Dan Pontefract

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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: It's Vancouver's podcast on the Canada's podcast network.
[00:04] SPEAKER_01: Hello, this is Robert Smile, coming to today with Vancouver's podcast, a member of the
[00:08] SPEAKER_01: Canada's podcast network where we talk to the entrepreneurs who are making it happen
[00:12] SPEAKER_01: here in Vancouver, British Columbia.
[00:15] SPEAKER_01: Dan Pontifract is the chief envisioner of the Telus transformation office where he helps
[00:22] SPEAKER_01: organizations and leaders improve all facets of the future of work, including employee engagement,
[00:29] SPEAKER_01: leadership development, collaborative behaviors, and organizational purpose.
[00:34] SPEAKER_01: He is an international keynote speaker and adjunct professor at the University of Victoria's
[00:40] SPEAKER_01: Gestuffson School of Business and the author of three books, including his latest, open
[00:47] SPEAKER_01: to think, slow down, think creatively and make better decisions.
[00:52] SPEAKER_01: Well Dan, welcome to the show.
[00:54] SPEAKER_01: Thanks for taking the time today to be here for all our listeners.
[00:58] SPEAKER_02: Robert, it's my sincere pleasure.
[01:00] SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much for having me.
[01:01] SPEAKER_02: Let's rock.
[01:02] SPEAKER_01: Okay.
[01:03] SPEAKER_01: Well, tell us a little bit more about yourself.
[01:05] SPEAKER_01: I know you're in Victoria, but give us the details on your current business.
[01:11] SPEAKER_02: Well, I like to think of myself as a man of the people, Robert.
[01:15] SPEAKER_02: So my real entire career now as a 47-year-old has led me to be a Sherpa, if you will.
[01:22] SPEAKER_02: I'm really, I think, put on this planet to help others become better people, whether
[01:27] SPEAKER_02: those are individual contributors, managers, directors, VPs, EVPs, you kind of name it.
[01:33] SPEAKER_02: And why?
[01:34] SPEAKER_02: Because that's really the pertinent question.
[01:36] SPEAKER_02: Well, I started out thinking I wanted to be a educator, meaning an educator of kids.
[01:43] SPEAKER_02: And so I went to McGill, did a BA, Bied, Bachelor of Education.
[01:47] SPEAKER_02: I should say, met my wonderful and wife Denise, Lamasch, great French gal.
[01:52] SPEAKER_02: And so we then traveled across the country and set up shop in Vancouver in 1995, where
[01:58] SPEAKER_02: we taught at St. Patrick Regional Secondary School, a school that's found at the 11th Avenue
[02:04] SPEAKER_02: in Maine, essentially, for those that know the area around Mount Pleasant.
[02:07] SPEAKER_02: And had a wonderful two years, but why is it two years, Robert?
[02:13] SPEAKER_02: Well, I essentially, I said to myself, maybe there's more than just for me at least, working
[02:20] SPEAKER_02: with kids.
[02:21] SPEAKER_02: So I started to work with adults, moved on to the British Columbia Institute of Technology
[02:25] SPEAKER_02: and ran their downtown campus for those of you that know it's downtown on Seymour Street,
[02:30] SPEAKER_02: had a great time there for about six years, and then moved on to the corporate world.
[02:35] SPEAKER_02: And so between chief learning officer roles at business objects, crystal decisions, which
[02:41] SPEAKER_02: became SAP, and then tell us, eventually I found my way into starting up this kind of inside
[02:48] SPEAKER_02: the organization consulting shop inside of tell us, I should say, to help other organizations
[02:53] SPEAKER_02: with the points you mentioned when we introduced me.
[02:56] SPEAKER_02: And so this whole kind of career of between education and leadership and learning and technology
[03:00] SPEAKER_02: and culture and purpose has been really my life's work.
[03:04] SPEAKER_02: And so these days, I'm happier than a pig at the trough when I'm getting to work with
[03:10] SPEAKER_02: the organization and people on what they may see as opportunities for changing the
[03:14] SPEAKER_02: way in which they operate as a leader, as a business, and so on.
[03:18] SPEAKER_02: So that's a bit about me, Robert.
[03:20] SPEAKER_01: Okay.
