Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 19

Six Links That Make You Think #763

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Just Evil Enough, Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another:

The Entire History Of All Of Time (Official Music Video) – Jake Segelbaum – YouTube . “I feel like Jake Segelbaum‘s melodic retelling of human history is the worst form of ADHD entertainment for nerds ever made. I dare you to watch it all the way through closely without pausing.” (Alistair for Hugh). David Courtier-Dutton Take On AI Music – Amplify World – Instagram . “For around 20 years, SoundOut has been analyzing the impact of music on humans. It claims to be ‘the global leader in music testing, sonic branding … helping brands amplify their identity and maximize emotional impact.’ So it probably means something when its CEO speaks about the results of analyzing AI music on humans. It’s not good (also, I think this is the first time I’ve shared an Instagram link here, which probably says something).” (Alistair for Mitch). The Mystery Of How Big Our Universe Really Is – Abigail Beall – BBC Future . “Do you ever take a moment… I mean a real moment… to contemplate how big the universe is? It’s really big. It hurts my head when I think about it.” (Hugh for Alistair). No One Buys Books – Elle Griffin – The Elysian . “In 2022, US courts blocked a mega merger between book publishers Penguin Random House and Simon and Shuster, ruling it would be a monopoly. Part of the trial involved the heads of all the major publishing houses lifting their kilts to reveal the numbers under these companies. Except for a very very few writers, it is grim. I remember someone – maybe it was Richard Nash – saying to me once: The publishing industry is a tiny business sitting atop a massive hobby. There are, for instance, about fifty titles each year that sell more than 500,000 units. This article is jammed full of quotes and numbers – largely taken, ironically, from a book called The Trial, which you won’t need to read once you’ve read this article.” (Hugh for Mitch).   The End Of Search, The Beginning Of Research – Ethan Mollick – One Useful Thing . “An excellent primer for the day about where we’re at with artificial intelligence and how dramatically it is going to change everything we know about expertise, education and knowledge work… and it’s not really a peek into the future as much as it is an indictment about this very day… and how woefully poorly we are handling a world where the tectonic plates of ‘work’ are moving, interacting and shifting. I’m not saying we’re not talking about this enough, but we are vastly under-hyping just how much these tools can do right now. I’ve tinkered with this technology as well, and the only reason I’m not despondent is because – in this moment – it’s giving me a leg up… but that won’t last for long…” (Mitch for Alistair). Your FOMO Is Trying To Tell You Something – Faith Hill – The Atlantic . “A not-so-surprising editorial on how FOMO (fear of missing out) may, in fact, be a good thing… pushing us to ‘get out there’ and not be stuck in our own echo chambers. There’s a whole world out there, people… and it does not have to be based on how many likes, comments or subscribers it may generate for your fake life online…” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on X, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

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Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement  and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

Gord Sinclair Of The Tragically Hip On This Month’s Groove – The No Treble Podcast

“Wait… did I miss something? Why is there an article about a bass podcast on Six Pixels of Separation?”

Here’s why:
In the late nineties my first job was as a music journalist (actually, my first interview was with Tommy Lee from Motley Crue right before the band released Dr. Feelgood).
I spent many years interviewing musicians and artists for local weekly alternative newspapers, national and international magazines (and even published three music magazines – before we had the Internet).
I also studied and played the electric bass (in high school and post-secondary) and always felt like bass players never really had a chance to tell their stories.
So, about ten years ago, Seth Godin introduced me to Corey Brown (founder of No Treble – one of the world’s biggest bass platforms – and he also worked on Squidoo with Seth).
From there, Corey and I decided to try this monthly podcast where I would interview bass players and talk about their music, art, creativity and more.
I’m hopeful that these conversations will inspire your work, creativity and innovation as much as they do for me…

Michael Manring is this month’s conversation on Groove – The No Treble Podcast.

You can listen the new episode right here: Groove – The No Treble Podcast – Episode #122 – Gord Sinclair.

