The Unfolding Thought Podcast

Eric Pratum
  • 5.0 (11)
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The Unfolding Thought Podcast asks a provocative question: Why do we—and the groups we form—think and act the way we do? Although we may feel we understand ourselves and others, much of what drives our thoughts, choices, and behaviors remains hidden or overlooked. Through candid discussions and multi-disciplinary explorations, we reveal those unseen forces—biases, contexts, and patterns—and show how they influence individual and collective dynamics. If you’re a leader or an intellectually curious mind looking for deep, high-value conversations, join us. We’ll challenge common assumptions, illuminate new perspectives, and spark meaningful change—helping you navigate relationships with greater clarity, innovate with confidence, and connect more authentically with those around you.

  1. Chris Dyer: Show Up When It Matters

    4D AGO ·  VIDEO

    Chris Dyer: Show Up When It Matters

    In this episode, Eric talks with Chris Dyer, leadership expert and author of Moments That Matter, about a simple idea that most leaders miss: not every moment carries the same weight. Organizations often try to treat everything as urgent. Every meeting matters. Every email matters. Every interaction matters. The result is exhaustion and noise. Yet when people look back on their careers, their teams, or their leaders, they rarely remember the routine moments. They remember the times someone showed up when it truly counted. Chris shares the experience that sparked the book. After selling his company, former employees told him something unexpected. They did not talk about policies or processes. They talked about how the organization showed up during crises, personal losses, and difficult transitions. Those were the moments that defined the culture. The conversation explores how leaders can recognize these moments before they pass, why physical signals like anxiety or urgency often indicate that something meaningful is happening, and how organizations unintentionally erase important moments by standardizing every response. Most people are not failing because they lack effort. They are failing because they are spreading their attention evenly across things that are not equal. They also discuss culture as social learning, the danger of tolerating small deviations from standards, and the responsibility leaders carry to draw clear lines when something matters. When leaders show up decisively, people remember. When they do not, the absence is just as memorable. At its core, this is a conversation about discernment. About presence. And about the discipline of knowing when to step forward and when to get out of the way. Topics Covered Why people remember big moments, not routine interactions The difference between trying to be perfect and being present How leaders unintentionally dilute important moments Recognizing the physical signals that a moment matters Culture as a process of social learning Why standards are set by what leaders tolerate The danger of treating everything as urgent Showing up decisively when values are tested Supporting employees during crisis and transition Letting teams handle the small things on their own The role of visibility in building trust and reputation How organizations lose meaning when every response is standardized The discipline of choosing where to invest your attentionEpisode Links Learn more about Chris: https://chrisdyer.com Chris’ new book, Moments That Matter: https://chrisdyer.com/moments Good to Great by Jim Collins: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others-ebook/dp/B0058DRUV6/ The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Business-Expanded-Updated/dp/B00UB28XJ2/ The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey: https://www.amazon.com/The-Inner-Game-of-Tennis-audiobook/dp/B0012FK22S/For more episodes: https://unfoldingthought.com Questions or guest ideas: eric@inboundandagile.com

    1h 10m
  2. Lindsay McGregor: Blame the System, Not the Person

    MAR 30 ·  VIDEO

    Lindsay McGregor: Blame the System, Not the Person

    In this episode, Eric talks with Lindsay McGregor, co-founder of Factor, about why most performance problems are not caused by individuals, but by the systems surrounding them. Lindsay has spent years studying motivation, culture, and performance inside organizations ranging from startups to global enterprises. Her work challenges a deeply ingrained instinct in leadership: the tendency to attribute failure to character rather than context. When something goes wrong, we look for someone to blame. Yet time and again, the evidence points somewhere else. The conversation explores how human beings naturally default to blaming individuals, even when the real issue is design. They discuss the hidden biases that shape workplace judgments, the danger of assuming we understand complex systems when we do not, and why meaningful performance improvement almost always requires changing the environment rather than pushing people harder. They also examine the role of artificial intelligence in accountability and coaching. Instead of replacing leaders, AI may function more like a scoreboard or personal trainer: a neutral mirror that helps people follow through on what they say matters. At its core, this is a conversation about humility. About curiosity. And about the discipline of looking past the obvious explanation to find the real cause. Topics Covered Why humans instinctively blame individuals instead of systems The concept of “blame bias” and the fundamental attribution error How the same person can succeed or fail depending on the environment The illusion of explanatory depth and why confidence can mask ignorance Why motivation often depends on having an interesting problem to solve The role of leadership in designing systems rather than managing behavior How AI can function as a coach rather than a replacement The difference between forcing effort and unlocking engagement Why repeated interaction builds understanding better than assumptions The danger of believing you understand complex work from a distance How collaboration and structure shape performance in remote teams The shift from managing people to designing environmentsEpisode Links Check out Lindsay’s company, Factor: https://www.factor.ai Learn more about the Illusion of Explanatory Depth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusion_of_explanatory_depthFor more episodes: https://unfoldingthought.com Questions or guest ideas: eric@inboundandagile.com

