When is the last time you called a big company or government agency and after two or three rings, a real live human being answered the phone and said: "Hello, how can I help you?"
From big data, automation, complex algorithms, and giant corporations to massive government bureaucracy, we've lost the human touch. Everyday life often seems increasingly impersonal.
Our guest, Steve Hilton, argues for radical change. The former senior policy advisor to ex-British Prime Minister David Cameron has co-authored "More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First." The book is a clarion call for reform of government, law, education, welfare and business systems.
Read moreAre opinion polls accurate? Did they miss the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders? Do they properly measure America's increasingly sharp political and cultural divisions? What's the difference between a well-designed poll conducted with careful methodology and a sloppy opt-in online survey?
Our guest is Gary Langer, an internationally recognized opinion researcher and longtime director of polling at ABC News. He has overseen and analyzed more than 750 surveys on a broad range of topics.
Gary has a passion for numbers and explains what listeners should know about polls. He tells us that surveys were taken at least a year ago - when many pundits dismissed Trump as an outlier - clearly showed that his views on banning overseas Muslim visitors and building a wall along the border with Mexico had substantial support among Republican voters. Trump led the GOP field throughout the lead-up to the primary season.
"The news media have for far too long indulged themselves in the lazy luxury of being both data-hungry and math-phobic," Gary tells us. "I would suggest polls are anti-pundit. A good quality poll ... holds a pundit's feet to the fire "
In this episode, we get some vital takeaways on how well-researched randomized polls are conducted and what changes have been made recently to ensure that a representative sample is reached.
Read moreThis show may very well save you money, boost your career and help you make smarter decisions.
It's about risk.
Our guest is Karen Firestone - author of the new book “Even The Odds - Sensible Risk-Taking in Business Investing and Life." She is President and CEO, of Aureus Asset Management, an asset management firm she co-founded after 22 years as a fund manager and research analyst at Fidelity Investments. Karen is a contributor to the Harvard Business Review blog.
Read moreThis podcast is all about how to have better habits and use them to be more productive in our projects, careers and everyday lives.
We talk about to-do lists, email, mental models and making the most of our time with best-selling author, Chares Duhigg. His latest book is "Smarter, Faster, Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and In Business." Charles is also the author of "The Power of Habit."
Read moreWith technology in overdrive, self-driving cars are no longer a fantasy. The first autonomous cars and trucks made by major auto manufacturers could be on the road within several years.
But "Fix It" guest Eddie Alterman, Editor-in-Chief of Car and Driver magazine says not so fast. "It's a scary concept anyway you look at it," he tells us.
Read moreThe numbers are alarming. A 2015 Gallup poll found nearly 70% of U.S. employees say they're either bored or disengaged at work.
The cost to employers has been put at more than $500 billion in lost productivity. The cost to workers is incalculable - in human misery, unnecessary stress, and lost opportunity.
Workplace psychologist Ron Friedman is the author of "The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace." Ron says there's an astonishing gap between the latest science and most of the modern workplace. He has some great tips for both employers and employees.
Read more"Stuff happens," says homeland security expert, and mom of three, Juliette Kayyem.
The government has got to find a better way to talk about the threat of terrorism and natural disasters. Most of us need to have a better plan to prepare.
"We talked in a way when people would either tune out or freak out," says Juliette of her time as a top official at The Department of Homeland of Homeland Security. "We are all in this together," she tells on this episode of "How Do We Fix It?"
Her new book is "Security Mom: An Unclassified Guide to Protecting Our Homeland And Your Home." The book is packed with common-sense ways to think about positively about a difficult subject.
Read more"At the end of the day everybody is biased," says our guest, John Gable, founder CEO of AllSides. "You're biased by what you know. You're biased by what you know and you're biased by your entire human existence before then."
AllSides is unique in how it covers the news - displaying stories on its front page - from different points of view. It urges readers to "engage in civil dialog and discover a deeper understanding of the issues."
Read more