Speaker 2: 0:00

Say it again All you have in this life is this podcast. It'll never leave you, it'll never forsake you, it'll never do you wrong. It'll just be here for you Like a solid foundation, just to return to you whenever you want to feel at home, whenever you want to look at Clarkie boy, he'll be here for you.

Speaker 1: 0:22

You know what I want to return to? I want to go, I want to, I want to go, I want to, I want to go back. I want to go back in time to the time when Taco Bell uh, the primary colors were pastel, blue and purple and white. Yeah, I want to live there, I want to stay there and I never want to leave that era. There's no blu-ray, there's only dvd, and they're dirt cheap. There's no netflix, there's blockbuster. Yeah, there's movie gallery they're so nice there's no Bitcoin or stupid.

Speaker 1: 1:07

I'm not even going to call it artificial intelligence, because it's not, and I'm sick and tired of us calling it that Because we're so freaking pathetic as a species we can't even invent real AI. We create freaking chatbot girlfriends that code up the worst secured programs on the planet. No, I want to go back. I want to go back to Taco Bell. I want the walls to be pastel, blue, purple and white. I want a Chalupa. I want a Crunchwrap Supreme, and it's only going to cost me 99 cents. Now, each of those things individually is 99 cents, but guess what? For $7, I'm not going to eat for a week. I want to go back.

Speaker 2: 1:54

You're not going to want to eat for a week.

Speaker 1: 1:56

I'm not going to want to eat for a week. That's the satisfaction of it all.

Speaker 2: 2:01

Satisfaction is a bold word for Taco Bell. Satisfaction is a bold word for Taco Bell. I can tell. I can tell you're going through something right now. I think.

Speaker 1: 2:11

I should just let you, let you go.

Speaker 1: 2:14

Do you ever think about the fact that, literally you know five, 10 years before we started work, you could literally get by in your day just by like putting some numbers in a spreadsheet and hitting save and then taking that spreadsheet, and like putting it on a disc and then putting that disc in someone else's computer and you've done your job. But, like now, everything we do is instantaneous. Oh, that spreadsheet's in OneDrive. It's not syncing. It's not syncing. It's not syncing. I needed this five seconds ago. Why isn't it syncing? Where's your number? Why isn't it there? Oh, it's in the other OneDrive.

Speaker 2: 2:53

It's in the other spreadsheet, it's over there, that's not the one you sent me.

Speaker 1: 2:57

That's not the one everyone has access to.

Speaker 2: 2:59

I know it's crazy that we have this awesome version control and all of us can work collaboratively on the same document, but you didn't save v12 underscore final and you were supposed to say v12 underscore final. Why didn't you save it?

Speaker 1: 3:13

Oh, oh. I'm looking at the version. History Turns out I did put the numbers in there. You dingbat, Someone deleted it. Oh, why do they have access to this? They're not even in our organization. What are they doing in here? Why are they doing this? Why am I having to do that? Why am I having to perform forensic detective work on a budget spreadsheet I didn't know? You worked at a fine. I want to go back to Taco Bell. I want the walls to be pink and blue and white pastel.

Speaker 2: 3:49

You know what I miss? When the dollar menu was a dollar and also when you could play Super Mario Sunshine in your local McDonald's.

Speaker 1: 3:57

Remember those days. I remember the days when you could play Super Mario 64 in the McDonald's they have the little controllers and the little bungee thing. You just they had it all taped together. Yeah, they actually got a good plastic bubble.

Speaker 2: 4:13

Like you got a toy in your kid's mill and it was good yeah it was good.

Speaker 1: 4:17

So so you know people listening will. They will say they'll be like, oh, y'all are just nostalgic. No, there's actually a word for this and it's true, and it's real, it's happening, unfortunately it's. It's a word that's not safe for little ears, so if you're under 18, please stop listening, okay, thanks. Uh, it's called inshittification and it's a real thing and it it's happening everywhere, to everything, all around us, all at once, at every moment of the day. Literally everything has been in shitified and has gotten worse. Isn't that great? And it costs more money too. And for some reason I'm supposed to be happy and satisfied and thrilled with my existence, knowing that tomorrow is going to be shittier than today. Isn't that fantastic. Isn't this a great path that we're on? Clark?

Speaker 2: 5:14

I'm worried about you.

Speaker 1: 5:16

You should be worried about the planet. We are on a roller coaster to a point where, five years from now, like literally, you're just going to be watching AI slop and that's going to be your entertainment. It's going to be trying to figure out. Not, you're not going to be watching reruns of the Office. You're going to be watching what AI thinks the Office is and it's going to be like hi, I'm Jim, I'm Pem. Oh, let's mix our faces together.

Speaker 1: 5:40

Hmm, this is what you're, this is what we're careening towards, because we can't pay people to be creative anymore. We let robots do it for us. We can't afford to go to Taco Bell because the freaking Crunchwrap Supreme costs $7. Now we can't have it both ways. Like everything can't be shitty and simultaneously expensive. It's not normal. It used to be. If you wanted the crap, you'd go to the dollar store and you knew you were getting crap, but it only cost a dollar. Now the crap costs $7. I could literally go to a nice restaurant and spend the same amount of money that I would spend at McDonald's if I got a meal for me and my spouse. We're careening towards it. Clark, third worldification of the life that I once knew and loved.

Speaker 2: 6:41

You know, I was thinking about that. The spreadsheet is just updating itself now.

Speaker 1: 6:45

Oh, I don't know why those cells have weird characters in them that aren't readable to humans. I didn't do it. If I look at the version history, no one did it. Apparently it just appeared there, but it's my problem to fix now. Everything sucks, everything sucks. Name me one thing that doesn't suck, and don't you dare say this podcast.

Speaker 2: 7:08

You know I was going to go right there. Don't you dare, hey, don't you dare say this podcast, craig does not suck.

Speaker 1: 7:18

You know I'm giving it. Craig is like the outlier in all of this A free utility that actively works and has continued to work for over. I mean, we've been on podcast mode for four or five years now and the fact that Craig still works I mean miracles do happen. Craig is proof of that.

Speaker 2: 7:44

But philosophically he's also not getting any better.

Speaker 1: 7:48

No he never will.

Speaker 2: 7:49

At any point he could shift into the enchitification curve.

Speaker 1: 7:54

That is exactly what I'm saying. That's exactly what I'm saying there is no hope of things getting better.

Speaker 2: 8:03

You know, I was going to say did insurification start since the dawn of time? But then I thought about it no, oh, it had to be incredible through the Industrial Revolution and everything like that. And then it's like when was the turning point? What was the turning point?

