253. The Least Expected Skills of Successful People | Mauro Porcini

We overthink productivity skills. You might think you need different skills to lead at work than you do to stay consistent at the gym. But really, being more productive is just practicing the same skills in many different contexts. You cannot compartmentalize yourself. The way you build your habits needs to align and fit with all the worlds you play in.

Successful people have unexpected skills, not because they’re doing anything ridiculously creative - but because they’re sticking to the basics.

What are these skills, and how can they be applied in your own life or business?

Meet Mauro Porcini:

Mauro is the first-ever Chief Design Officer at PepsiCo and was formerly the first ever Chief Design Officer at 3M. He believes in human centricity in business and talks about how personal and professional habits and traits should mirror one another. His book, The Human Side of Innovation, reveals 24 overlooked skills that innovators strive towards.  He discusses his experiences at two of the world's largest corporations and how he introduced new methodologies to drive business growth and innovation.

What We Discussed:

(00:25) Who is Mauro Porcini?

(04:56) What makes great people, great? 

(13:12) Least expected traits of successful people

(17:09) Kindness fuels productivity

(23:26) The habit overlap

(30:00) Chasing false happiness

(34:12) The Schwarzenegger ethic

(39:31) Making your philosophies contagious

Episode Highlights:

• You probably never thought of it that way before, but kindness is a skill that makes you more productive. How does it help? Nobody wants to help jerks, but most people are happy to help kind people. When you’re someone who is kind, you build bridges, you bring people together, and you spread trust in teams. [16:48]
• Lack of kindness = invisible inefficiency. Where there is no kindness, there are bottlenecks, projects that go nowhere, deadlines that are inexplicably missed, frustration. Lack of kindness trickles down and big companies are oblivious to it. Organizations built on kindness are naturally more productive. [18:55]
• Arnold Schwarzenegger transitioned from bodybuilding, to acting, to politics - but really, he kept doing the same thing. He kept staying hungry and was consistently committed no matter what his goal was. He exemplified his father’s instruction “if you’re not useful, get out of the way”. [34:12]
• In the beginning, you need discipline for your habits but soon enough they become automatic behaviors. All you have to do is get through the front-loaded work. [46:23]

Resources Mentioned:

• The Human Side of Innovation: The Power of People in Love with People by Mauro Porcini
• Arnold Schwarzenegger Documentary
• Infinite Game Talk by Simon Sinek

Follow Mauro Porcini:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• In Your Shoes With Mauro Porcini

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