Podcast
You Might Try This
Leadership is complicated, especially when you’re figuring it out in real time. You Might Try This is a weekly podcast for people who want to lead well without , burning out, selling out, or pretending they have it all figured out. Hosted by executive coaches Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan, the show brings decades of experience working with leaders at global brands like Nike, Google, Walmart, and Microsoft into honest, practical conversations about what leadership really looks like day to day. Each episode explores the messy, human side of work, from managing your first team and navigating power dynamics to building confidence, handling conflict, and staying grounded in high-pressure environments. Through real stories, proven frameworks, and thoughtful coaching, Stacey and Cade offer tools you can actually use, not just theories that sound good on paper. If you’re ambitious, thoughtful, and trying to grow your career while staying true to yourself, this show is for you. New episodes drop weekly. Listen wherever you get your podcasts and join the conversation on Instagram @YouMightTryThis.
- Episodes
- 27
- Releases
- Weekly
- Typical length
- 30 min
- On air since
- 2026
- Latest episode
- 2 months ago
Episodes
27 episodes, from the first
Season 1
-
1 min
You Might Try This - Trailer
Show notes
Coming soon... a new podcast—You Might Try This!
Leadership is complicated, especially when you’re figuring it out in real time.
You Might Try This is a weekly podcast for people who want to lead well without , burning out, selling out, or pretending they have it all figured out. Hosted by executive coaches Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan, the show brings decades of experience working with leaders at global brands like Nike, Google, Walmart, and Microsoft into honest, practical conversations about what leadership really looks like day to day.
Each episode explores the messy, human side of work, from managing your first team and navigating power dynamics to building confidence, handling conflict, and staying grounded in high-pressure environments. Through real stories, proven frameworks, and thoughtful coaching, Stacey and Cade offer tools you can actually use, not just theories that sound good on paper.
If you’re ambitious, thoughtful, and trying to grow your career while staying true to yourself, this show is for you.
New episodes drop weekly. Listen wherever you get your podcasts and join the conversation on Instagram @YouMightTryThis.
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30 min
The Promotion Deficit: Why becoming a boss feels more like a loss than a reward
Episode 2
Show notes
In this episode of You Might Try This, Cade Cowan and Stacey Philpot unpack the realities of stepping into leadership, especially the emotional and mental shifts that often come with a promotion. They explore why new leaders can feel isolated and overwhelmed, even when the role they worked hard for finally arrives. The conversation dives into the complex contrast of the excitement of moving up with the weight of added responsibility, changing relationships with former peers, and the pressure of managing expectations from all sides. Cade and Stacey also talk about the loneliness that can come with leadership and the trust gap that often appears when someone transitions from teammate to manager, offering insight into how organizations can better support people in these moments.
Takeaways
• Leadership can feel isolating, especially when responsibilities and expectations increase.
• Promotions often bring emotional challenges that aren’t always anticipated.
• Trust can shift when moving from peer to manager, requiring careful navigation.
• New managers must adjust how they see themselves and how they lead others.
• Effective leadership is rooted in helping others grow and make meaningful progress.Chapters
00:00 Introduction
1:27 The Isolation of leadership
6:34 Earning authority and building trust
11:59 The SCARF model
22:16 Founder mentality and relational leadership
25:56 What You Might Try
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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26 min
The Authenticity Paradox: Why "bringing your whole self to work" is a leadership disaster
Episode 1
Show notes
Welcome to You Might Try This!
In this episode, Cade Cowan and Stacey Philpot unpack what authenticity really looks like in leadership, challenging common assumptions about transparency and vulnerability. They discuss why authenticity must be intentional and selective, the role of boundaries in professional relationships, and how leaders can stay grounded in who they are while adapting to different responsibilities.
Takeaways:
• Authenticity is frequently mistaken for total transparency.
• Being “more authentic” does not automatically create stronger relationships.
• Authenticity should be shaped by context, audience, and role.
• Vulnerability can build connection, but it works best after trust and competence are established.
• Authentic leadership requires flexibility and a willingness to evolve.
• Strong professional relationships depend on clear, well-defined boundaries.Chapters
00:00 Introduction
1:09 Myth One: Authenticity is the same thing as transparency
8:31 Myth Two: The more authenticity, the better
11:32 Myth Three: Authenticity is all about staying true to your past self.