Speaker 1: 8:19

society that got us here. It's never been more clear than it is when you look at automobiles. That is the perfect curve of inshittification in real life, because you think about just think about the 1980s, right, like you think about the cars of the 80s those boxy designs, yeah, but those cars still run today Now, yes, the engines do wear out and yes, the parts do wear out, but it was not unfathomable. I remember my parents had a 1985 Honda Civic that they drove into the 2000s. Thing had like 200,000 miles on it. Good luck my 2007 Honda Civic. The engine melted at year 10. It straight up melted on the middle of the highway. I wasn't going 100 miles an hour, I was literally going 70. And I noticed the little heat index in my car. It's like, hey, your engine's overheating.

Speaker 2: 9:17

By the way.

Speaker 1: 9:20

I had to coast in neutral to get home and then it never started again because it actually melted. 2007 Honda Civic that was still good. That was still in the golden era of taco bell. Look at the cars today. Do you know how many times my 2024 honda crv has been recalled in the last year? Now, granted, some of this can be attributed to. Well, we've got better, we've got better analytics, we've got better insights, we've got better knowledge and all of these things. But is it a good car? Is this car gonna last me like that? That 1985 honda it was a honda accord. It lasted 20 years. Like I don't think it's going to, it's all going to die. And it costs me. Do you know how much more it costs for this stupid car than it costs for that Accord? It's real.

Speaker 2: 10:16

You can see it, I don't disagree with you.

Speaker 1: 10:18

Look at the airlines.

Speaker 2: 10:19

Yeah, airlines, prime example. Also my AC unit, which is just doing a job this time of year where we live. It literally is still my AC unit. It's the original one from the house. It was built in 84. So it's like an 84 unit and that thing is still pumping. I know many people who just got new units last year crapping out on them and every single time I call up old Hank. He doesn't have a website.

Speaker 1: 10:46

He gets cashed hank, he doesn't have a website.

Speaker 2: 10:47

He gets. No, he doesn't have a website, no website. I had to call him and he's like can I be there in 10 minutes? I'm like, yeah, absolutely, please you better no paperwork, nothing. He's like now I get the parts, yeah, just you know, pay me in cash. It's cool, and he just fixed it, went on his way. He's like keep that thing forever, like, we'll do, we'll do, we'll do. Mr Hank, that was my water heater.

Speaker 1: 11:11

I have a water heater from literally had it from the day the house was built, I think in 2000 and 2009,. My house was built, water heater just lasted. The problem was, is it's not energy efficient? So like it was to the point that it's like well, we should probably replace our water heater because it's not energy efficient at all. Things terrible for the environment, but these things they're like well, you know, your new one's only going to last five years. It's like well what's worse?

Speaker 1: 11:34

Having something that's energy efficient that lasts forever, or having to replace something every five years giant, freaking water heater you're going to throw away and add to the waste Like I can't find any single object that I'm surrounded by that hasn't been enshitified in some way, shape or form.

Speaker 2: 11:53

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 11:54

Fair. So yeah, I'm doing great. Welcome back to Corporate Strategy Podcast. It's going to be an email. I'm Bruce and I can't wait to talk about appreciation.

Speaker 2: 12:05

Who are you? Oh me, I'm Bruce, and I can't wait to talk about appreciation. Who are you? Oh me, I'm little old Clark.

Speaker 1: 12:09

Oh hey little old Clark. Little old Clark, who lived in a shoe, had so many children, didn't know what to do.

Speaker 2: 12:18

And I know him and you do too. Little old Clark that lived in a shoe. How are we not millionaires on this podcast? This is gold. You know what's not and should have bought this podcast and I stand by it.

Speaker 1: 12:36

I think the mere fact that we have managed to continue to do this for five years and set time aside in our week and we haven't I mean, we do use ai for the show notes, but who gives a crap? No one reads those things anyway like I would say, you know, it's a miracle that we've maintained and that we haven't like just gone I mean, if anything, the quality has only improved over time I would say the appreciation series is truly one of the pinnacles of research, reporting, investigative analysis on something, discussion.

Speaker 2: 13:11

The self-reflection on what we're doing in our current jobs, making the corporate world a better place. This is the opposite. This is it.

Speaker 1: 13:19

If you've listened to the last five episodes and you've practiced any of this, I promise you you have made your workplace a better place. I have done it and I have made my workplace a better place and people have noticed. They literally said, hey, thanks for asking, Thanks for doing this, Like if you're not doing it.

Speaker 2: 13:37

what are you doing Exactly? Why are you listening to this if you're not going to do any of it?

Speaker 1: 13:42

My call to action to our listeners is you know you are surrounded by and shitification. We all are, and we can't escape it. And then eventually we'll kill all of us. That's a guarantee. Maybe not in our lifetime, but certainly in the next hundred years. We are all absolutely screwed, but you can be part of the resistance. You can. You can stand up and say, no, I'm mad as hell, I'm not going to take it anymore, and you can put quality out there. You can do the human thing, do the human work, and do it with quality, and do it with a smile and know that you went down swinging and that's why I need therapy.

Speaker 2: 14:26

You know what I feel like. You don't feel appreciated by the world. I would love if people could show you a little appreciation, make you feel appreciated in this world. He's keeled over. He's crying, oh my gosh.

Speaker 1: 14:53

I can't compose myself right now.

Speaker 2: 14:58

I'm sweating, I'm crying at this point. I don't know what the liquids are, but they're going down my face. I shouldn't say this.

Speaker 1: 15:06

Who cares? Who listens to this podcast? I told someone today please say thank you to my teammate. You did not. You had to ask them. I did. I didn't ask them. I told them Say hey, they've done a lot for you. Tell them thank you in a public fashion, please. This is my, my mental state. Oh, my gosh.

Speaker 2: 15:33

Orange. That's terrible. Yeah, you're seeing. You're seeing red, aren't you?

Speaker 1: 15:38

I, I see everything. I see everything At all times. Knowledge is a curse and a burden listen, I've got my CAC score.

Speaker 2: 15:52

I've got my CAC score and it ain't pretty, but I'll tell you one thing. My boss did something really great this week. Really somebody on my team, my more senior manager, she did an awesome presentation to our chief technology officer, did an awesome presentation, crushed it, she crushed it. She even looked at me after she had this glow in her eyes. She's like I crushed that. I'm like hell, yeah, you crushed that. And my boss comes over and she's like, hey, that was really really great, you did an awesome job, thank you for doing that Left the room.

