How I Work

• Designing prompts that save you hours every week with Dropbox’s Morgan Brown

  What if the biggest value of AI isn’t answers, but better questions? For Morgan Brown, Vice President of Product and Growth at Dropbox, that realisation has transformed everything from family dinners to global product strategy. In this episode, I chat with Morgan about how he uses AI as both a problem-solver and a sparring partner. Morgan leads Dropbox’s AI products, but he’s also built his own app from scratch - with no coding background - to help his six-year-old son manage type 1 diabetes. We dive into how Morgan uses AI to eliminate grunt work, create powerful prompts, and even stress test his own ideas. This conversation will show you practical ways to turn AI into a genuine partner for your work and life. We discuss: The story behind CARB Scan, the AI-powered app Morgan built to help his son manage diabetes How he uses AI to eliminate shallow work, like meeting recaps and email sorting Why designing prompts is a superpower—and Morgan’s framework for writing great ones The automation Morgan built to scan and summarise the entire AI/ML landscape every morning How to use AI as a true thought partner for brainstorming, strategy, and decision-making The risks of skipping human feedback and why real-world validation still matters Morgan’s advice for spotting your own hidden time sinks and turning them into AI experiments Key Quotes “LLMs aren’t the best search engine. They’re much better as a thought partner.” “The real leverage of AI isn’t the answers. It’s the better questions.” Connect with Morgan Brown on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and his website https://www.morganbrown.co/ Check out Morgan’s book Hacking Growth. Get your hands on Morgan’s AI research prompt here. If you enjoyed this, listen to my episode with Bob Johansen - we talked about reframing AI as “augmented intelligence,” and it pairs beautifully with Morgan’s approach. My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/ Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at [email protected] Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• The secret to smarter AI? Make it disagree with you

  ** Book in for Inventium’s GenAI Productivity Upgrade here: https://inventium.com.au/genai-cohort/ ** Most people use AI like a polite assistant: “do this, write that, draft this.” The problem? It rarely pushes back or challenges your thinking - leaving your blind spots intact. In this episode, Inventium’s AI expert Neo Aplin joins me to share how to flip the script and use AI as a creative collaborator. You’ll learn: Why AI naturally behaves like a sycophantic assistant - and how to change that How to use prompts to make AI act as a devil’s advocate Ways to test how your ideas or presentations will land with different audiences How to use AI for “jobs to be done” brainstorming and innovation Why using AI for perspective-shifting is better than not testing your ideas at all If you want AI to make you smarter (not just faster) this episode will show you how. My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/ Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at [email protected] Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• How to stop saying yes when you mean no, with Lael Stone

  Have you ever said yes when your whole body was screaming NO!!? Those small choices add up, leaving us drained, resentful, and out of alignment with our own lives. In part 2 of my conversation with Lael Stone - educator and author of book Own Your Story, we unpack the hidden patterns that shape our decisions, the family imprints that hold us back, and the practical shifts that help us step into our power. If you’ve ever felt torn between what you should do and what you actually want to do, this conversation will show you how to pause, get curious, and realign. You’ll learn: The idea of a “full body yes” and how to use it in daily decisions Why family imprints often drive our definition of success (and how they can sabotage us) How to flip the question from “how bad could it be?” to “how good could it get?” The importance of learning to receive, not just give – and how to build rituals that honour this Why most of us listen to fix rather than listen to hear, and how to change that habit Simple ways leaders can balance listening with guiding their team The first step to emotional intelligence: asking “what’s going on for me right now?” Key Quotes “If it’s a maybe, it’s a no until it’s a full yes.” “Our fundamental need as humans is to be heard, not to be fixed.” Connect with Lael Stone on Instagram, LinkedIn and her website, and check out her latest book Own Your Story. Listen to Part 1 with Lael Stone here. My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/ Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at [email protected] Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• AI slop explained: Why it’s everywhere and what to do about it

  Book in for Inventium’s GenAI Productivity Upgrade here: https://inventium.com.au/genai-cohort/ Have you ever received a 10-page document that looked impressive, only to realise it was clearly spat out by AI, with no real human thought behind it? That’s what AI expert Neo Aplin calls AI slop: content that’s high on volume but low on value. In this conversation, Neo and Amantha unpack: Why AI slop is becoming increasingly common in workplaces The hidden costs of drowning teams in AI-generated documents Why creating more content is no longer a measure of good work How to shift the focus from volume to targeted value Practical strategies for making your work stand out in an AI-saturated world If you’ve ever felt buried under AI-generated fluff - or worried your own work is being lost in the noise - this episode will help you cut through the slop and get back to what really matters. My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/ Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at [email protected] Credits:Host: Amantha ImberSound Engineer: Martin ImberSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• The two questions that can stop overthinking in its tracks with Lael Stone

  Your colleague doesn’t reply to your email. Days pass. Your mind spins - do they not like me, do they not want me on the project, or are they just busy? It’s these unhelpful stories that quietly drain our energy. But what if there were two simple questions that could reset your perspective in moments like these? In this episode of How I Work, I sit down with educator and author Lael Stone, whose new book Own Your Story explores how the stories we tell ourselves shape the way we live and work. Lael shares the two reflection questions she uses daily to interrupt spirals of self-doubt and comparison. She also coaches me through my own struggles while writing my fifth book, showing how shifting perspective can help us feel lighter, more energised, and in flow. By the end of this chat, you’ll have a practical mental reset you can use any time - whether at work, at home, or in the middle of a 3am overthinking spiral. We discuss: The two questions Lael uses every day to reset perspective How to pause spirals of self-doubt with “What am I making this mean?” Why “What do I want this to look like?” opens us up to new possibilities Lael coaching me through my own writing doubts and pressures How comparison keeps us stuck and what to do instead The role of childhood imprints in shaping our beliefs about work, money, and relationships Why most of us never learned what a healthy boundary looks like - and how to create them as adults Why setting boundaries is an act of self-love Key Quotes “What am I making this mean? Can be a pattern interrupt question to actually stop and go, what is the story here?” “It feels very freeing to realise I could actually change this. I could change what this means for me.” Connect with Lael Stone on Instagram, LinkedIn and her website, and check out her latest book Own Your Story. My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/ Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai) If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at [email protected] Credits: Host: Amantha Imber Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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