What is your identity? How do you get one in the first place? And what happens when you meet 'disruptors' in life that impact or change your identity? DAS and Peter are joined on this podcast by a special guest - Sadie - as they explore what identity is and (with the aid of a list from DAS - of course) what to look at when you feel you might have lost your identity,

In which DAS shares some personal experiences around losing your mojo and both Peter and DAS share some (possibly) new words with their listeners on descriptions of the human condition. It is all about recognition of entering the state of languishment, finding an antidote to this state, and presenting ideas to re-connect and recover. There is a disclaimer about DAS and Peter learns all about Ikigai. Plus Squid of Despair is in the top 10 Squid related podcasts!

Shockingly there are 3 people in this podcast – DAS and Peter welcome their first ever guest, Donna Cooper – Services Leader and Untra-Marathon runner. DAS kicks it all off by introducing a brand-new word (to Peter anyway) – Sisu: A Finnish word variously translated as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness – and this is the Squid of the Day. In the light of this Donna talks about her running experiences and challenges considering the value of a cle...

In which David (aka DAS) and Peter (aka The Lazy Project Manager and now also aka Pedro) explore the value and purpose of evolving a personal brand Along with stories of branding successes the dynamic duo (think the Ant and Dec of the business world) consider how anyone can invest in their own brand and what this can offer to them in their business and personal life So, Squid of Despair Episode 21 - a new and improved podcast? Up to you to decide Spoiler alert - episode concludes with Pete...

Where DAS assumes complete control of the podcast topics for 2024 (not precisely a coup but Peter is assuming a subservient role...) Exploring Balance in Leadership DAS and Peter reflect on the 'old school' style of command and direct leadership and the more relevant and appropriate blended leadership model that is both expected and needed in the modern business world. Peter, despite his 'underling' position does lead the conversation in the somewhat random direction of tightrope walking r...

This week, we're tackling a topic that's increasingly relevant in today's world Peter feels: The danger of uninformed opinions. Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance – Plato. Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes – Voltaire. But that is only Plato’s and Voltaire’s opinion of course, the question is whether they were both either informed or uniformed? It is about the importance of speaking from real knowledge, especially in a wor...

Incorporating the now famous 'lost episode of Squid' when a technical issue caused a significant loss to DAS and Peter but the subject of this episode is resilience and they are committed to therefore being 'resilient' about it all. Resilient - (of a person or animal) able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions The dynamic duo explore whether you are, or aren't resilient, and why - and consider ways to become more resilient in the future, as well as ways to stave off the ...

An episode spoken with a soft voice but with a strong message in which DAS argues that the quietest voice in the room can, in fact, be the loudest (which initially confuses Peter a lot) Can a quiet voice be a powerful voice? Can you mistake such quiet for weakness or mistake seniority? Is it possible to balance the loud and the quiet? Many questions are raised and, hopefully, addressed in this intriguing episode

Perhaps the #1 topic out there at the moment - the rapid (or so it seems) rise of artificial intelligence with technology like ChatGPT and Synthesia and MS Co-Pilot and Bing (and more) had to be discussed by the hosts eventually, and here it is. Joining DAS and Peter is a non-person who still contributes to this episode with some thoughts of value (and humour). Important questions such as do fish really have fingers and will AI replace the water cooler chats in the future will be addressed,...

In this episode DAS has a proposition: He would like to suggest that we experience time as a variable, not a constant. Interesting start, he continues: That you think our experience of time changes depending on the context, when we're happy time flies, when we're not enjoying ourselves, time seems to drag. And there's lots of phrases about this, you talk about people describing themselves as being slaves to time where you're trapped by the amount of time you've got available to do the t...

Peter gets sneaky and challenges DAS to talk about a subject that DAS promised to write about in Peter’s new book (2,500 words due by mid-June) Change Adoption is not Change Management – but the two go hand in hand – DAS and Peter explore the differences and ponder the art of making ‘adoption’ a reality in business transformation DAS suggests that without Adoption 'it' (insert Change of your choice) is all a waste of time really - and he further proposes Adoption is the most ignored part of...

Is hope just a vague, passive, woolly idea or is it something much more? DAS takes Peter on a journey re-evaluating the idea of hope as a strong and positive thing that can be very personal but sometime become a collective showing at difficult times "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Peter reminisces about featuring in Glamour Magazine (with Brad Pitt) and DAS considers taking out a subscription On a more serious note the podcasting duo worry that they shouldn't even be speaking or sharing their thoughts due to that little beast of the imposter syndrome Looking at the five syndrome types: 1. The perfectionist 2. The natural genius 3. The rugged individualist 4. The expert 5. The superhero Peter and DAS explore some techniques that might help overcome the impact of imp...

DAS and Peter have been thinking, and discussing, everything 'global' - especially relating to business, but also the scientific world, which seems to have got the 'global' thing generally sorted Peter peaks early with an internet statement and boasting about speaking at CERN DAS keeps the conversation on track (mostly) exploring thoughts of culture and respect in a global community before heading of to Sweden and reminiscing about automatic doors They are both still seeking a publisher wh...

A light hearted (and short) look at back a the first year of the Squid Introductions - Compliments - Insults - and Banter

A festive edition of this beloved (by at least three people) podcast Exploring competition - at a business level - at team level - and at a personal level Understanding why Peter needs a photo of DAS and why DAS should never be put in charge of an Awards ceremony Includes the Bonus of the annual 'SODA's' - Squid of Despair Awards Happy Holidays!

Optimism is an attitude reflecting a belief or hope that the outcome of some specific endeavour, or outcomes in general, will be positive, favorable, and desirable. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass filled with water to the halfway point: an optimist is said to see the glass as half full, while a pessimist sees the glass as half empty. Can you be overly optimistic?Can you be overly pessimistic? Or even realistic? And how do these two worlds balance...

We heard from our listener Mike B – thank you for your kind comments We kicked off with a Terry Pratchett quote 'I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it' Then moved on to three key questions: 1) should we get in the box right first 2) best way to think outside the box and 3) how far away from the box should we go? Questioning the status quo is a good thing. If everyone just accepted things the way the...

About 2,500 years ago, Chinese military strategist, Sun Tzu, wrote “The Art of War.” In it, he said: “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Tactics and strategy should always complement each other, and are two sides of the same coin. Saying yes to the right things and no to the wrong things in order to meet strategic intention Reminiscing the time of the Balanced Scorecard and Strategy Mapping - The four perspectives ...

There is no Squid in the Room – all such ‘squids’ have been addressed head on and dealt with like the mature professionals that we are, but you can learn the best place to find squid on Paxos. This episode is all about teams: A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, “a team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to information, resources, knowledge...