Speaker 2: 16:25

I was like this is appreciation in the workplace. And guess what? My employee no, no, she does not listen to the pod, but I will express my gratitude and my appreciation. But also, she's going on a seven day vacation, so she's leaving on a high. It's like listen, I just presented to the big boss, I crushed it. I got the recognition from to the big boss. I crushed it, I got the recognition from my boss's boss. Now I'm going on vacation.

Speaker 1: 16:50

How good of a finish right high the number of people going on a seven-day vacation in just my general vicinity in the next two weeks is unfathomable. Like just, you just added one more to the list, but it it is wild to me. No one is working in the next two weeks except for me.

Speaker 2: 17:06

It's that time of year. Obviously it's that time of year.

Speaker 1: 17:09

It's been that time of year since June. It can't always be that time of year. It cannot Summer. When does summer end?

Speaker 2: 17:21

I know when.

Speaker 1: 17:23

I know when summer ended.

Speaker 2: 17:24

It's when Taco Bell painted the walls ooh died yeah, you know what sounds great right now if you say a flavor of soda that's exactly what I was going to say, that is turquoise turquoise in color.

Speaker 1: 17:45

You can get it in an icy. Exactly what I was going to say that is, turquoise in color, you can get it in an Icy, and it used to cost 99 cents for a large. Oh, that's incredible. That's right, we're talking about Mountain Dew, baja Blast.

Speaker 2: 17:59

It was incredible.

Speaker 1: 18:02

It definitely made your liver blue, but it was incredible do you think this episode didn't just make the liver blue?

Speaker 2: 18:18

well, it's not due. In general, I mean, it's one of the side effects. You got to read the terms, you know I mean diabetes, is a positive outcome.

Speaker 1: 18:27

That's all you get. You're good, you're golden. A Pepsi product, no less Our favorite soda brand. On the Corporate Strategy Podcast. Yeah we love Pepsi here, did you not know?

Speaker 2: 18:40

No, no, I knew that. I just didn't know Baja Blast and Mountain Dew were a Pepsi brand.

Speaker 1: 18:44

This is good to know. Pepsico yeah, it's good to know.

Speaker 2: 18:46

Good to know. Do you think we're going to talk about anything important here or do you think this is just going to keep going in the direction it's going? Did you hear my clock? You took too long to answer and I didn't hear your clock. It was such a long, awkward pause. We think it's awkward for us. I'm looking at you. Imagine someone who doesn't have a visual.

Speaker 1: 19:16

They have no visual cue they're like did his mic drop out? And honestly, I wish it did the the yes, I think this pod is going somewhere. I think all of this is going somewhere. It's all adding up to something very important, believe it or not, something monumental. You might even say, I would say the finale of the Appreciation Series. This is it. It's all been leading up to this and I'm going to put our listeners on blast. Y'all did not respond to any of the call to actions we gave you last week not a single one, because we wanted to share this experience with you and you clearly don't want to share it back with us. So that's on you. Um, I think, clark, we soldier on and we talk about, we, we close, we wrap this sucker up, I agree, like a crunchwrap Supreme in that waxy paper.

Speaker 2: 20:03

you know what this guy. I want you to look at Gary Chapman in the eyes.

Speaker 1: 20:08

Clark is showing me a picture of the author of the book, gary Chapman, phd. And, yeah, paul White. Yeah, they, they definitely look like their names they absolutely do.

Speaker 2: 20:17

You know, when some people just look like their names, that's that like you look at that and you're like I could have called you gary, like if I've never met you or seen you in my whole entire life I'd be like gary, that's a gary do you know, what I've ever told you what I look like.

Speaker 1: 20:30

What do I look like to you? What would you call me? If I wasn't bruce, who would you call me?

Speaker 2: 20:33

oh, what would I give your name, chase?

Speaker 1: 20:41

chase my goodness, I can see it wow, believe it or not, and this is a weird phenomenon and we are going to move on. I I swear, but uh, believe it or not, I've gotten andrew more than my own name. Oh yeah, people call me andrew more than my real name and it wigs me out Like I've thought about. Should I just change my name to Andrew, because everyone calls me that and even when they know my name, my real name, they don't do it. It's bizarre. You know what you look like. I would love to call you Benji Benji.

Speaker 2: 21:16

I kind of like.

Speaker 1: 21:17

Benji hey Benji, what's going on? I could be a Benji, you could absolutely be a Benji. Now that?

Speaker 2: 21:23

you said Andrew I see it.

Speaker 1: 21:25

Yeah, isn't it tragic?

Speaker 2: 21:27

I might call you that on accident one time.

Speaker 1: 21:29

You probably will Like. We've known each other for literally half of our lives and you're going to be like oh, dang it. Oh, I meant Bruce, Andrew, how's it going. Oh shoot, you'll just become one of the many. That's it. That's your destiny.

Speaker 2: 21:46

Hey, I was going to say we should do actually. No, we should do the important stuff. I'm going to save this for the end. I wrote something down.

Speaker 1: 21:51

And I don't know if you remember.

Speaker 2: 21:53

But I wrote it down and we're going to talk about it at the end. Let's do it, but we have to jump into appreciation.

Speaker 1: 21:59

This is the finale.

Speaker 2: 22:00

We've gone through all five appreciation languages. We started with words of affirmation, stepped into quality time, went into act of service, handed each other tangible gifts, and then we touched Physical touch, but appropriate physical touch. We went through all of them. We talked about the do's, the don'ts, the things you should do to make people feel appreciated, but you know what we haven't done? We haven't answered the hard questions, Bruce.

Speaker 1: 22:27

The tough ones.

Speaker 2: 22:29

Oh, okay, and I'm ready to discuss, I'm ready to break them down together.

Speaker 1: 22:35

I didn't realize this was coming. Let's do it. Okay, I'm not. I'm scared, but let's go, it's going to be a little crazy.

Speaker 2: 22:42

I think we need to turn our spin on the appreciation languages. Oh, I'm ready, okay, okay. Question number one All right. You ready? Does it have to be personal to appreciate somebody? Do I have to have a personal connection with you Outside of work to appreciate you?

Speaker 1: 23:11

No, no, I'll even give an example Literally new employee I've been working with, come on, just doing absolute great work Making my life better, and I've already told them multiple times like thank you, I'm grateful for you, you're really just making my life better by the work you're doing. They're not on my team, they don't report to me, they're not even really part of my organization, but like I felt the need to reach out and tell them Do you know anything about this person outside of their name?

Speaker 1: 23:39

No, no, and they genuinely anything about this person outside of their name? No, no, and they genuine, like I feel like their reaction was genuine, like genuine appreciation of my appreciation of them.