14:53 Creating boundaries
21:46 What You Might Try
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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35 min
The Logic Illusion: Why facts and ROI fail to win real commitment
Episode 3
Show notes
In this episode, Cade Cowan and Stacey Philpot talk about what influence really means in leadership and why it often matters more than having a title.
They explore the idea of leading beyond your role and how real influence comes from how you relate to people, not the authority you’re given. Stacey breaks down the difference between “pushing” influence versus “pulling” it, sharing why influence works best when you focus on understanding what others care about instead of trying to persuade or control them.
They also touch on common assumptions we make at work, like jumping to conclusions about people’s intentions, and how those habits can quietly undermine communication.
Takeaways:
• Lead the way you wish leadership showed up for you, not just the way it’s modeled around you.
• When you push, you might get compliance, but not real buy-in.
• Influence grows when you understand people’s goals, concerns, and circumstances.
• Most people are looking for fairness and a sense of give-and-take.
• Leading with grace can strengthen trust and working relationships.
• How well you listen directly affects how much influence you have.
• Good communication creates value instead of friction.Chapters
00:00 introduction
01:39 Leading without authority: influence vs persuasion
06:10 The fundamental attribution error and workplace misunderstandings
11:20 Push vs pull communication: why curiosity works better
15:00 Understanding people: purposes, concerns, and circumstances
20:40 Power dynamics at work: role, expertise, and relationships
31:45 What to try: practical influence strategies that work
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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32 min
The Trust Equation: Why social capital isn't a "vibe"—it's a calculated asset
Episode 4
Show notes
In this conversation, Stacey and Cade take a closer look at social capital and why trust sits at the center of it. They break down what trust really means in practice, introducing the trust equation and its core components: credibility, reliability, and intimacy. The discussion also examines how self-interest can either strengthen or undermine trust, depending on how it shows up in our actions and decisions.
Together, they explore how these dynamics play out in leadership and everyday relationships, from building influence to maintaining strong professional connections over time. The conversation offers thoughtful, practical insights into how trust is earned, how it can be damaged, and what it takes to intentionally build and sustain social capital in meaningful, lasting ways.
Takeaways:
• Trust is an asset that accumulates over time
• The trust equation breaks down trust into credibility, reliability, and intimacy
• Self-interest can undermine trustworthiness
• Effective leaders prioritize understanding others' needs
• Building trust requires a balance of generosity and reliabilityChapters
03:08 Understanding the trust equation
06:54 Credibility and leadership perception
11:05 Reliability and keeping commitments
13:47 Building connection and psychological safety
24:53 Givers, takers, and building social capital
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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28 min
The Delegation Bottleneck: Why your desire to "help" is secretly stalling your team
Episode 5
Show notes
Delegation is one of the most important leadership skills, and one of the hardest to master. In this episode of You Might Try This, executive coaches Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan unpack why delegation creates so much discomfort for managers and leaders, and how shifting from assigning tasks to delegating responsibility can transform your team, your leadership impact, and your workload.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
• Why delegation is about responsibility, not just tasks
• The emotional barriers that make delegation so difficult
• How poor delegation creates burnout and bottlenecks
• A three-part framework for delegating effectively
• How to launch work in a way that builds trust and ownership
• Why asking better questions leads to better outcomes
Chapters
03:09 Distinguishing tasks vs. responsibilities in delegation
06:00 Common fears leaders experience when delegating
10:52 Stacey’s three-part rubric for effective delegation
16:35 Asking questions to guide and support delegated work
24:34 Key takeaways: delegating as a process, not a one-off conversation
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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27 min
The Harmony Illusion: Why a nodding team is more dangerous than a resisting one
Episode 6
Show notes
When leaders encounter resistance, the instinct is often to push harder, explain more, or shut down the conversation entirely. But what if resistance is actually a sign of engagement and silent agreement is the real danger? In this episode, Stacey and Cade unpack why a nodding team can be more harmful than a resistant one, and how leaders can turn pushback into energy, insight, and momentum.
