Mark introduces the topic of disingenuous people. Both guys have had recent experiences with people who were being disingenuous. Mark asks whether he thinks people are born this way or do become this way based on environment or circumstance.

Jim says he’s been using that word more often lately

Mark reads the legal definition of the word

Jim shares his definition. He clarifies the nuance of this activity being intentional

Mark says there are different levels of it, but that some people are just stupid

Jim shares his recent encounter with a disingenuous neighbor

Deception from the get go. Jim says this guy isn’t dumb…he’s just a dick

Mark shares something he used to tell his kids to help them get to the truth. “Look at what people do and then what they say. When those are the same, you’ll find truth”

Mark brings up his ex wife as an example

Then the guys bring up justice

Jim…”it’s not what you say, it’s what you do”.

His neighbor said, “I thought we were friends? Mark reacts aggressively to that behavior

Jim says this guy was many things…deceptive, delusional and dishonest. He took the high road even as this guy dug his hole deeper, but he did tell him “you might want to get back on your meds”

Mark loves that line

Jim decided to let the guy keep revealing himself, but he continued to hold him accountable

Mark thinks people who pretend to be dumb might be worse and he alludes to our current political landscape

Mark brings up the trend of not asking follow-up questions. Then the guys go to Trump as an example and talk about his behavior. Also the contrast between Biden and Trump. Mark recognizes that many people feel Trump is a liar. Mark calls him an embellisher. A master embellisher who does so with a very specific intention to move people

Mark says disingenuous people behave in 3 distinct ways. Raise their voice, change the topic or walkaway. People who are genuine will welcome follow-up questions

Jim shares more words that he looked up based on this experience

Cowards, clowns and characters

Both guys feel that there are a lot of cowards in the world. Jim asks him to read the definition of coward

Mark shares his frustration with people who are afraid to speak up about problems at work

Jim is a big fan of his AI tool - Gemini. They joke about “her”

Mark says Biden is also a clown. He reads the definition and they laugh about how clownish Biden is

Mark talks about doing nothing. Either not taking a stance or watching bad things happen and not interveneing

Jim talks about the Biden group and the lack of integrity

Jim asks Mark…how can you tell what the truth is

Mark brings up Bernie Sanders and gives him credit for speaking from the heart. He doesn’t use notes

Jim shares his thoughts about Kamala Harris and Mark replies with more Trump authenticity and how good he is at holding people accountable Both guys speak highly of Trumps cabinet members

Jim says “news does not get reported it gets created”. Jim shares a story about a high school football coach who got run out because of a bullshit race issue. When the reporters came, she couldn’t get anyone to bite on race…so they didn’t run the story. They spent all the time and money wasted because they couldn’t create the story they wanted

Mark shares how he watches both sides of the news every so often just to see how the left is distorting. He says this in the context of his girlfriend’s kids. They watch channels that distort facts

Characters - Mark reads the definition

Jim thinks the media is now full of characters. Putting on the show

Jim asks about justice. Will we get any. He has stopped waiting

Mark feels that he needs to leave this alone. It’s affecting his mental health

Jim believes in Karma

Mark brings up the topic of communication in the context of self talk and self reflection

Then he shares a framework Jim brought that he uses for communication. The triple A method

Assumptions/Agreement/Action

Mark is a fan

Jim brings up a favorite quote of his - “The most important conversation you’ll ever have is the conversation you have with yourself”…and that’s a crazy person

Mark shares his self talk routine

Jim - simply…you have to turn the channel

He shares how his mind works. He finds or creates tools to help him. That’s where this AAA framework came from. He uses it to make meetings and conversation brief and productive. He does it out of respect and courtesy. It encourages personal accountability

Jim jokes that everything he just said doesn’t apply to women:). Joking aside, both guys see big differences, but believe them to be compliments

Mark sees the conversation being about personal responsibility as they talk about Stoicism

Jim distinguishes between different types of conversations and different times in our lives

Clarity, transparency and efficiency are all served by the framework

Mark shares the saying on his t-shirt - “What do you mean by that?”