Speaker 1: 23:48

Yeah, it's interesting, but I think I think what happened in that, that moment of connectivity, is, you know, I wanted to show them how much I appreciated what they were doing, because if someone did that to me it would make my life. They won't, but if they did it'd be great. I always try to live by, you know. I mean like it's, it's truly. I grew up in a very conservative Christian world and, uh, one thing that's always stuck with me is do unto others as you want to do to you.

Speaker 1: 24:16

And even as I've moved away from that upbringing, uh, stuck it sticks with me, it sticks in my craw, like I hope one day the energy I put out there will be done back to me, and not just for my own self-satisfaction and selfishness, but I truly think that's how you make the world a better place. So I see this person doing the work. I reach out to them, I tell them hey, thank you, like, truly, you are helping me and all of our peers by doing this. You didn't have to do this. It's really making a difference and an impact and I just want to say thank you, even though you know you're fairly new, but what that has done is it has created a personal relationship because we talked about it and now I feel like there's a comfort that wasn't there before.

Speaker 2: 24:56

Yeah, whether you call it good karma, goodwill, positive energy going on in the world, I agree with you. That is the energy that should be put down.

Speaker 1: 25:04

It doesn't need to start personal, but it will always be personal, yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:08

That's what I've been going back and forth in my head, because in the book they do mention you know, relationships are built upon relating to and with one another and to truly appreciate them. This is their quote. If you truly appreciate someone in a relationship, it must exist. If you don't have a relationship with them and you look at them as just a resource, you can't actually appreciate them. It flows from valuing the person. If you don't value them or their work, getting to know them as a person can help change that.

Speaker 1: 25:36

I don't think I've agreed with anything in that book more than I agree with that statement.

Speaker 2: 25:40

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 25:41

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:43

I agree, I'm with you.

Speaker 1: 25:44

I think far too often we look at people. We even call them resources, right like you do. That's hiring a resource yeah, like we can't look at people like they're machines, we have to look at them like they're people. The fact that someone shows up to work to do their job is a gift, in my opinion, and it truly is right. When someone does their job, I am thrilled. So I mean yeah, I love that. I wholeheartedly agree.

Speaker 2: 26:12

Yeah, it is interesting. You know, as I think back, I've been reflecting a lot lately with this book. Just going through it, I'm like am I showing appreciation to my team in the way that they want to feel appreciated? How can I do better, similar to you, trying to give back and make sure I'm actually doing the things that we talk about? And I was torn. I was like, but I can appreciate someone and not know anything about them.

Speaker 2: 26:34

But, to your point, like every single example that I found, I looked at people. I looked at them across the room, I looked at them at work. I'm working with you for six months. I've been working with you for six years. I've been working with you since the day I started. And who do I actually appreciate?

Speaker 2: 26:48

And I noticed the trend of the people I actually appreciate. I know stuff about them personally, because I think, as we talked about in our last episode, it's only human to kind of go to that next level. And once you connect at that next level, then you really start to appreciate and be able to relate to the other person and you're more willing to appreciate them as well. And so it was really interesting because at the beginning I was like there's no, it's not necessary. I don't even know anything about you and I can still appreciate you for the work that you're doing, but the more I thought about it I'm like no, I think you can start that way, like you said, but I think it always ends knowing a little bit about the other person. That helps.

Speaker 1: 27:24

You can't know anything about a person until you reach out to them.

Speaker 2: 27:32

Yep, absolutely All right. Another one for you, hard one, hard question. Number two Remote workers. How do you try and understand their appreciation language? How do we accommodate the remote worker? And maybe first, what do you think is their primary for remote workers? The top primary appreciation language.

Speaker 1: 27:55

I've been a remote employee for 10 years now and work for a completely remote company. You could absolutely do words of appreciation. Obviously, duh. It means more when it includes if you're going to thank someone and you're going to make a deal of it, you should probably include their manager, right? Because nothing feels better than getting an email that says, with my manager attached hey, Bruce, you really knocked that out of the park. Thank you, and the manager does not care. They don't care, but the person who the thanks is geared toward absolutely does. You can absolutely do quality time spent together. I literally do it with my team all the time. It's achievable, it's possible and I would encourage more of it than not doing it, Just doing like jam sessions, get on a team's call, work on something together or just, you know, chill. It's achievable.

Speaker 2: 29:00

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 29:01

Tangible gifts. We don't even like thatvable yeah, absolutely Tangible gifts. We don't even like that one, like, just don't do it. Physical touch Don't do it, you don't need to do it Not even possible really to do? Yeah, not even possible. And I mean, when you meet up for events and things, that's your opportunity to do the high five, the hug, the handshake, the hearty hello, whatever.

Speaker 2: 29:23

Yeah, I think that's. You know. It's interesting when you said that because actually they talk about, you know, I think, what they basically, with their surveys they figured out that most people in the workplace are words of affirmation. They want to feel appreciated by people telling them they're doing a good job.

Speaker 2: 29:40

But remote workers, and especially since remote work has grown, they've seen a shift in remote workers. Their primary appreciation language is shifting to quality time and that makes sense because you kind of feel isolated when you're working from home and so, to your point, like even hopping on a quick call with them and being like hey, by the way, you know, just wanted to say I really appreciate you. You know, doing what you did on the, on the slide deck, in the code, whatever it is, you know, I think they just appreciate you spending the time with them to do that more than the actual words themselves, which I thought was really interesting and true. You know it's cool when you just get someone to pop in and be like hey, you want to just talk for a few Like. That means a lot to the remote worker.

Speaker 1: 30:21

It really does. And acts of service was the one I forgot. And I think, if anything, acts of service is even easier to do in the remote world than it is in the physical. Yeah, because everything is already digitized. So, hey, I'm going to go grab this JIRA ticket and I literally did this, right Like I knew one of my peers. He's planning for a launch that's coming up in the next couple of weeks. I'm doing a launch in a month. So he had this ticket and we were talking about it during one of our scrums. He said I just don't know if I have time for this and I said, hey, buddy, I got you, give me that ticket, I'll do it. He's like thank you so much. That means so much to me. It's like, yeah, no, I got you, I know what to do, I know how to get this done. I just did it.

Speaker 2: 31:02

Just did it. That's incredible. I love it. You really are living the values. I live the values. I am digging it A positive place to work your corporate transformation.

Speaker 1: 31:16

Well, maybe I'm a positive person to work with. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say, uh, my little light has radiated to others, but I'm doing the best. I'm doing the best I can. It'll get there or it won't, but that's totally fine yeah, I know you gotta do I mean back to the call to action, the beginning of the episode. You've got to be the change you want to see in the world, because no one else is going to do it for you.