What You’ll Learn:
• Why resistance is a sign of engagement, not failure
• How stress responses like control and avoidance shape leadership behavior
• The hidden dangers of “artificial harmony” and passive agreement
• How to work effectively with skeptics, protectors, experts, and silent resisters
• Practical questions leaders can use to turn resistance into insight and buy-in
Chapters
00:00 Why every leader faces resistance
03:08 Your stress response is making it worse
05:09 Resistance vs. apathy (this changes everything)
09:58 The 4 types of people who push back
16:17 How to turn resistance into buy-in
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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24 min
The Expert Trap: How being the smartest person in the room can become your biggest liability
Episode 7
Show notes
In this episode of You Might Try This, hosts Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan explore a critical leadership shift many high performers never see coming: when the skills that earned you a promotion start holding you back.
They unpack the “expert trap”: how relying too heavily on your own expertise can turn you into a bottleneck, undermine your team’s confidence, and quietly derail your leadership trajectory. Through real-world examples and research-backed insights, Stacey and Cade explain why rewriting your team’s work, stepping in too fast, or role-modeling instead of coaching can erode trust, limit growth, and prevent future promotions.
This conversation dives into the identity shift required when moving from individual contributor to leader, the hidden costs of control, and why organizations promote leaders who build successors, not bottlenecks. You’ll also hear practical strategies for delegating without disengaging, coaching without rescuing, and creating real ownership across your team.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
• Why being an expert can quietly damage your leadership effectiveness
• How rewriting work and “saving” your team reduces capability and trust
• The difference between role modeling and coaching and why it matters
• How fear, control, and identity protectiveness show up in new leaders
• Practical ways to delegate, build successors, and scale your impactChapters
00:00 When your strengths start holding you back
01:15 The promotion shift no one explains
02:53 How experts become bottlenecks
09:16 The gap leaders don’t see (and why it matters)
12:05 Why you won’t get promoted without a successor
17:22 How to stop overworking and start leading
If you’re an emerging leader, newly promoted manager, or ambitious professional aiming for your next level, this episode will help you rethink how you create value and what to let go of to grow.
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28 min
The Feedback Friction: Why “constructive criticism” usually constructs a wall
Episode 8
Show notes
In this episode of You Might Try This, Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan explore why leaders avoid giving feedback. They break down the psychology behind feedback fear, including how negative feedback triggers a real pain response in the brain and threatens identity.
Challenging outdated methods like the feedback sandwich (also known as a sh*t sandwich), they introduce practical tools like the SBI (situation-behavior-impact) framework, an “adjective ban,” and feedforward strategies. The result: clearer, more constructive conversations that build trust, improve performance, and turn feedback into a powerful tool for leadership growth.
Takeaways
• Clear, direct feedback builds trust and supports growth
• Focusing on observable behavior instead of character judgments betters the feedback session
• Avoid the feedback sandwich and lead with clarity
• Use the SBI framework: situation, behavior, impact
• Shift the conversation toward future improvementChapters
1:01 – Why leaders avoid feedback
7:23 – Selfishness and moral contagion
10:57 – Neuroscience of negative feedback
17:44 – Fundamental attribution error
20:06 – Adjective ban and SBI model
25:03 – Three experiments to try
If you’re an emerging leader, newly promoted manager, or ambitious professional aiming for your next level, this episode will help you rethink how you create value and what to let go of to grow.
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34 min
The Good Soldier Trap: Why being dependable can become a liability with LaToya Jordan
Episode 9
Show notes
In this episode of You Might Try This, Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan welcome Executive Coach and She Leads and Succeeds host LaToya Jordan for a powerful conversation about the “good soldier” trap: the career pattern where being dependable, helpful, and highly capable can quietly limit long-term growth.
Together, they unpack how high-performing professionals, especially women, can become boxed in by their own excellence as executors, fixers, and problem-solvers. From “office housework” to low-visibility, high-effort tasks, the episode explores why saying yes too often can keep leaders stuck in support roles rather than strategic ones.
Takeaways
• Working harder can become the ceiling that limits career growth
• High-effort, low-visibility work often stalls advancement
• Saying yes to everything can reinforce the wrong professional brand
• Strategic visibility matters more than constant execution
• Ask questions before saying yes to new workChapters
00:00:00 – The hidden cost of saying yes
00:01:15 – When hard work stops working
00:02:24 – The good soldier trap
00:06:24 – Office housework & invisible labor
00:09:00 – Every yes is a tradeoff
00:11:53 – How to say no (without damage)
00:17:48 – From note-taker to thought partner
00:21:09 – Auditing your work & shifting perception
00:23:56 – What leaders really look for
00:28:13 – Experiments to change your trajectory
If you’ve ever wondered why hard work alone isn’t translating into advancement, this episode offers the language, frameworks, and courage to rethink what you say yes to.
