Smidgen of Proof
by Christopher Donaleski
It is said that the average person makes 35,000 decisions each day. Each decision, whether conscious or unconscious, is based on what we know and what we believe to be right. Join us as we explore how technology shapes our decisions and how we, in turn, influence the tech around us. We’ll dive into the impact of tech on daily life, our interactions, and how we navigate a rapidly changing world. From business insights to life’s big questions, we’ll uncover new perspectives and stories to better understand the evolving relationship between people, technology, and each other.
Episodes
-
Ep. 48: Stop Collecting Contacts. Start Building Connections with Stacy Harris
What if the secret to growing your business isn't meeting more people, but building better relationships with the ones you already know? In this episode of Smidgen of Proof, Christopher sits down with Stacy Harris, strategic relationship advisor and founder of Stacy Harris Consulting, to…
more -
Ep. 47: Who Should Hold Decision Authority in the Age of AI, with Guest Dr. Sammane
AI doesn’t think—but are we letting it decide?In this episode of Smidgen of Proof, Christopher Donaleski sits down with Dr. Sam Sammane for a wide-ranging conversation about what artificial intelligence actually is, what it isn’t, and why those distinctions matter as we give AI more influence…
more -
Ep. 46 - The Day Porsche Killed the 911 (AI Deep Dive)
In this episode, I feed my article, "The Day Porsche Killed the 911," into AI and let it unpack the ideas, challenge the assumptions, and connect dots that many leaders miss. Rather than simply reading the article, this conversation explores it from a different perspective—revealing insights…
more -
Ep. 45: The Uber Ride of Strategic Planning & Creating a Business That Works Without You
In Episode 45, we dive into the hard truth about growing a company: most businesses are built to operate, not to transfer. While you might be generating incredible revenue, if your business relies entirely on you as the central decision-maker, its actual transferable value plummets. We discuss…
more -
Ep. 44: The Journey Between Decisions: What Artemis II Reveals About Business with guest Dr. Daniel Gilham
What does a mission to the moon have to do with running a business? In this episode, recorded in the wake of Artemis II, we explore the unseen reality behind every successful outcome—the chain of decisions that had to be right long before the moment everyone sees. Christopher sits down with Dr....
-
Ep. 43 - Decision Authority in the Age of AI with Guest Dr. Matthew Alberts
AI isn’t just changing workflows, it’s changing who (or what) holds decision authority inside the enterprise.In this episode, Christopher Donaleski sits down with Dr. Matthew Alberts—technology executive, innovation leader in energy, and author of The Gen AI Manufacturing Revolution—to break down...
-
Ep. 42 - The Leadership Discipline Most Teams Skip with Guest Dr. Lisa Hale
Most leaders are not struggling because they cannot solve problems. They are struggling because they are solving the wrong ones. In Episode 42, Dr. Lisa Hale joins Christopher Donaleski to unpack a hard truth about leadership in today’s environment: speed without prioritization creates noise, not...
-
Ep. 41 - AI Deep Dive: The Leadership Gap Inside Your Systems: Why Execution Feels Harder Than It Should
In this episode, we’re offering another way to consume our written work by turning the article The Operating Model Shift No One Planned For into an AI-driven conversation. Execution no longer lives primarily in people or meetings. It lives in systems. Workflows, automation, metrics, and defaults...
-
Ep. 40 - From Awareness to Action: Why Confidence Keeps Outpacing Clarity
In this AI Deep Dive, I turn a long-form leadership article into a live conversation with AI to explore a question most organizations avoid asking. Why do smart teams with high awareness still make fragile decisions? This episode breaks down the quiet gap between noticing risk and governing…
more -
Ep. 39 - The Ghost in the Gearbox: Why AI Strategy Fails at Mach 1
This is one of our AI Deep Dives. In this special edition of Smidgen of Proof, we utilize advanced synthetic dialogue to bring you a new, highly analytical way of consuming our written content. AI execution is approaching instantaneous, yet organizational output remains stuck in a crawl. Episode…
more -
Ep. 38 - AI Deep Dive: The Hidden Cost of Frictionless Change
In an era where AI tools and platforms promise to optimize, streamline, and automate every aspect of business, we have become obsessed with the idea of "frictionless" change. But there is a hidden cost to removing all the obstacles: when we eliminate friction, we often eliminate the opportunity…
more -
Ep. 37 - The Growth Lesson No One Teaches with Guest Laura Lewis
Growth is often treated like a performance problem. Try harder. Move faster. Add pressure. But real growth works more like biology than business. In this episode, Laura Lewis joins the conversation to explore what plants, people, and organizations have in common. We talk about why most growth...
