Daniel Kahneman: Algorithms Make Better Decisions Than You
Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize for proving we're not as rational as we think. In this timeless conversation we discuss how to think clearly in a world full of noise, the invisible forces that cloud our judgement, and why more information doesn't equal better thinking. Kahneman also reveals the mental model he discovered at 22 that still guides elite teams today.
Approximate timestamps:
(00:36) – Episode Introduction
(05:37) – Daniel Kahneman on Childhood and Early Psychology
(12:44) – Influences and Career Path
(15:32) – Working with Amos Tversky
(17:20) – Happiness vs. Life Satisfaction
(21:04) – Changing Behavior: Myths and Realities
(24:38) – Psychological Forces Behind Behavior
(28:02) – Understanding Motivation and Situational Forces
(30:45) – Situational Awareness and Clear Thinking
(34:11) – Intuition, Judgment, and Algorithms
(39:33) – Improving Decision-Making with Structured Processes
(43:26) – Organizational Thinking and Dissent
(46:00) – Judgment Quality and Biases
(50:12) – Teaching Negotiation Through Understanding
(52:14) – Procedures That Elevate Group Thinking
(55:30) – Recording and Reviewing Decisions
(57:58) – The Concept of Noise in Decision-Making
(01:01:14) – Reducing Noise and Improving Accuracy
(01:04:09) – Replication Crisis and Changing Beliefs
(01:08:21) – Why Psychologists Overestimate Their Hypotheses
(01:12:20) – Closing Thoughts and Gratitude
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Newsletter - The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at fs.blog/newsletter
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Watch on YouTube: @tkppodcast
Photograph: Richard Saker/The Guardian
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1:13:52
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1:13:52
Les Schwab: Why Real Ownership Outperforms Experience, Capital, and Credentials (Outliers)
They weren’t employees. They were partners. Les Schwab didn’t build a company. He built a culture.
This episode reveals how one small-town tire dealer scaled to $3 billion by turning customers into evangelists and employees into owners. Somewhere between changing his first flat tire and opening his 410th Les Schwab Tire Center, Les discovered something profound: his people weren't just working for him, they were working with him. They weren't building his dream, they were building their own. This episode is a case study on how strategy, incentives, and trust create massive advantages that resources can’t buy. When investment bankers offered Schwab billions to sell his empire, he refused after asking himself just one question: “What would I do with the money?”
Les Schwab understood something most never learn: the real wealth isn't in what you keep.
Approximate timestamps: Subject to variation due to dynamically inserted ads: (01:49) Roots (11:21) In Business (27:50) Building an Empire (40:18) Maturation and Legacy (48:21) Reflections from Les Schwab (51:22) Lessons from Les Schwab
This episode is for informational purposes only and is based on Pride in Performance: Keep It Going by Les Schwab
Thanks to Basecamp for sponsoring this episode: basecamp.com/knowledgeproject
Check out highlights from this book in our repository, and find key lessons from Schwab here: https://www.fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/outliers-les-schwab
Upgrade—If you want to hear my thoughts and reflections at the end of all episodes, join our membership: fs.blog/membership and get your own private feed.
Newsletter—The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at fs.blog/newsletter
Follow Shane on X at: x.com/ShaneAParrish
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1:00:42
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1:00:42
Harley Finkelstein: You Must Requalify for Your Role, Every Year
Shopify President Harley Finkelstein talks with Shane Parrish about treating every role in your life like a job you have to earn again each year.
Harley shares why stepping down as COO was his hardest choice, the family motto that guides his daughters, and what makes someone good at storytelling. They discuss AI's real advantage, the calendar system that keeps him accountable, and how he maintains high standards.
Approximate timestamps:
(00:02:10) Living With Unreasonably High Standards
(00:03:40) Generational Trauma and Family Relationships
(00:07:52) Growing Up With Adverse Circumstances
(00:14:42) Prioritizing In Life And Becoming World Class
(00:24:45) Requalifying For Your Job
(00:30:05) Mindset for Professional Growth and Success
(00:31:33) How To Find A Great Business Partner
(00:32:57) Switching From COO Of Shopify To President/Chief Storyteller
(00:40:34) How Storytelling Impacts Shopify
(00:42:00) How To Get Better At Storytelling
(00:46:13) Shopify And How Commerce Has Evolved
(00:49:27) Forced Entrepreneurship Vs Passion-Based Entrepreneurship
(00:51:34) Mentorship
(00:59:41) Overcoming Failure And Rejection
(01:02:46) Out Caring Is More Important Than IQ, EQ, Raw Talent
(01:06:07) Parenting And Teaching A Hardwork Ethic
(01:11:23) Teaching Resilience
Thanks to our sponsor for supporting this episode:
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Newsletter - The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at fs.blog/newsletter
Upgrade — If you want to hear my thoughts and reflections at the end of the episode, join our membership: fs.blog/membership and get your own private feed.
