Nicolas Darveau-Garneau has spent his career helping organizations understand where technology creates lasting competitive advantage. A serial entrepreneur, former General Manager of Google in Canada, and then off to the Valley (where he still resides) as Google’s former Chief Evangelist, Nicolas has advised more than a thousand executives on digital transformation, AI, marketing, and growth strategy. His latest book, Be A Sequoia, Not A Bonsai – The Seven Growth Secrets of the World’s Most Successful Companies, challenges one of business’s most common assumptions: that efficiency is the ultimate measure of success. Instead, Nicolas argues that the companies built to last optimize for profitable growth, customer lifetime value, experimentation, and long-term resilience rather than short-term metrics like customer acquisition cost or return on ad spend. In this conversation, Nicolas (an old friend) explores why AI is forcing leaders to rethink not only their technology investments but the very way they measure success. He explains why human change management remains the biggest obstacle to AI adoption, how organizations can redesign incentives to encourage innovation, and why every company should be preparing employees for AI-enabled careers rather than AI replacement. The conversation also examines the future of work, the democratization of expertise across industries like healthcare and law, and the responsibility leaders have to balance profitability with human flourishing. Throughout, Nicolas makes a compelling case that the organizations best positioned for the AI era won’t necessarily be the most efficient… they’ll be the ones most willing to rethink how value is created in the first place. Enjoy the conversation…

• Running time: 56:45.
• Hello from beautiful Montreal.
• Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.
• Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.
• Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Thinking With Mitch Joel.
• Feel free to connect to me directly on LinkedIn.
• Check out ThinkersOne.
• Here is my conversation with Nicolas Darveau-Garneau.
• Be A Sequoia, Not A Bonsai – The Seven Growth Secrets of the World’s Most Successful Companies.
• Follow Nicolas on LinkedIn.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Introduction to Nicolas Darveau-Garneau.
(02:06) – The Journey of Evangelism at Google.
(05:54) – Shifting Marketing KPIs for Success.
(11:38) – The Role of an Evangelist in Business.
(12:47) – The Rise of AI in Marketing.
(18:31) – Optimizing Customer Acquisition with AI.
(26:50) – Navigating the Future of AI and Employment.
(30:21) – Envisioning AI-Enabled Career Paths.
(32:13) – The Future of Work and Human Purpose.
(34:08) – The Ethical Implications of AI in Warfare.
(36:50) – Balancing Profit and Human Values in Business.
(38:55) – The Optimistic View on AI Efficiency.
(40:39) – The Role of AI in Mental Health Care.
(42:52) – The Future of Healthcare and AI.
(46:49) – Navigating the AI Landscape: Optimism vs. Skepticism.
(52:19) – Preparing for an AI-Driven Future.

Download the Podcast here: #1043 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).

Before you go… ThinkersOne gives you direct access to the experts shaping tomorrow’s conversations. Get their insights on leadership, AI, culture and innovation all delivered to your team before the rest of the world catches on. Ideal for your meetings, off-sites, and lunch & learns.

Marcus Buckingham has spent more than three decades changing how organizations think about people, performance, and leadership. As one of the pioneers of the strengths movement, his research has influenced millions of managers around the world and helped reshape the way companies approach employee engagement and organizational culture. After beginning his career as a researcher at Gallup, Marcus became one of the driving forces behind some of the most influential ideas in modern management. His books include First, Break All the Rules, Now, Discover Your Strengths, Go Put Your Strengths To Work, Love + Work and countless others. He has built a reputation as one of the world’s foremost thinkers on human performance. His latest book, Design Love In – How To Unleash The Most Powerful Force In Business, takes that work in a surprising direction. Marcus argues that love isn’t simply a personal emotion or an abstract ideal… it’s the single most powerful driver of productive human behavior. In this conversation, Marcus explains why so many organizations have become increasingly transactional, why experience design has become one of the defining leadership skills of the AI era, and why he believes “experience intelligence” may soon become as important as financial or operational intelligence. It’s a conversation about leadership, organizational design, technology, and perhaps most surprisingly… why one of the least discussed words in business may become one of its greatest competitive advantages. Enjoy the conversation…