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29 min
The Courage Tax: What you pay every time you delay the conversation that needs to happen
Episode 10
Show notes
Why do difficult conversations feel so much harder the longer we avoid them? In this episode, Stacey and Cade unpack the hidden “taxes” leaders pay when they delay hard conversations at work; from damaged relationships and declining performance to mental overload and unnecessary anxiety. They explore why silence often costs more than honesty. The conversation offers practical tools for leaders, including how to start difficult conversations, avoid climbing the ladder of inference, and use curiosity instead of judgment.
Takeaways
• Avoidance has real costs
• Silence is often misinterpreted
• The story in your head is usually worse than reality
• Start with observable facts, not assumptions
• Choose the right openingChapters
00:00 The Cost of Avoiding Difficult Conversations
01:11 The Conversation You’ve Been Putting Off
03:05 The Hidden “Taxes” of Avoidance
06:50 Why Leaders Avoid Giving Feedback
08:22 The Cognitive Load of Unspoken Issues
10:26 Why Difficult Conversations Feel Worse Than They Are
17:52 How to Start a Difficult Conversation
If you’re a leader struggling to bring up hard topics, this is the episode for you.
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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30 min
The Conflict Reflex: Why your default response to tension is working against you—and what to do instead.
Episode 11
Show notes
Why do we still avoid difficult conversations, even when we know the cost? In this episode, Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan explore the hidden reflexes driving conflict avoidance and escalation at work. Drawing on neuroscience and behavioral research, they explain how our brains interpret social conflict as physical pain, triggering automatic responses like silence or aggression. The discussion goes beyond awareness to offer practical ways to get “upstream” of these reactions by identifying what you’re protecting, whether it’s your relationships, self-image, or sense of control.
Takeaways
• Avoidance is often a reflex, not a choice
• Conflict activates a biological threat response
• Your default conflict style gets reinforced over time
• Your reflexes are protecting something within you
• How to get ahead of your reactionChapters
00:00 Understanding Your Conflict Reflex
01:16 Why Knowing Isn’t Enough to Change Behavior
03:01 The Science Behind Conflict Avoidance and Reaction
06:37 Silence vs. Escalation: Two Common Conflict Patterns
11:12 Identifying Your Triggers and Contextual Responses
16:48 What Your Reflex Is Protecting
22:04 A Practical Method to Interrupt Your Reflex
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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29 min
The Boss Equation: How to build the most important relationship in your career without losing your integrity
Episode 12
Show notes
Managing up can feel uncomfortable, but avoiding it can quietly stall your career. In this episode of You Might Try This, hosts Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan unpack why your relationship with your boss is the most important one at work. They explore the hidden risks of being “invisibly excellent” or overly agreeable, and why both approaches can limit your impact. Stacey and Cade reframe managing up as a mutual responsibility and share practical ways to build trust, increase visibility, and stay aligned.
If you’ve ever felt overlooked or misunderstood, this episode offers a more intentional path forward.
What You’ll Learn:
• Why managing up is essential for career growth
• What your boss actually needs from you (and why it matters)
• The risks of being “invisibly excellent” or overly agreeable
• How visibility and honesty build trust with your boss
• Simple ways to stay aligned and strengthen your working relationship
Chapters
00:00 Why managing up feels uncomfortable
03:19 The hidden cost of ignoring your boss relationship
05:03 Mutual dependence: what your boss needs from you
07:21 Transparency, trust, and the “no surprises” rule
10:10 Bringing judgment—not just information
12:11 The trap of over-compliance and becoming invisible
17:37 The risk of being “invisibly excellent”
21:11 Visibility vs. bragging: reframing self-advocacy
21:54 Practical experiments: boss audit, assumption check, alignment check
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
#leadership #careergrowth #management #workplacecommunication #professionaldevelopment #leadershipdevelopment #podcast
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31 min
The Pressure Decision: How to think clearly when the stakes are high and the clock is running
Episode 13
Show notes
When the pressure is on and the clock is ticking, most leaders don’t rise to the level of their best thinking, they fall back on instinct. In this episode of You Might Try This, Cade Cowan and Stacey Philpot break down what actually happens in high-stakes decision-making moments, and why even experienced leaders can make poor calls under pressure.