[03:21] SPEAKER_01: Now, did you need financing to start your company and how do you currently make money in
[03:24] SPEAKER_01: your business now?
[03:26] SPEAKER_02: Well, we sort of looked at this as an intrapreneurial opportunity at tell us.
[03:31] SPEAKER_02: And so what that means essentially is inside of the organization, we said, well, is there
[03:37] SPEAKER_02: is there a way in which we can invest some time and some people and some money into an
[03:41] SPEAKER_02: outfit that will go outside of tell us and help clients of tell us whether they actually
[03:47] SPEAKER_02: are existing clients or they become new clients to tell us.
[03:51] SPEAKER_02: And so this is essentially an external consulting shop.
[03:54] SPEAKER_02: It's very, I guess, un-telecom-like.
[03:58] SPEAKER_02: What we were doing is thinking about a way in which to not even talk about technology.
[04:03] SPEAKER_02: But to help clients see that there is a better way in which to ultimately operate, again,
[04:08] SPEAKER_02: back to culture and purpose and leadership and so on.
[04:11] SPEAKER_01: Okay.
[04:11] SPEAKER_01: What is the long-term vision and what will your company look like in the future?
[04:15] SPEAKER_01: Do you see the company expanding into the areas and where beyond Vancouver, BC, or even Canada?
[04:22] SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, at the end of the day, under the direction of tell us, I don't see this expanding.
[04:29] SPEAKER_02: It's sort of like a boutique shop, right?
[04:34] SPEAKER_02: But ultimately, I think in the pursuit of my purpose, my own personal purpose, most definitely
[04:40] SPEAKER_02: I will see this opportunity as something in which that I'll take on my own and do this
[04:46] SPEAKER_02: outside of the realms of tell us itself.
[04:50] SPEAKER_01: Okay.
[04:51] SPEAKER_01: Now, we've learned a little bit about you and we've learned a little bit about your business.
[04:55] SPEAKER_01: We want to talk about doing business in Vancouver now and what that looks like for you.
[05:00] SPEAKER_01: What are the biggest benefits for you and being an entrepreneur here in Vancouver, BC?
[05:04] SPEAKER_01: I want you to give us some of the good points about starting a company here,
[05:07] SPEAKER_01: but I also want you to give us some of the tough things or challenges for listeners so they can keep
[05:11] SPEAKER_01: it up for them.
[05:13] SPEAKER_02: Well, the good thing is that what you've got is essentially a nucleus of individuals from all over
[05:20] SPEAKER_02: Canada and the world. There's not the traditional I've grown up in a small city and I stay in the
[05:28] SPEAKER_02: small city and for that, you have the benefit of having world class and national class people
[05:35] SPEAKER_02: that arrive to be in Vancouver for the benefits that it clearly creates with its nature,
[05:41] SPEAKER_02: with its habitat, with the way in which the community brings itself to the table.
[05:45] SPEAKER_02: That benefit can translate into all kinds of different talents, expertise, and the true melting
[05:55] SPEAKER_02: pot I would argue of what the auspice of Canada intends to be. The not so good and the negative
[06:03] SPEAKER_02: parts of operating inside of Vancouver, there's still at times a fair bit of NIMBY, not in my backyard
[06:10] SPEAKER_02: syndrome. It's not as collegial as I would hope it to be and that collegiality which you can see
[06:21] SPEAKER_02: in Silicon Valley, which you can see in New York City, which you can see in Manchester, UK, for example.
[06:31] SPEAKER_02: It just seems we need to do a better job of remembering why everyone moved to Vancouver in the
[06:40] SPEAKER_02: United States. We're looking out for one another a little more than perhaps we are.
[06:43] SPEAKER_01: Okay, we do some of our best workouts side the office. Is there a place in the lower mainland close
[06:48] SPEAKER_01: to where you live or work, where you like to go recharge or get inspired with ideas or just think
[06:52] SPEAKER_01: about your business? And does it change with the season, considering all the rain we get here?
[06:59] SPEAKER_02: Well, I think you're right. Somewhere between May and October, I'm a big gross grind fan.