• Running time: 1:05:53.
• Hello from beautiful Montreal.
• Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.
• Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.
• Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Thinking With Mitch Joel.
• Feel free to connect to me directly on LinkedIn.
• Check out ThinkersOne.
• Here is my conversation with Marcus Buckingham.
• Design Love In – How To Unleash The Most Powerful Force In Business.
• First, Break All the Rules.
• Now, Discover Your Strengths.
• Go Put Your Strengths To Work.
• Love + Work.
• Marcus’ other books.
• Follow Marcus on X.
• Follow Marcus on Instagram.
• Follow Marcus on LinkedIn.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Introduction to Love That and Designed Love.
(02:59) – The Role of Love in Work and Life.
(05:51) – The Business Case for Love.
(09:11) – Transactional Nature of Work.
(12:09) – Experience Intelligence and Its Importance.
(14:59) – Designing Experiences for Love.
(17:59) – The Power of Attention in Leadership.
(20:54) – The Future of Work and Love.
(23:56) – Data, Belief, and the Business of Love.
(31:29) – The Love Factor in Business.
(34:56) – Surveillance and AI: A Double-Edged Sword.
(39:00) – The Importance of Control and Harmony.
(47:29) – Experience Making: A Collective Responsibility.
(53:41) – The Interplay of Employee and Customer Love.
(01:00:20) – AI as a Design Partner: A New Perspective.

Download the Podcast here: #1042 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).

Before you go… ThinkersOne gives you direct access to the experts shaping tomorrow’s conversations. Get their insights on leadership, AI, culture and innovation all delivered to your team before the rest of the world catches on. Ideal for your meetings, off-sites, and lunch & learns.

At a time when every leadership team is being told that artificial intelligence will change everything, Charlene Li has spent her career helping organizations separate signal from noise. A New York Times bestselling author and trusted advisor to CEOs and boards, Charlene first became widely known for helping leaders understand transformative shifts through books like Groundswell, Open Leadership and The Disruption Mindset. Her latest book, Winning With AI – The 90-Day Blueprint For Success, co-authored with Dr. Katia Walsh, tackles one of the most pressing questions facing business leaders today: not what AI is, but what to do about it. Drawing on research, executive interviews and practical experience, Charlene argues that organizations do not need an AI strategy… they need to rethink how AI serves their existing business strategy. In our conversation, she explores why most organizations are still struggling to move beyond experimentation, why leadership and transformation matter more than technology selection, and why the greatest opportunity may not be efficiency at all, but creating more human-centered organizations. Along the way, Charlene challenges conventional thinking about AI pilots, workforce transformation, organizational design and the future role of leadership in an era where intelligence itself is becoming abundant. Enjoy the conversation…

• Running time: 1:01:50.
• Hello from beautiful Montreal.
• Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.
• Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.
• Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Thinking With Mitch Joel.
• Feel free to connect to me directly on LinkedIn.
• Check out ThinkersOne.
• Here is my conversation with Charlene Li.
• Winning With AI – The 90-Day Blueprint For Success.
• Dr. Katia Walsh.
• Groundswell.
• Open Leadership.
• The Disruption Mindset.
• Charlene’s other books.
• Follow Charlene on LinkedIn.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Introduction to AI and Leadership.
(03:02) – Navigating the AI Landscape.
(05:57) – Understanding AI’s Impact on Organizations.
(09:09) – The Human Element in AI.
(12:10) – Rethinking Workflows and Decision-Making.
(14:45) – Strategic AI Roadmaps.
(17:54) – Investment and Governance in AI.
(20:52) – Creating Value with AI.
(23:53) – Emergent Thinking and AI Adoption.
(31:00) – The Role of Leadership in AI Implementation.
(34:50) – Ownership and Accountability in AI Strategy.
(39:01) – Creating Value Beyond Efficiency with AI.
(45:07) – Navigating Workforce Changes and Reskilling.
(48:59) – Addressing Employee Concerns About AI.
(54:54) – The Case Against AI Pilots.
(55:54) – The Importance of Speed in AI Adoption.

Download the Podcast here: #1041 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).

Before you go… ThinkersOne gives you direct access to the experts shaping tomorrow’s conversations. Get their insights on leadership, AI, culture and innovation all delivered to your team before the rest of the world catches on. Ideal for your meetings, off-sites, and lunch & learns.