What You’ll Learn:
• why pressure causes even smart leaders to make worse decisions
• how your brain’s “system one” thinking takes over under stress
• the difference between one-way and two-way decisions and why it matters
• how to interrupt reactive thinking with simple, practical questions
• how to build a stronger “pattern library” for better decision-making over time
Chapters
00:00 How pressure impacts decision-making
04:49 System 1 vs. System 2 thinking
08:49 Stress, physiology, and leadership
13:21 One-way doors and two-way doors
18:13 Emotional pattern matching under pressure
22:23 Three tools for better decisions
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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34 min
The Silence Tax: Why psychological safety isn't soft—it's the operating system your team runs on
Episode 14
Show notes
Psychological safety shapes team performance more than talent alone. In this episode of You Might Try This, Stacey and Cade unpack the real meaning of psychological safety and why most organizations misunderstand it.
They discuss the hidden cost of silence in organizations, how leaders accidentally shut down dissent, and why “nice” teams often make worse decisions. Stacey and Cade also share practical leadership experiments for creating environments where people feel safe enough to challenge ideas, admit mistakes, and raise concerns before problems escalate.
What You’ll Learn:
• Why the highest-performing teams report more mistakes, not fewer
• The connection between psychological safety and decision quality
• How leaders unintentionally discourage honest feedback
• Why polite agreement can be more dangerous than open conflict
• The role dissent plays in stronger team performance
• Three practical ways to encourage more candid conversations at work
Chapters
00:00: Amy Edmondson and the origins of psychological safety
05:08: Why teams fail when people stop speaking up
09:07: The hidden cost of silence and fake agreement
13:48: Why dissent makes teams smarter
19:32: Leadership behaviors that destroy psychological safety
26:36: Three practical experiments to build safer, more honest teams
#WorkplaceCulture #leadership #Communication #workplacesafety
You Might Try This is a leadership podcast about learning how to lead without losing yourself along the way. Through research, coaching insights, and practical experiments, Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan help leaders navigate the real challenges of modern work.
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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33 min
The Slow Drain: The early signals of burnout that high performers miss every time
Episode 15
Show notes
Welcome back!
In this episode, Cade and Stacey explore the hidden burnout signals that leaders and high performers often miss until it’s too late. Drawing on the original research of psychologist Herbert Freudenberger and burnout expert Christina Maslach, they unpack why burnout is rarely about laziness or lack of commitment. In fact, the people most at risk are often the ones who care the most, work the hardest, and continue producing results long after they’ve started emotionally checking out.
Key Takeaways:
• Burnout was originally identified in highly committed, high-performing people, not disengaged employees
• Cynicism and loss of meaning usually appear long before exhaustion does
• High performers often hide burnout by increasing output and “pushing through”
• Small losses outside work (think exercise, friendships, reflection time, hobbies) can be early warning signs
• Leaders can spot burnout earlier by asking better questions about energy, momentum, and meaningChapters
00:00 The hidden cost of high-performer burnout
02:15 How burnout was first identified
04:21 The three stages of burnout leaders miss
07:34 Why high performers hide burnout so well
16:20 The early signals leaders should actually watch for
26:10 Practical experiments to catch burnout early
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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37 min
The Chemistry Problem: Why stress and burnout aren’t mindset problems
Episode 16
Show notes
Welcome back!
In today’s episode, Stacey and Cade speak with executive coach and performance expert Jenny Evans about why stress and burnout are not just mindset problems, but deeply rooted in biology and chemistry.
Jenny explains how chronic stress triggers automatic chemical responses in the body that reduce access to the prefrontal cortex, shifting decision-making toward reactive, survival-based thinking. The conversation explores why traditional advice like “manage your mindset” only addresses symptoms, not root causes.