Speaker 2: 31:37

100 I'm right there with you.

Speaker 2: 31:39

All right hard point number three as a manager especially, I think this one's important.

Speaker 2: 31:49

If you're always that person that is out, you know, giving high fives, telling everyone they're great, unfortunately that diminishes the value to other people, because if I'm always going around high-fiving Bruce and telling everyone they're doing awesome and just spreading it with everybody, that primary appreciation language, even if it's words of affirmation for you, gets diminished unfortunately.

Speaker 2: 32:10

And so I think they talk a lot about. If you have someone who really leans into your appreciation language and they're doing it 24-7, it loses the value and often you lean into your secondary appreciation language instead as becoming the primary with that person, which actually that was a really interesting way to look at it, because it's like you've got a primary, you've got a secondary, and if the person who's trying to show you appreciation is always doing your primary, which in the beginning probably sounds great, over time you're like, okay, that one doesn't mean as much to me anymore because Bruce just always tells me I'm doing a good job. Now I want him to actually do something for me, like acts of service or help me with a task. Instead I throw up a counter.

Speaker 1: 32:50

I'm going to throw up a counter. Throw it up, I'm ready. If you thank someone for doing something that requires thanks, if you use an act of appreciation for them doing something that it requires appreciation but you don't do it consistently, that can actually cause mental strain because they're gonna be like why didn't, why didn't br Bruce appreciate this thing that I did when?

Speaker 1: 33:21

I worked so much harder on this than this. I try and go out of my way to be consistent. So, like I have my standard and if I mean maybe I am over rotating on you know words of appreciation or or quality time or you know acts of service, but I would rather be consistent and not have someone have like mental anguish over well, why, what did I do differently this time? That wasn't praiseworthy, because I see it happen, right, it happens with me, like someone will thank me for the most stupid, asinine thing, like why did I get a shout out for that? But it's like I'm. I'm literally busting my hump over here trying to do this monumental thing. Like why did I get a shout out for that? But it's like I'm literally busting my hump over here trying to do this monumental thing I got crickets.

Speaker 1: 34:08

That wears on me. That really wears on me. Because then I'm like why even try? Right? Like, if they're not going to notice the work, why try? And I think that's a worse position to be in than to be like yeah, I am the best, keep it up. I think I agree with you on that. It's a worse position to be in than to be like yeah, I am the best, keep it up.

Speaker 2: 34:24

I think I agree with you on that. That's a really good counterpoint. And I think the span of time that you work with somebody like that almost becomes a worse problem because like then they kind of expect a level of quality or production from you and as life goes or things taper or you're not working as as important things as you were prior, then I think you feel less appreciated because you're like wait, but I was like doing so good and now I don't get those thanks or praises as much and people aren't as impressed with the work I'm doing and like that does wear on you emotionally and psychologically to be like am I just like off my game, when in reality it's probably for a lot of things that are outside your control. So I think to your point, like it's probably better to be consistent, as long as the work is actually good and you appreciate it, to show to the other person.

Speaker 1: 35:15

Well, you can, you can use it as a feedback mechanism in a way, right, like, why didn't Bruce thank me for this thing that I did? I must not have done. Well, maybe I should have a conversation about that. And and you know, there's obviously an opportunity for me to have a conversation with that person and say, hey, just noticed, on that last thing you did, there's a little bit of drop in quality and the overall tone. Let's see if we can, you know, focus on it. But, like, when they get it back to where it needs to be, you better believe I'm thanking them again. So they know like, oh, okay, I'm back in the groove, I'm back in the swing. Like, you can use it as a device, like a check-in device.

Speaker 1: 35:49

I think this is not the point of appreciation, but I think, like the feedback engine sucks in most corporate places and appreciation is a form of feedback in a way, because it's basically saying you did good.

Speaker 2: 36:02

Thank you Absolutely. I think consistency is the way to do it. I think you're right, like I'd rather someone be consistent in sharing praise, even if the level or the importance of the work is less. You shouldn't just be like oh yeah, bruce always crushes, I'm not like I'm not going to say thanks again. It's like no, you should still say thanks because Bruce is doing a great job and you know, getting rid of that will make someone have self-doubt and feel like their work is diminished or feel like they're missing the mark, when in reality you're just like no, I've done all the time. I don't want to overuse it.

Speaker 1: 36:34

I think consistency is way better than the opposite.

Speaker 2: 36:36

I'm with you, I agree. All right, I've got two more hard ones for you.

Speaker 1: 36:41

All right.

Speaker 2: 36:42

Are you ready? I am. Are appreciation languages heavily skewed based on type of job or compensation, like once you hit a certain compensation mark or you work in a certain maybe like C-suite level or a certain type of job?

Speaker 1: 37:02

Yes, I've been. I was told yeah, I was told like as soon as you get to management you kiss appreciation, goodbye.

Speaker 2: 37:10

Yeah. And you're focused on your teams.

Speaker 1: 37:13

Yeah, and that's been true for me. It's been very true for me, and it's probably had a resulting impact on why we started the podcast the way we did. Uh, you know well.

Speaker 2: 37:27

it is interesting too because you think about fulfillment from the work. We spent a lot of time working like you shouldn't work and do something that fulfills you. And as you go into management, your individual contributions and the praise you used to receive and the appreciation you used to receive kind of has to go away, and you have to. You have to get the fulfillment from your team doing a good job, regardless of the appreciation you're receiving. It's like your team getting that recognition is actually more important than you getting the recognition because it shows you're a good leader, and someone kind of coached me on that as I was kind of going through that transition. But, to your point, like I did go through that chasm of you know probably took maybe a year and a half two years to like really try to feel good about that and like I am so proud of my team that fulfills me instead of someone coming and telling me that I'm doing incredible work.

Speaker 1: 38:18

Okay, counter me, that's garbage and and you know what. That's probably why so many upper execs suck, because they've given up on receiving any kind of feedback, both positive and negative, that they're in their headspace of oh, my team, my team's doing great, I'm doing great. No, no, you know what? Like, just think about this. Thought experiment time, right, not you. Think about your boss's, boss's, boss.