Long before artificial intelligence became the dominant business conversation, Sangeet Paul Choudary was helping leaders understand another profound shift in economic power: the rise of platforms. As the co-author of Platform Revolution, founder of Platform Thinking Labs, advisor to global corporations and governments, and a respected thinkers on digital business models, Sangeet has spent years studying how technology changes the sources of competitive advantage and reshapes entire industries. His latest book, Reshuffle – Who Wins When AI Restacks The Knowledge Economy, extends that work into the age of artificial intelligence, exploring what happens when the expertise, judgment and know-how that once lived inside individuals and organizations increasingly migrates into software systems. In this conversation, Sangeet explains why AI represents far more than a productivity upgrade. He argues that every major technological shift changes what is scarce, and when scarcity changes, value moves with it. Drawing on examples ranging from Kodak and Netflix to cloud computing, software platforms and global supply chains, he explores why some organizations adapt while others become trapped by the assumptions that made them successful in the first place. The discussion also examines the changing nature of economic power, the growing importance of digital sovereignty, the future of knowledge work, and the risks of assuming that today’s business models will survive tomorrow’s technological realities. Throughout the conversation, Sangeet offers a framework for understanding not just what AI can do, but how leaders can rethink their organizations, industries and careers when the foundations of value creation are being rewritten in real time. Enjoy the conversation…

• Running time: 1:00:47.
• Hello from beautiful Montreal.
• Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.
• Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.
• Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Thinking With Mitch Joel.
• Feel free to connect to me directly on LinkedIn.
• Check out ThinkersOne.
• Here is my conversation with Sangeet Paul Choudary.
• Reshuffle – Who Wins When AI Restacks The Knowledge Economy.
• Platform Thinking Labs.
• Platform Revolution.
• Follow Sangeet on X.
• Follow Sangeet on LinkedIn.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Introduction to Sangeet Chaudhary and Reshuffle.
(02:51) – The Impact of Technological Shifts on Value Creation.
(05:51) – Understanding Architectural Constraints in Business.
(09:07) – The Role of Supply Chain in Innovation.
(12:10) – AI’s Influence on Software and Business Models.
(14:56) – Navigating Uncertainty in AI Adoption.
(18:04) – The Future of Economic Power and Sovereignty.
(21:00) – Cultural Shifts in Power Dynamics.
(23:53) – The Mechanisms of Change in AI and Business.
(26:52) – The Balance of Sovereignty and Dominance.
(29:46) – The Future of Work in an AI-Driven Economy.
(32:44) – The Broader Implications of AI on Society.
(36:40) – Conclusion and Reflections on Reshuffle.

Download the Podcast here: #1040 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).

Before you go… ThinkersOne gives you direct access to the experts shaping tomorrow’s conversations. Get their insights on leadership, AI, culture and innovation all delivered to your team before the rest of the world catches on. Ideal for your meetings, off-sites, and lunch & learns.

I believe that communication has always been one of the most valuable skills in business. But in an era of AI-generated content, algorithmic feeds, podcasts, newsletters, keynote stages, short-form video and endless digital noise, it may be becoming even more important. Few people have spent more time studying what makes ideas resonate than Carmine Gallo. A communication coach, author, and instructor in executive education at Harvard, Carmine is best known for bestselling books including Talk Like TED, The Storyteller’s Secret, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and many more. His latest project, Viral Voices – From TED Talks To TikTok, Persuasive Communication Skills For The Digital Age, is an audio-original experience that explores what great communicators can teach us about influence, storytelling, and audience engagement in a rapidly changing media landscape. In this conversation, Carmine argues that while the tools of communication have evolved dramatically, the human brain has not. Drawing on research from neuroscience, psychology, evolutionary biology, and his conversations with communicators ranging from business leaders to digital creators, he explains why storytelling remains one of humanity’s most powerful technologies. The discussion explores why movement captures attention, why narrative structures continue to dominate modern platforms, and why great communicators are made through deliberate practice rather than born with natural talent. Carmine also shares his AMP framework for communication improvement: Ability, Message, and Practice. Along the way, the conversation examines the opportunities and challenges created by AI, including the growing tension between polished machine-generated content and authentic human expression. At a moment when everyone has access to powerful communication tools, Carmine makes a compelling case that imagination, personal experience, and genuine human insight are becoming the ultimate differentiators. Enjoy the conversation…

