Personality Poker® – The Game-Changing Podcast About People, Teams, and Innovation
Welcome to Personality Poker, the podcast that helps you understand yourself and your team in a whole new way—through the lens of a simple, powerful, and surprisingly fun card game.
Created by Hall of Fame speaker and innovation expert Stephen Shapiro, Personality Poker® has helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide uncover what makes them tick, what holds them back, and what’s missing from their teams. Now, this podcast brings the magic of the game to life through deep conversations, playful insights, and practical strategies.
In each episode, you’ll discover:
• Why knowing who you’re not is the secret to breakthrough performance
• How to build teams that “play with a full deck”
• What your cards reveal about your leadership, communication, and creative style
• How to create a culture of collaboration and innovation—without cheesy team-building exercises
Whether you’ve played Personality Poker before or you’re new to the game, this podcast will give you the tools to think differently, work better with others, and turn diversity of thought into your biggest competitive advantage.
Get ready to deal yourself in.
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Personality Poker® – The Game-Changing Podcast About People, Teams, and Innovation
Welcome to Personality Poker, the podcast that helps you understand yourself and your team in a whole new way—through the lens of a simple, powerful, and surprisingly fun card game.
Created by Hall of Fame speaker and innovation expert Stephen Shapiro, Personality Poker® has helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide uncover what makes them tick, what holds them back, and what’s missing from their teams. Now, this podcast brings the magic of the game to life through deep conversations, playful insights, and practical strategies.
In each episode, you’ll discover:
• Why knowing who you’re not is the secret to breakthrough performance
• How to build teams that “play with a full deck”
• What your cards reveal about your leadership, communication, and creative style
• How to create a culture of collaboration and innovation—without cheesy team-building exercises
Whether you’ve played Personality Poker before or you’re new to the game, this podcast will give you the tools to think differently, work better with others, and turn diversity of thought into your biggest competitive advantage.
Get ready to deal yourself in.
Spades are the analysts of innovation: the people who turn noise into knowledge and gut feels into grounded decisions. In this episode, we unpack the Spade style from Personality Poker®—what they do best, where they get stuck, and how to unlock their impact on your team. You’ll learn how to spot a Spade, how to communicate so they lean in, and how to use their strengths without getting bogged down in analysis paralysis. We also contrast “dot” depth with “line” connections so leaders can build balanced teams that deliver results. If you want better decisions, fewer blind spots, and smarter execution, this one is for you.
👉 Buy the book: https://a.co/d/1xWOKjX
Imagine a room filled with 300 executives laughing, trading cards, and discovering surprising truths about themselves. That’s the energy of Personality Poker®—a powerful tool that reveals how you innovate, collaborate, and lead. In this episode, Stephen Shapiro breaks down the hidden meanings behind the suits, numbers, and colors in the deck, showing how they map to innovation styles, thinking preferences, and energy levels. You’ll learn why the people you clash with most may actually be the ones you need the most. Get ready to see yourself and your team in a whole new way.
👉 Grab your copy of Personality Poker here: https://a.co/d/1xWOKjX
In this foundational episode, we dive deep into two crucial chapters from Personality Poker that will shape how you approach the game—and yourself. Before you can get your “perfect hand,” it’s essential to understand your preferred, adapted, desired, and opposite styles—and how confusing them can lead to burnout or missed opportunities.
You’ll hear powerful stories that illustrate the difference between what you’re good at and what truly energizes you. You’ll also learn why traits you might dismiss—like being “disorganized” or “overly sensitive”—could actually be your greatest strengths when viewed from the right angle.
Then we get tactical. You’ll discover how to play Personality Poker in three formats: Solitaire, Gifting, and Poker. Whether you’re flying solo, diving deep with a trusted team, or shaking things up with a large group, this episode gives you the tools and insights to get the most out of the game.
In this first episode of the Personality Poker podcast, Stephen Shapiro challenges the conventional approach to innovation. Using powerful comparisons to fat, muscle, and the game of poker, he explains why most organizations unintentionally weaken themselves by cutting the very muscles needed for growth. You’ll learn why understanding your team’s strengths—and knowing what you are not—is essential for building a smarter, more innovative organization. This episode introduces the thinking behind Personality Poker and how it can give your company a competitive edge.
Welcome to the first episode of the Personality Poker podcast! In this kickoff episode, Stephen Shapiro introduces the core concepts behind Personality Poker—a dynamic, interactive game that helps individuals and teams identify their innovation styles and play to their strengths. Inspired by everything from Formula One pit crews to Vegas poker tables, Stephen shares how understanding your innovation personality can drive team alignment, collaboration, and creative breakthroughs. Whether you’re analytical, imaginative, action-oriented, or people-focused, there’s a place for you at the table. Get ready to play with a full deck.
