Sketchplanations - The Podcast

So much we didn't know about the wonderful world of plants.In this compilation, double-header episode discussing some of Jono's sketches that cover fascinating elements of botany, we are joined by 2-time gold medal winner at the world famous Chelsea Flower Show, author of 6 best-selling books, and ambassador for Kew Gardens; celebrated botanist, James Wong.Rather than edit out a tonne of insightful, educational discussion points from James, we decided to publish this episode in two parts. This is Part 1.The sketches we discussed are:Heat IslandsThe Browse LineThe Hungry GapPhoenix TreesNurse LogsHow to make your own Fresh AirThis last sketch was based on a TED talk by Kamal Meattle - and it's an interesting listen to hear how James dissects the theory behind it.It was also a delight to discover that all 4 of us attended the University of Bath at the same time.Please consider giving us a review or subscribing to our podcast on your podcast player. It really helps.Please also consider putting in a pre-order for Jono's Sketchplanations book: Big Ideas, Little Pictures. Out very soon now.Have a story or a thought about botany and your experiences with plants?Ping us an email to: [email protected] Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The three of us are tired of being misunderstood when we've used the words "biweekly", "bimonthly" and "biannually".It's just no fun.And so we're starting the campaign to ditch biweekly and use fortnightly instead. See sketch here.Try it out. You won't regret it.Our discussion turns to the general ambiguity of language and how in many senses it's quite a good thing.It allows for creative writing, comedy and ease of communication.Lots of bits to link to this week from this week's episode - enjoy:Ian Hollingshead book - Imagine my surprise... William Empson's book - The 7 types of AmbiguityTED talk by Lera Boroditsky & here's her Instagram account too.Sketch on the Oxford commaSketch on Context is KingSketch on CapitonymsSketch on homonyms, homographs, homophones, heteronymsPlease consider giving us a review or subscribing to our podcast on your podcast player. It really helps.Please also consider putting in a pre-order for Jono's Sketchplanations book: Big Ideas, Little Pictures. Out very soon now.We'd love to hear your stories of any confusion with the words biweekly, bimonthly or biannually.Ping us an email to: [email protected] Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you work with data and statistics?Actually, it doesn't matter if you do or not, you're bound to have come across averages of some kind at some point.And, as we discuss in this episode, the average can often hide key information about a data set.We'd love to know your thoughts or experiences with Sneaky Averages.email us: [email protected]'s an old story about the statistician who drowned after seeing that the average depth was 3ft. Averages, or in this case the mean, necessarily hide some data, but very often they also hide what's really going on.As Jono's psychology professor at UC Berkeley, Sheldon Zedeck, taught him; spend time with your data.You can find the headline sketch here.Other sketches referenced in this episode include:SwimRunWealth inequality in the USThe BS Asymmetry PrincipleAdditionally, we mention the very entertaining website spurious correlations - where you'll find a whole load of amusing graphs.We mentioned Edward Tufty's work: The Visual Display of Quantitative InformationThere's the ever-fascinating musings of Tim Harford in his podcast (More or Less) and his book (The Undercover Economist)And there's our mate Jez Clements who holds the Guiness World marathon record for the fastest male dressed as a 3D TV Character.Finally, I'm not the only one who struggles saying the word "statistics" repeatedly!!Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It can be uncomfortable to express opinions different from those of a group. Perhaps you remember that feeling when a teacher asked a question in class and if everyone raised their hand to one answer it wasn't always easy to be the only hand up for a different one.That's Groupthink!Do you remember the story of 12 Angry Men? How it took the resilience of one jury member to arrive at a correct verdict of not guilty.That's Groupthink.Thankfully, Jono suggests various ways to help avoid falling into the Groupthink mentality. See the sketch online for more details.The sketchplanation itself is set in a professional environment - where I'm sure many people have experienced it.Let us know.email [email protected] sketches referenced include:Bandwagon EffectBystander EffectFirehouse EffectAbilene ParadoxWe also reference the concept of psychological safety - a very apt phrase in this context coined by American author and Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School, Amy EdmondsonAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ah, that satisfying, superior, at once gleeful and slightly sinful feeling when the aggressive driver that overtook you gets their comeuppance and is flashed by a speed camera. Or when you find yourself laughing when a loved one falls over. #EpicFail comes to mind. This human experience can also be described as Schadenfreude, a nifty German word made up of schaden for damage, harm or hurt and freude for joy. Taking pleasure in others’ misfortunes.And so begins a litany of examples