How This Podcast Could Fail

Brené and Adam have a bracingly honest conversation about what could go wrong in their collaboration, and how to set new teams, partnerships, and friendships up for success. They discuss the science of avoiding failure and building alignment, and practical strategies for navigating differences—including their own clashing instincts around minimalism vs. maximalism and sarcasm vs. trashtalk. The episode closes with what each of them is listening to, watching, and reading right now.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ 0:00 - How Brené Inadvertently Launched Adam into Podcasting 2:57 - Interpreting Sarcasm 16:08 - How to Prevent Failure 28:57 - How Could This Partnership Could Go Wrong 38:42 - Learning From Differences 52:05 - How to Align Teams 1:02: - Closing Questions Show Notes Brené and Adam on What They Will Never Agree - Brené Brown and Adam Grant 2026 The Curiosity Shop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlUWQbVds0Q&t=1100s Unless You’re Oprah, ‘Be Yourself’ Is Terrible Advice - Adam Grant 2016 NYT Op-Ed https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/05/opinion/sunday/unless-youre-oprah-be-yourself-is-terrible-advice.html#:~:text=But%20for%20most%20people%2C%20%E2%80%9Cbe,that%20are%20better%20left%20unspoken. My response to Adam Grant’s New York Times Op/ED: Unless You’re Oprah, ‘Be Yourself’ Is Terrible Advice - Brené Brown 2016 LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-response-adam-grants-new-york-times-oped-unless-youre-bren%C3%A9-brown/ How to Love Criticism - Adam Grant 2018 WorkLife with Adam Grant https://youtu.be/Wh1zhRck-Wg?si=vOmdxqBEW8uJiuMr Adam Grant on The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know - Brené Brown and Adam Grant 2021 Dare To Lead Podcast https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-adam-grant-on-the-power-of-knowing-what-you-dont-know/ Brené Brown on What Vulnerability Isn’t - Adam Grant and Brené Brown 2023 Re: Thinking Ted Audio Collective https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXVhDSBiZCI Hypervigilance in Mary Poppins (1964) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysH9kE4t44c The art and science of trash talk with Rafi Kohan - Adam Grant 2024 Work Life With Adam Grant https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-art-and-science-of-trash-talk-with-rafi-kohan/id1346314086?i=1000663694095 Performing a Project Premortem - Gary Klein 2007 HBR https://hbr.org/2007/09/performing-a-project-premortem Evaluating the Effectiveness of the PreMortem Technique on Plan Confidence - Veinot, Klein, & Wiggins 2010 ISCRAM Conference researchgate.net/profile/Gary-Klein-3/publication/266485127_Evaluating_the_Effectiveness_of_the_PreMortem_Technique_on_Plan_Confidence/links/565512f708ae1ef929770299/Evaluating-the-Effectiveness-of-the-PreMortem-Technique-on-Plan-Confidence.pdf The Economics of Gender Differences in Employment Outcomes in Academia - Donna Ginther 2006 National Library of Medicine https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK23781/ Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System - Donnella Meadows 1999 The Donella Meadows Project Academy for Systems Change https://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/ Narcissists: Are We Surrounded? On Science Vs: - Wendy Zukerman 2024 Science VS Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/narcissists-are-we-surrounded/id1051557000?i=1000680950451 Human Raised: Nurturing Connection, Curiosity, & Lifelong Learning in the Age - Dana Suskind, MD 2026 Book https://www.amazon.com/Human-Raised-Nurturing-Connection-Curiosity/dp/B0GFZTD3N9 The Killing Stones A Detective Jimmy Perez Novel - Ann Cleeves 2025 Book https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-killing-stones-a-detective-jimmy-perez-novel-ann-cleeves/cd200d2a924b63e8?ean=9781250357281&next=t