This episode is the latest in our monthly PM Talks series, where Patrick Rhone and I step back from tactics and tools to explore the deeper questions that shape how we live, work, and show up. What we planned to discuss was poise—but what we actually talked about was something more urgent.

Recorded in real time as events were unfolding in Minneapolis and St. Paul, this conversation became about moral clarity, civic responsibility, and what it means to stay aligned when neutrality no longer feels like an option. This isn’t a polished debate or a tidy argument. It’s a candid conversation about right versus wrong—and why that distinction matters now.

Six Discussion Points

• Why this conversation couldn’t follow the plan—and why that mattered
• The difference between poise as composure and poise as alignment
• Why this moment isn’t about left versus right, but right versus wrong
• The danger of performative belief and the erosion of truth
• How lived experience carries weight even when it isn’t “linkable”
• What it means to keep living your life responsibly in a fractured moment

Three Connection Points

• Requiem for the American Dream (documentary)
• Willhoit’s Law (on power and the application of law)
• PM Talks series archive

I’m grateful Patrick was willing to have this conversation when he did, and I’m grateful to you for listening. This episode isn’t meant to inflame or persuade—it’s meant to bear witness. Sometimes that’s the most productive thing we can do.

Working from home sounds simple—until kids, calendars, meals, meetings, and relationships all collide. In this episode, I sit down with Thom Gibson, a work-from-home dad and social media strategist, to talk honestly about what it really takes to make remote work and family life coexist.

Thom is the founder of WFH Dads, and his perspective is grounded not in theory, but in lived experience—raising two young kids, navigating shared schedules with his wife, and building a workday that leaves room for presence, not just productivity.

Six Discussion Points

• How Thom transitioned into working from home during the pandemic—and why he stayed
• Why default schedules matter more than perfect plans
• The overlooked power of clear boundaries between “work time” and “family time”
• How simplifying meals reduces daily decision fatigue
• Why Thom changed his journaling practice after 15 years
• The thinking behind the Six-Hour Workday Playbook for dads

Three Connection Points

• WFH Dads
• Get The Six-Hour Workday Playbook
• How to Build a Powerful Journal in 3 Steps (Starting Today)

This conversation reinforced something I’ve believed for a long time: structure isn’t the enemy of freedom—it’s what makes freedom possible. Thom’s approach to work-from-home life is thoughtful, practical, and refreshingly human, and I think a lot of parents—especially dads—will see themselves reflected in this episode.

This week on A Productive Conversation, I sit down with Brad Stulberg, author of The Way of Excellence, to explore what excellence really means in a world obsessed with efficiency, optimization, and performative productivity. Brad has spent years studying sustainable excellence across sport, leadership, creativity, and life—and this conversation digs into why excellence is neither perfection nor hustle, but something far more human.

Brad and I unpack the difference between true excellence and what he calls “pseudo-excellence,” why metrics often outlive their usefulness, and how habits like routine, curiosity, and gumption play a central role in meaningful progress. Along the way, we explore why satisfaction outlasts happiness, why flow isn’t always the goal, and how focusing on the task at hand—not the time on hand—changes everything.

Six Discussion Points

• Why excellence must be reclaimed from hustle culture, optimization, and perfectionism
• The difference between efficiency and excellence—and why short-term efficiency often undermines long-term growth
• Metrics, mastery, and knowing when measures help—or get in the way
• Flow versus values-driven excellence (and why not all flow is good)
• Gumption, routines, and building momentum without becoming robotic
• Why satisfaction comes from effort on worthwhile work, not outcomes alone

Three Connection Points

• The Way of Excellence by Brad Stulberg
• The Growth Equation (Blog Posts)
• Listen to Brad's previous appearance on APC

This conversation is a reminder that excellence isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what matters with care, patience, and intention. Brad’s work offers a compelling counterpoint to the constant pressure to optimize everything, and instead invites us to pursue a more grounded, values-aligned version of success—one that shapes us as much as the work itself.