'They think the goal is to have the book, but no, the goal is to become the person it takes to write your book.'

Dan Kieran is a publishing legend: as a co-founder of Unbound he revolutionizing the industry by empowering authors and readers. He learned a lot about himself and about setting up a business along the way, and he brought all that together in Do Start, winner of the Startup Book of the Year at the Business Book Awards. 

But he also firmly believes that writing isn't just, or even primarily, about the final product; it's the process itself, the way you understand and articulate your journey, both professionally and personally. Which is why turning to AI to generate your writing outputs for you is such a dangerous, self-defeating habit for anyone who cares about ideas.

Or as Dan put it: 'Why would anyone want to read something that you couldn't be bothered to write?'

'I think we are living in a renaissance of the book... AI is changing how we are looking at trusted knowledge.'

getAbstract is one of the leading corporate learning platforms, and it's based on books. The founders met with a lot of resistance from publishers in the early days, but their vision of making the knowledge in books discoverable and actionable quickly became reality. One reason was the brilliance of the team of abstracters creating summaries of the books, and in this episode we talk about how AI is changing the landscape and what that might mean for this most human of industries. 

I talk to getAbstract cofounder Thomas Bergan, VP and global Head of Rights Arnhild Walz-Rasilier, and Practical Inspiration author Julie Smith, who took home the Readers' Choice gong. But it quickly becomes clear I'm never going to make it as a roving reporter.... 

"As she was coached during a 15-minutes conversation, she put down each of those worries and at the end of it she was standing there in her full potential and I was like, wow, that's amazing. I want to learn how to do that."

If there's a foundational text of executive coaching it's Coaching for Performance by Sir John Whitmore, first published in 1992. Sadly John died in  2017 and so Tiffany Gaskell, who co-founded Performance Consultants with John and worked with him on the 5th edition in 2017, became the driving force behind the new, post-pandemic 6th edition. 

She talks to me about the power of coaching, its evolution since 1992, and how it has become so foundational for organizational and personal growth. We also explore the link between coaching and writing, and how embracing coaching principles can help you fulfil your full potential as a writer. And we're all here for that, right?