 What do Steve Jobs, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Jennifer Doudna all have in common? Celebrated journalist and author Walter Isaacson calls upon his years of research to explain how curiosity has always fueled creativity among history’s greatest innovators, and how each of those individuals shaped the world around them. On this episode Issacson dives deep into the curious obsessions of Jobs, da Vinci’s ability to develop a brilliant mind, Ada Lovelace and how she developed the algorithm, and how Doudna’s work with gene editing could shape the future to come.   A journalist by trade, Issacson served as the editor of Time and then chairman and CEO of CNN before eventually spending 15 years as president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, the international research institute and think tank. Isaacson has also written bestselling biographies on Jobs, da Vinci, Franklin and Albert Einstein, and in 2021 released his latest biography, The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race.   Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member only episodes, and more. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/ Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/

The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish

#121 Walter Isaacson: Curiosity Fuels Creativity

Two-time NBA champion and 2021 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Chris Bosh goes in-depth on the skills it takes to become a winner on the basketball court and in life. On this episode Bosh discusses the rare combination of talent and hunger, emulating others before becoming your own person, individual success vs. team success, the subjective traits that set championship teams apart, what it means to lead by example, where confidence comes from, and so much more.   Bosh is widely regarded as one of the best big men of his generation and was part of the Basketball Hall of Fame’s celebrated Class of 2021. An 11-time NBA All-Star and 2008 Olympic Gold medalist, Bosh won two NBA titles with the Miami Heat after being drafted fourth overall in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors. He spent 13 seasons in the NBA and is the author of the 2021 memoir, Letters to a Young Athlete.   Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member only episodes, and more. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/ Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ 

#120 Chris Bosh: Hunger and Greatness

Todd Simkin calls on experiences from his lengthy career in financial services and educating traders to help Shane understand how to make better decisions. On this episode Simkin breaks down all the influences that go into how and why we make decisions, why financial decisions are different than inter-personal ones, the strategies involved with teaching other people to make better decisions, what he looks for when he’s hiring, the value of asking the right questions, and so much more.   Simkin is Associate Director at Susquehanna International Group, a privately held trading and technology firm. During his 25 years with the company he has held a variety of roles, including responsibility for SIG’s firm-wide education and trader development, where he taught the company’s new traders what questions to ask and what criteria to weigh before making hugely impactful decisions for the firm.   Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member only episodes, and more. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/ Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ 

#119 Todd Simkin: Making Better Decisions

 Doug Conant breaks down how putting his employees first made him an internationally renowned business leader atop both the Nabisco Foods Company and the Campbell Soup Company. On this episode Doug discusses why you can’t win in the marketplace if you haven’t won in the workplace,  his first 100 days as CEO of Campbell Soup, adjusting to shifting consumer preferences, how to know when you have the right people and the wrong people, and so much more.   Conant served as the President of Nabisco from 1999-2001 and then spent a decade as President and CEO of The Campbell Soup Company. In 2011 he founded ConantLeadership, a consulting company focused on championing leadership that works in the 21st century. He’s also the author of The Blueprint: 6 Practical Steps to Lift Your Leadership to New Heights.   Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member only episodes, and more. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/ Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/   Follow Shane on twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish

#118 Doug Conant: Leadership With Integrity

 Kat Cole discusses how the power of possible guided her from a part-time job as a hostess at a Hooters restaurant to one of the most respected business leaders in America. In this wide-ranging episode Cole discusses the dark side of gratitude and how it can keep you in place, defaulting to believing in people, leading with a heavy heart while navigating through tough times, adopting new roles at work, questions to ask to uncover the truth in business and personal life, and so much more. Cole spent roughly a decade in leadership roles with Focus Brands, the global multi-channel franchisor and operator of Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s, Jamba Juice and others. She was named President and COO of Focus Brands in 2017 after she spent five years as the President of Cinnabon. She left the company in December 2020.   Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member only episodes, and more. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/ Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/   Follow Shane on twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish

#117 Kat Cole: The Power of Possible

Former General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt looks back on his two decades with the company and the strategies he used to lead during three separate crises. In this episode Immelt discusses what happened during those events and why, what it was like to take over for GM icon Jack Welch, getting the information you need to make decisions, activist investors, fighting complexity, the mismatched timelines between CEOs and shareholders, unions, and so much more.   Immelt is currently a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates and a lecturer in management at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He served as the Chairman and CEO of GE from 2001-17, and is the author of the 2021 memoir Hot Seat: What I Learned Leading a Great American Company. Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member only episodes, and more. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/ Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ Follow Shane on twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish

#116 Jeff Immelt: Leadership In A Crisis

 Celebrated restaurateur Danny Meyer discusses the intersection between hospitality and humanity, and why we’re all invested in the hospitality business. In this episode we define hospitality and how to deliver it the right way, how to scale a feeling, whether Meyer is a bricklayer or a mason, hiring great people, why restaurants that survive more than one year still sometimes fail, and so much more. Meyer is the Chief Executive Officer of the Union Square Hospitality Group, which comprises some of New York’s most beloved and acclaimed restaurants, including Gramercy Tavern, The Modern, and Maialino. In 2004 Meyer and USHG founded the wildly popular Shake Shack, a New York fast casual restaurant chain that has since grown to more than 250 locations around the world.   Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member only episodes, and more. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/ Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ Follow Shane on twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish 

#115 Danny Meyer: Hospitality and Humanity

Acclaimed economist and author Noreena Hertz breaks down the world’s loneliness crisis, and what it means for the well-being of our minds, bodies, economies and democratic institutions. In this episode we define loneliness and how to recognize it, its mental and physical health implications, the shame around admitting you’re lonely, what we can do to help alleviate the crisis for ourselves and our kids, and so much more. Hertz has been an Honorary Professor at the Institute for Global Prosperity at University College London since 2014 and she’s the author of five books, including the 2020 release The Lonely Century: Coming Together in a World that's Pulling Apart.    Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member only episodes, and more. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/ Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ Follow Shane on twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish 

#114 Noreena Hertz: The Crisis of Loneliness

Sarah Tavel has spent the past four years as a general partner at venture capital firm Benchmark, after previously serving in the same role with Greylock Partners and as the first-ever product manager at Pinterest. In this episode Shane and Sarah how studying philosophy helped in her career as a venture capitalist, the value of intellectual rigor, her concept of the net-present value of pain, why every strength has a corresponding weakness, where executive boards go wrong, assessing the performance of a CEO, lessons of rapidly scaling at Pinterest, and so much more. Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member only episodes, and more. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/ Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ Follow Shane on twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish

#113 Sarah Tavel: The Value of Intellectual Rigor

Celebrated organizational psychologist and author Adam Grant provides compelling insight into why we should spend time not just thinking, but rethinking. In this episode we cover how to change our own views, how to change the views of others, hiring processes, psychological safety, tribes and group identity, feigned knowledge, binary bias, and so much more.   Grant is a Professor of Psychology at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the author of five books, including his most recent release, the New York Times bestseller Think Again. He also serves as the host of WorkLife, a TED original podcast.   Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member only episodes, and more. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/ Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ Follow Shane on twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish 

#112 Adam Grant: Rethinking Your Position

Famed investor Joel Greenblatt is the Managing Principal and Co-Chief Investment Officer at Gotham Asset Management, the successor to Gotham Capital, an investment firm he founded in 1985. He’s also spent more than two decades on the adjunct faculty at Columbia Business School, and he’s the author of five books focused on investment strategy, including You Can Be A Stock Market Genius and The Little Book that Beats the Market. Joel and Shane discuss a wide array of topics, including the differences between luck and skill, stock options, traits of successful management teams, lessons learned from Warren Buffett and what Joel fears most about today’s stock market. Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member only episodes, and more. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/ Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ Follow Shane on twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish

#111 Joel Greenblatt: Investing Made Simple

Renowned researcher and author Jim Collins makes his second appearance on The Knowledge Project, this time to share a wealth of life lessons learned from his mentor and collaborator, Bill Lazier. Jim recently released BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0), an ambitious upgrade of his first book Beyond Entrepreneurship, co-authored with Lazier and focused on effective leadership style. Shane discusses all new topics with Jim in their follow-up conversation, including what it means to be a mentor and a father, why we should trust by default, why we confuse living a long life with a great life, and the difference between being afraid of risk and being afraid of ambiguity. Go Premium: Members get early access, ad-free episodes, hand-edited transcripts, searchable transcripts, member only episodes, and more. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/ Every Sunday our newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ Follow Shane on twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish

#110 Jim Collins: Relationships vs. Transactions

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The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish

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