• Running time: 1:00:47.
• Hello from beautiful Montreal.
• Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.
• Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.
• Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Thinking With Mitch Joel.
• Feel free to connect to me directly on LinkedIn.
• Check out ThinkersOne.
• Here is my conversation with Carmine Gallo.
• Viral Voices – From TED Talks To TikTok, Persuasive Communication Skills For The Digital Age.
• Talk Like TED.
• The Storyteller’s Secret.
• The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs.
• Carmine’s other books.
• Follow Carmine on X.
• Follow Carmine on Instagram.
• Follow Carmine on LinkedIn.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Introduction to Communication and Influence.
(03:11) – The Evolution of Communication Tools.
(05:56) – The Power of Storytelling.
(08:48) – Understanding Audience Engagement.
(11:48) – The Role of Movement in Communication.
(14:59) – The Hero’s Journey in Storytelling.
(18:08) – The Nature vs. Nurture Debate in Communication.
(21:02) – The AMP Model for Effective Communication.
(24:05) – The Impact of AI on Communication.
(26:58) – The Challenge of Authenticity in AI-Generated Content.
(29:48) – Attention Spans and Content Consumption.
(33:05) – The Future of Communication in the Age of AI.

Download the Podcast here: #1039 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).

Before you go… ThinkersOne gives you direct access to the experts shaping tomorrow’s conversations. Get their insights on leadership, AI, culture and innovation all delivered to your team before the rest of the world catches on. Ideal for your meetings, off-sites, and lunch & learns.

At a time when technology feels simultaneously more powerful and more opaque than ever, Marcus Fontoura is making a case for something many people feel they’ve lost: agency. A Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, Marcus has spent decades helping build the infrastructure that powers the modern internet, including leadership roles at Microsoft Azure, Google and IBM. His new book, Human Agency In A Digital World, is both a guide to understanding the technologies shaping our lives and a reminder that we are not merely passengers along for the ride. Drawing on his experience building cloud computing platforms and large-scale digital systems, Marcus demystifies everything from search engines and social media to artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure, arguing that technological literacy should be as fundamental as understanding economics or government. In this episode, Marcus explores the growing gap between the people building technology and the people living with its consequences. He discusses social media’s impact on mental health, misinformation, polarization, AI’s role as a prediction engine rather than an autonomous intelligence, and the importance of regulation in areas where technological progress has outpaced public understanding. At the same time, Marcus offers a deeply optimistic vision of the future. He believes that access to information, computing power and AI tools can empower a new generation of scientists, entrepreneurs and problem-solvers to tackle challenges ranging from healthcare and education to climate change and scientific discovery. Rather than viewing technology as something happening to us, Marcus argues that understanding how these systems work is the first step toward shaping how they evolve. What emerges is a thoughtful conversation about curiosity, responsibility, innovation and the enduring role of human judgment in an increasingly digital world. Enjoy the conversation…

• Running time: 47:25.
• Hello from beautiful Montreal.
• Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.
• Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.
• Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Thinking With Mitch Joel.
• Feel free to connect to me directly on LinkedIn.
• Check out ThinkersOne.
• Here is my conversation with Marcus Fontoura.
• Human Agency In A Digital World.
• A Platform Mindset.
• Follow Marcus on LinkedIn.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Introduction to Marcus Fontoura and His Role at Microsoft.
(02:54) – Understanding the Cloud and Its Impact on Society.
(06:06) – Human Agency in a Digital World.
(08:57) – The Complexity of AI and Technology.
(12:00) – The Role of Regulation in Technology.
(15:07) – The Real-World Applications of AI.
(17:59) – The Challenges of Social Media and Mental Health.
(20:55) – The Need for Societal Engagement in Technology Regulation.
(26:26) – The Challenge of Fake News and Agency.
(27:00) – Empowering Future Generations.
(31:27) – The Role of Human Agency in Technology.
(34:01) – Concerns Over AI and Misinformation.
(40:44) – Understanding AI Code Generation.
(46:55) – The Pursuit of AGI and Its Implications.
(50:08) – Technology’s Role in Promoting Equality.

