Welcome to Milestone Moments, the show where
we explore the journeys that lead to success.
I'm Sheila Slick, your host and founder of Five
Milestones. In every episode, we will bring you
insights from the minds of entrepreneurs, leaders
and experts who will share not just their expertise,
but the milestone moments that have reshaped
their journeys and led to significant achievements.
So if you're looking for motivation, you're in
the right place. Subscribe now and discover the
milestones that mark the path to success. Welcome
to another episode of Milestone Moments in Business
and Leadership. I'm your host, Sheila Slick.
And today, my special guest is Wandana Piranek.
and then grows them. As a USA Today and Wall
Street Journal bestselling author, a TEDx speaker,
and a brand builder, she brings extensive experience
from corporate giants like Procter & Gamble and
Kellogg's to startups and major brands. Through
Active Ingredients, Inc., Wandana helps businesses
make powerful choices and connections that lead
to impeccable execution. And her latest book,
which is what I'd love to talk about today, is
called Might. Welcome to the show, Wandana. Thank
you, Sheila. So great to be here. I'm delighted.
And I'm excited to have you on the show. Tell
us a little bit about what led you to write that
and what the book is. Yeah. So you're going to
laugh when I tell you part of the story anyway.
story you might cry, but I'm a marketer and strategist
by profession. And I did the corporate consulting
freelance work for about 25 years or so. And
then I got bored and it only took me 25 years.
But I was starting to see the same sort of trends
and patterns happening. And I'm a creature of
variety and not knowing what the future brings.
Total thrill of victory and the agony of defeat
kind of a girl. And what I noticed was the awe
-inspiring human capacity to brilliantly solve
the wrong problems. and to do it again and again
and again. And I just like, this is insanity.
We have to stop this. So I'm on a quest to change
that because a lot of times we're solving stuff
that doesn't need to be solved. And there's countless
cases like that, you know, and I can point you
to everyday stuff that we do that's like that.
So I really want to help us be more effective
thinkers, not just different thinkers, but effective
thinkers. I want us to be better and swifter
decision makers. And I really think that we just
need a little bit of an update to our mental
operating system to really get us going to a
much higher level than we vibrate at today. So
give me one specific example how we can take
that action. So I'll give you one that is very
common and it has nothing to do with business.
you know, work. It's just gardening. And how
many times have you hired a gardener or been
out there yourself pulling weeds, right? Because
we want to keep our lawn and our garden looking
beautiful and pristine. And instead of actually
solving the problem and the right problem, you
keep solving the wrong one, which is pulling
weeds. Well, it's like having hair. You know,
when you cut your hair, it grows faster. That's
the thinking anyway. Well, weeds is very true.
Like the more you pull them, the faster they
grow. Because it's like, oh, somebody's like
feeding me and doing something to kind of get
me going. It's like when you trim a plant, it
grows faster. Anyway, so if we actually solve
the problem of the weed growing in the first
place, we would not be pulling weeds. And not
only that, but we would have saved a lot of time,
money, and energy in getting the problem right.
So one of the things that I teach about, so there's
three things that I teach about. as sort of a
start to this idea of thinking more effectively,
is solve for the outcome, not the problem. So
big difference. So when we solve for the outcome,
it's the outcome is, hey, I want to get rid of
my weeds. That's my goal, right? It's not getting
rid of the weeds in that moment. It's completely
not having them come back. And so how do we do
that? Because when you solve for the outcome,
You may have different actions that you have
to take, different research that you have to
do, different people that you have to get engaged.
You try to understand whether the problem that
you think you have, you know, you list them and
are they related to anything else? Are they,
you know, related to each other? How do you even
know you have the right problem? How do you know
it's a problem that you actually can see? Because
oftentimes there's problems that we can't see.
And so that's one of the first principles I teach
about. It sounds really simple, really hard for
people to execute because, you know, it's like
a child. When a child falls and stumbles, our
first instinct is to go and help that child,
right? To, oh my God, are you okay? And instead,
if you just stand back, as hard as it is to do,
what do you want the outcome to actually be?