Groove – Episode #122: Gord Sinclair by No Treble

Gord Sinclair (making his second appearance on Groove) may have stepped into the limelight as a solo singer-songwriter with In Continental Drift, but he’ll forever be known to rock fans as the powerhouse bassist behind The Tragically Hip – a band that not only dominated stages for nearly four decades, but also pioneered a uniquely communal approach to songwriting. In our conversation, Gord reflects on how The Hip’s legacy has taken on new depth in recent years, culminating in the critically acclaimed four-part documentary No Dress Rehearsal, which peels back the curtain on the group’s evolution, creative process, and the profound impact of singer/poet Gord Downie’s passing. Alongside the film, there’s also a revealing anthology book, This Is Our Life, that offers fans a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the personal and artistic threads weaving through the band’s prolific career. Despite no longer being able to move forward with fresh music from the original five, The Hip have found a powerful new muse in their own vaults: unearthing recordings once thought lost, sifting through reels of two-inch tape, and reintroducing long-shelved tracks to a fanbase eager for more. This deep dive has spawned multiple box-set releases pegged to significant album anniversaries – milestones that, in Gord’s telling, have proven both celebratory and bittersweet (including the latest one in celebration of the album, Up To Here) . While the band always looked resolutely ahead, rarely revisiting abandoned cuts or older material in its heyday, these archival projects have not only fueled an outpouring of nostalgia but also rekindled a passion for the spontaneous, improvised spirit that defined songs like ‘New Orleans Is Sinking’ and ‘Fully Completely’. Gord offers candid thoughts on how each band member brought a different musical taste and temperament to The Hip, forging a signature sound that balanced raucous riffing with Gord Downie’s deeply poetic voice. Between the documentary’s emotional resonance, the captivating anthology, and these anniversary box-set drops – featuring demos, outtakes, and newly discovered gems – it’s clear that The Tragically Hip continue to surprise and inspire, even without Gord’s singular presence. For Gord Sinclair, the real gift has been the chance to reconnect with fans who never gave up hope of hearing more from a band that shaped Canada’s musical identity, and to welcome in new listeners who simply stumbled upon the group’s enduring catalog. It’s a testament to the timelessness of The Hip’s artistry, the devotion of its members, and the transcendent spark that only live performance – and a trove of new-old recordings – can deliver. Enjoy the conversation…

What is Groove – The No Treble Podcast?

This is an ambitious effort. This will be a fascinating conversation. Our goal at Groove is to build the largest oral history of bass players. Why Groove? Most of the content about the bass revolves around gear, playing techniques, and more technical chatter. For us, bassists are creative artists with stories to tell. They are a force to be reckon with. These are the stories and conversation that we will capture. To create this oral history of why these artists chose the bass, what their creative lives are like, and where inspiration can be found.

Listen in:  Groove – The No Treble Podcast – Episode #122- Gord Sinclair.

Are you interested in what’s next? How to decode the future? I publish between 2-3 times per week and then the Six Pixels of Separation Podcast comes out every Sunday. Feel free to subscribe (and tell your friends). 

AI, Interrupted…

The assumption was simple.

The United States would always be the leader in artificial intelligence.
American tech giants had the talent, the infrastructure, the money, and – most importantly – the head start.

Then came DeepSeek R1.

A Chinese-built, open-source AI model trained for a fraction of the cost of its American competitors.
And it’s performing at the level of OpenAI’s latest models.

How did this happen?

With a reported $5 million in training costs, DeepSeek managed to build a PhD-level reasoning AI – 90% cheaper than its U.S. counterparts.
And here’s the twist: It’s fully open-source.
Meta’s GenAI division? Scrambling.
Nvidia? It lost $600 billion in market cap almost overnight.
This isn’t a fluke.

This is the future.

AI (like everything else) is being commoditized.
For years, the assumption was that cutting-edge AI required cutting-edge hardware.
Expensive GPUs.
Billion-dollar data centers.
Massive compute power.
DeepSeek may have proved otherwise.
Jim Fan, a senior research scientist at Nvidia, put it bluntly:
“We are living in a timeline where a non-U.S. company is keeping the original mission of OpenAI alive – truly open, frontier research that empowers all. It makes no sense. The most entertaining outcome is the most likely.”

A wake-up call.

Marc Andreessen called DeepSeek R1 AI’s “Sputnik moment.”
Donald Trump called it “a wake-up call.”
Washington, fresh off of trying to ban TikTok, is now trying to figure out the next move (after showcasing Stargate a $500 billion investment in U.S.-based AI data centers).