Mark shares his appreciation for frameworks…specifically Jim’s AAA framework

Mark says a lot of people don’t like to be held accountable

Jim shares a visual rendering of his framework and offers some explanation of how the framework works. Mark chimes in in agreement

Mark shares his experience with people who are scared to speak up. Most people don’t like candor and confrontation. It makes them afraid

Jim clarifies his opinion of women as being better than men at many things

Jim also clarifies that his framework is not for more personal conversations. It’s a business framework

Mark shares his story about taking meeting notes in his sales meeting. How 10 people handed in 10 different sets of notes

Jim thinks AI tools will help with this. Transcripts. Word for word. He explains how he might use them to bring in. His framework on command. Prompts and percentages of time that people talk during the conversation

Mark shares how he started handing out transcripts of meeting notes. He was surprised at how reticent people were to be held to what they said by the transcript

Mark shares his stories about how he handled this before AI

Jim clarifies that his framework is to be used before, during and after conversations. Not just before.

Then Jim brings up our wheel to add context to our topic. He has redone it for his use in an upcoming speech. And because we haven’t updated it in a while. He reflects on all the selfs…agent, respect…

Both guys express their appreciation for the wheel. Their framework

Jims goes over the wheel in detail

Mark shares his opinion that he changes the way he communicates depending on what life area he’s in

Mark goes into detail about the difference between how Jim’s brain works versus Mark.

Jim continues to analyze how the wheel works and gets into ideology and politics as well as other levels outward on the wheel. He goes into details about the profession category. The differences between employed people and self employed people. Whose money are we playing with. Not a criticism. An observation

Both guys share their father’s perspective on this

Mark shares the power of “WHY” and “WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT”

The value is in the follow up question. Clarity and context

Mark introduces the guys and topic. He cites how aligned both guys are. As they enter the call they’re thinking of the same topics and thoughts

Neurodivergence (See definition at the bottom of the show notes)

Mark shares a call about his grandson and his current struggles which may well involve him being on the spectrum

Jim shared his perspective about labels and crutches and his own story about being neurodivergent himself growing up

Jim’s perspective is to reframe this label as an opportunity to think of things differently

Neither guy likes meds, but do agree that in some cases they can be a Godsend

Jim tells a story about meeting his son’s fiancee’s family…one of who was neurodiverse. So many different degrees of the neurodivergent mind

Mark reads the definition that Jim provided (Version posted below)

Mark jokes that there is no normal and the definition sounds like the description of a teenager

Elon Musk comes up. Mark shares a recent interview he saw with Musk about Mars

Mark was amazed. Jim agrees

Jim talks about Dan Sullivan’s recent diagnosis in later age and how one of his clients benefits from doing work with him being a neurodiverse person - “Unique Abilities”

The importance of self-awareness and self acceptance

Mark shares his opinion on the value of self awareness as well as how unique people are. He also talks about the danger of labeling. Excuses, victimhood and manipulation. Both guys warn about the problems with victimhood. Mark thinks his grandson’s temptation might be the manipulation

Jim shares more about Dan Sullivan’s position about neurodivergence

Violence and anger are common traits of neurodiverse people who don’t get help

Mark looks at neurodivergence as simply another challenge to be overcome. Jim agrees that overcoming hardship affects everyone

Jim is very skeptical about academia and neurodiversity

Mark shares his best childhood’s condition and his older brother’s inability to stay focused

Jim says it’s been around forever. People just understand it better. He also clarifies that his challenge is dysgraphia. More than dyslexia. And how each condition affects how his brain works. He thinks AI will be a game changer for the neurodiverse

Mark shares the details of discussing his grandson with his other parents and relatives. Mark asks Jim’s opinion on all of this and his own journey

Jim mentions his efforts to develop his own brand and how his unique abilities are big part of this

Jim brings up fortitude - the ability to develop it in the face of hardship

He shares a few childhood stories about hardship and fortitude as a neurodiverse kid. The story about his dad and “I can’t” and some other school related stories. Being embarrassed about poor reading and comprehension in front of the other kids. How he beat up all the kids who made fun of him and how anger manifested itself. Jim’s football story speaks to the importance of a good mindset and proper mentality

Final story is about his first concussion and subsequent failure at community college

Essentially Jim is on a whole new journey with a new perspective on why he is who he is and how he’s accomplished what he has. Then he shares a story of how harmful comparison is

The whole conversation is very personal and enlightening

Mark frames the lessons…No labels, no victim behavior and no manipulation. No one is special and everyone is special. Mark thinks it’s very important and hopefully medicine is a last step

Jim shares the wisdom of life happening for you and not to you. Just show up and there’s no such thing as “I can’t”

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"Neurodivergent refers to individuals whose brains function differently from what's considered typical or normative, encompassing a variety of conditions like autism, ADHD, and learning disabilities. It's a broad term that recognizes natural variation in how brains process information, rather than viewing such differences as deficits."