Download the Podcast here: #1038 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).

Before you go… ThinkersOne gives you direct access to the experts shaping tomorrow’s conversations. Get their insights on leadership, AI, culture and innovation all delivered to your team before the rest of the world catches on. Ideal for your meetings, off-sites, and lunch & learns.

At a moment when certainty has become both a cultural obsession and a commercial product, Simone Stolzoff is asking a far more uncomfortable question: what if the real skill is learning how to live without it? A journalist whose work has appeared in publications like The Atlantic and author of the bestselling book The Good Enough Job, Simo has built his work around examining the hidden psychological contracts shaping modern life… especially our increasingly tangled relationship with work, ambition and identity. His new book, How to Not Know – The Value of Uncertainty in a World that Demands Answers, pushes that exploration even further, arguing that many of the anxieties defining modern life stem not from uncertainty itself… but from our declining ability to tolerate it. In this conversation, Simo explores why uncertainty has become so psychologically destabilizing in an era where information is infinite, prediction is constant and every question seems one search query away from an answer. He discusses the paradox of modern life: despite unprecedented prosperity, connectivity and opportunity, people feel increasingly fragile, overwhelmed and fearful of ambiguity. Simo explains how uncertainty once served an important evolutionary purpose, but has become maladaptive in a culture obsessed with optimization, certainty and control. The conversation moves through entrepreneurship, identity, politics, AI, climate anxiety, relationships and creativity… all connected by the tension between our desire for certainty and the reality that much of life remains fundamentally unknowable. Simo argues that uncertainty is not a flaw in the system… it is the birthplace of possibility, growth and reinvention. Along the way, we discuss Brian Eno, venture capital, the psychology of risk, the danger of false certainty in modern discourse, and why action itself is often the antidote to anxiety. What emerges is not a conversation about having the answers… but about developing the resilience, humility and imagination to move forward without them. Enjoy the conversation…

• Running time: 57:55.
• Hello from beautiful Montreal.
• Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.
• Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.
• Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Thinking With Mitch Joel.
• Feel free to connect to me directly on LinkedIn.
• Check out ThinkersOne.
• Here is my conversation with Simone Stolzoff.
• How To Not Know – The Value of Uncertainty in a World that Demands Answers.
• The Good Enough Job.
• Subscribe to Simo’s newsletter.
• Follow Simo on Instagram.
• Follow Simo on LinkedIn.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Introduction to Simone Stolzoff.
(01:45) – The Intersection of Identity and Career.
(03:50) – Embracing Uncertainty in Life and Work.
(10:56) – Cultural Perspectives on Risk and Entrepreneurship.
(15:50) – The Paradox of Comfort and Growth.
(18:49) – Building Tolerance for Uncertainty.
(22:33) – Macro Perspectives on Progress and Uncertainty.
(27:23) – Navigating Opportunities in an Unstable Job Market.
(33:07) – The Role of Geography in Relationships and Opportunities.
(36:43) – Age Bias and Risk Aversion.
(41:08) – Resilience in the Face of Uncertainty.
(50:02) – Closing Thoughts on Rigidity and Acceptance.

Download the Podcast here: #1037 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).

Before you go… ThinkersOne gives you direct access to the experts shaping tomorrow’s conversations. Get their insights on leadership, AI, culture and innovation all delivered to your team before the rest of the world catches on. Ideal for your meetings, off-sites, and lunch & learns.