Key takeaways:
• Stress is primarily a physiological and chemical process, not just a mindset issue
• Decision quality declines as energy depletes throughout the day
• Recovery, not just effort, determines sustained performance
• Small “microbursts” of movement, breath, or focus can rapidly reset energy levels
• Designing environments to support habits reduces reliance on willpowerChapters
00:00 Understanding Stress as a Chemistry Problem
06:25 Why High Performers Burn Out
12:22 The Impact of Decision Fatigue
17:17 Managing Energy Instead of Time
22:35 Simple Strategies for Energy Recovery
31:21 Building Long-Term Resilience as a Leader
To learn more about Jenny, visit her website: https://www.jennyevans.com/ and check out her book: The Resiliency Revolution.
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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31 min
The Authority Illusion: Why the leaders with the most influence often have the least formal power
Episode 17
Show notes
Many new leaders assume that a title automatically gives them power, but they quickly discover that authority alone can only take them so far. In today’s episode, Stacey and Cade explore the difference between compliance and commitment, drawing on classic leadership research and real-world examples. They discuss why title-based authority often erodes over time, how influence is built through trust and relationships, and the hidden “currencies” that help leaders gain buy-in without relying on hierarchy.
Key takeaways:
• Titles create compliance, but influence creates commitment
• Authority is a limited resource
• The most powerful forms of influence are earned over time through expertise, relationships, trust, and credibility
• Effective influence is based on understanding what others value
• Leadership success at higher levels depends less on formal authority and more on the ability to influence peers, partners, and stakeholders who do not report to youChapters
00:00 — Why Titles Don’t Create Real Leadership Power
05:50 — The Six Sources of Power at Work
10:12 — Why Title-Based Authority Has Limits
15:19 — The Five Currencies of Influence
20:19 — Building Trust Through Relationship and Personal Currency
24:05 — Three Ways to Increase Influence Without Authority
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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30 min
The Graceful Stumble: How to own what went wrong without letting it own you
Episode 18
Show notes
Leadership isn't about avoiding mistakes, it's about what happens after you make one. In today’s episode, Stacey and Cade explore why the moments after a leadership stumble can strengthen trust more than getting everything right the first time. Drawing on decades of research, they explain why leaders who own mistakes clearly, avoid defensiveness, and focus on what's next earn deeper credibility with their teams. You'll also learn the common traps leaders fall into after making mistakes and three practical exercises to help you recover well, build trust, and lead with greater confidence.
5 key takeaways
• Owning a mistake well can build more trust than never making a mistake at all.
• Leaders often undermine trust by either explaining away mistakes ("spin") or dwelling on them ("cratering").
• A strong recovery follows three steps: name the mistake, skip the excuses, and explain what you'll do differently next time.
• Addressing mistakes within 24 hours keeps small issues from becoming larger leadership problems.
• When leaders model accountability, they create psychological safety and encourage their teams to do the same.Chapters
00:00 Why leaders lose trust after mistakes
02:10 The service recovery paradox and leadership
06:50 Two common mistakes leaders make after a stumble
12:19 The three-step framework for owning a mistake
20:08 Why it's never too late to rebuild trust
22:51 Three leadership experiments to practice this week
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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48 min
The Learning Advantage: Pascal Finette on why learning speed is the only competitive edge that can't be copied
Episode 19
Show notes
Today on You Might Try This, Cade and Stacey speak with Pascal Finette, author of Outlearn, about how organizations can accelerate learning by lowering the cost of failure. Pascal explains why companies often prioritize appearing competent over actually learning. The conversation explores rapid experimentation, low-fidelity prototyping, and curiosity-driven leadership as tools for navigating uncertainty. They discuss practical methods like one-day tests, premortems, and AI-assisted feedback loops, showing how faster feedback leads to better decisions and more adaptive, resilient organizations overall growth.
Key Takeaways:
• Make failing cheap and fast to learn faster
• Fear of looking bad blocks more innovation than money or talent
• Ask "what worked?" instead of "what went wrong?"
• Most decisions are reversible, so don't overthink themChapters
00:00 Why Organizations Reward Competence Over Learning
06:27 The Core Idea of Outlearn: Lower the Cost of Failure
11:22 Fear, Failure, and Creating Learning Cultures
16:08 Lessons From Failure: What Did You Learn?
20:28 Navigating Uncertainty and Making Better Decisions
30:16 The Coat Hanger Principle and Rapid Experimentation
To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis
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