    1h 15m
  3. Lee Cockerell: Disney World and the Discipline of Leadership

    MAR 23 ·  VIDEO

    Lee Cockerell: Disney World and the Discipline of Leadership

    In this episode, Eric talks with Lee Cockerell, former Executive Vice President of Operations for Walt Disney World, about what leadership actually requires when the stakes are high and the pressure never stops. Lee’s path to running one of the most complex organizations in the world did not begin at Disney. He grew up on a farm in Oklahoma, worked as a banquet waiter, got fired, had his furniture confiscated by the sheriff, and spent years learning hard lessons at Hilton and Marriott before Disney ever called. The conversation explores the hidden foundations beneath visible success: discipline learned early, the turning point of mastering time management, the shift from being a strong manager to becoming a true leader, and the moment he realized that hiring great people and getting out of their way mattered more than personal control. They discuss psychological safety, the danger of becoming a bottleneck, the myth of being “too busy” to grow, and why nearly every business problem is ultimately a people problem. Lee shares why he now considers himself a teacher more than an executive, and why “training and enforcement” remain the backbone of excellence. At its core, this is a conversation about responsibility. In work. In family. In leadership. And in the quiet influence you have every single day. Topics Covered Growing up on a farm and learning discipline early Getting fired and rebuilding from scratch The career impact of mastering time management The difference between being a manager and being a leader Why most problems are people problems Hiring experts and resisting the urge to micromanage How leaders accidentally become bottlenecks Psychological safety and why fear destroys performance Letting go of past mistakes Training and enforcement as the path to excellence Managing like a mother: clarity, accountability, and care The weight of responsibility in both business and family Why influence is never neutralEpisode Links Visit Lee’s website: https://www.leecockerell.com For more episodes: https://unfoldingthought.com Questions or guest ideas: eric@inboundandagile.com

    38 min
  4. Bob Pritchett: A 28-Year Overnight Success

    MAR 16 ·  VIDEO

    Bob Pritchett: A 28-Year Overnight Success

    In this episode, Eric talks with Bob Pritchett, founder of Logos Bible Software and longtime CEO of Faithlife, about what it actually takes to build something that lasts. Bob started writing and selling software in high school, launched Logos at 19 while working at Microsoft, and helped grow the company over nearly three decades before bringing in outside investors. Along the way, he navigated financial crises, rewrote the entire software platform multiple times, raised capital from friends and family, and carried the weight of personal guarantees while trying to build something durable. The conversation moves beyond startup mythology into the reality of ownership: the pressure of making payroll, the illusion of freedom, the difference between persistence and delusion, and the quiet advantages of operating in a narrow niche. They explore why most market predictions are unreliable, why perseverance matters more than total addressable market slides, and how strong points of view shape company culture over time. At its core, this is a conversation about the long game: how to think when you cannot predict the future, how to endure through technological shifts, and what it means to build with conviction rather than trend-chasing. Topics Covered Starting a software company at 19 Raising early capital from friends and family The psychological weight of investor money Why “freedom” in entrepreneurship is often misunderstood Making payroll during financial crisis Rewriting a software platform from scratch, three times Bootstrapping for nearly three decades The resilience of niche markets Why total addressable market slides are often misleading Persistence versus delusion in entrepreneurship Building culture through strong founder convictions The 28-year “overnight success”Links Bob Pritchett: https://bobpritchett.com Stewart Brand’s How Buildings Learn: https://www.amazon.com/How-Buildings-Learn-Happens-Theyre/dp/0140139966For more episodes: https://unfoldingthought.com Questions or guest ideas: eric@inboundandagile.com