amongst the three of us of times we've felt schadenfreude. We learn that there are different types (summarised as 'good' and 'bad'), that some of us experience it more than others, and that there could be learnings in it for all of us to help consider our relationship with those around us. You can find the headline sketch here.We regularly reference the writing of cultural historian, Tiffany Watt Smith and her book on the topic. Let us know your stories where you've experienced schadenfreude. We'll try not to laugh. email us: [email protected], you can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you a perfectionist?Do you identify as someone who regularly spends too much time on various projects or endeavours for the quality of output required?Yeah - you're not alone.This week we discuss the Law of Diminishing Returns and explore how prevalent it is across all our lives: professionally, academically, socially - it's everywhere.We try to identify various ways to know when enough is enough. But it's not always easy. You can find the headline sketch here. Other sketches referenced in this episode include:In Tandem5 User Tests find 85% of problemsFor want of a nailAdditionally, we reference the inspiration for Jono's sketch itself from this absolute favourite sketch of mine about Too Many Cooks Spoil The Broth from the masterful comedy team Big Train.Go on. Lose yourself for 10 minutes!We'd love to know your thoughts or experiences with The Law of Diminishing Returns.email us: [email protected], you can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wouldn't it be cool if we had an army of tiny people working together to help us get through the day?It might surprise you to know that Designers and Problem Solvers sometimes imagine this exact scenario to help them overcome creative challenges."Smart Little People" is one of a number of tools from a design framework called TRIZ.In this episode, we talk about what TRIZ involves, and how Smart Little People have helped Jono, Tommy and others produce products and services in our every day lives.Find the Smart Little People sketch here.See Jono's other sketches related to TRIZ tools here.What problems would you employ Smart Little People to help you figure out? Let us know at [email protected] or by leaving us comments on social media.All Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do we no longer get many bugs stuck to our windscreens? Why do police sirens sound different depending on whether they're approaching or moving away from us? And what is the car horn's intended purpose?Find the answer to all these questions and more in this compilation episode about cars, driving and life on the road.Find all the sketches referenced here:Passing on an inside BendMarchetti's ConstantExhaust IdlingThe Doppler EffectThe PistonThe Windscreen PhenomenonTiredness Can KillUse of the Car HornHuman senses and paceWe also referenced a BBC video demonstrating The Doppler Effect with a trombone on a train.Let us know your thoughts on all these topics by emailing us: [email protected] leave us a comment or a message on Social Media.Extended version of the podcast now available to watch here on YouTube.All music on the podcast series kindly provided by Franc Cinelli. Find all his music, gigs and more here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Much of something can be great.Too much can be a real burden.This week we talk about the 4 Pillars of Too Much - as explored by simplicity parenting, and it doesn't take us long to reveal that all 3 of us feel like we suffer from too much stuff, too much choice, too much information and things happening around us too fast.Is this the modern world we live in? Or a world we've created ourselves?We try to offer up some strategies to try and cope with and manage these excesses, but are also the first to admit how difficult we find it to make changes. That said, I'm off to charity shop now to offload some books I've already read, or know I'll never read.We'd love to hear from you with your thoughts on, experiences with and strategies to manage The 4 Pillars of Too Much.Email us: [email protected] leave us a comment or a message on Social Media.Extended version of the podcast now available to watch here on YouTube.The artwork for this episode should be displaying the sketch under examination. If not, you can find it here.Other connected sketches discussed include:The Laws of ExpansionThe Paradox of ChoiceA Good Teacher is like a DJ for LearningWhen Drinking Tea, Just Drink TeaMean World SyndromeAll music on the podcast series kindly provided by Franc Cinelli. Find all his music, gigs and more here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his research, biological anthropologist Robin Dunbar poses that the typical number of people we can keep meaningful relationships with sits at around 150, and that this number is limited by the size of our brains. We discuss how it applies to us, if social media has impacted it, what it means for businesses and if we should be influenced by it when writing wedding invites or christmas cards...! :-)How does the number 150 sit with you and your social network? Or the number of contacts on your phone? Or even the number of people invited to your wedding? We'd love to hear from you. Let us know at [email protected] or by leaving comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter.You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When