But here’s the thing…

DeepSeek didn’t need high-end American chips to build an impressive model.
It built its AI with less.
And necessity is the mother of invention, as the saying goes.

This is where things get interesting.

AI bulls see DeepSeek as proof that we need to move faster toward artificial general intelligence (AGI).
AI skeptics see it as proof of Silicon Valley waste and hubris.
AI safety experts see it as a nightmare scenario – an acceleration that could lead to systems spiraling out of control.
Breakthroughs that once seemed improbable are now arriving with startling regularity… almost daily.

What happens next?

I don’t believe this to be a black swan event (do you?).
This is the new normal.
Just because U.S. companies have led in tech before doesn’t mean they always will.
And protectionism won’t stop innovation from happening elsewhere.
The AI race is no longer theoretical.
It’s here.

And the rules just changed.

This is what Elias Makos and I discussed on CJAD 800 AM. Listen in right here.

Mitch Joel · AI, Interrupted…

Before you go… ThinkersOne is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

Michael Horn On Making Progress In Your Career – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #969 of Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to:

Michael B. Horn is one of those rare people who seamlessly bridges the worlds of education, innovation, and career development. As the co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute and a teacher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Michael has dedicated his career to reimagining how we learn and work. He’s the author of several transformative books, including Disrupting Class, From Reopen To Reinvent, and his latest, Job Moves – 9 Steps For Making Progress In Your Career. In this conversation, Michael shares his thoughtful approach to helping individuals and organizations adapt to a world where education and careers are anything but linear. We discussed how his latest book applies the “Jobs to Be Done” theory to career moves, offering a framework that helps people align their work with their lives in a more meaningful way. Michael’s passion for unlocking potential shines through as we explore the challenges minimum wage workers face, the evolving role of AI in the workplace, and the need for more experiential learning in education. He also reflects on the legacy of his mentor, Clayton Christensen, and how his ideas continue to shape modern business and learning. What struck me most was Michael’s grounded optimism – he’s not just thinking about the future of work… he’s actively working to make it more accessible, human, and fulfilling. If you’re grappling with a career change, wondering how education needs to evolve, or just curious about how to thrive in an unpredictable world, this episode is full of insight and inspiration. Enjoy the conversation…

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via Apple Podcast or whatever platform you may choose):  #969 – Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast.

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond,check it out.

SPOS #969 – Michael Horn On Making Progress In Your Career

Welcome to episode #969 of Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast.

Michael B. Horn is one of those rare people who seamlessly bridges the worlds of education, innovation, and career development. As the co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute and a teacher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Michael has dedicated his career to reimagining how we learn and work. He’s the author of several transformative books, including Disrupting Class, From Reopen To Reinvent, and his latest, Job Moves – 9 Steps For Making Progress In Your Career. In this conversation, Michael shares his thoughtful approach to helping individuals and organizations adapt to a world where education and careers are anything but linear. We discussed how his latest book applies the “Jobs to Be Done” theory to career moves, offering a framework that helps people align their work with their lives in a more meaningful way. Michael’s passion for unlocking potential shines through as we explore the challenges minimum wage workers face, the evolving role of AI in the workplace, and the need for more experiential learning in education. He also reflects on the legacy of his mentor, Clayton Christensen, and how his ideas continue to shape modern business and learning. What struck me most was Michael’s grounded optimism – he’s not just thinking about the future of work… he’s actively working to make it more accessible, human, and fulfilling. If you’re grappling with a career change, wondering how education needs to evolve, or just curious about how to thrive in an unpredictable world, this episode is full of insight and inspiration. Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 1:03:06.Hello from beautiful Montreal.Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Six Pixels of Separation.Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook.Check out ThinkersOne.or you can connect on LinkedIn.…or on Twitter.Here is my conversation with Michael B. Horn.Job Moves – 9 Steps For Making Progress In Your Career.From Reopen To Reinvent.Disrupting Class.Clayton Christensen Institute.Harvard Graduate School of Education.Follow Michael on X.Follow Michael on LinkedIn.This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Navigating Career Choices in a Fluid Landscape.
(02:58) – The Evolution of Education and Work.
(06:06) – Understanding Learning Differences and Accommodations.
(08:51) – The Impact of Traditional Education on Career Paths.
(12:10) – The Value of Trades and Alternative Pathways.
(14:50) – Rethinking Professional Training in Healthcare.
(17:58) – The Role of Entrepreneurship in Modern Careers.
(21:09) – The Importance of Self-Discovery in Career Development.
(23:55) – Job Mobility and Employee Engagement.
(26:54) – The Challenges of Individual Needs in the Workplace.
(31:39) – Navigating Individual Needs in Organizations.
(35:40) – The Challenges of Minimum Wage and Job Mobility.
(41:49) – The Impact of AI on Job Markets.
(51:03) – Lessons from Clayton Christensen.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast – Episode #969.

