Tuesdays with Morrisey

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Getting the chance to hear the inside scoop on how a bestselling author works and what they think of their work is an amazing experience. In this case, Daniel Pink, author of five New York Times bestsellers delivers a podcast to remember. New and loyal fans alike will enjoy hearing what Pink thinks of his past work, how he goes about choosing a book topic, and why he believes his Writing Rule #6 is critical to the work he does.

Before choosing the life of an author, Pink spent a few years working as Vice President Al Gore’s chief speech writer (1995-1997). Another interesting fact, he graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in linguistics and Yale University with a law degree.

But the truly fascinating and transformative work came after this when Pink decided to become a self-employed writer in 1997. Since then, he has published seven books that have been translated into 42 languages while selling millions of copies worldwide. And there was one particular article that many people attribute to the launch of his amazing career – “Free Agent Nation” published by Fast Company on December 31st, 1997.

The article led to his first book titled the same and predicted much of what would eventually become known as the gig economy. “I think that in general I was more right than wrong which is probably a good place to be if you’re a writer. I think that one of the things that I underestimated was that as I explained this phenomenon, one of forces that I thought was powering it was technology and I wrote that before smartphones, before social media, before text messages, before the metaverse, before widespread broadband…,” Pink said. In fact, it was before the world of podcasts and influencers as well.

Pink goes on to note that he didn’t truly appreciate the impact technology would have, “I was right on the direction, wrong on the velocity” This is even more so today with so many people working full-time W-2 jobs remotely since the Covid pandemic hit in early 2020.

From here, Host Adam Morrisey navigates the conversation to how Pink selects his book topics.

Pink believes it is critical for writers to pick topics “that you are willing to live with, and I don’t say this as a joke, that you’re willing to live with essentially for the rest of your life. And so, there are ideas that you are kinda, sorta interested in – maybe you want to go out on a few dates with, but there aren’t that many ideas/concepts that you really want to get married to for a long time.”

Tune in to understand why Pink thinks this as well as his thoughts on the deep obligation writers have to their audience members.

Not a big fan of social media, anyone interested in learning more about Daniel Pink and his work can visit his website and/or sign up for his bi-weekly newsletter.

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Will Linn, Ph.D., is a Mythologist and founder of Mythouse.org. In college, Linn took a mythology class that tied together storytelling with ideas and themes Linn recognized from his philosophy class. Throw in a trip to Greece and a helping of Joseph Campbell, Linn quickly headed down his river of discovery to a career in mythology. He spoke with Adam Morrisey about this journey.

“Anything that you want to bring the power of story to, studying myth is like studying the really powerful stuff,” Linn said. “I wanted to tell stories, and I wanted to study philosophy. Studying myth, for me, was a convergence of the two.”

The origin of myths ties closely to religion. As Linn puts it, “One person’s myth is another person’s religion.” Regarding classic mythology, such as Greek mythology, the transformation of these myths from accepted truth to allegorical stories occurred when Christianity solidified in Europe, overtook Pagan religion, and deemed such previous belief systems as a false religion. Over time, those classic Greek tales became literature. “Now it’s consolidating the literature of a culture, and it’s helping create shared identities and nation around all this history,” Linn said.

In studying the mythology of different worlds and cultures, Linn said there are various similarities and traditions that one can trace between them all. And for Linn, that is the fascinating aspect of myths; not which truths are wrong or right, but what is consistent in all of them. And one notion that is common throughout all cultures, religions, and mythologies is love.

Mythologies find their way into everyone’s lives. People build myths from personal experiences, and those stories shape future interactions. “We get caught in other people’s stories and myths,” Linn said. “We’re all living myths already. We live in a myth. Nobody lives in the world. We all live in our stories of the world.”

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Adam Morrisey talks with Jaime Bravo, General Manager of Hotel Bardo in Tulum, a boutique hotel group consisting of three hospitality concepts in Mexico. The hotel’s stay was called ‘transformational’ in Forbes. Bravo claims, “there’s nothing like Tulum. Its soul cannot be replicated.”

Bravo explains that consumer preferences have changed with covid. Covid and 2020 shook the hospitality industry to its core. As we see travel pick up again, guests are not taking things for granted. Their focus has shifted to the simpler things in life, like companionship, benevolence, love, and exploration. The demand for reliable wifi has become an expectation, which Bravo credits to remote work. Travelers are also staying longer. “Average stays have increased by 1.2 nights,” claims Bravo. From 3.8 nights pre-covid to five nights on average today.

Bravo believes that covid accelerated the trend of boutique hotels and boutique hospitality. Travelers want to stay somewhere with hearts. Boutique hotels are built around a concept, and the audience of travelers looking to be present around things they love, a partner, friend, nature, or exploration, is growing too.

To remain successful, Bardo suggests keeping one eye on the basics of hospitality and the other on trends. Guests are looking for authentic encounters with nature, people, and new cultures. The standard used to be a French restaurant, no matter where the hotel was. Today, the desire is a restaurant that explores local, traditional cuisine.

Bravo says, in his opinion, “For you to truly be boutique, you can not be corporate. It's my take on boutique hospitality… [corporate standards] it’s really good, it’s comfortable, but it kills the place [where you are at].” They miss the mark of capturing where the hotel is. Travelers want a high standard of service, but not the sterility of a corporate hotel.

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Today’s entrepreneur has many commonalities with seafarers from hundreds of years ago. That’s the connection renowned entrepreneurial expert, author and professor Dr. Patrick Murphy makes in his teachings. Murphy is the Goodrich Chair of Entrepreneurship & Director of the Entrepreneurship Program at UAB (University of Alabama, Birmingham). He joined host Adam Morrisey on Tuesdays with Morrisey to talk about the topic.

“You could say Steve Jobs and Magellan had similarities. The way seafarers operated 600 years ago is not unlike entrepreneurs of today,” Murphy explained.

With this reframing, Murphy has written books and articles on the subject. It’s also a major pillar for learners. According to him, one thing that makes these people unique is, “They have a strong sense of purpose that they will make sacrifices for like the hero’s journey. they believe something strongly, and that brings out the best and worst of human nature.”

These seemingly disparate groups actually have many paralegals. They navigated uncertainty and had to build a culture. Murphy added, “Uncertainty has an infinity around it. The risk it creates is an art form of leadership.”

They also had high failure rates and had to raise money. Another aspect of both groups is that of mutiny. “Today’s mutinies are social and intellectual rather than physical,” Murphy acknowledged. However, they are alike and a normal part of life on the sea and a start-up.

Silicon Valley mutiny in the 1950s, abundance who mutinied to found companies like what Oracle is today.

“It’s a coordinated upward defiance of authority. Silicon Valley itself is the result of a mutiny. When a mutiny happens, the matrix of opportunities and threats becomes internal. It helps them strategize. It’s a new way of doing things.”

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