Watch on YouTube: @tkppodcast
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1:49:56
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1:49:56
Jimmy Pattison: Building a $16B Empire Without Connections, Capital, or Credentials (Outliers)
At 96 years old, Jimmy Pattison still runs his $16 billion empire personally.
He’s built it over 63 years without outside capital or a college degree. He owns 100% of car dealerships, billboards, radio stations—even Ripley’s Believe It or Not—with a philosophy of: "No partners, no shareholders, no relatives." This episode reveals the principles behind one of North America’s great private empires: how to build and compound a reputation, why the best deals happen in silence, and what a Japanese bicycle taught him about operational excellence. You’ll learn the hidden advantage of selling “souvenir editions” instead of newspapers, how he turned a ghost radio station into a ratings leader overnight, and why he once fired the entire bottom 10% of his staff—then took them out for steak.
Most people play for approval. Pattison plays for permanence through reputation, relentless clarity, and never mistaking flash for fundamentals.
This episode is for informational purposes only and is based on Jimmy: An Autobiography by Jim Pattison and Paul Grescoe.
Check out highlights from these books in our repository, and find key lessons from Pattison here—https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/outliers-jimmy-pattison/
Approximate timestamps: Subject to variation due to dynamically inserted ads: (01:10) Jimmy Pattison’s Billion-Dollar Playbook(03:24) The Debt That Built Character(05:41) Part 1: Foundations - The Boy Who Sold Seeds Door-To-Door(06:52) When Victory Becomes a Liability(08:46) The University of Used Cars(10:02) The Art of the Close(13:30) When Business Becomes Theater(15:22) The Price of Independence(16:36) The Pattern(17:44) Part 2: Starting to Build - Back to Zero(18:09) The Price of Independence(20:08) Bleeding Money(21:11) The Secret Weapon(22:11) The Main Street Disaster(23:09) Dead Air to Hot Air(24:33) The Ghost Station(25:40) The Conglomerate Dream(27:03) The Target(28:24) Cold Calling Wall Street(29:35) The Silent Hunt(30:49) The Takeover(31:36) Part 3: Neonex International - Perfect Timing, Wrong Direction(32:09) The Magic Money Machine(34:17) The Toast Order(35:06) The Forbidden Target(36:15) The Christmas Surprise(37:27) The Bluff(38:07) The Unraveling(39:07) The Education(40:27) Part 4: The Jim Pattison Group of Companies - Returning the Paintings(40:49) The Corporate Confession
(42:08) The New Operating System(44:01) The Dinner That Changed Everything(46:23) The Great Escape(47:31) The Boy and the Bicycle(49:07) The Quality Revolution(51:14) Part 5: The Empire Builder - Still at the Wheel(51:47) The New Playbook(54:17) The Grocery Gambit(55:13) The Media Monopoly(55:52) The Numbers Game(57:20) The Ultimate Lesson(59:15) Reflections and Lessons
Upgrade—If you want to hear my thoughts and reflections at the end of all episodes, join our membership: fs.blog/membership and get your own private feed.
Newsletter—The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at fs.blog/newsletter
Follow Shane on X at: x.com/ShaneAParrish
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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1:13:12
Indra Nooyi: Lessons from the Top of PepsiCo—and the Cost of Getting There
On her first day as CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi fired her general counsel. Then rehired him before dinner. It wasn’t a stunt. It was a signal.
She ran a $200 billion empire the same way she ran her life: with surgical precision, uncompromising standards, and an allergy to corporate theater. But here's what separates this conversation from every other CEO interview: she tells you what her massive ambition cost her and her family. What it means to carry the hopes of millions who look like you. What happens when a strategy you bet your career on starts to crumble. She reveals her private system for tracking 400 rising stars inside of a corporate giant and the advice Steve Jobs gave her that changed everything.
If you’ve ever felt the pull between ambition and identity, this one’s for you. Indra doesn’t just talk about power. She shows what it costs.
Approximate timestamps: Subject to variation due to dynamically inserted ads:
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Newsletter - The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at fs.blog/newsletter
Upgrade — If you want to hear my thoughts and reflections at the end of the episode, join our membership: fs.blog/membership and get your own private feed.
Watch on YouTube: @tkppodcast
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