-
Ep.36 - AI Deep Dive: Addiction to Manufactured Certainty
In this episode, we explore a provocative theory by Christopher Donaleski: that AI operates on the exact same addictive mechanism as pornography. Just as porn offers desire without intimacy, AI feeds our hunger for "endless answers without wisdom". We dive into the neuroscience behind this...
-
Ep. 35 - Generally Right vs. Genuinely True with Guest Dr. Irina Mirkina
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Irina Mirkina, a global expert in AI governance, data ethics, and high-stakes decision making. We explore why today’s AI systems are often “generally right” but not always genuinely true—and why experts still matter more than ever.Dr. Mirkina unpacks:The...
-
Ep. 34 - AI Deep Dive: How Moving Faster Is Making You Fall Behind
Welcome to another AI-powered deep dive, where we turn our most impactful articles into short, insight-dense audio sessions for your walk, drive, or workday. Today’s episode unpacks a truth every leader feels but rarely confronts: Speed is destroying progress. Not because technology is broken…
more -
Ep. 33 - AI Deep Dive: You Can’t Save Your Way to 10X — Why Value Creation Is the Real ROI
AI Deep Dive: You Can’t Save Your Way to 10X — Why Value Creation Is the Real ROI Welcome to another AI-powered deep dive—where we take our most impactful articles and translate them into short, insight-dense audio sessions for your walk, drive, or workday. Today’s episode breaks down a truth…
more -
Ep. 32 - Building the Golden Bridge: Leading Change When You’re Not in Charge with Guest Michelle Pauk
In this episode of The Validated Mind, Christopher Donaleski sits down with Michelle Pauk, executive coach, facilitator, and author of Build a Golden Bridge: How to Lead Change When You’re Not in Charge. Michelle brings over 20 years of experience in global organizations, high-growth startups…
more -
Ep. 31 - Forecasting the Human Side of Change with Guest Erica Wexler
What if the biggest barriers to change aren’t what we can see — but what we can’t? In this episode, Christopher Donaleski sits down with Erica Wexler, Change Architect and Founder of Transformational Guidance, to explore what she calls “the alchemy of the invisible.” Together, they unpack how the...
-
Ep. 30 - Trust Before Tech: The Real Playbook for Customer Experience with Guest Camila Ferreira
In this season’s first episode of Smidgen of Proof, host Christopher Donaleski sits down with Camila Ferreira, a global customer experience leader who’s lived in six countries, led international teams, and ran Uber Eats operations during the pandemic. Together, they explore what it really means…
more -
Ep. 29 - The Bias of Action: Why Doing Something Isn’t Always Progress
This episode explores a behavior that often looks like leadership but quietly undermines it, the compulsion to act without clarity. Host Christopher Donaleski opens with the story of JFK’s early misstep at the Bay of Pigs to reveal how urgency, pressure, and fear can drive poor decisions…
more -
Ep. 28 - The Sunk Cost Trap (And Why You Stay Too Long)
Episode 7: The Sunk Cost Trap (And Why You Stay Too Long) explores the powerful pull to keep going simply because you've already come so far. Host Christopher Donaleski opens with a personal story from a family hike at Enchanted Rock, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of why letting go…
more -
Ep. 27 - How Emotion Fuels (Not Fights) Rational Decisions
In this episode, Christopher Donaleski unpacks one of the most persistent myths in business and leadership: the belief that emotion and logic are at odds. Drawing on the research of neurologist Antonio Damasio, he reveals that emotion isn’t a distraction from rational thinking—it’s a necessary…
more -
Ep. 26 - Decision Fatigue
You don’t run out of time. You run out of clarity. In this episode of Smidgen of Proof, Christopher Donaleski unpacks decision fatigue, what it is, how it quietly erodes your judgment, and why even leaders like Jeff Bezos build their schedules around protecting mental energy. You'll learn how to...
