Tracking Wonder (Episode 236)

<p>Jeffrey Davis, branding consultant, repeat guest, and author of the new book, <i>Tracking Wonder,</i> joins Charlie on the show to discuss how we can reconcile productivity and wonder. Our culture’s obsession with productivity has a bias against wonder and yet wonder is essential for our creativity, satisfaction, and belonging. They discuss how these seemingly opposing forces balance each other and allow us to thrive and flourish, not merely be more productive.</p><p>Key Takeaways:</p><p>[2:10] Jeffrey shares the journey of how he wrote his latest book, <i>Tracking Wonder.</i> It was a process of discovery and learning through extreme adversity and crisis.</p><p>[8:42] When we go on these journeys as thinkers and writers, there is often an intense pressure for it to be quick. Often, this is not the case and it can take months or years for ideas to come to fruition.</p><p>[12:18] Fifteen to 20 years ago, positive psychology was still in its infancy, and the only option then was to turn to philosophy to talk about thriving, wonder, happiness, belonging, etc. Now, there is science to back it up.</p><p>[15:49] The past 18 months, both culturally and socially, have raised a lot of questions about meaning and relationships.</p><p>[17:03] Charlie and Jeffrey discuss measuring productivity; it has always been difficult to measure and has become even more difficult recently. Why are we tracking only certain metrics for productivity and efficiency and not others?</p><p>[22:06] There is a lot of work to be done, and it does have an impact on the company’s bottom line. On the flip side, as leaders, we need to have the integrity to recognize that people need to go out and do something different than just being stuck to their screens all day.</p><p>[25:06] Charlie reflects on an interestingly productive time of his day — when he goes on his coffee walks in the morning.</p><p>[29:05] There are a lot of things that look like not working, that make the working actually happen.</p><p>[32:11] Getting off a structured routine can