    1h 9m
  5. Coach Hill: How Pro Athletes Train Their Money

    MAR 9 ·  VIDEO

    Coach Hill: How Pro Athletes Train Their Money

    In this episode, Eric talks with Coach Hill, founder of Financial Footwork and author of Train Your Money, about the hidden beliefs and behavioral patterns that shape our financial lives. Coach Hill approaches money the way a coach approaches movement: most problems are not about information, they are about habits. Drawing from her work as a financial coach, she explains why budgeting apps and spreadsheets rarely solve the deeper issue, and why sustainable change begins with how we think, feel, and act around money. The conversation explores how early narratives about scarcity, success, and security quietly influence adult financial decisions. They discuss why people often know what they “should” do but still struggle to do it, and how small, consistent behavioral shifts can compound into lasting financial confidence. Rather than framing money as a math problem, Coach Hill reframes it as a training process. Like any skill, it improves with awareness, repetition, and intentional practice. This is a grounded conversation for anyone who wants to feel more capable and less reactive when it comes to money. Topics Covered Why financial problems are often behavioral, not mathematical The difference between information and transformation How early money narratives shape adult decisions Why “just budget better” rarely works Training money like a skill instead of treating it like a crisis The emotional side of spending, saving, and investing Building confidence through small, repeatable actions Creating financial systems that reduce decision fatigueEpisode Links Get her book Train Your Money: https://trainyourmoney.com/ Financial Footwork: https://financialfootwork.com Financial Footwork on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/financialfootwork/ Coach Hill on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FINANCIALFOOTWORKFor more episodes: https://unfoldingthought.com Questions or guest ideas: eric@inboundandagile.com

    1h 33m
  6. Barbara Wittman: Lost in Transformation

    MAR 2 ·  VIDEO

    Barbara Wittman: Lost in Transformation

    In this episode, Eric talks with Barbara Wittmann, founder of the Digital Wisdom Collective, about why digital transformation so often fails despite good intentions, smart leaders, and expensive technology. Barbara argues that most change initiatives don’t collapse at the top or the bottom of organizations. They collapse in what she calls “the juicy middle” — the layer where strategy meets execution, where quiet experts carry institutional knowledge, and where complexity actually gets absorbed or resisted. Drawing on more than 25 years in enterprise technology and transformation work, including time at SAP, Barbara explains why transformation is rarely a technology problem and almost always an orientation problem. Leaders add tools, frameworks, and methodologies, but fail to upgrade the human capacity for judgment, sense-making, and collective intelligence. The conversation explores why consultants often surface knowledge that already exists inside organizations, why the most valuable contributors are frequently overlooked or burned out, and how change accelerates when leaders identify and empower the right people rather than rolling out one-size-fits-all programs. Eric and Barbara also discuss trust, diversity, and community, drawing connections to Putnam’s research on social capital and to How We Talk Can Change the Way We Work. They examine why complaints often signal care rather than resistance, how reading the room is a critical leadership skill, and why transformation is better understood as evolution rather than a project. This is a grounded, experience-driven conversation for leaders navigating digital change, AI adoption, and organizational complexity — especially those who sense that progress depends less on new tools and more on how people think and work together. Topics Covered Why transformation fails in the “juicy middle” of organizations The difference between digital change and human evolution How quiet experts hold disproportionate influence and risk burning out Why consulting often reveals internal knowledge rather than replacing it Sense-making, judgment, and collective intelligence as leadership skills Complaints as signals of care, not just resistance Trust, diversity, and why belonging precedes collaboration Why methodology and tooling haven’t fixed transformation How leaders identify the coalition of the willing What AI reveals about human readiness rather than replacing itEpisode Links Barbara Wittmann and the Digital Wisdom Collective: https://www.digitalwisdomcollective.com Join Digital Wisdom Collective: https://digitalwisdomco.typeform.com/to/tJn0Hbsi Barbara’s Substack: https://digitalwisdomcollective.substack.com/ Connect with Barbara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbarawittmann/ Join Barbara’s waitlist: Link coming soon Robert Putnam’s research on trust in diverse communities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_D._Putnam How We Talk Can Change the Way We Work (Keegan & Lahey): https://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Change-Work-Transformation/dp/B08BSY37HJ/For more episodes: https://unfoldingthought.com Questions or guest ideas: eric@inboundandagile.com