Ashley Herd did not set out to become a management expert. Trained as an employment lawyer and later serving in senior HR and leadership roles supporting organizations including McKinsey & Company, Ashley built her career at the intersection of people, performance and workplace culture. What began as practical leadership advice shared through short-form social media videos evolved into a massive online following, with hundreds of thousands of managers turning to her for direct, actionable guidance on how to lead teams without burning people out. Her new book, The Manager Method – A Practical Framework to Lead, Support, and Get Results, distills that experience into a deceptively simple framework built around Pause, Consider, Act… a reminder that leadership is not about reacting faster, but thinking more clearly. In this conversation, Ashley explores why so many organizations continue promoting high performers into management roles without preparing them to lead people, why workplace culture is often shaped more by individual managers than company values, and how the modern workplace has been reshaped by the pandemic, generational shifts and AI. Ashley argues that the biggest failures in leadership are rarely strategic… they are relational. Silence, unclear expectations, lack of feedback and the inability to coach people effectively create cascading organizational problems. At the same time, she remains optimistic that AI can become a meaningful thought partner for managers… not replacing judgment, empathy or coaching, but helping leaders pause long enough to think better about how they communicate and support others. Grounded in practical experience rather than abstract theory, Ashley’s work is ultimately about helping managers become more human… and helping organizations remember that people are not line items on a spreadsheet. Enjoy the conversation…

• Running time: 1:00:07.
• Hello from beautiful Montreal.
• Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.
• Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.
• Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Thinking With Mitch Joel.
• Feel free to connect to me directly on LinkedIn.
• Check out ThinkersOne.
• Here is my conversation with Ashley Herd.
• The Manager Method – A Practical Framework to Lead, Support, and Get Results.
• Follow Ashley on Instagram.
• Follow Ashley on YouTube.
• Follow Ashley on LinkedIn.
• Follow Ashley on TikTok.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Introduction to Ashley Herd and The Manager Method.
(02:57) – The Power of Social Media in Leadership Development.
(05:50) – The Journey from Law to Leadership.
(09:05) – Understanding Management Challenges and the Peter Principle.
(12:08) – The Role of Empathy in Management.
(15:09) – Navigating the New World of Management Post-Pandemic.
(17:54) – The Importance of Clear Expectations in Leadership.
(21:02) – The Impact of Generational Differences on Management.
(23:51) – The Role of AI in Modern Management.
(27:04) – Coaching vs. Managing: The New Paradigm.
(30:12) – Creating a Culture of Feedback and Recognition.
(32:54) – The Importance of Pausing and Reflecting in Leadership.
(36:02) – Final Thoughts and Resources for Managers.

Download the Podcast here: #1036 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).

Before you go… ThinkersOne gives you direct access to the experts shaping tomorrow’s conversations. Get their insights on leadership, AI, culture and innovation all delivered to your team before the rest of the world catches on. Ideal for your meetings, off-sites, and lunch & learns.

At a time when marketers have more data, more technology and more precision than ever before… consumer trust, attention and loyalty somehow feel more fragile than ever. Few people are exploring that paradox more deeply than MichaelAaron Flicker. An entrepreneur who started his company at just fourteen years old, Michael has spent years studying the intersection of marketing, behavioral science and human decision-making (he runs an agency, vventure capital firm and leads several other businesses). His book, Hacking The Human Mind – The Behavioral Science Secrets Behind 17 Of The World’s Best Brands (along with co-author Richard Shotton), examines how brands shape perception, influence behavior and build emotional resonance… often in ways consumers barely recognize. In this conversation, Michael and I explore the growing divide inside modern marketing itself… between performance-driven optimization and the enduring power of emotional storytelling. We unpack how AI, algorithms and recommendation systems are quietly reshaping consumer agency, why the illusion of choice may be more powerful than choice itself, and how platforms increasingly mediate not just what we buy… but how we think. Michael (who also has a great podcast, The Consumer Behavior Lab) argues that while technology has evolved dramatically, human behavior has not. Scarcity, status, social proof, storytelling and emotional connection still shape our decisions… even when we believe we’re acting rationally. We also discuss the dangerous temptation for marketers to chase short-term metrics while neglecting the deeper work of building lasting brand value, trust and cultural meaning. Along the way, we get into Amazon’s invisible persuasion architecture, why many direct-to-consumer brands plateau, the ethical tension between persuasion and manipulation, and how AI may transform marketing from an art form into an escalating behavioral arms race. What emerges is a fascinating conversation about power, psychology and the increasingly intimate systems shaping modern commerce… and whether brands still truly understand the humans they’re trying to reach. Enjoy the conversation…