You want the child to be more resilient, more
stronger, not have those little panic attacks.
So you give them the courtesy. so to speak, of
letting them learn it on their own. So there's
countless examples like that, but there's also
examples in history, which, you know, if we talk
about the book, then I'll get into that a little
bit because they're really, really fascinating.
The book is out now, right? The book is out now.
Yeah, it just launched. And it's called MITE,
M -I -G -H -T. And it stands for might as in
power. So the power to solve. the impossible
and change everything, and might as in possibility.
So how might we solve this? So where do you go
when nothing seems to work? Or, you know, you
don't know where to begin. And so it gives really
good, easy to read, but really powerful tactics
on how you get out of pretty much any situation
that you might encounter that's less than favorable,
or where you're really stuck. There's no reason
for any of us to be stuck. There really isn't.
It's just usually just a shift in the way you
think and boom. So this is for personal development
rather than a business book. Well, it's interesting
because it's really meant for people who are
leaders and leaders in terms of thinking. So
it doesn't mean a leader doesn't have to have
a C in front of your title. It means that people
who lead. So if you think about it in that context.
It's not restricted to personal versus business
because these are principles that you can use
in everyday life or your work. I mean, I wrote
it thinking about more work -related stuff. But
as I was writing, I was thinking like, I could
use this here. I could use this here. You know,
you come across so many scenarios. But really,
it's kind of a combination, I would say. So what
does the word limitless mean to you? It just
means that, you know, living life in a way that
is... completely free of any hurdles or any restrictions
or handcuffs or in any way being stuck. Because
the truth is, is that in order to get limitless,
you have to create options for yourself to be
able to make choices. And when you have that,
there's always a path forward. So it's really
how do we orchestrate those options. And if you're
solving for the outcome, you will automatically
come up with more than one option. And so therefore
you have choices and you can make those choices.
And when you're solving for the outcome, you
know, let's say you have three options that you've
created. You may think one is better than the
other, but sometimes you don't know until you,
you know, test them, right? So It's and we're
all like that. That's human nature because we're,
you know, we're curious creatures. And I know
I certainly am. So it's it's this notion of never
being stuck, never wondering, like never having
expectations of to this is what the this is,
you know, what the final destination has to be.
So it's really living quite open mindedly, but
there's no limiting beliefs. There's no things
that you cannot do because it's just simply not
true. Now, if somebody said to me, OK, so find
a way to fly to the moon tomorrow. I mean, I
don't have the technical ability to do that,
but there's lots of teams who need this kind
of thinking to create those options for us. Right.
But if somebody said, OK, I've got this business
problem. There's one in the book, actually, that
talks about this factory that was creating perfume
and they were selling it in a retail store. So,
you know, you have the manufacturer. who's a
maker of the perfume, and then you have the retailer
who sells the perfume in their store. And what
was happening is all the cases that were going
to the retailer from the manufacturer were not
completely full. So they were having cartons
in there. They all had cartons. They were full
with cartons, but the cartons didn't always have
a bottle in there. So what they did is they spent
millions of dollars trying to figure this out,
changing their manufacturing line, you know,
testing it, the whole bit. And still it wasn't
making that much of a difference. And so at one
point they just observed what was going on in
all the way from start to finish down the line.
And they saw this guy who was a newer employee
and he was sitting back in his chair and all
he did was put the fan on at the end of the line.
So all the empty boxes flew off and all the ones
that were full actually went into the cases.
So, you know, it's a very, like sometimes we
don't think about the simplest of ideas. You
don't need to spend all kinds of money. Like
you don't need to be, you know, an executive.
You just need to think more effectively. So that's
really what it's about for me. I love that because
it was a very simple example. It was a fan. It
was just a light bulb moment that worked. Yeah.
