Advertise on podcast: Practice? Podcast

Dave meets Norman Wolfe https://www.linkedin.com/in/wolfe/whose different way of viewing and guiding any organization is to see it as alive and very much like a human striving for results that matter. He consolidates this unique perspective in his bestselling book, The Living Organization: Transforming Business to Create Extraordinary Results.   

On the last day of 2025, Dave Jr. and his father, Dave Fearon Sr., take a moment to reflect on the key themes from their discussions throughout the year regarding socially enacted practices. They consider the socially and psychologically complex nature of these practices and recognize that there is much to learn together in 2026.

Prometheans unlock the mysteries of the cosmos. Tom Bohinc is boldly going to where he and we colleagues can think of leadership in altogether different ways. Anchoring the Promethean Project: " dedicated to making leading clear and leaders common - and challenging institutional and social convention and complacency.", uniquely shapes Tom's executive coaching. Dave sees his and Peter Vaill's probing of the unexplored nature of Practice dovetailing with Tom's Promethean work.

Three years ago, Dave recorded a conversation with the young high school student who was providing surprisingly accurate and thoughtful copy editing for his book with the late Peter B. Vaill, On Practice as a Way of Being. He marveled at her love of the accordion. Wondering what she is doing now as a college student, he reached out to Mahaska Stiegler, who is now an exchange student at a German university. She is deepening her German language and cultural acumen while continuing her proofreading and copyediting services. Her accordion was too heavy to make the trip, so she is learning the accordina. All her practices blend into Mahaska's unique and promising way of being. 

Can a retired professor with a Phd in Political Inquiry, Comparative Politics, Political Psychology from Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs find retired happiness crocheting and selling children's sweaters? Krisan Everson says, "Yes". Residing in her home state of New Hampshire, Krisan creates distinctive (and warm) children's sweaters and sells them in weekend community markets. She explains how her academic background in Foreign Affairs illuminates the cultural significance of handmade crafts. 

Dave & Dad continue their discussion series on enacted social action as it applies to emotions. We extend American Pragmatism philosopher George H. Mead's approach to self as I and Me, social acts and symbolic interaction to sociologist Thomas Scheff's social bond theory. From the communicative functions of primary emotions evolve composite emotions of shame, guilt, and pride. These social emotions are fundamental to maintaining social relationships and constitute language, as demonstrated in a close analysis of conversation. Part 2 of the discussion will explore therapeutic applications and consciousness.

Dave shows us the reason he has joined a church choir, 70 years after his last time. It is Connecticut Music Educator and Burlington Congregational Church Music Director Emily Lombardo Castellon. Her enthusiasm for all manner of performing music is transmitted not only to her adult choir but also to the fifth- and sixth-grade members of her school's band. Emily represents the devoted practices of thousands of Music Teacher Educators across the Country. She and they transform lives—even Dave's. 

Toward the end of this episode, you will hear revered Organization Development practitioner Fred Miller speak enthusiastically about an unprecedented wave of change, presenting fundamentally new prospects for organizational development. No rocking chair on the porch for Fred; he will be out there in the future helping business leaders transform their companies. He and host Dave Fearon speak of their mutual admiration of Peter B. Vaill, co-founder of this Practice? Podcast and co-author of Practice as a Way of Being.  

Periodically, Dave checks in with leadership trend researcher and advisor Tom Casey to learn what practicing business leaders have on their minds. He and his Discussion Partners Collaborative colleagues ask the question, "What if all you believe to be accurate and possible is incorrect?" In these turbulent times, Tom discusses how leaders are holding their beliefs in suspension. They are advised to 'snap out of it'. 

My friend and co-author Peter B. Vaill told us in his 1989 book, Managing as a Performing Art, to be ready to practice in permanent white water. David Silk kayaks daily in white waters raging in rivers around the globe. His practice has him racing among the top kayakers, exploring rivers around the world that have never been kayaked before, and teaching practitioners who are firmly committed to this challenging sport. In all ways, David is a whitewater professional.  

Richmond, Maine sisters Olivia and Elsie Winokurzew drew upon lessons from their leadership experiences at Starbucks to create their own coffee and donut business, which was needed in their hometown. They named it Morning Moose Coffee. As committed entrepreneurs, they continue learning every day, even after successfully growing their business for over three years. 

 Dave leads me through a process to understand understanding itself. What happens in real-time moments of cognition. is comprised of 6 E's, enacted, embodied, embedded, extended, emotional and exacting processes that are also visible in conversation. This is the latest in a series of episodes probing the nature of Practice. The YouTube version includes presentation slides. 

"High Tech. Human Touch" is a logo of Walker Group led by co-CEO Jessica Rich. Dave knows human intelligence thrives there, even as they know and apply AI, because Walker Group is a registered Benefit Corporation and the first Perpetual Purpose Trust-Owned Company in Connecticut. They promise their practitioners a stable foundation for a long career. Jessica has been with Walker for over 22 years and has no plan or reason to lead elsewhere. 

Dave, Jr., and I had another conversation to discuss more dimensions of how information and practice in social behavior is not abstract but rooted in the real dynamics of physics, even at the quantum level. Explored this time are how enacted living systems are expressed by Constructor Theory, Assembly Theory, and Indivisible Stochastic Processes

Dave meets a contemporary who thinks alike about the nature of leading as practice. John Varney founded the Centre for Management Creativity and High Trenhouse and the author of Leadership as Meaning. Enjoy his wisdom and lovely English accent.