - Teachers / Doctors 15:07 – What is often missing in people who have Authority?

19:19 – Tim’s personal comments on healthcare quality, health insurance access, and continuity of care, patient safety, medication errors

20:38 - What kind of transformations have you seen from Authority to Warmth?

23:17 – “Self-Awareness is not Enough”

23:45 – Best Coaches do not have to be the Best Players – they’re the best at Observing the Human Condition

25:41 - Best Coaches know how to meet players on their turf quote by Steve Herz

26:46 – Tom Coughlin Transformation from Authority to Warmth and 2 Super Bowl Championships

30:46 – Examples of personalities with best Energy Management

33:46 – What is the outcome of Energy Management?

34:39 – Why do certain talented individuals never reach success?

37:41 – Steve Herz’s greatest accomplishment

It was a true privilege to sit down and chat with Todd Dewett, PhD who personifies authenticity and hard work and who is an expert in personal branding. Todd is a magnetic speaker who captured my attention immediately after I had taken some of his courses on LinkedIn Learning. He has mesmerized large audiences of thousands of people across the globe and is an award-winning professor, best-selling author with a new book soon to be released called "Live Hard". Todd received his training at the University of Memphis, University of Tennessee, and later completed his PhD in organizational behavior at Texas A & M. He began his career working at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and Ernst & Young. 

In our discussion, Todd demonstrates his generosity and commitment to coaching organizations and individuals by sharing personal stories that have transformed relationships, careers, and organizations. We talk about authenticity, next generation leaders and their impatience, the power of hard work and creating value for others while maintaining your personal character and brand, which he will convince you is quite possible, but requires introspection and lots of observation and hard work. Finally, Todd discusses his perspective on company culture and key performance indicators or metrics that can indicate organizational success. Make sure to visit his website at drdewett.com and contact him directly!   

Sara Canaday is an established corporate executive of 13 years, renowned keynote speaker, author, LinkedIn Influencer and LinkedIn Learning Course Instructor. She is the owner of a boutique consulting company, Sara Canaday and Associates. In my discussion with her she discusses her personal accomplishments and life lessons including her recent transformation throughout the pandemic, and offers many critical real-world insights into how not to "cling to the familiar" through agility while "standing firm in knowing what should never change" through purpose based on her book "Leadership Unchained". Her level of dedication, attention to detail, observations and discipline exemplify an "All Out" approach to the responsibilities of leadership and its multiple roles and levels through periods of both adversity and victory. I personally invite you to listen to this episode, read her books, enroll in her LinkedIn courses and other workshops as I have done previously, and consult with her to pivot and energize yourself and your teams throughout challenging times to lead to your next success story!

This is one of the most revealing and personal interviews I have ever conducted with a truly inspirational, incredibly successful Sales executive, human relationship expert, best-selling author, keynote speaker, leadership guru, football athlete, renowned entrepreneur, consultant, coach, and mentor in the pharmaceutical industry Jerry Acuff.  He has been invited to speak to the White House on Healthcare Reform, received a multitude of awards and recognition as a CEO, executive, coach, and consultant, and he continues to coach other sports coaches to lead them to championships! The conversation is minimally edited and I highly recommend you listen to all of it either at once or in different sessions because of the amount of stories and specific examples of wisdom he shared with me so generously. 

In our interview Jerry shares candid and colorful personal stories and experiences, success stories and failures of his rise throughout his career,  the pivotal moments and most important relationships in his life. Throughout our conversation, he shares important deals from real world scenarios and specific tips to coach, mentor, persuade, differentiate yourself as well as your products and businesses, to grow sales, among others. Jerry presents his philosophy on customer service, selling approaches and models, and the value of mentorship among the next generation leaders. We discuss the role of medical science liaisons and pharmaceutical sales representatives in the continuum of patient care, and the factors in the decision-making of physicians, oncologists, and doctors of various specialties on selecting different treatments. Ultimately, Jerry personifies a tremendously gifted and driven individual who teaches the importance of observing the human condition, staying personal and energized to develop as an individual and a business professional regardless of the industry. And so, this conversation is the exact lift and source of energy and inspiration all of us need to hear in the period of time we are living this fall 2020!

We are facing unprecedented amounts and forms of pressure in business today and are struggling with how to respond quickly while forming relationships and growing. I interviewed a special guest who dedicated extensive research and a book called "Diamond Goldfish" to this topic - Stan Phelps. Stan is a Senior Marketing Expert with work and client experience at IBM, Starbucks, Adidas, and Synergy among others, best-selling author, professor, and a TEDx International Certified Speaker. He shares incredibly profound and practical insights into what winning in what he calls "the game of business" by managing relationships and pressures that build within us and among others. He explains different factors of growth in business including the only one we can control - Differentiation, discusses the 4.0 Diamond Rule of Business, 4 different types of behavior styles guided by survival strategies to threats and pressures around us, and applies how we can adapt our response to pressure and change our behavior styles accordingly to build stronger relationships which are central to growing business.

In this episode I interview Tom Shelton, PhD, an established expert, leader, teacher, professor at Johns Hopkins University, and a true lifelong learner.  Tom is an expert in the United States educational system having served as a District School Superintendent, and subsequently the Executive Director of the Kentucky State of Superintendents Association responsible for several school districts across Kentucky , before transitioning into his role as the Director of the National Center of Education and Economy. His forward thinking approach to education promises to make a difference in our next generation which today regards educational "content as a commodity" readily available in our digital times. I met him two years ago when we certified in the Leading Organizations and Change at the MIT Sloan Business School of Management, during which his personal and professional stories he had shared with me immediately left a strong mark on me.  Tom shares candid stories of success as well as setbacks, his tested insights and nuances on the current state of education in the United States as well as globally, his four points of leadership he uses to manage large groups of people, his perspectives on the need of the educational system to undergo a transformation in order to catch up with the business world that is evolving more rapidly, and his call for greater emphasis on the equity of education and experiential, apprenticeship based learning that can better prepare the next generation for the real world and improve our economy.  

In this third episode in the Alloutcoach Company Culture series, I interview Brianna Carney from a successful, growing new fully remote global startup company called CrewBloom. She shares her transformative, fresh perspective on how to grow a diverse, global outsourcing company that is connected, fully engaged, and productive. Brianna's story is ever so timely as more companies globally are embracing working from home with the biggest challenge of employee engagement being a piece of the puzzle she has solved while ensuring top caliber talent management, quality, and performance.