[07:07] SPEAKER_02: It's just sort of that, depending how well I'm doing that particular day, it's somewhere between
[07:12] SPEAKER_02: you know, 48 and 78 minutes, right? Of just some tranquility and peace and going up and then
[07:18] SPEAKER_02: coming down on the gondola. To that end, I also enjoy cycling. So going out to SFU, going up
[07:25] SPEAKER_02: the mountain that way or just going up Cyprus, just being by myself and collecting my thoughts
[07:30] SPEAKER_02: about where I'm at, how I can become a better person, a better entrepreneur, a better leader,
[07:36] SPEAKER_02: strategist, etc. So those are two kind of environmental ones that are more, you know, during the
[07:42] SPEAKER_02: the non-wet seasons, when it's, you know, it's I guess wet and you know, you don't want to be able to
[07:49] SPEAKER_02: go up gross or can't go up gross. Funny enough, I like going to the Vancouver Public Library and I
[08:01] SPEAKER_02: wonderful architecture, but once you're inside, you know, you're just surrounded by both people and
[08:06] SPEAKER_02: intelligence from the books and the people. And I just kind of love the hum of what's going on
[08:11] SPEAKER_02: and there are people coming and going, I might sit and read, I might write, I might just people watch,
[08:16] SPEAKER_02: but it's one of one of the landmarks in the city, but for me, it's not just a landmark of what
[08:21] SPEAKER_02: it looks like, it's what's in it that that helps me again with my thinking and my intellect and my
[08:26] SPEAKER_01: development. Okay, we have a lot of international listeners, so this next question I want you to
[08:31] SPEAKER_01: speak to them. If you were to start all over again and you just moved here to Vancouver BC, but this
[08:36] SPEAKER_01: time you don't know anyone, knowing what you know now, what would you do and how would you go about
[08:42] SPEAKER_02: starting all over again as an entrepreneur? I guess I'd first of all figure out how to do dragon
[08:50] SPEAKER_02: boating. It seems like everyone knows how to do that, but cheeky comment aside, you really have to
[08:57] SPEAKER_02: find ways in which to plug yourself into the Vancouver habit of being athletic and social
[09:06] SPEAKER_02: athleticism. So whether that's joining running clubs or whether that's getting into the Bikram
[09:13] SPEAKER_02: yogas or whatever it is, cycling clubs, you know, if you're not kind of patched into some of the
[09:20] SPEAKER_02: athletic pursuits the city has and joining those types of communities, you're missing out on the
[09:26] SPEAKER_02: wonderful opportunity of networks. And again, back to my earlier point of I think we're going to do
[09:31] SPEAKER_02: a better job of not being as nimbi when you are joining those types of athletic pursuit clubs and
[09:36] SPEAKER_02: groups. You're breaking a boundary that otherwise I don't see in other cities in terms of
[09:43] SPEAKER_02: of its loveliness. And so if I had any piece of advice, I'd say don't sit at home and work all day,
[09:49] SPEAKER_02: don't sit at night and stare at your laptop, don't go to the coffee shop and just put your earbuds in
[09:54] SPEAKER_02: and and pump out another report or another consulting shop article or you know code, whatever your
[10:00] SPEAKER_02: fancy is. I'd say look get out and meet people and particularly so invent coolvers have a tattoo
[10:05] SPEAKER_01: so with some of those athletic pursuits. So it's good to be athletic and be outgoing and have some
[10:12] SPEAKER_01: kind of a focus whether it be like volleyball or spinning or something that kind of gets you rolling.
[10:18] SPEAKER_02: Yeah and even a couple right? I mean you can push yourself into it and again, back to us so great
[10:22] SPEAKER_02: about different levels of class in terms of where your ad ability wise. So for every you know
[10:29] SPEAKER_02: voli beach volleyball group that you see that look like they could be in the Olympics, there's
[10:33] SPEAKER_02: you know the intermediate and beginner levels as well. So that I find quite cool with the way in which
[10:38] SPEAKER_02: Vancouver operates. There's no elitism about the different types of athletic pursuits.
[10:44] SPEAKER_01: Okay let's talk about your routine. What does the first hour look like for you when you get up
[10:48] SPEAKER_01: the more and do you have a specific routine or a ritual that helps you get motivated start your day?
[10:54] SPEAKER_02: Well ever since 1995 I've shaved my head so I'm a bald guy that did the mark messier a long time ago.