Want to be a better problem solver? What if the solution is to get in the mud?
In this episode, I interview Joe De Sena. He's the founder of Spartan and is the host of CNBC's No Retreat: Business Bootcamp.
This incredibly powerful show puts business people in physically challenging situations as a way of getting them to be more resilient.
This is an episode you won't want to miss.
In this freeform podcast episode, I share my thoughts on my next book: DIVOT.
A divot is a term from golf. It's when you swing at the ball, if you go too deep, a chunk of grass goes flying, and this is a divot.
And that's the premise of the next book - how can we go deep and create more customer value?
Rather than changing direction (pivot) it is about deep value creation.
To celebrate Thanksgiving here in the United States, I decided to share this segment from my book, "Goal-Free Living." Chapter 4 is entitled, "Want What You Have." Instead of looking for more and creating a different future, appreciate what you have now.
This podcast celebrates 20 years since the launch of my first book, 24/7 Innovation. It also marked the time when I left Accenture and started my own innovation business. In honor of this special period in my life, I read the Prologue to that book and share some thoughts on where we have come in the last two decades.
What if instead of thinking outside the box, you want to find a better box?
This is Chapter 4 from Best Practices are Stupid.
We explore the power of Challenge-Centered Innovation and why it leads to higher ROI than idea-driven innovation.
What if asking for ideas is a bad idea? In this episode, I share Chapter 3 from Best Practices are Stupid. In it, we explore why looking for a quantity of ideas can be the downfall of your innovation efforts.
What if the best solutions to your internal business problems can be found by looking externally? In this episode, I have a conversation (using the Invisible Solutions® lenses) with my friend and colleague Jon Fredrickson. He is the Chief Innovation Officer for InnoCentive (part of Wazoku) and has 15 years of deep open innovation experience.
Chapter 2 from Best Practices are Stupid: How Can You Avoid Becoming a One-Hit Wonder?
Last week in Chapter 1, I explained the three levels of innovation (event, capability, system). In this week's episode I share more details on what it takes to create level 2 - an innovation capability.
In this episode, we explore why speed and power do not lead to long-term innovation. It's not survival of the fittest; it's survival of the adaptable. The content in this episode is from Chapter 1 of my Best Practices are Stupid book.
We assume randomness lacks a pattern. But there are inherent patterns in randomness. Unfortunately, our brain is wired to find patterns even when they don't exist in order to create shortcuts that speed decision-making. But what if this very process can lead us down the wrong path?
On today's episode, we look into ways of "cloning" someone digitally. In particular, we discuss how to take the knowledge from someone's brain and convert it into workable tools. My guest problem solver is Adam Leffert, a freelance, C#, .Net Software Architect and Developer based in the Boston area. And he is the creator of the Invisible Solutions® Tools.
In order to sell your ideas, you need to be better at using data. But what if leading with data might be the very thing that prevents you from selling your ideas? The problem we tackle: "How can we drive data-driven decision-making forward without having to rehash the analysis and background each time we start a conversation?"
In this week's episode, I am joined by my guest Dan Kaus. Together we tackle the problem: "How can we find time for innovation?" Dan has innovation experience with a wide range of companies and industries, including Accenture, BP, Campbell's Soup, and many others.
In this episode, we explore the power of adventure and new experiences as a means for improving luck, increasing creativity, and enhancing problem-solving skills. This episode is dedicated to the memory of my friend, Dr. Jeff Salz, the quintessential adventurer, who passed away last month.
Personality Poker® – The Game-Changing Podcast About People, Teams, and Innovation
Welcome to Personality Poker, the podcast that helps you understand yourself and your team in a whole new way—through the lens of a simple, powerful, and surprisingly fun card game.
Created by Hall of Fame speaker and innovation expert Stephen Shapiro, Personality Poker® has helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide uncover what makes them tick, what holds them back, and what’s missing from their teams. Now, this podcast brings the magic of the game to life through deep conversations, playful insights, and practical strategies.
In each episode, you’ll discover:
• Why knowing who you’re not is the secret to breakthrough performance
• How to build teams that “play with a full deck”
• What your cards reveal about your leadership, communication, and creative style
• How to create a culture of collaboration and innovation—without cheesy team-building exercises
Whether you’ve played Personality Poker before or you’re new to the game, this podcast will give you the tools to think differently, work better with others, and turn diversity of thought into your biggest competitive advantage.
Get ready to deal yourself in.