And then, you know, I mean, I've had a pretty
crazy life in the last couple of years. I started
writing the book. because of what I said. But
then I had a bit of a break because I ended up
being diagnosed with breast cancer and then went
into a coma and went into a coma for about two
weeks, was in the hospital for about two months
because I had lost the use of my lungs. And then
three days after I came out of the hospital,
I did my TEDx talk. So, you know, it just talks
about being very determined. Yeah, but I didn't
have to do that, right? It was a choice that
I made. And throughout, first of all, I had the
best coma. So nobody worry about that. Wouldn't
recommend it. But if you have to have one, this
is it was a great one. But what I was going to
say is that coming out of that, I was so impressed
with my ICU team and the way they handled stuff.
And a lot of it was what I was already teaching
and talking about, which is the three principles
I told you I was going to say is that the first
is solving for the outcome, not the problem.
The second is really suspending yourself in a
state of deliberate curiosity. Big difference.
Deliberate is a big word. And the third is embracing
intellectual humility. So those are my three
principles that I talk about a lot. That's where
I start. And then the book goes on to give you
all kinds of strategies. When you got out of
the hospital, did it affect at all what you spoke
about or how you felt about that TED Talk? The
TEDx talks are normally inspirational or motivational,
and you perhaps came out with a whole new experience.
And I only ask because I had many years ago,
I ended up in the hospital, and it was when I
walked out, it was just like, if I was able to
overcome that. I'm unstoppable or limitless in
your in your terms. Did it give you that feeling
when you came out? It definitely did. I mean,
first of all, I'm a very positive, very strong
individual. And I learned how much of that I
was as I came out. But I also had an incredible,
you know, medical team. And I also had an incredible
family around me and also friends. So all of
that made a huge difference for me. There wasn't
a day in the hospital that my family didn't come
and sit with me. There also wasn't a day where
I didn't have at least one friend stop by and
hang out for a bit. So that just shows you the
kind of relationships that you have with people.
People came from all over, ready to fly across
the world, across the country. So that really
kind of changed me, is to see the love that people
have for you. I never really cried about anything.
I was never sad. I was just happy that I was
going in the right direction. One of my biggest
fears was losing my singing voice. And it took
me a long time to get that back. And I'm still
working on it. I'm just giving it time. But I've
had so many other tests and procedures happen,
and I continue to even now. I have to brace myself,
but I'm just, you know, the way I looked at it
is the reason I'm here is because my work on
this earth is not done. So get it done. And when
it's done, I won't need to be here anymore. It's
as simple as that. So I feel like there's definitely,
you know, a reason why I'm here. And oftentimes
people ask me if I think everything happens for
a reason, and I actually don't. But what I do
believe, because there's a lot of things I can't
explain what the reason could possibly be. And
you can imagine what the horrible circumstances
of that are or the uncanny stuff that happens.
But for me, what I believe is that everything
that does happen, make sure you give it a purpose.
Otherwise, it would have happened in vain. So
when you have, you know, you hear these stories
of when you have a child passing away. Maybe
there's money towards research that you donate
that can help save all these other people. Or
maybe there's a situation where you change a
traffic pattern because it's becoming too tragic
for people to meet at this intersection. So there's
lots of things like in real life that we can
use this book for, but also in terms of business.
And there's a really interesting story about,
I don't know if you know. I love World War II
stories. And one of them is about Abraham Wald.
And I don't know if you know who he is, but he
was part of the super secret strategic team that
advised the military in the U .S. on many things
that they should or should not do. Made up of
like 10 incredible brains. And Abraham was one
of them. And, you know, there was a situation
where a lot of the planes that were coming back
from World War II were hit all over their fuselage.
And the military was getting really worried about,
oh my gosh, there's all these holes everywhere.
We have to stop this. So we got to put a shield
on that part of the plane. And that's what the
idea that they came up with. But they can't make
it too heavy or too all -encompassing because
it changes the operating of the plane and also
makes the plane heavier. There were a lot of
complications that way. So they had all these
restrictions. So the idea was to put a shield
around the fuselage because that's where the
holes were. And so just as a final check, they
took it to this strategic group, the SRG. And
they said, OK, this is our story. This is what
we'd recommend. Do you have any questions? We
just need your go ahead and then, you know, we'll
get right on it. And Abraham Wald stops and says,
tell me about the planes that aren't coming back.