[11:00] SPEAKER_02: So obviously it starts with a shower and spending 10 minutes in that shower thinking
[11:05] SPEAKER_02: and I do this out of habit every day because it's just that 10 minutes of almost meditation inside
[11:12] SPEAKER_02: the shower whilst I'm shaving just thinking about what's working what's not. I refuse to take a
[11:18] SPEAKER_02: meeting before 9 o'clock. I know that sounds odd to some but whether I'm on the road or whether
[11:25] SPEAKER_02: I'm in Vancouver or I'm working from home. I usually generally start around 7 30 in the morning
[11:33] SPEAKER_02: but that 90 minutes is me time I call it and those those 90 minutes allow me both to process
[11:41] SPEAKER_02: the day, the week, the month, the year but it also allows me some opportunity to advance
[11:47] SPEAKER_02: things that have either come in overnight, advance things that I'm kind of needing to set some
[11:53] SPEAKER_02: time aside to work on or you know sometimes that that 90 minutes might be a bike ride. That might be
[11:59] SPEAKER_02: one of those opportunities where I go I'm like you know what I got the time I've built it in
[12:03] SPEAKER_02: two days and Thursdays of this week I'm going to go up for the bike ride 7 30 to 9 and take the shower
[12:09] SPEAKER_02: afterwards if you follow my kind of my day shift there. So that's yeah I think you know too many people
[12:16] SPEAKER_02: get into their day and start with meetings whereas I'm an antithetical to the always being busy
[12:24] SPEAKER_02: mantra I think that the more that we're repatriating our time and for me a lot of that comes at the
[12:31] SPEAKER_02: beginning of the day the better you are the calmer you are the more meditative you are and I just
[12:36] SPEAKER_01: think you become a better person. Do you think entrepreneurs have to be weird or unique in a
[12:41] SPEAKER_02: positive way or wired differently? Yeah I get this question a lot actually I think we're all
[12:54] SPEAKER_02: agree because everyone has to have in their lives the ability to be entrepreneurial and that might
[13:00] SPEAKER_02: be various degrees right of course but we need to be entrepreneurial in our lives and perspective
[13:06] SPEAKER_02: of we're running a family let's say in my case I've got three kids in Denise so that's there's
[13:12] SPEAKER_02: entrepreneurial aspects of running a household there's entrepreneurial aspects of of running your own
[13:18] SPEAKER_02: day right the management of it the time commitment the planning of resources right etc etc but then
[13:25] SPEAKER_02: you've got to be inventive and so you know you're kind of thinking about well what about that next
[13:30] SPEAKER_02: holiday you know okay next July I want to go to Europe well there are entrepreneurial behavioral
[13:36] SPEAKER_02: skills that go alongside the planning and execution of a holiday to Europe for three weeks next year
[13:42] SPEAKER_02: so I think first of all I mean I'm not taking a knockout of the question it's that I get
[13:49] SPEAKER_02: I get this bitter taste in my mouth when when we describe oh yeah he's an entrepreneur she's an
[13:55] SPEAKER_02: entrepreneur and and they're not well no we're all entrepreneurs first and foremost but then of
[14:01] SPEAKER_02: course yeah there is a second degree of entrepreneurialism which is those that are able to take an idea
[14:08] SPEAKER_02: and the risk associated with it and make money on it so that's a different story and do you have
[14:15] SPEAKER_02: to be weird do you have to have some sort of six cents is there some sort of chromosome that's
[14:21] SPEAKER_02: different from from this individual versus the other and you know as everyone these days seems to
[14:27] SPEAKER_02: sort of bring up Steve Jobs and Elon Musk and so on as the entrepreneurial type you know I think
[14:35] SPEAKER_02: what it comes down to again is it's commitment it's your ability to forecast accordingly it's the
[14:46] SPEAKER_02: ability to manage expectations yourself the idea the teams but it's also requiring you know that
[14:57] SPEAKER_02: sense of deep execution and the focus in which to do it those can all be learned right you know you
[15:05] SPEAKER_02: can take someone's idea and apply yourself to be an entrepreneur sorry you don't just have to be
[15:10] SPEAKER_02: the idea guy or gal and then you know be entrepreneurial quote to take that to affect so in essence no I
[15:19] SPEAKER_02: don't think you have to be weird no I don't think that there's a necessarily different DNA of an