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

Six Links That Make You Think #762

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Just Evil Enough, Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another:

There Is No Antimemetics Division – Episode 1 – SCP Horror Short Series – YouTube . “Okay, great – we can shoot an amazing film. But where do we get the story? I’ve been fascinated with the SCP Foundation. I guess the best way to explain it is: Imagine there was a warehouse where they put all the weird paranormal objects and characters from The X-Files, and there was a wiki documenting them. It describes itself (on one of the few pages in which it breaks character) as ‘a collaborative writing site based around the premise that… in essence, magic is real.’ It’s absolutely fascinating, and hundreds of collaborators have added incredibly creative content. With the cost of movie production falling precipitously, and distribution free, there’s now an SCP Universe. This one is a real mindbender, and I’d put it up there with any decent short sci-fi. (If you liked that, SCP Academy | Part 001 – The Containment Breach is another good one with serious production values).” (Alistair for Hugh). I Remade Star Wars VFX In 1 Week – ErikDoesVFX – YouTube . “One of the bees in my bonnet these days is about emergent, bottom-up, self-organizing systems versus top-down, hierarchical systems. Hollywood is a top-down system: We begin with thousands of scripts, winnowed to dozens of productions; we use storyboards to de-risk shots. It’s like the way we once used film cameras, each shot precious. Now we take a hundred films, and Photoshop the fixes. Producing films is changing in the same way. A YouTuber named ErikDoesVFX re-created expensive shots from films like Iron Man and Star Wars for a fraction of the cost. AI is changing this even further. The barriers to entry in filmmaking are vanishing, and the future of creative production is anyone’s guess.” (Alistair for Mitch). The Importance Of Curiosity As An Entrepreneur With Allen And Eva Lau – The Moment . “Allen Lau quietly grew Wattpad to a USD $650M exit out of Toronto. Wattpad is a self-publishing and reading platform, but it was all but ignored by the publishing industry. It was ugly and cheap looking in the early days (sorry Allen!), but became beloved by its users, despite things like pretty design. Because it was answering a need. Allen and his wife Eva, who also have a very successful VC fund in Canada, talk about the secrets of their success and failures in this podcast.” (Hugh for Alistair). The Five Stages Of AI Agent Evolution – Sarai Bronfeld – NFX . “It’s hard to keep up, isn’t it? Anyway, more on the direction of travel of AI and the companies using them. General idea is pretty soon we’ll have billion dollar companies run by three people and a bunch of AIs.” (Hugh for Mitch). Wikinigma . “Another gem I grabbed from Patrick Tanguay’s fantastic Sentiers newsletter. A wiki of scientific, academic (and, maybe even philosophical) questions to which ’no-one, anywhere, has yet been able to provide a definitive answer.’ In fact, this is the place for over one thousand unanswerable questions. For example: We have no definitive idea how April Fools’ Day got started. Go dig and marvel at what we still can’t account for…” (Mitch for Alistair). The Tyranny Of Now – Nicholas Carr – The New Atlantis . “This is a beautiful piece of writing that most will (sadly) not spend any time with. Coming from the mind of Harold Adams Innis in 1947 and modernized by Nicholas Carr. Innis believed that ‘some media are particularly good at transporting information across space, while others are particularly good at transporting it through time. Some are space-biased while others are time-biased. Each medium’s temporal or spatial emphasis stems from its material qualities. Time-biased media tend to be heavy and durable. They last a long time, but they are not easy to move around. Think of a gravestone carved out of granite or marble. Its message can remain legible for centuries, but only those who visit the cemetery are able to read it. Space-biased media tend to be lightweight and portable. They’re easy to carry, but they decay or degrade quickly. Think of a newspaper printed on cheap, thin stock. It can be distributed in the morning to a large, widely dispersed readership, but by evening it’s in the trash.’ So where does this leave us, in modern times, with the kind of media and technology that we have? Well, it’s not looking good. The internet and social media constantly bombard us with new information, making it challenging to reflect and gain deeper understanding (have you thought of that from this perspective?). Sure, technology has many benefits, but we should be cautious about letting it control how we think and communicate… especially if it changing (in a weird way) how we think and communicate.” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on X, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement  and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