it comes to holidays, or nights out, or relationships even; it can often be the peak moments of emotional intensity and the very end of an experience that we filter in our memories to form our lasting impressions. It's called The Peak-End Rule. And guess what - Jono's done a sketch on it. The experience or event that we remember through the Peak-End filter can be short or long, it can be good or bad. Our brains are very good at dropping a lot of the detail and focussing on Peaks and Ends. You can see Jono's sketch on it here. Can you think of times in your life where your memory might be affected by this? Let us know at [email protected] or by leaving comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter.This is our final episode of Series 1, but we'll be back in the Autumn with a second series. In the meantime, you can find all three of us on Social Media here: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we invite expert, Nancy Hey to talk us through the 5 simple, evidence-based ways to actively improve our mental wellbeing. Suggestions for actions we can all integrate into our lives to try and take a holistic approach to improving our mental capacity and wellbeing. Do you have any additional suggestions or things that work for you? Let us know at [email protected] or by leaving comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter.See Jono's sketch here: https://sketchplanations.com/5-ways-to-wellbeingYou can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's your relationship with language? If you're interested in quirky words, linguistic devices and grammar, then there'll be lots in this week's episode for you. It's another BUMPER PACK QuickFire Round. Every day's a school day! But we promise you won't get told off if you haven't done your homework. In order of appearance:1/. Kaffikok2/. Advise vs Advice3/. Affect vs Effect4/. Pleonasm5/. Amateur vs Professional6/. Pyrrhic Victory7/. Flotsam & Jetsam8/. Contranym9/. NATO Phonetic Alphabet10/. Compliment vs Complement11/. Less vs Fewer12/. TsundokuEmail us at [email protected] with your takes on these sketches or you can leave us comments and messages for this episode on Social Media.You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.All Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s easy to think “it’s just a few minutes.” But as the number of people that you hold up increases, the true cost of being late scales rapidly.This week we discuss our relationships with time-keeping and explore how the impacts can be much bigger than you might first think. What's your relationship with punctuality? We'd love to hear from you. Let us know at [email protected] or by leaving comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter.You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was a surprise to me to learn that our senses interact with each other a lot more than I thought to give our perception of the world around us and in particular the things we eat and drink. So many fascinating examples and intriguing research conducted in this area.See Jono's sketch of Crossmodal Perception here.We also mentioned Jono's proprioception sketch.Here's the YouTube video of the McGurk Effect.And here's that silly but quite funny police dashcam video of the driver getting caught out being drunk. We do not condone this behaviour. Any specific examples of crossmodal perception that you're aware of? We'd love to hear from you. Let us know at [email protected] or by leaving comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter.You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When it comes to the crunch, if there's something important at stake we'd all be tempted to consider gaming the system to hit our targets, wouldn't we?We explore the phenomenon of Goodhart's Law; which says that as soon as a measure of something becomes a target determining success or failure, it ceases to be a good measure of performance - because there's a high chance we'll find cheeky ways to get there... won't we?See Jono's sketch of Goodhart's Law here.Jono mentions his sketch covering The Cobra Effect. Have you ever played the system to hit a target or have you been frustrated when it's been done to you? Let us know at [email protected] or by leaving comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter.You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you a fan of fun facts, startling figures and handy life hacks?Then this is the episode for you.This week we try out a new format - The BUMPER PACK QuickFire Round of our favourite Sketches that we've found to be remarkably surprising.In order of appearance:1/. Moonpool2/. Twit-Twoo3/. Better To Be Interested Than Interesting4/. Ordering Adjectives5/. Ablaut Reduplication6/. Bright Light to Free Your Sneeze7/. Keep Your Night Vision8/. 