Speaker 1: 38:52

If they had the appreciation framework set up where, when they executed really well on something that you know, they're the people underneath them, hey, bosses, bosses, boss. Thanks Thanks so much for running this project. Like, I feel like your leadership really helped us get it there. You did a great job. If they didn't get that and they were used to it, that's an immediate indicator of like, hey, you're not leading the way you need to lead. But because we don't give it, positively or negatively, they get nothing and what ends up happening is they start getting this like megalom, megalomaniac. Well, if I'm, if I'm judged on my team's performance, my team is always doing good, so I must be good as well. Like, that's such a bad way to think about things and I've never thought about that until you said it right now, because I've been fed the same slop, the exact same slop Like this just creates a sort of a narcissistic feedback loop in our head where we assume we're doing good because our team's doing good.

Speaker 1: 39:50

That could absolutely not be true. And many times it's not.

Speaker 2: 39:56

Yeah, that's a really good point and I think you mentioned something too and you kind of said it. But just to maybe say it another way, I think you mentioned something too and you kind of said it, but just to maybe say it another way, I think it goes up and down, like, as you're talking to your leader, you have to be willing to share that feedback. I had a mid-year review recently and at the end of it I was like hey, I just want to say thank you so much for the feedback. You know positive and negative. You know I understand the things I need to work on. I understand how I'm going to keep on progressing and I just wanted to say thank you for your leadership.

Speaker 2: 40:23

You know the hard conversations that we do have helped me become better and I appreciate your leadership and guidance through this and I know that means a lot to them. But I think they're so. I think it was unexpected, because they just don't expect it. Like it's so out of the blue when that happens, because they're so used to just like drive, drive, drive team does the work. I don't need appreciation, I'm the boss and like I think it. It just caught them off guard because they're like wait, thank you, like that was actually really really cool, like we had a very human moment. So it's interesting, interesting perspective on that and if?

Speaker 1: 40:53

if that person got used to being thanked and then suddenly stopped getting thanked and they weren't getting thanked, they'd probably be like what's going on? Like I probably need to check in and see, like, am I not doing everything I need to be doing for my team to make sure that they're feeling that I'm giving them what they need?

Speaker 2: 41:10

Absolutely, I agree with you.

Speaker 1: 41:12

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 41:13

I think they get blind, especially when you're at the top and you have no one giving you that feedback ever. I think it changes how you are and how you look at the work and the work your team's doing and appreciation in general where you might not, you might not even appreciate others, because you never get it either.

Speaker 1: 41:30

Yep, I think that's. I think that's a big part of the problem, right? Like? Ceos are based on company performance, not employee performance, and they get big bonuses when the company performs well. So they're they're motivated to not play nicely with the employee, which creates a culture of I got to get mine and I don't care about anything else as long as I'm getting my number. Yeah, that's it, that's all that matters.

Speaker 2: 41:55

Everybody's just resources. We're not resources, we're people resources, we're resource planning. All we got to do is hit our number Human.

Speaker 1: 42:03

We're people, we're resources, we're resource planning. All we got to do is hit our number. Human resources, human freaking resources yeah.

Speaker 2: 42:13

Honestly, it's so messed up that that's the name of the department.

Speaker 1: 42:19

I didn't realize we were humans. I needed you to tell me that I forgot. I thought we were cogs in a machine. I'm so glad you reminded me that we're humans. Let's get to the next one.

Speaker 2: 42:30

All right, we got to do one last one, one last big one. What if you actually don't appreciate your team members? What do you do? You don't appreciate your team members we're supposed to show appreciation, bruce, that's I don't appreciate that that's a coaching opportunity, right?

Speaker 1: 42:53

I mean, that's that's more reflection on you than them. Again, like I, I feel like this this is the problem, right? Like this is a reflection on the team leader, not the team members. If you one, you hired them two, it's your job to coach them and shepherd them towards success. Find ways, give them feedback early, give it often If they're not doing something well, like maybe it's time for coaching. If they continue to do something well, maybe it's time for you know you're not a good fit for this role. Let's see if we can find you another fit in the company. If that's not a case, then it's time to say goodbye. But, like, if you're not appreciating them, then you're not doing the work to make sure they're successful, not the other way around.

Speaker 2: 43:37

You know, this is why I love having you as a podcast partner, because you're just so smart. That's exactly the first thing it says. It talks about this whole chapter and it basically says first step sort out your own issues. Spot on. It's like, yeah, you're probably doing something or looking at this wrong. You know you might be holding too high of expectations for your team, where they're actually doing really well, but you're not seeing what everybody else does around them and it's skewing your perspective because your ego is in the way or you think your work is of such higher quality opportunity management opportunity.

Speaker 2: 44:23

You should understand what they're working on and if you don't feel like they're meeting their objectives, you should be asking questions and trying to figure out hey, what are you working on? What priorities are getting in your way? Why is it taking so long to get this thing done? And they're like, oh shoot, I didn't realize you were doing 500 other things, like watering the plants every morning when you come to the office, so they aren't dead. I didn't realize you did that until they leave and all your plants are dead. You're like who was watering the plants?

Speaker 1: 44:46

I just, every day there's a creeping moment in my growing anxiety that I think about any single one of my teammates leaving in the process it would take to rehire for that role and to be able to do what they do and to onboard them and train them.

Speaker 1: 45:07

And every single day, my, my, my watch starts to warn me about my heart rate and I just I can't and it's, it's honestly, one of my biggest concerns. It's, it's why I'm in this state that the back to the inshinification right. Like you, you have to be able to appreciate what is good that you have in your life, because it is a fleeting resource, right? And if those people leave and I can't show them the kind of appreciation they need to keep them on, who's going to do that work? Cause I can't show them the kind of appreciation they need to keep them on, who's going to do that work? Because I can't do it, yeah, and that terrifies me Because I don't know if I have everything that I need that the company needs to show them the kind of appreciation they want to be appreciated for. Yeah, it's just an existential crisis I deal with it is.

Speaker 2: 46:06

But every, every day, you bring up such a valid point and like that's why anybody who says like well, I don't appreciate people around me, it's like they gotta you gotta look around, especially if you manage people and you don't appreciate people on your own team, that is a you problem. It's a you problem, it's not a them problem. You have to manage that. That is a you problem. It's a you problem. It's not a them problem.

Speaker 1: 46:23

You have to manage that. There are people that I work with that do their job terribly and I still appreciate them because I would rather they had their job than I did.

Speaker 2: 46:31

Yeah, agreed, it's like someone has to shovel the poop every day. Yeah, and yes, they do skid marks on every hallway.

Speaker 1: 46:40

they shovel. But you know, what's worse than skid marks Is turds on the ground, just big old, juicy, ripe turds.

Speaker 2: 46:50

Yep Steaming the office shitter that comes in and just on his last day he just poops. I'm saying he, I don't know that it was a he. We know it's a he.