Moonshots, Moats, And Machine Minds – Inside The AI Arms Race

What if the future of artificial intelligence isn’t just about machines getting smarter, but about nations building empires?

This isn’t science fiction – it’s happening now.
The United States has launched a $500 billion moonshot called, Stargate.
It’s a bold initiative designed to establish AI supremacy over the next four years, with 100,000 new jobs and a $500 billion buildout.

It’s not a project… it’s a statement.

The message? The U.S. will not lose the AI arms race to China (or any other country).

But here’s the twist:

The real competition isn’t just about who builds the best algorithms.
It’s about who controls the energy, infrastructure, and talent to fuel them.
The backers of Stargate read like a Silicon Valley dream team – SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, MGX and others.

Their mission is clear:

Create an unassailable advantage in AI infrastructure.
Think data centers so massive and efficient they make today’s cloud computing look like dial-up internet.
Think computer power on a scale that could train models we haven’t even imagined yet.

But here’s the thing about AI:

We thought it’s expensive. Really expensive.

Until today…

DeepSeek, a Chinese startup that launched its R1 AI model.
It’s open-source, fast, and cost just $5.6 million to train.
Compare that to the hundreds of millions spent on current U.S.-developed models.
Compare that to Stargate… or what Meta announced…
Suddenly, the question isn’t just, “Can we build it?” It’s, “Can we afford to keep up?”

This is the paradox of AI innovation:

While the U.S. spends billions building a “moat” to secure its lead, China is accelerating by slashing costs and making cutting-edge technology widely accessible.
And that’s not the only problem.
AI needs energy – massive amounts of it.
As compute scales, so does its carbon footprint.
Stargate’s vision hinges on energy infrastructure as much as AI infrastructure.

Can the U.S. sustain the resource demands of becoming the global AI superpower?

Or will the energy crisis put the brakes on this moonshot?

And what about talent?

Canada, a hub for AI with institutions like Mila and researchers like Yoshua Bengio, will lose its eadge if investment doesn’t folow talent.
The best minds are flocking to the U.S., not just to study, but to work.
The brain drain is real… and Stargate might just make it worse.
The current talent pipeline is clear: Canadians innovate, Americans capitalize.
The current AI pipeline might be clear as well: Americans invest, China capitalizes.
On both counts, It’s a cycle that leaves Canada falling behind in the global AI race.

Here’s where it gets even more intense.

The ultimate goal isn’t just smarter systems.
It’s AGI – Artificial General Intelligence (then ASI – Artificial Super Intelligence).
We’re not just talking about technology anymore.
We’re talking about a seismic shift in what it means to be human, to think, to create, and to exist.

Is Stargate the first step towards this future?

Or is it a trillion-dollar gamble that could leave the U.S. chasing China’s shadow?

This isn’t just about AI.

It’s about geopolitics, economics, and the fundamental power structures of the future.

The question is: who will win?

And at what cost?

This is what Elias Makos and I discussed on CJAD 800 AM. Listen in right here.