1.5 Billion Heartbeats9/. Stack Shirts Vertically10/. Wayne's World Pizza11/. Enjoy Your Hotel Room More12/. Use Both Sides of the TowelEmail us at [email protected] with your takes on these sketches or you can leave us comments and messages for this episode on Social Media.You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.All Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do scenario and surroundings affect the way you behave?We stretch the metaphor of Life As Theatre about as far as we can in this episode to explore just how different we act when the spotlight is either on or off of us.If not already visible as the artwork for this episode, check out Jono's sketch here: https://sketchplanations.com/front-stage-back-stageLet us know how your stories of Front and Back stage at [email protected] or by leaving comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter.You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.comkBuZijCa7dxKruZRdxGH Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss that in order to be powerful and in control of a situation, it first helps to be accountable. Behaviours like blame, or making excuses only leave you with a victim mindset - which isn't usually very productive. Jono references another of his sketches: Reasons Stop MatteringHave you had experiences of when being accountable, no matter how difficult the situation, have resulted in positive outcomes? Let us know at [email protected] or by leaving comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter.You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss what the term Fungible means and discover that the difference between fungible and non-fungible isn't always black and white.Is there perhaps something you deem fungible that other don't; or vice versa? Let us know by emailing [email protected] or leave us comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter.You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss how Optimism Bias has allowed us to take chances, grasp opportunities and be bold in life. We also discuss how at times, it's nearly killed us! We'd love to hear your experiences of when being optimistic has really worked out for you, or not... You can send us an email to [email protected] or leave us comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter.You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When is the best time to start something you know you want to do, but might have been putting off for a while?The best answer to that is possibly; Now. Like, right now!But if you need a bit more of a kick to get going, why not tie it in with the start of something else? Like the start of the day, or the start of the week, or the month or the year?Jono references a different sketch in the podcast about 9-enders ; which I love.Let us know your experiences with making a fresh start by sending us an email to [email protected] or by leaving comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter.You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you someone who'll naturally fill a silence in a conversation to avoid feeling awkward? Rob is. Jono & Tommy not so much.We discuss how much more effective and open a conversation can be by not filling a silence.Jono references another of his sketches: Listen with PassionLet us know your thoughts on using silence in your interactions by sending us an email to [email protected] or by leaving comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter.You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell.Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.comAll Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you guilty of Phubbing? Whether we admit it or not, mobile phones often disrupt our real, face-to-face interactions and in this episode we discuss what that means for society and what we can do to counteract the seduction of our screens. Tom references Mind Over Tech as helping him with his phone habits. Let us know your thoughts on Phubbing by leaving comments and messages for this episode on Instagram or Twitter. You can find all three of us on Social Media here too: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell. Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.com All Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yak Shaving is a term used to describe the conclusion of the often frustrating trail of seemingly never-ending tasks that becomes apparent when trying to complete one simple task - that you thought was going to be quick and easy. In the podcast, we apply it to software coding, project management, family holidays, winning The Apprentice and more... Jono also references another sketch that covers Hofstadter's Law. Let us know when you've ended up Yak Shaving by leaving comments for this sketch on Instagram or Twitter. You can find all three of us on Social Media here: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell. Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.com All Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find many more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Fun Scale suggests that there are 3 different Types of Fun - particularly when applied to outdoor pursuits. Type 1: Fun to do at the time and fun to think back on. Type 2: Requires a bit of work at the time, but ultimately fun in retrospectType 3: Not necessarily fun at all, but makes for a great story (the telling of which is fun!).In this episode we discuss our experiences with all 3 of them and propose a possible 4th Type of "Fun". Let us know your experiences of The Fun Scale by leaving comments for this sketch on Instagram or Twitter. You can find all three of us on Social Media here: Jono Hey, Tom Pellereau, Rob Bell. Find many more sketches at Sketchplanations.com All Music on this podcast series is provided by Franc Cinelli. Find loads more tracks at franccinelli.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.