[15:26] SPEAKER_02: entrepreneur I think it's it can be learned and that's where mainstream media disappoints me and they
[15:35] SPEAKER_02: hold up you know as I say the aforementioned celebrity entrepreneurs as the only folks that can
[15:39] SPEAKER_01: be entrepreneurial that is so far from the truth what books are you reading now and why or even
[15:46] SPEAKER_01: audio books and can you recommend any books for listeners who are also aspiring entrepreneurs
[15:51] SPEAKER_02: sure well I got an advanced copy of a book from Peter Johnston called Weapons of Peace
[15:58] SPEAKER_02: it's a book about negotiation using war as in Hitler's time how to negotiate out of the Adam
[16:06] SPEAKER_02: bomb and then excuse me I got someone in my throat here and then I'm reading Good is the new
[16:14] SPEAKER_02: cool market like you give a damn by Afdel Aziz and it's ultimately a book about how do you use
[16:25] SPEAKER_02: purpose and how do you use social good as an opportunity to really change the world both of these I'm
[16:34] SPEAKER_02: enjoying immensely as I'm about halfway through them at this particular time any online or offline
[16:41] SPEAKER_02: tools that you use on a daily basis ever note excuse me um we'll repeat that ever note so I am a big
[16:51] SPEAKER_02: fan of writing things down of doodling of marinating in the moment and capturing my thoughts
[16:59] SPEAKER_02: ever note is an application that's whether you're using your laptop your PC my case my tablet my
[17:05] SPEAKER_02: iPad my iPhone uh wherever I go ever notes with me and I may run into a poem you're right somewhere
[17:13] SPEAKER_02: like oh I love that poem and I'll grab it I may run into it in a walk or even if I'm cycling
[17:19] SPEAKER_02: something that I see or something that pops into my mind I'm like oh gosh I gotta capture that
[17:24] SPEAKER_02: I would be lost without ever note in fact every article I write for Forbes or HBR every book I've
[17:31] SPEAKER_02: written is actually written in ever note because there's always these lines or quips that come to me
[17:37] SPEAKER_02: again whether I'm online or offline and then I I want to make sure that I capture it so my uh
[17:42] SPEAKER_02: my ever note catalog of content and pieces and ideas and so on uh I'd be I'd be absolutely
[17:50] SPEAKER_01: lost without that particular app if you weren't doing what you do now what would you like to do for a
[17:56] SPEAKER_02: profession? A couple things one would be um radio talk show um I guess conversationists
[18:07] SPEAKER_02: like what you do in terms of this podcast Robert it excites me dearly because you get to meet people
[18:13] SPEAKER_02: you get to ask the questions have the dialogue and the discourse and you know for three or four hours
[18:18] SPEAKER_02: a day I could see myself chatting with all kinds of folks around the world and and having those
[18:23] SPEAKER_02: experimental type of uh dialogue situations I just love learning and in often that comes through
[18:29] SPEAKER_02: the dialogue with people so that'd be number one um on the second side I've always been intrigued by
[18:37] SPEAKER_02: the UN and and having visited a few times over the years uh and it's not New York that's not my point
[18:44] SPEAKER_02: it's about the UN the the wonder that goes on in that to sort of keep the world's peace to try and
[18:51] SPEAKER_02: prosper for those with those um in situations of harm or malnourishment or environmental issue I
[18:58] SPEAKER_02: just you know there's something to be said about being a diplomat or working for the UN and really
[19:03] SPEAKER_02: furthering the cause of the planet and uh that would be kind of my number two what kind of a job
[19:08] SPEAKER_01: would you not like to do couldn't do it? I guess I'd say coder um the
[19:21] SPEAKER_02: the the inability I suppose to get out and move around in the planet and and to experience
[19:28] SPEAKER_02: um the relationships that I get my the privilege I get to to build upon inside of organizations doing
[19:35] SPEAKER_02: keynotes wherever the case may be I'm really a people person so if I'm a coder uh and nothing
[19:41] SPEAKER_02: against coders to my best friends are that that to me is not quite the type of world in which I
[19:47] SPEAKER_02: need to be operating in I as an extrovert as someone who gets his energy from being around people
[19:53] SPEAKER_02: staring at a laptop all day encoding something even though there's progress to see
[19:57] SPEAKER_01: this is not my cup of tea. In business what is your favorite word quote or sentence that you like to use?
