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Tim Ferriss

Daniel Pink — How to Make Better Decisions and Be More Creative (#305)

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“Say something important rather than say important things.”

– Daniel Pink

This podcast explores how to make better decisions, ask better questions, and be more creative. The stories range from escapes to India and speechwriting for Al Gore, to writing bestselling books and using “motivational interviewing” with kids.

The guest is Daniel H. Pink (@danielpink), the author of six provocative books, including his newest, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. WHEN is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, and Publishers Weekly bestseller. Pink’s other books include the long-running New York Times bestseller A Whole New Mind and the #1 New York Times bestsellers Drive and To Sell is Human. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into 37 languages. Pink lives in Washington, DC, with his family.

Daniel was the host and co-executive producer of Crowd Control, a television series about human behavior on the National Geographic Channel. For the last six years, London-based Thinkers 50 named him as one of the top-15 business thinkers in the world. Enjoy!

You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

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Daniel Pink — How to Make Better Decisions and Be More Creative

Want to hear another podcast with incredible life advice? — In this episode, I talk with Adam Robinson, Ramit Sethi, and Josh Waitzkin and discuss a variety of topics on business, wealth, and happiness (stream below or right-click here to download):

#210: Becoming the Best Version of You

This podcast is brought to you by Four Sigmatic. While I often praise this company’s lion’s mane mushroom coffee for a minimal caffeine wakeup call that lasts, I asked the founders if they could help me — someone who’s struggled with insomnia for decades — sleep. Their answer: Reishi Mushroom Elixir. They made a special batch for me and my listeners that comes without sweetener; you can try it at bedtime with a little honey or nut milk, or you can just add hot water to your single-serving packet and embrace its bitterness like I do.

Try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/ferriss and using the code Ferriss to get 20 percent off this rare, limited run of Reishi Mushroom Elixir. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you’ll be disappointed.

This episode is also brought to you by WeWork. I haven’t had an office in almost two decades, but working from home and coffee shops isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. When I moved to Austin, one of the first things I did was get a space at WeWork, and I could not be happier. It’s dog friendly and serves the best cold-brew coffee on tap I’ve ever had!

WeWork is a global network of work spaces where companies and people grow together — in fact, more than ten percent of Fortune 500 companies use WeWork. The idea is simple: you focus on your business, and WeWork takes care of the rest — front desk service, utilities, refreshments, and more. WeWork now has more than 200 locations all over the world, so chances are good there’s one near you. Check out we.co/tim to become a part of the global WeWork community!

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

  • Connect with Daniel Pink:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Show Notes

  • Daniel talks about one of his “best ideas that didn’t go anywhere.” [07:53]
  • Even though he didn’t pursue a career in law, what did Daniel gain by going to law school? [10:57]
  • The role of surrogation and intellectual humility in decision making. [15:40]
  • How did Daniel go from dropping out of law school to speechwriting for Al Gore? [17:54]
  • Why did Daniel veer away from a career in “the genus of” politics despite a lifelong fascination? [20:20]
  • How has Daniel become a better speechwriter? [24:49]
  • We share a love for John McPhee’s ability to write a gripping tale about anything. [38:43]
  • What is motivational interviewing? [41:33]
  • To what does Daniel attribute the popularity of his book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future? [47:36]
  • Is there a common thread through Daniel’s books? [52:58]
  • What has been the most difficult book for Daniel to write — and why? [55:43]
  • What do Daniel’s book outlines look like, and how can he distinguish between a good approach and a bad approach? [58:15]
  • Why early- to mid-afternoon is a time for caution. [1:03:19]
  • Moving through the day in three stages, and what Daniel wishes he’d known about cognitive abilities earlier in life. [1:05:21]
  • When does Daniel usually wake up, and what do the first two hours of his day look like? [1:10:43]
  • When Daniel is in the process of writing a book, what does his typical week look like? [1:15:00]
  • Does Daniel take set periods of time between writing books? How does he decide on a new project? [1:15:31]
  • On pitching a bad book idea to Kevin Kelly (among others) and the arguments against it. [1:20:06]
  • How Daniel knows he has a good idea for a book. [1:22:30]
  • How does Daniel keep track of the ideas he saves for potential projects, and what gets picked after removing the “flies from the soup?” [1:25:10]
  • Don’t know what you really think about something? Sometimes you have to write to figure it out. [1:28:43]
  • How Daniel formulates his book proposals. [1:34:30]
  • An important question to ask at the proposal stage: “Who is not going to buy this book?” [1:38:15]
  • Pondering your target market isn’t always an exercise in political correctness. [1:45:13]
  • How Daniel turns memorable failures into teachable moments. [1:46:42]
  • A technique for remembering and learning from missteps: the failure resume. [1:52:19]
  • What books has Daniel gifted to others? [1:55:19]
  • Why is Daniel currently obsessed with dystopian fiction? [2:00:11]
  • “Assume positive intent” as a default setting. [2:01:14]
  • Catching up, good words to use today, and parting thoughts. [2:04:51]

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