Mitch Joel · Moonshots, Moats, And Machine Minds – Inside The AI Arms Race

Before you go… ThinkersOne is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

Mehak Gandhi On The Science Of Growth And Lasting Customer Relationships – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #968 of Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to:

Mehak Gandhi, co-author of Triple Fit Strategy – How To Build Lasting Customer Relationships And Boost Growth (along with Christoph Senn), is the Head of Research at Valuecreator in Switzerland, where she designs and implements B2B growth accelerator programs and next-generation sales strategies. With extensive experience conducting research and training for global giants like Allianz, Maersk, Konica Minolta, and Schneider Electric, Mehak has developed a reputation for merging data-driven insights with actionable strategies that drive sustainable growth. In our conversation, Mehak outlined the transformative potential of the Triple Fit Strategy, a framework designed to move beyond transactional buyer-seller dynamics toward deep, collaborative partnerships that create exponential value (which includes over 10,000 case studies). Drawing on decades of research and her work with companies like Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and GE, Mehak emphasizes the importance of aligning planning, execution, and resources to foster mutual growth. She shared powerful insights into how businesses can operationalize collaboration, simplify complex relationships, and engage customers early to drive innovation and new revenue streams. We also explored the critical balance between human decision-making and AI in optimizing these strategies, alongside the legal and operational challenges of fostering trust and data sharing in supplier-customer partnerships. Mehak’s passion for helping businesses adopt a 360° customer-centric approach is evident as she shares examples of companies unlocking millions of dollars in opportunities through collaboration. If you’ve ever wondered how to future-proof your sales processes while building lasting partnerships, this episode is a must-listen. Enjoy the conversation…

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via Apple Podcast or whatever platform you may choose):  #968 – Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast.

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond,check it out.

SPOS #968 – Mehak Gandhi On The Science Of Growth And Lasting Customer Relationships

Welcome to episode #968 of Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast.

Mehak Gandhi, co-author of Triple Fit Strategy – How To Build Lasting Customer Relationships And Boost Growth (along with Christoph Senn), is the Head of Research at Valuecreator in Switzerland, where she designs and implements B2B growth accelerator programs and next-generation sales strategies. With extensive experience conducting research and training for global giants like Allianz, Maersk, Konica Minolta, and Schneider Electric, Mehak has developed a reputation for merging data-driven insights with actionable strategies that drive sustainable growth. In our conversation, Mehak outlined the transformative potential of the Triple Fit Strategy, a framework designed to move beyond transactional buyer-seller dynamics toward deep, collaborative partnerships that create exponential value (which includes over 10,000 case studies). Drawing on decades of research and her work with companies like Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and GE, Mehak emphasizes the importance of aligning planning, execution, and resources to foster mutual growth. She shared powerful insights into how businesses can operationalize collaboration, simplify complex relationships, and engage customers early to drive innovation and new revenue streams. We also explored the critical balance between human decision-making and AI in optimizing these strategies, alongside the legal and operational challenges of fostering trust and data sharing in supplier-customer partnerships. Mehak’s passion for helping businesses adopt a 360° customer-centric approach is evident as she shares examples of companies unlocking millions of dollars in opportunities through collaboration. If you’ve ever wondered how to future-proof your sales processes while building lasting partnerships, this episode is a must-listen. Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 59:35.Hello from beautiful Montreal.Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Six Pixels of Separation.Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook.Check out ThinkersOne.or you can connect on LinkedIn.…or on Twitter.Here is my conversation with Mehak Gandhi.Triple Fit Strategy – How To Build Lasting Customer Relationships And Boost Growth.Valuecreator.Follow Mehak on LinkedIn.This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Chapters:

(00:00) – Introduction to Mehak Gandhi and Triple Fit Strategy.
(02:50) – The Importance of Customer Centricity.
(06:01) – Aligning Business Strategies for Mutual Growth.
(08:57) – Navigating Supplier-Customer Relationships.
(12:13) – Sustainability and Long-Term Partnerships.
(15:06) – The Role of Collaboration in Business.
(17:48) – Innovating Through Customer Engagement.
(20:52) – Operationalizing the Triple Fit Strategy.
(23:53) – The Complexity of Legal and Data Sharing.
(27:01) – The Future of Business Relationships.
(30:09) – The Role of Human Decision-Making in AI.
(32:27) – Visionaries and Market Disruption.
(35:20) – Building Relationships in Business.
(37:49) – Navigating Procurement Challenges.
(40:26) – Transitioning from Transactional to Collaborative Relationships.
(42:04) – The Service vs. Product Paradigm.
(45:13) – Unlocking Value through Service Innovation.
(46:47) – Sustaining Partnerships Over Time.
(48:29) – Managing Change in Business Relationships.
(52:31) – Growth in an Uncertain Economy.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast – Episode #968.