    1h 7m
  7. Jesse Sprague: When the World Burns

    FEB 23 ·  VIDEO

    Jesse Sprague: When the World Burns

    In this episode, Eric talks with Jesse Sprague, founder of EchoSpectra, about why wildfire risk isn’t primarily a firefighting problem, but a data, process, and decision-making problem. Jesse’s work sits at the intersection of geospatial science, field investigation, and real-world accountability. What begins as a conversation about wildfire mapping quickly expands into a deeper examination of how organizations handle risk, why more data can sometimes increase liability instead of clarity, and how many industries quietly avoid seeing what they are technically capable of measuring. They explore how wildfire investigators, insurers, utilities, and governments have historically relied on fragmented tools, handwritten notes, and disconnected systems and why that breaks down as fires become more frequent, more destructive, and more legally scrutinized. Jesse explains how EchoSpectra helps teams document fire behavior, fuels, and origin-and-cause evidence in ways that are defensible, collaborative, and scalable. Along the way, the conversation touches on pipeline safety, change detection, insurance economics, smoke as an unaccounted public health cost, and a recurring theme: ignoring information doesn’t eliminate responsibility. It only delays it. This is a grounded conversation about risk, systems, and what happens when reality outpaces the processes designed to manage it. Topics Covered Why wildfire risk is a data and process problem, not just a response problem How investigators document fire origin, spread, and behavior in the field The difference between collecting data and being able to act on it Why organizations sometimes avoid visibility to reduce perceived liability How geospatial intelligence changes wildfire prevention and litigation The hidden public health cost of wildfire smoke Parallels between wildfire risk, pipeline safety, and regulated industries “Choosing your hard” as a decision-making framework for leaders What scalable risk management actually requires in the real worldEpisode Links Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spatialdata/ Check out Jesse’s company: https://www.echospectra.com/ Email Jesse: Jesse@echospectra.comFor more episodes: https://unfoldingthought.com Questions or guest ideas: eric@inboundandagile.com

    1 hr
  8. Bill Blankschaen: When Story Becomes an Advantage

    FEB 16 ·  VIDEO

    Bill Blankschaen: When Story Becomes an Advantage

    In this episode, Eric talks with Bill Blankschaen, founder of StoryBuilders and author of Your Story Advantage, about why so many capable people feel called to do more, yet never take responsibility for acting on it. Bill shares his own transition from running a thriving private school to stepping into the uncertainty of writing, storytelling, and building a message-driven business. What looks like a career shift on the surface is really a deeper conversation about agency: why waiting for permission quietly drains momentum, and how clarity only emerges once people are willing to move. At the center of the discussion is the idea that stories don’t begin with tactics, platforms, or tools. They begin with ownership. Bill explains why meaningful messages stall when people underestimate the value of their experience, overestimate the risk of being seen, or look for certainty before taking action. The conversation also explores how storytelling actually works in practice. Not as clickbait or performance, but as a structured way to create attention, tension, credibility, and action without compromising integrity. Bill walks through the five core elements of effective storytelling, how intellectual property is developed responsibly, and why shortcuts like AI-generated content often weaken authority instead of building it. They also dig into the difference between creativity and routine, where AI can help and where it cannot, and why originality, effort, and alignment still matter more than speed. This is a grounded conversation for leaders, creators, and professionals who sense they’re capable of more, but feel stuck waiting for the “right moment” instead of choosing to move. Topics Covered Why most people wait to be picked instead of taking responsibility The hidden cost of staying comfortable in “good enough” work How clarity only comes after action, not before The difference between telling a story and owning a message Why credibility is built through effort, not visibility A practical five-part framework for effective storytelling Where AI helps creative work and where it undermines it Why shortcuts often weaken authority instead of accelerating it Building a message ecosystem that lasts beyond a single book or launchEpisode Links StoryBuilders: https://mystorybuilders.com/ StoryBuilders Method: https://mystorybuilders.com/storyFor more episodes: https://unfoldingthought.com Questions or guest ideas: eric@inboundandagile.com

    1h 1m
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About

The Unfolding Thought Podcast asks a provocative question: Why do we—and the groups we form—think and act the way we do? Although we may feel we understand ourselves and others, much of what drives our thoughts, choices, and behaviors remains hidden or overlooked. Through candid discussions and multi-disciplinary explorations, we reveal those unseen forces—biases, contexts, and patterns—and show how they influence individual and collective dynamics. If you’re a leader or an intellectually curious mind looking for deep, high-value conversations, join us. We’ll challenge common assumptions, illuminate new perspectives, and spark meaningful change—helping you navigate relationships with greater clarity, innovate with confidence, and connect more authentically with those around you.

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