[20:08] SPEAKER_02: uh um I think there's a few actually uh it's unattributed but um one is this two shall pass
[20:16] SPEAKER_02: so in every business and every uh situation there are troughs and and in that trough sometimes
[20:25] SPEAKER_02: it'll feel like you're stuck in the trough and you're in the valley of despair but this two shall pass
[20:31] SPEAKER_02: is a reminder to us that you know time heals and that if you keep your focus you keep your purpose
[20:37] SPEAKER_02: and you keep your patience uh you'll get out of it um the other one is uh actually Robert a church
[20:44] SPEAKER_02: quote and and he said once to improve is to change but to be perfect is to change often
[20:51] SPEAKER_02: and that for me uh is the embodiment of there's no such thing as perfection but we should always be
[20:59] SPEAKER_02: sort of striving for perfection and by looking to change things looking to adapt looking to move
[21:06] SPEAKER_02: forward with a different type of idea and thinking uh I never want to be stuck in the status quo.
[21:11] SPEAKER_01: What is your least favorite word or sentence you do not like to hear?
[21:18] SPEAKER_02: Vector or revector it's like you hear this a lot and then it almost is always followed up by well
[21:27] SPEAKER_02: let's all grab the low hanging fruit after we've revectored or vectored or situation here so
[21:32] SPEAKER_02: whoever came up with those I would like to take out an anale and beat into a pulp.
[21:39] SPEAKER_01: If you had to pick one or two words to describe yourself what would it be and why?
[21:46] SPEAKER_02: This one with a hyphenated dash uh purpose driven uh I believe in a declaration of purpose that I've
[21:53] SPEAKER_02: lived by for the past 20 years as follows we're not here to see through each other we're here to
[21:59] SPEAKER_02: see each other through and for me that that reminds me every single day that to live a life that's
[22:05] SPEAKER_02: purpose driven that it's not just about money or power or profit that we're all here for higher
[22:11] SPEAKER_02: cause and to look out for your neighbor your citizen your community member your entrepreneurs of
[22:16] SPEAKER_02: this world that you know working together is so much better than working apart. What keeps you
[22:22] SPEAKER_02: up at night if anything? That's why I take melatonin uh rather because I need about 10 milligrams
[22:29] SPEAKER_02: a night to not be thinking and and everything keeps me up. I am an idea guy I suppose and I'm always
[22:38] SPEAKER_02: thinking about what's right what's wrong what's the possibility what's the art of the impossible
[22:42] SPEAKER_02: and how do you get out of that how do you reverse engineer things how do you engineer things right
[22:46] SPEAKER_02: I mean I could go add infinite item with you for the next 50 minutes about what I think about at
[22:50] SPEAKER_02: 11 o'clock at night so I need melatonin man and um I just it helps. Stay trying to slow down a
[22:56] SPEAKER_02: train at night. Yeah yeah just to get and I've sort of on all day and it's not a bad thing it's
[23:03] SPEAKER_02: just I've got all this energy and it just keeps going so I really have to try and shut it down.
[23:09] SPEAKER_01: Okay I want you to give us the top three things on your inspired lifeless this could be whether you
[23:13] SPEAKER_01: want to do a TEDx talk you want to travel more philanthropy uh start more companies anything like that?