Speaker 1: 47:01

Let's be real. He just had $17 of Cortina Supremes and he's come in with a vengeance. He didn't opt in for the fire sauce no, he's not living in 2007. He got the Diablo sauce, which is a one way ticket to diarrhea town right out of them, right in the middle of the hallway. It's like a proton pack from Ghostbusters. The positron wand is blasting. That hallway is never going to be the same shade again. It doesn't matter how many shovels you use, you can't paint over that.

Speaker 2: 47:38

You get grease on like a paver or on something, and now you're like well, the only way to solve this is more grease everywhere.

Speaker 1: 47:44

That's what he has to do.

Speaker 2: 47:46

He has to come in and finish the job. Finish the job. Acts of service. Acts of service.

Speaker 1: 47:54

You suddenly think to yourself wait a second, maybe I should appreciate. I should appreciate this individual For the service they're providing me. I didn't realize we needed this before, and now we do, and I should probably thank them for their service.

Speaker 2: 48:12

That's how you change your perspective, right there? Well, one last one. Okay, what if they irritate you for personality reasons? They talk too much, they laugh too much, they chew with their mouth open. What if you're just like, listen, their work's great, but, holy cow, they chew like a horse and you just can't stand being around them because they always got to chew like a horse. Can you still appreciate them? Can you look past? The personality issues.

Speaker 1: 48:51

Absolutely you can and in fact, like I'm not, this, this whole thing. You're not marrying the person, you're not even asking them out to bowl with you. This is an opportunity for you to build a small relationship to better the workplace make, make your life a little bit better, make their life a little bit better. And if they annoy the crap out of you, that's fine. Just deal with them. When you deal with them and then separate.

Speaker 1: 49:12

You don't need to spend your life with them, even if they're on your team, even if your team, your direct reports, annoy the ever-loving hell out of you. If they're doing a good job, show appreciation, set distance, be reasonable, right, like I'm not going to set hour-long one-on-ones every week or just spend a lot of time with this person. Just I'm gonna do 15 minutes, right, like I do what I need to do to get the job done and get checked in. And then I mean I think the biggest thing is you'll see this with like people who are actively on like opposite ends of the political spectrum. It's like I don't want to be in a room with this person because they are the opposite of me and we clash on everything. You can still find appreciation in what the value they bring to the company is and you can show them that and I'm not saying you have to go to Benihana with them on the corporate retreat. You can sit at the other side of the table, you can excuse yourself but like absolutely still appreciate that person.

Speaker 2: 50:08

I agree. Yeah, it's about. I think you have to look past some of those things, avoid some of the situations, but also create the constraints to not step into those things. If it's like political conversations they're always doing that you can just be like hey, if you don't mind. You know I really appreciate and value our workplace relationship. Some of our political views aren't always one-to-one, you know. I'd love if we could just talk about work, because I really love working with you and, like you, can, you can say it in a way that is still respectful and you're just setting a boundary.

Speaker 1: 50:41

You're drawing a line to say let's just not cross that line, it's not worth it, and I don't need to be expressing my political views and getting frustrated with you about something that we don't agree on because it's not relevant to the workplace and so I think if they respond with anything other than cooperation, like if there's an indignance, if there's insubordination then it's a time for you to consider like, okay, well, maybe I need to move this person to a different team, maybe we need to have an HR intervention here. But there are ways to deal with this problem beyond not showing appreciation for the work.

Speaker 2: 51:14

A hundred percent. And also, if you're managing your team, give them frameworks that they can use so you can avoid those annoying things. Like you have an hour long one-on-one to your point, constrain the time to say, hey, I got a short hour one-on-one, like, let's just keep it all business. Like you can do things like that or you know I've had a schedule.

Speaker 1: 51:37

Yeah, Create a schedule, create an agenda First, first part of one-on-one all about.

Speaker 2: 51:40

Yeah, I've had team members that vent the whole time and I give them frameworks. Now I'm like, hey, listen, my job is to help you through your hurdles and I love talking with you, but I also got a lot going on. So I need you to come with me with a clear problem, three recommendations of things we could do, or three solutions to solve your problem that you thought of, and then your recommendation, and then I can help coach you. You know, I can help, give you feedback and I can be really direct and we can progress rather than just venting the whole time. And I think people do appreciate that. I think some people will still want that quality time. So you have to be conscious of that, but still make it productive and draw those boundaries so you can, you know, be considerate of being able to appreciate them and not letting those personality traits, you know, override how you feel about them.

Speaker 1: 52:23

I think it's also worth mentioning you don't need to be everything to everyone, right? Maybe? Maybe they're looking for something in you that they can find in a coworker that is so much more suited. You guys can go. You guys can go have your weird Arby's meal and talk about your, your strange political beliefs, and you'll have a great time. It's going to be so much better than if I was there. Go enjoy yourself, right, like you can separate, segment and even offer. You know, oh yeah, that that you know who. You know who loves underwater skiing. Jeffrey loves it. You should talk to him about it.

Speaker 2: 52:59

Yeah, why don't all three of us go to lunch next week? And then, right when you're about to go to lunch, I say oh sorry guys, I gotta bow out, but you two, you two should still go and talk, or go facilitate the first conversation and then dip.

Speaker 1: 53:12

You won't ever need to go again. I guarantee you, jeffrey and jim and I, they're gonna get along just great.

Speaker 2: 53:17

I love it. Great tip. This has been a really fun series.

Speaker 1: 53:22

It has. I wait for the future, because we're never going to do something like this again.

Speaker 2: 53:26

Yeah, I know Right. I mean maybe maybe once every five years we surprise our listeners and actually do something that is consistent and goes on for more than an episode or two.

Speaker 1: 53:35

I mean, that'd be great. I would love to do that.

Speaker 2: 53:37

We'll see if they appreciate it. If they appreciate it, yeah sure.

Speaker 1: 53:41

If you don't no have. I haven't heard any words of appreciation I'm not getting any acts of service.

Speaker 2: 53:49

I say that. And then we got a message, a direct message, from somebody while we were having this discussion. So maybe they do appreciate us. They're trying to spend quality time with us maybe, maybe all right, let me leave you with this.

Speaker 2: 54:08

Okay, I think you left a great with it with. A great point is like one set the proper expectations for yourself. You can't be everything for everyone, like. You've got to be thoughtful. You have to be considerate of your time and how you show appreciation to others and do it where your head and your heart are in the right place. Don't just do it because you feel like you're obligated to. Like man, I hate this person but I'm going to go tell them how awesome they are because it will feel disingenuous.

Speaker 2: 54:35

So try to figure out what is their appreciation language. Don't ask them directly. Or maybe do ask them directly in a respectful manner. Observe what they do and what they do for others and how they kind of express appreciation, you know. Listen to their complaints and try to understand.

Speaker 2: 54:50

You know, if they keep on saying, well, nobody has time for me and I'm not getting the focus, attention to understand this, like maybe it's quality time that you need to lean into for this person, because then they'll feel more appreciated, and just explore how they're encouraged. Just ask them like hey, you know, I noticed after that meeting. You know you had a big smile on your face when we all kind of clapped for you at the end Is, you know, words of affirmation and you know, in a public setting is that really how you kind of feel, appreciated for doing great work, and you can ask those types of questions and then you can lean into that to help them. So this whole series has been great and I think you know, like you said, if we can carry this into our workplaces, not only will our teams and the people around us feel more appreciated, but hopefully we're making the corporate world a little bit of a better place.

Speaker 1: 55:32

I couldn't agree more. I think it's such a positive note to end this on because, if not for us, do it for you and you will feel better for it. Truly, I feel better when I do it and it's I. I'll even challenge you, clark, you know. You said you know if you absolutely hate the person, you don't have to go out of your way. I say, do I say if you hate the person but they did good work, let them know. Like, truly, I've done it.

Speaker 2: 56:02

it feels good, yeah, it feels good personality stuff aside, put your personal feelings aside. You can do it, evaluate the work and if it is truly good, if they helped you in some way, even though you hated every second of it, you should do it, I agree you should do it.

Speaker 1: 56:15

You should absolutely do it. Well, that's it, that's it. That's all we got. That's the last episode of corporate strategy. The podcast could have been an email time to burn this book. Season finale. Burn it. Hold on to that. Actually, you, you might need that for heat, uh, when the dark times come oh true, yeah, actually good point yeah yeah, that's good burning material.

Speaker 1: 56:38

So, yeah, use that. Uh, we're gonna have, we're gonna have to schedule. We have a guest episode that we're going to have to schedule. We have a guest episode that we need to schedule and get on the books in the future. So, if you're done with appreciation, you were done before we started. Guess what? We're getting back to regular corporate strategy. Podcast is going to be in an email very soon. If, for whatever reason, you're not in the Discord you should be you can do that by clicking on the show notes, going to the link tree in the bottom of the notes.

Speaker 1: 57:04

Join our Discord. It's free, it's safe, it's fun, it's easy, it's a good environment. The most amazing thing about it, if I can shout out like, yeah, we don't have the most active community ever, but we have no trolls. There's never been any like weird off color material that's come in there. It's a good group of people, so don't feel like you are joining a bunch of weirdos. It is all professionally minded people who just want to do better. Um, so shout outs to our discord. We have a store. You could buy a shirt on with our logo on it, if that that motivates you and we also. Uh, you could give us some money, because this, this is completely funded by me and, uh, if you want to, if you want to pay me for the podcast that I've run for the last God knows how many years, uh, you can do that. You can just click the buy us a coffee button and give me a dollar and that will offset the thousands that I've lost. I think that's, it is. Uh, anything else?

Speaker 2: 57:57

Clark. Uh, yeah, I've got two words for you that I wrote down and I hope you remember what they are.

Speaker 1: 58:06

Corn slash chickpea, oh no.

Speaker 2: 58:08

I wrote it down, oh no and I hope you remember, because I said I'd write it down. It's on my notepad, it's right in front of me. It says corn slash chickpea. No, you know what I think I know what it is I told you to write that down.

Speaker 1: 58:20

Should I tell you? Should I tell you no, I know why Do you remember? See, there was a moment during this pod when you could have said corn slash chickpea and I could have just smoothly transitioned into this. And now at the end, at the 59th minute, still, how do you?

Speaker 2: 58:43

even think of this.

Speaker 1: 58:44

I don't even remember why we were talking about this. It was after the last pod, right, it was after a pod.

Speaker 2: 58:52

It was during. I'm pretty sure. We had a brief discussion during the last one about corn or something, and then it turned into corn and chickpea.

Speaker 1: 59:03

Yeah, do you know, do you know?

Speaker 2: 59:12

You haven't even said anything. I'm crying. I'm crying. This was when we canceled the show clark, how often do you eat corn?

Speaker 1: 59:30

no, I actually love corn, maybe so, okay, you love corn once a month, once a month, have you noticed in, in, in the exit process, in the exit interview of that corn, in the exit process, in the exit interview of that corn, in the exit interview of the corn, that it makes a reappearance as if nothing had changed at all?

Speaker 2: 59:56

I try not to observe you, should I mean it's healthy.

Speaker 1: 1:00:00

It is healthy to examine the human waste to make sure you know your bowels are normal, your lower intestine is performing the way it should be. So I do recommend, as someone who suffers with IBS, to evaluate your exit. Fun fact about corn. Did you know the body can't digest the shell?

Speaker 2: 1:00:23

I don't know, just the shell.

Speaker 1: 1:00:26

They always tell me there's no nutrient value from corn.

Speaker 2: 1:00:30

I think that's a lie, though right, it is a lie, that is a lie.

Speaker 1: 1:00:33

In fact, the reason why you're seeing it in your waist is because the shell itself, the little husk of the kernel, cannot be digested. Interesting, but the inside is so, those little corn nuggets that show up in your waist. They're actually shit nuggets wrapped in corn.

Speaker 2: 1:00:53

What the hell Wild, wild.

Speaker 1: 1:00:59

Wild Mm-hmm Well.

Speaker 2: 1:01:02

I would say shitification is happening all around us.

Speaker 1: 1:01:07

And now it's happening all around us literally inside of us from start to finish. I mean, what a better way to think about just the way we're going than starting off as a beautiful piece of yellow, golden delicious corn and coming out the other side absolutely full of shit.

Speaker 2: 1:01:30

That's a way to end it right there. I think so.

Speaker 1: 1:01:33

Full circle. That's the final episode of Corporate Strategy y'all. I hope you really enjoyed this podcast. Just in general, I really enjoyed doing it with you, clark. It's been a great time. It's been a great run.

Speaker 2: 1:01:43

It's been a great run. We'll talk again at some point. Well, thank you, I appreciated that ending.

Speaker 1: 1:01:52

I needed that? Yeah, I think so. I think it's a good note to end it on. Hey, if you can't do anything, do yourself. I'm Bruce and I'm Clark and you're on mute. We'll see you next week. Eat some corn, chew it up.