Those are the ones that we need to protect. And
those are the ones that were getting hit in the
nose. So now the protection is on the noses,
not the fuselage, because the fuselages can handle
the holes because they're coming back. But it's
the ones who didn't come back that are relevant.
So sometimes it's looking at things differently.
And all of a sudden, it just it's eye opening.
And that's kind of what my coma did for me, I
think, is just what about the stuff that I can't
see? What am I missing? What am I not getting
at? So it talks about examples like that in the
book, too. It's a really great read, actually.
A lot of positive feedback. And if you want to
consider about first principles thinking or your
reticular activating system or the neuroscience
behind stuff, there's that. But there's also
stories that give you anecdotal examples and
why certain things happen such that you can understand
and govern yourself accordingly so that, you
know, you're not wasting your time. Because,
you know, that's pretty limited. So I think,
you know, there's a lot of questions that will
prompt you and ask you. I'm actually developing
a field book for it as well. So that's coming.
But for now, it has, if you buy the paperback
version, it has an email course attached to it
that will give you some thought starters. So
that's exciting. So what's your mission now?
Because you're no longer in corporate, you're
focusing on speaking and writing. I really want
to help, well, helping people understanding what
living limitless means. And that's based on a
lot of research that I did because ultimately
that's what we want to feel, right? We want to
feel limitless. We want to feel peace. We want
to feel we can close our eyes and, you know,
there's no boundaries, right? So that's my goal.
And the way for me to do that is helping people
to think through it. So it's really about upgrading
your mental operating system, is the way I say
it. And so to me, it's not about the things that
we have, all the tools. It's about understanding
the way we think and how we use what we do have
to our greatest ability. And it sounds like motherhood,
but it really is about the thinking aspect. There's
a stat that the human mind has like 60 ,000,
maybe 70 ,000 thoughts a day, and 95 % of them
are redundant. So imagine if we were to change
that, right? If you convert some of those thoughts,
even 1%, to something where you could actually
take action on, it would be pretty amazing. So
that's really my goal, is to, how can I help?
Because I don't want to be a star. I'm not interested
in that. I want to help people. live beyond and
do better way beyond they ever thought they could
do. Because it is possible. What one thing can
we do today to break through a limiting belief
to allow us to live limitless? One of the principles
I talk about is curiosity. And so, and you'll,
even in my LinkedIn post, you'll see at the end
of it, I always sign it. with, you know, stay
curious, my friends. And so curiosity is a big
thing for me. And, but people say, oh, yeah,
like, I'm really curious, too. Like, I'm curious
about everything. It's like, it's deliberate
curiosity. It's being curious when you don't
want to be. It's being curious when something
makes you angry. It's being curious in everything
that you approach, asking a lot of questions.
And people hate that, but that's okay. Um, because
you're trying to understand, you know, you're,
it's not that you're, you're not questioning
people to question them to see if they know their
stuff. You're questioning because you're truly
interested. So it's, it's that kind of thing.
So let's say you and I are having a conflict,
right? And we're, we're not agreeing. People
will say, let's agree to disagree. Well, what
is that? Like that doesn't, you know, help us
progress in any way, you know? But if you say,
you know what, Sheila, I have to tell you, like,
I totally didn't get. to where you are. And I'm
really curious to understand how you got there,
because I think I could really learn something.
So imagine it becomes adversarial to becoming,
you know, collaborative all of a sudden. And
you might just make your best next best friend
there. But so to me, this idea of deliberate
curiosity is really critical. And if I could
leave you with one skill, that's the skill that
I would say develop. to the best of your ability
and go beyond. There's lots of ways to be more
deliberate in that. Well, thank you for sharing
that. Where can we find or connect with you online?
Best is LinkedIn. I'm on there quite a bit and
I respond to everything. And my book, the book
is on, the website is thebookofmight .com. Well,
thank you so much for joining me today. Ah, I'm
delighted. I'm so glad we had this conversation.
I was really looking forward to it. Me too. And
thank you all for joining us on another episode
of Milestone Moment in Business and Leadership.
Until next time.