• Running time: 1:00:58.
• Hello from beautiful Montreal.
• Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.
• Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.
• Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Thinking With Mitch Joel.
• Feel free to connect to me directly on LinkedIn.
• Check out ThinkersOne.
• Here is my conversation with MichaelAaron Flicker.
• Hacking The Human Mind – The Behavioral Science Secrets Behind 17 Of The World’s Best Brands.
• The Consumer Behavior Lab.
• Richard Shotton.
• Xenopsi.
• Follow MichaelAaron on LinkedIn.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Introduction to Marketing and Behavioral Science.
(03:03) – The Paradox of Modern Marketing.
(06:02) – The Role of AI in Consumer Decision Making.
(09:00) – The Illusion of Choice in E-commerce.
(12:05) – The Evolution of Marketing Metrics.
(15:07) – The Changing Landscape of Brand Power.
(18:12) – Understanding Human Behavior in Marketing.
(20:59) – The Symbiotic Relationship Between Brands and Platforms.
(24:02) – The Impact of Globalization on Consumer Choices.
(33:28) – Brand Value and Consumer Loyalty.
(38:16) – The Importance of Services in Marketing.
(41:39) – Case Studies and Anomalies in Brand Success.
(50:24) – The Role of AI in Marketing and Persuasion.
(57:51) – The Shift to the Intimacy Economy.

Download the Podcast here: #1035 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).

Before you go… ThinkersOne gives you direct access to the experts shaping tomorrow’s conversations. Get their insights on leadership, AI, culture and innovation all delivered to your team before the rest of the world catches on. Ideal for your meetings, off-sites, and lunch & learns.

At a time when the lines between culture, commerce and identity feel increasingly blurred, few people understand how value is actually constructed… and reconstructed… better than Douglas Woodham. A former President of the Americas at Christie’s and a longtime advisor through his firm Art Fiduciary Advisors, Doug brings a rare dual lens to the conversation… equal parts economist and art obsessive. With a PhD in economics and decades spent inside the machinery of the global art market, he has seen firsthand how artists move from obscurity to icon status… and how markets, narratives and power structures shape that journey . His latest book, Jean-Michel Basquiat – The Making of an Icon, goes far beyond biography to examine how one artist’s legacy was not just created… but carefully engineered. In this conversation, Doug explores the intersection of art and economics, unpacking how scarcity, status and human behavior drive the desire to collect… and why ownership has become increasingly performative in a social media age. He challenges the romantic notion that value is purely about the work itself, pointing instead to branding, cultural timing and strategic stewardship… particularly in Basquiat’s posthumous rise. We also dig into the broader shifts reshaping the art world… from the declining cultural centrality of fine art to the rise of alternative collectibles, the failure of NFTs to gain traction in traditional markets, and the fragile economics behind fractional ownership models. What emerges is a sharper understanding that art is not just about beauty or expression… it is about markets, narratives and belief systems that determine what is worth owning… and why. Enjoy the conversation…

• Running time: 1:04:35.
• Hello from beautiful Montreal.
• Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.
• Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.
• Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Thinking With Mitch Joel.
• Feel free to connect to me directly on LinkedIn.
• Check out ThinkersOne.
• Here is my conversation with Douglas Woodham.
• Jean-Michel Basquiat – The Making of an Icon.
• Art Fiduciary Advisors.
• Art Collecting Today.
• Follow Doug on Instagram.
• Follow Doug on LinkedIn.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Introduction to Doug Woodham and His Expertise.
(02:42) – The Life and Legacy of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
(04:48) – Connecting Art and Economics.
(08:45) – Human Behavior and the Desire for Collectibles.
(12:10) – The Shift in Art Collecting Trends.
(15:42) – NFTs and Their Impact on the Art Market.
(20:29) – Artist Compensation and Ownership Rights.
(24:28) – Cultural Relevance of Fine Art Today.
(27:58) – The Psychology of Collecting and Scarcity.
(32:37) – The Business of Scarcity in Consumer Brands.
(35:15) – The Importance of Secondary Markets in Collectibles.
(40:10) – The Evolution of Basquiat’s Brand Posthumously.
(54:51) – The Intersection of Art and Commercialization.
(59:53) – Fractional Ownership in Art Investments.

Download the Podcast here: #1034 of Thinking With Mitch Joel (formerly Six Pixels of Separation).

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