Squiggly Careers

Even if you're not changing jobs, your job is changing. In day two of this special five-part series, Helen and Aneesh Rahman explore the second C, courage, and why it's becoming one of the most important skills you can bring to work right now.

From Polynesian wayfarers to Apollo 13 to leaving a high-profile CNN career to become an unpaid intern on a presidential campaign, courage has always been at the heart of how humans do anything worth doing. The good news? You don't have to start with a giant leap.

🎯 What You'll Learn

– Why courage is necessary for curiosity (and why being told to be compliant at work has made courage harder than it should be)
– Why if you aren't failing, you aren't doing enough in this new world of work
– How micro courage compounds over time (and why small, uncomfortable actions build to bigger leaps)
– What companies and leaders need to do to create environments where courage is actually possible
– One thing you could do tomorrow that feels uncomfortable today

📚 Resources Mentioned

Open to Work - Aneesh Rahman and Ryan Roslansky
Email Helen and Sarah to share your moment of courage and get an accountability partner: [email protected]

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: [email protected]

Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/
2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/
3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod
4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if the future of work isn't less human...but more human? In this special episode, Helen kicks off a brand new five-part series borrowing brilliance from Open to Work, a brilliant new book by Aneesh Rahman, Chief Economic Opportunity Officer at LinkedIn, and former Obama speechwriter.

Over the next five days, Helen and Aneesh will explore the five human skills that matter most in the age of AI: curiosity, courage, creativity, compassion and communication. Today, they start with curiosity - and why it might be the most important career advantage you can build right now.

🎯 What You'll Learn

– Why AI raises the value of human skills rather than replacing them (and what that means for your career)
– What real curiosity looks like at work (hint: it's not just reading more, it's finding a thread and pulling on it)
– Why outsourcing your curiosity to AI creates cognitive debt, and what to do instead
– How to use AI as a starting point for building curiosity, not an ending point
– How to create more curiosity in your team through debate, discussion and the willingness to say "I don't know"

📚 Resources Mentioned

Open to Work - Aneesh Rahman and Ryan Roslansky

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: [email protected]
Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/
2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/
3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod
4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are you a fix-it-fast problem solver?

In this Squiggly Shortcut, Helen makes the case for slowing down before you jump to solutions.
🎯 What You'll Learn
– Why surface-level fixes create ping pong problems that just keep coming back
– How to use two simple questions "why is this a problem?" and "why is this an issue?" to get to the cause
– How to turn your answers into better, more targeted solutions rather than sticking plasters
– Why solving problems as a team (rather than solo) means people are more bought into what comes next

📚 Resources Mentioned
Squiggly Careers Skills Sprint Increasing Your Impact: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: [email protected]

Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/
2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/
3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod
4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you ever noticed how much more you get done in the week before a holiday?

In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from the goal gradient effect; the research-backed finding that the closer we are to a finish line, the harder and faster we push, and turn it into something genuinely practical for your career.

Sarah introduces Finish Line Fridays: a simple way to use the psychology of progress to build momentum towards goals that matter, one week at a time. Helen tests it live with her PhD as the goal, and together they explore whether you're more of a fresh start effect person or a finish line focus person, and why pairing the two might be useful.

🎯 What You'll Learn

– What the goal gradient effect is and why it explains so much about how we work (and why rats are involved)

– The difference between the fresh start effect and finish line focus (and which one you're more naturally wired for)

– How to run your own Finish Line Fridays: from picking your goal to setting your first action before you've even finished the current week

– Why knowing the "when" matters as much as the "what", and how to actually protect time in your diary

– How shared finish lines might be even more motivating than solo ones

📚 Resources Mentioned

Farnam Street, Goal Gradient Effect: https://fs.blog/goal-gradient-hypothesis/

Sketchplanations: https://sketchplanations.com/

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: [email protected]

Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/

2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/

3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod

4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever sent a reply you immediately regretted, or said something in the heat of the moment you wish you hadn't?

In this Squiggly Shortcut, Sarah makes the case for the 24 hour rule, and shares the research that backs up why waiting is almost always worth it.

🎯 What You'll Learn
– Why giving yourself 24 hours moves you beyond fight, flight or freeze (and why sleep is doing more work than you think)
– 3 things to do in that 24 hours while you're processing: name it to tame it, separate facts from feelings, and ask whether you'll still care about this in 12 months
– Why it's okay to say "I'll come back to you tomorrow" (and why people actually find it reassuring when leaders do this)
– What to do when you don't have 24 hours and an hour is the best you can get

📚 Resources Mentioned
Episode 364: How to improve your judgement: https://www.amazingif.com/listen/how-to-improve-your-judgement/

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: [email protected]

Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/
2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/
3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod
4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices