The Standing Apart Podcast

#23 - Corporate Values vs Company Culture: How to Make Values Real (and Hire for Them)

Most corporate values are written for outsiders: customers, candidates, procurement, the internet. But culture is what happens internally on a wet Tuesday when something goes wrong.
 
In Episode 23 of Standing Apart, Nigel Ridpath gets practical about the gap between corporate values and company culture, why values statements so often become “values theatre” and how to build values that actually guide behaviour. You’ll get a simple framework you can apply immediately, plus a structured way to hire for values so your culture gets reinforced rather than quietly undermined.
 
In this episode
The blunt distinction: values vs culture (culture is what you tolerate, reward and promote)
The credibility problem when values and culture don’t match
The “copy-paste test”: if your values could sit on a competitor’s website unchanged, they’re probably generic
The 5 elephant traps that kill values:
Values with no trade-offs
Values with no behavioural definition
No enforcement (the “brilliant jerk” problem)
Two-tier values (leaders play by different rules)
Drift (the business changes, the values don’t)
A 5-step framework to make values live:
Keep it small (4–5 values)
Write the trade-off: “We will do X even when it costs us Y.”
Define behaviours: 3 green flags and 3 red flags per value
Add a weekly ritual: “Where did we pay the price for our values this week?”
Decide consequences in advance (including for senior/high performers)
Hiring for values: three checks per value
Behavioural question (“Tell me about a time when…”)
Scenario question (with a real trade-off and time pressure)
Work sample (that forces the trade-off you care about)
Plus reference checks that ask what they did under stress
One Minute Rant: friction-by-QR-code and turning a flat white into a user journey
Superhero of the Week returns: what business can learn from clarity, speed and message discipline
A simple starting pointPick four or five values. Write the trade-off for each. Define three green flags and three red flags. Add one weekly ritual. Decide what happens when someone violates them.
 
If this episode helped, share it with someone who’s tired of values theatre. And if you want the show to grow: subscribe, leave a rating and hit like in your podcast app.
 
Nigel’s book, The Time Traveller’s Guide to Management, is available here. 

#22 - Values-Based Leadership: How to Make Tough Decisions (Paul Ingram, Columbia Business School)

Nigel Ridpath speaks with Paul Ingram, Kravis Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, about values-based leadership and how to turn values from vague aspirations into a practical tool for decision-making, hiring and organisational culture.
 
They explore why the exact word matters, how values show up under pressure, how a single “chief executive value” can resolve hard trade-offs and a simple coaching triads exercise you can use with your team.
 
In this episode:
How to define values so they’re usable, not just posters on the wall
Why language matters when you’re naming a value
Using a “chief executive value” to make tough trade-offs
Values in hiring and culture: what to look for and what to avoid
Where values come from: heritage, habit and what the research says
Paul’s book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-You-Really-Stand-Transform/dp/1647827655/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3G6Q2SD5O8F3B&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.53QBLZFG5Foosus-S8PU5wU5mLql9vCNL_aDS1kXrv0P_eLTLUh-7yNnQG_4F_XE_3pwUI0GrbRGDlrdpOyR_yRp32dy0TLicdICVUUcgFXBj0-eUCaT4DSPwTi1KvcVuKYrpf6Ty0xZIV_s9mmLVDwHDWeRS_bRTxP_fl3_TbmsIop5FC-y0KAQK4onxtpX5OoQZGmt16l26MvCf8p87qN8yW__QlwW1Btgrc_n_Q0.wgzXIfXzqXOXt1JAfxD3oVrq_06sXQgFQp2LqCMoTx0&dib_tag=se&keywords=paul+ingram&qid=1776155247&s=books&sprefix=paul+ingram%2Cstripbooks%2C389&sr=1-1
Nigel's book:
https://www.sunbearconsulting.biz/my-book

#21 - The Off Switch: How Tech Keeps Our Stress On

In this episode Nigel Ridpath sits down with entrepreneur and author Justin Hai to unravel a startling idea: stress isn’t new, but technology has stolen the off switch. Through vivid examples - from 80's TV to midnight binge culture - Justin traces how endless content and constant notifications have rewired our cortisol rhythm and left our bodies running on permanent alert.
As the conversation moves from biology to business, Justin explains how that insight became the blueprint for a science-first supplement company and a book meant to wake readers up. Intimate anecdotes, clinical evidence and a clear sense of urgency make this a story about more than individual burnout: it’s about how leaders and organisations can choose to slow down before our health and creativity unravel.
Justin's book: Stress Nation: Escape the Technology Trap, Eliminate Stress, and Reclaim Rest
Nigel's book: The Time Traveller's Guide to Management

#20 - The Little VenueThat Refused to Be Beaten: Chippy Theatre's Remarkable Story

Step off a pretty Cotswold lane and into a building that used to be a Salvation Army citadel - and now pulses with the kind of live theatre that makes a town rally around it. Nigel Ridpath sits down with John Terry, the long-time Artistic Director of Chipping Norton Theatre and untangles the unusual, heartwarming story of how a 200-seat venue turned eccentric vision, invention and a beloved pantomime into the lifeblood of its community.
Through tales of gin palaces and hay-bale promenade performances, behind-the-scenes scrapes and touring triumphs, this episode traces how creative risk, local ownership and stubborn character keep a theatre thriving when others fold. If you believe live performance still has the power to unite and surprise, come and listen to a story about courage, craft and the clever ways a small theatre pays the bills - one panto, one community cast and one brave new show at a time.
To buy The Time Traveller's Guide to Management, click here.

#19 - Machine-Led, Human-Assisted: The Dawn of Digital Labour Pt 2

Join Nigel Ridpath for the second half of a gripping conversation with Vala Afshar and Henry King, authors of Autonomous, as they trace the line between human and machine, and reveal how AI-first strategies can heal the blockages choking modern businesses.
Through vivid metaphors - cars without steering wheels, living organisms and clogged arteries - and hard-won examples from companies deploying hundreds of agents, the trio argue that survival won’t come from small efficiency gains but from bold reimagining. Listeners will hear practical onboarding realities, the moral of identifying waste and why autonomy, connection and mastery will define the fittest organisations in an AI-driven world.
Whether you lead a Fortune 500 boardroom or are a young professional plotting a career, this episode challenges you to rethink work, embrace beginner’s curiosity and prepare for an era where digital labour turns companies into living systems.
 
Click here to buy Autonomous: https://amzn.to/3LjGXBd
Click here to buy Boundless: https://amzn.to/4qDcgHl
 
For more details about my book, The Time Traveller's Guide to Management, click here: https://www.sunbearconsulting.biz/my-book 
 

#18 - Machine-Led, Human-Assisted: The Dawn of Digital Labour Pt 1

Join Nigel Ridpath as he sits down with Salesforce evangelist, Vala Afshar, and his colleague, Henry King, to tell a story of transformation: how two thinkers traced a path from centuries-old silos to a future where AI is not just a tool but a colleague. Through vivid examples and personal histories - from refugee beginnings and engineering cubicles to CIOs and innovation labs - they reveal why the next wave of technology demands we rethink how organisations share resources, measure success and design relationships.
In this episode you’ll hear the urgent case for ‘‘Autonomous’’ strategies: the rise of generative and agentic AI, the leap from assistance to agency and the recipe-forgetting moment that forces leaders to learn by first principles. It’s a concise, story-driven conversation that makes a big, optimistic claim - this is electricity for the 21st century - and leaves you primed for part two.
Click here to buy Autonomous: https://amzn.to/3LjGXBd
Click here to buy Boundless: https://amzn.to/4qDcgHl
 
For more details about my book, The Time Traveller's Guide to Management, click here: https://www.sunbearconsulting.biz/my-book 

#17 - Flip the Odds: How to Hack Probability and Achieve Bigger Goals

Step into a conversation that treats ambition like a puzzle you can actually solve. In this episode Nigel Ridpath sits down with Kyle Austin Young, a strategist who teaches you to diagram the path to success, spot the single step that could ruin everything and then quietly rewrite the odds in your favour.
Through vivid examples - from marathon training to start-up breakouts and Edison’s relentless tinkering - Kyle turns maths into a practical playbook. You’ll hear concrete tactics for reducing failure points, the power of multiple attempts and why a pre-mortem can be the smartest move you make before you begin.
Short, sharp and surprisingly human, this episode mixes clear frameworks, a one-minute rant about statistics and a superhero spotlight on Julien Haye who challenges the status quo - all to show how small choices can flip the script on big goals.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2081455135/the-time-travellers-guide-to-management 

#16 - Inside MJBizCon: How Cannabis Became Big Business

Step into the bustling corridors of MJBizCon with Nigel Ridpath as he unpacks the cannabis industry from seed to sale through a revealing conversation with Emile Lewis and Harrison Radie - a world where federal bans collide with state-by-state markets, entrepreneurs innovate around impossible rules and every regulation hides an opportunity.
Follow the drama: bankers shut out, crippling taxes, marketers forced to outwit AI moderators, and a rising international model that treats the plant as medicine - all balanced by creative workarounds like off-site consumption spaces and a growing push for sensible regulation.
If you'd like to attend MJBizCon in Las Vegas, you can get an exclusive 10% discount code off tickets, by using promo code MJBIZCON6 at checkout.
Plus, Nigel’s sharp one‑minute rant on corporate greenwashing and the inspiring story of Bite Back - teen activists who turned censorship into momentum - make this episode a compact, vivid lesson in how bold ideas, grit and strategy let people and businesses stand apart.
 
For questions about MJBiz, please email: MJBizcustomerservice@emeraldexpo.com
My Kickstarter can be found here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2081455135/the-time-travellers-guide-to-management 

#15 - Using Health Apps to Improve Outcomes in the NHS, with Grace Gimson

Nigel returns from a hiatus and dives into  conversation with Grace Gimson, CEO of Holly Health, tracing the startup’s journey from low-code experiments to machine-learning personalisation, deployed in NHS settings. Through candid stories of pivots, funding challenges and clinical partnerships, Grace reveals how technology and behavioural science create scalable habit-change ... change that could reshape population health.
Interwoven with Nigel’s trademark one-minute rant on soulless AI content and a heartfelt update about his time-travel-themed management book, the episode crescendos with an inspiring superhero moment: 10-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan’s historic chess triumph.
Listen for practical lessons on product, purpose and persistence - and leave imagining a future where thoughtful tech truly helps millions.
Details of Nigel's kickstarter can be found here. It launches on 23rd September.

#14 - Why Most People Get the Wrong Idea About Motivation

In this episode of Standing Apart, host Nigel Ridpath delves into the essential theme of motivation. Discover why traditional motivation tactics often miss the mark and explore groundbreaking insights from Dan Pink's research on what truly drives human performance. As we unravel the complexities of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, you'll gain access to practical strategies designed to harness the full potential of your teams.
We also spotlight the inspiring story of Anya Hindmarch, a sustainability hero uniting competing supermarkets in a plastic waste reduction initiative. Her innovative approach exemplifies how collaboration can lead to significant environmental impact.
Finally, Nigel addresses the 'feedback fallacy' and offers actionable tips to ensure customer feedback leads to real change. Tune in for an engaging narrative that promises to elevate your understanding of motivation and inspire effective leadership.
To find out more about Nigel's Leadership & Management training programme, click here.
You can buy Dan Pink's 'Drive' here.