[23:19] SPEAKER_02: Well I've done four TEDs so I definitely want to get to the fifth one at some point that would be great
[23:24] SPEAKER_02: um so in no particular order uh I want to go to Antarctica and I want to see the emperor penguins
[23:32] SPEAKER_02: I think those are the coolest things on the planet next to my fondness for orca whales and elephants but uh
[23:38] SPEAKER_02: if I can get to that continent I would nail all the continents as well so it's a two for one um so
[23:43] SPEAKER_02: that's that would be there very high on the list um to be called to the UN to speak on behalf of
[23:53] SPEAKER_02: Canada about the state of culture and it's important on why organizations need uh to to be operating
[24:00] SPEAKER_02: differently uh that and or the world economic forum are two places in which um I'd love to
[24:07] SPEAKER_02: deliver a keynote or a talk I'm privileged to deliver a bunch of these a year um but the UN and
[24:14] SPEAKER_02: the the world economic forum have escaped me so far without an invite so that's another one
[24:20] SPEAKER_02: and then you know I I don't know if it's about me and maybe this is too highfalutin uh an
[24:31] SPEAKER_02: opportunity or a goal but if there's ever a way in which to find myself chatting with an individual
[24:41] SPEAKER_02: a leader sorry that is moving the populist movement forward uh denigrating you know the open
[24:52] SPEAKER_02: democratic society that that we ought to be uh thinking and utilizing um if I could ever be in
[25:01] SPEAKER_02: front of one of those kind of populist movement leaders to convince him or her why that's a bad idea
[25:07] SPEAKER_01: I would honor the opportunity to have that debate do you have any advice that you may have received
[25:15] SPEAKER_01: that you can pass on to entrepreneurs throughout British Columbia well um Brian Scutimore who's
[25:23] SPEAKER_02: uh rather famous in our neck of the woods as the founder and uh and owner of one hundred got
[25:29] SPEAKER_02: junk plus the O2E brands that uh you know has under him uh is is famous for many things
[25:37] SPEAKER_02: but um one of them that I love about him that I learned was his his own purpose statement
[25:44] SPEAKER_02: and and that is make meaning not money so so Brian has made uddles of money
[25:53] SPEAKER_02: uddles of money sorry and and he's given tons of it back but in any of the of the organizations that
[26:01] SPEAKER_02: he's founded and continues to to work with and work for he's always about a higher sense of meaning
[26:09] SPEAKER_02: and and that's to me the best type of advice that any entrepreneur ought to be given and and uphold
[26:17] SPEAKER_02: is that it's not just about the money yes it's important like you you can't operate if you don't
[26:24] SPEAKER_02: have it profit or revenue but for that to be the mode of why you're in business defeats the purpose
[26:33] SPEAKER_02: of why we're here on the planet so make meaning not money is kind of my homage to Brian Scutimore
[26:41] SPEAKER_02: okay Dan are you ready to have some fun I thought we were having fun so you mean more fun right
[26:46] SPEAKER_01: we're gonna have more fun it's getting even better for you okay as you know entrepreneurs are always
[26:51] SPEAKER_01: connected we're always online whether it be a mobile devices computers clients you name it we're
[26:57] SPEAKER_01: always uh on the go we're gonna take you away from all that there's a small tropical island just
[27:03] SPEAKER_01: off of Fiji that only has one phone booth there there is no internet this place does exist we're
[27:08] SPEAKER_01: going to drop you off there you won't have a computer smart phone or tablet you can use the
[27:13] SPEAKER_01: phone booth located there anytime to call the boat and we'll come pick you up how long would you
[27:19] SPEAKER_01: last before you made that call and what would you do while you were there wow that's the sort of
[27:27] SPEAKER_02: Tom Hanks cast away moment question isn't it um well he didn't have a phone booth it's true
[27:33] SPEAKER_02: that's a good point yeah he had uh he learned how to make fire and try to do SOS commands um
[27:43] SPEAKER_02: I suppose that around the two-year mark I'd get on that phone two years oh god yeah I mean I can be
[27:56] SPEAKER_02: uh swimming in my thoughts for days and whether that's reciting the poetry that I've got
[28:04] SPEAKER_02: memorizes in my head whether that's contemplating the why of our existence you know I
[28:13] SPEAKER_02: I welcome a day where we are able to pay homage not just by scripture and writing but actually
[28:25] SPEAKER_02: doing what you say in this island um that that that's what the Greeks used to do in the agora
[28:34] SPEAKER_02: the Greeks didn't have internet the Greeks didn't have laptops Greeks the Greeks didn't have