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

Six Links That Make You Think #761

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another:

Penn And Teller Lift Off Of Love – Just For Laughs – VHS Video Vault – YouTube . “For the last few years, I’ve been consumed with subversive thinking as my co-author Emily and I put the finishing touches on Just Evil Enough. I’ve collected so many examples of loopholes and defying existing systems, from Elizabeth Swaney (who exploited a qualifying loophole to race in the Olympics) to Adam Tranter (who built a park on a historic van so he could take back a parking spot). I came across this Penn and Teller reinvention of sawing someone in half – and somehow, giving it all away makes it no less amazing.” (Alistair for Hugh). Conan O’Brien Is The Best To Ever Do It And Here’s Eight Minutes Of Proof – Nicky D – YouTube . “Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, this week has been a lot. So, I’m sharing some links that are a bit more escapist than usual. Futurism and gloom will return next week (hah!). There’s really nobody in Late Night like Conan O’Brien. When writers went on strike, other late-night hosts stumbled. But Conan was unleashed. Without a net, and making it up as he went along, he delivered some of TV’s funniest moments in years.” (Alistair for Mitch). Chinese ‘Artificial Sun’ Sets A Record Towards Fusion Power Generation – Phys.Org . “Nuclear fusion power offers the potential for virtually limitless, clean energy by replicating the process that powers the sun. It produces no greenhouse gases, and unlike fission (which runs all existing nuclear power generators), it generates minimal radioactive waste, is powered by abundant materials, and finally doesn’t have meltdown risks.The problem is that getting to sustained fusion requires extreme temperatures and pressures, making it technically and economically challenging. China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) just more than doubled the amount of time maintaining a steady-state high-confinement plasma (1,066 seconds, surpassing its previous record of 403 seconds), a step closer to commercial fusion power.” (Hugh for Alistair). AI Has ‘Better Ideas’ For Films Than Hollywood – Anita Singh – The Telegraph . “‘You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? Then who the hell else are you talking… you talking to me? Well I’m the only one here.’ Paul Schrader, famed scriptwriter of Taxi Driver, exemplar of the American New Wave cinema of the 1970s played with GPT and got pretty freaked out. AI gave better notes/suggestions on a script, and faster (minutes versus weeks) than he would have given, and came up with scores of novel and intertesting ideas for films.” (Hugh for Mitch). ‘Severance’ And The Trauma Of The Bullshit Job – Kat Rosenfield – The Free Press . “I have a friend who was having an existential crisis about their professional development and career. I wasn’t sure what book to refer them to, but on their own, they discovered Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber. We had a follow up coffee meeting, where they confided in me that they fear that they have a bullshit job. Meaning, the company they work for has revenue and is exceptionally well venture-backed funded. Their work –  day in and day – out is primarily meetings and emails… and while they are being told how well they are accomplishing their goals and tasks, they don’t see any material output of the hours and days spent toiling away either remotely at their home office or a couple of days a week when they work from the corporate headquarters. They are convinced that their job really is quite fake. And – even though they can apply somewhere else, get higher salary, and even a bump in job title – that, ultimately, what they are doing is meaningless and not creating any value in the external world. Perhaps, many people are starting to look at their work with more careful attention. What this means… Perhaps a new shift and how we define work and what we want to spend our days doing?” (Mitch for Alistair).

The Deep Space Of Digital Reading – Paul La Farge – Nautilus. “Paper and reading is such an interesting technology… maybe the most interesting technology there is. From studying the early days of publishing and books to the history of notebooks, I vacillate between the physical book and the digital book with wild promiscuity. Even reading this article and thinking about a moment in time when reading was done aloud to that moment when people would read a book and not say anything… how society shifted and how writing shifted to adjust to this new way of reading… to how that helped humans reflect, question things more… and think. So powerful. Now, as digital technology continues to blast us with news ways to read, see and engage with content, what does that do to the reading brain and should we embrace those e-readers or head back to the stacks?” (Mitch for Hugh). 

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on X, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement  and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.