Dan Pink is a best-selling author and leading expert on motivation, work, and human behavior. An award-winning writer, Dan has five New York Times bestsellers, including Drive, To Sell Is Human, and When, which have been translated into 46 languages. Known for blending research with practical insights, Dan’s work focuses on the changing nature of work and how to improve performance. Dan has delivered popular TED Talks (Top 25 all-time viewed!) and is a sought-after speaker on business, leadership, and creativity.

In episode six of "Experts Unleashed," Atlassian's Dom Price chats with Dan about regret, a bias toward “why not”, and the power of language. They discuss how understanding regret can actually help us find our purpose in life, why cooking should become an Olympic sport, and so much more! Along the way, Dan shares a ton of fascinating data points and experiments from social psychology…just don’t ask him to share his own self-talk 😂

They also discuss the "My User Manual" Play from Atlassian's Team Playbook. It's an exercise designed to help leaders share with their teams and teammates HOW they work. Think of it like this: when you buy a TV, it comes with a User Manual. But when you hire a human, there's no such helpful guidance. Dan takes us through his User Manuals and shares the three values that are most important to him.

More about Experts Unleashed

The world feels full of thought leadership and frameworks, when we’re actually hungry for lived experience, science, and pragmatic insights. Experts Unleashed seeks out amazing minds from their specialty fields and brings them to you, to unleash their wisdom in a way that will help you put it in action. Each episode aims to educate, provoke, inspire, and then activate… to give you the confidence to try someone new.

In this episode:
Atlassian Team Playbook: https://www.atlassian.com/team-playbook/plays/my-user-manual
More about Dan Pink: https://www.danpink.com/
Charity: https://foodandfriends.org/

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction

02:50 – The one and only, Dan Pink!

03:38 – My user manual…what does Dan value?

08:25 – The power of reflecting on values

12:08 – Understanding the importance of regret

17:50 – Using regret for good, not evil

19:50 – Inward, outward, forward with regret

27:45 – Exploring “why not?”

33:58 – The origins and pitfalls of “why not?”

36:40 – Possibility journalism

42:52 – Langue and why it’s important

48:40 – Certainty vs confidence

50:55 – Language hacks for leaders

55:45 – Food and Friends Charity