[28:38] SPEAKER_02: the pay phone right the Greeks whether it was through a lumpis or dialectical dialogue or
[28:45] SPEAKER_02: the secratic method right you just kind of go on and on and start to peel the layers back of the
[28:50] SPEAKER_02: the the agora the Greeks were um deliberating with one another they were they were having um good
[28:58] SPEAKER_02: talks with one another and yes I understand if I'm by myself it's a little bit different but
[29:03] SPEAKER_02: but that would be my homage would be like I'm in an agora now and I can be marinating in my own thoughts
[29:09] SPEAKER_02: and using whatever things I need to do to to figure out how to make writing utensils and paper and
[29:14] SPEAKER_02: paparice and what have you but I do that and I would be in this like two-year thinking um cocoon
[29:22] SPEAKER_02: and I I think that's great maybe I'm the antichrist and weird but that's definitely something I
[29:30] SPEAKER_02: would be able to handle for a couple years it's like a master's degree in in pause
[29:34] SPEAKER_01: of all the people I've interviewed you are the first to say that you had last two years
[29:39] SPEAKER_01: I've heard three four months maximum but not two years so congratulations you uh you've
[29:45] SPEAKER_01: lasted everyone the boat will be out there for a while so it's good to know awesome okay
[29:51] SPEAKER_01: Dan we're gonna wrap things up how can our listeners get whole of you and is there anything
[29:55] SPEAKER_01: you'd like to add before you leave us today um well I'll go with the latter and then come back
[30:02] SPEAKER_02: to the former I mean I believe in what I call sort of three legs to a leadership stool and for
[30:10] SPEAKER_02: entrepreneurs I really think they need to to to contemplate my three legs as selfish as that
[30:16] SPEAKER_02: sounds uh the first is culture um if you're not thinking about the culture of your organization
[30:22] SPEAKER_02: uh there'll be no organization and and ultimately I believe there's a competitive advantage
[30:27] SPEAKER_02: when you think about your culture first second and and sort of in cahoots with culture is purpose
[30:34] SPEAKER_02: so it's not so much as just asking about the why you're in business it's really asking the questions
[30:41] SPEAKER_02: of what are we trying to achieve who are we trying to achieve it for and how are we going to show
[30:48] SPEAKER_02: up each and every day doing it when you answer those questions you know ultimately you are
[30:53] SPEAKER_02: creating and crafting the higher purpose of your organization and then thirdly which goes back to
[30:59] SPEAKER_02: the uh former question that you've had and I'll explain is thinking right we need to win back our
[31:07] SPEAKER_02: thinking we have become so frenetic so busy so overly stressed no one's gonna contemplate living
[31:14] SPEAKER_02: on an island for two years for example by themselves that's that's an indictment on the way in which
[31:20] SPEAKER_02: that we're leading because we're causing stress to the people we lead we're causing self harm if
[31:27] SPEAKER_02: you will to ourselves with the our obesity rates and and the mental and wellness issues that are
[31:31] SPEAKER_02: going on we need to take a step back and figure out what's going wrong with our thinking and so to
[31:38] SPEAKER_02: that end if anyone wanted to get in touch or sort of see my thoughts on that particular thread
[31:44] SPEAKER_02: the latest book I've published in October of this year is called Open to Think as you've mentioned
[31:50] SPEAKER_02: you can simply go to openethink.com see the TED Talk on that particular topic and a bunch of other
[31:56] SPEAKER_02: goodies that go along with the book but that's my latest thinking if it will Robert's culture
[32:02] SPEAKER_02: purpose and thinking being a three legs of a really good leadership slash entrepreneur's uh stool
[32:08] SPEAKER_01: interesting okay well I'm encouraging my listeners to uh definitely take you up on that and uh
[32:13] SPEAKER_01: check out your TED Talks and uh grab the book and uh learn something from I think everyone can
[32:19] SPEAKER_01: is to slow down and really think about we're going in life and uh and taking it to the next level so
[32:25] SPEAKER_01: okay Dan thank you for coming on the show I've learned a lot about you and I'm sure our listeners
[32:31] SPEAKER_02: have as well oh it's such a treat shout out with the rubber there uh interesting and great
[32:36] SPEAKER_02: interviewer and this was a great piece of discourse thank you well thank you very much and we will
[32:41] SPEAKER_01: see you next time all right take care
[32:46] SPEAKER_00: hey there thanks for taking the time today to listen to events who was podcast on a Canada podcast
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[33:07] SPEAKER_00: you next time
[33:33] Speaker UNKNOWN: so