-
Ep. 25 - Gut vs. Guidance: When to Trust Your Instincts
In this episode of Smidgen of Proof, Christopher Donaleski explores the tension between instinct and data in decision-making. What if both are valid? One feels right. One looks right. Each is a form of validation, and each has its place. Learn how to spot the signals from your gut, pressure test...
-
Ep. 24: Comfort or Truth
We like to think we’re rational thinkers. Logical. Objective. But today’s episode explores a harder truth: your brain isn’t wired for truth—it’s wired for comfort. And that wiring? It influences everything from the feedback you ignore to the decisions you justify. In this episode, we dig into how...
-
Ep.23 - The Myth of the Data-Driven Leader
We hear it all the time: “I’m a data-driven leader.” But what if that’s just a myth? In this episode of Smidgen of Proof, Christopher Donaleski breaks down the illusion of objectivity in leadership and explores the real force behind high-stakes decisions: how we validate what’s true, not just...
-
Ep. 22 - Why Smart People Still Make Unexpectedly Bad Choices
We like to believe that intelligence protects us from bad decisions. But what if it actually blinds us to them? In this episode of Smidgen of Proof, Christopher Donaleski explores how smart, capable people can still make costly choices—not because they lack information, but because their…
more -
Ep.21 - The Most Dangerous Competency in Business
Overconfidence doesn’t always look like arrogance. Sometimes, it shows up as experience, a strong track record, or a bulletproof roadmap. In this episode, Christopher Donaleski breaks down how unchecked confidence can quietly derail even the best strategies. From a major U.S. retailer’s failed...
-
Ep. 20 - Summer Series 2025: Invisible Frameworks
The Invisible Frameworks Behind Every Decision Behind every tech rollout, strategy pivot, or quick “yes” in a meeting lies an unseen architecture, mental shortcuts, cultural norms, and tool-driven defaults that steer choices long before the data shows up. In this kickoff to our Summer Sessions,...
-
EP. 19 - Smidgen of Proof at OTC 2025 | Digital Twins, Decision-Making & Data That Actually Works
In this episode of Smidgen of Proof, we’re live from OTC 2025 with Christian Hearns, Senior VP at AIS, for an energizing conversation about the power of data, trust, and tech that actually delivers value in oil and gas.We dive into:Why engineers are still wasting time finding info in 2025 (and…
more -
Ep.18 - Management Development with Guest Eric Girard
In this episode, Christopher Donaleski talks with Eric Girard—author of Lead Like a Pro and host of the Management Development Unlocked podcast—about what it really takes to grow strong managers. They dive into soft skills, empathy, the danger of promoting top performers too quickly, and how AI…
more -
Episode 17 - Why AI? A Candid Talk on Truth, Tech & Human Nature with Guest Tony Alampi
In this episode, Christopher Donaleski and Tony Alampi return for a deep, unfiltered conversation on AI's rapid evolution, human behavior, ethics, and whether we're chasing progress—or just keeping up. From quantum computing to ego-driven tech adoption, it's a thought-provoking exploration of…
more -
Ep.16 - AI vs. AI: The Cybersecurity Arms Race & The Future of Digital Trust
In this episode, Christopher Donaleski sits down with cybersecurity expert Reynaldo Gonzalez to discuss the evolving battlefield of cybersecurity in the age of AI. From AI-powered attacks to AI-driven defenses, they explore the growing reality of AI fighting AI—and what that means for businesses,...
-
Ep. 15 - Live at CERAweek with guest Kevin O'Donovan
In this episode, we sit down at CERAWeek with Kevin, an industry expert who shares his insights on the rapid acceleration of AI, digital transformation, and the evolving landscape of technology in the energy sector. We explore the overwhelming pace of innovation, the challenges of navigating an...
-
Ep. 14 - Beyond the Screen - The Future of Video, Branding, and AI with guest Kiesha King
In this episode of Beyond the Screen, Christopher Donaleski sits down with Kiesha King, Chief Experience Officer at Loyalty Centric, to explore how AI-powered video content is transforming branding and customer experience. They dive into the generational and industry-specific challenges of video...
-
Ep 13: Live at NAPE Expo 2025 with guest Mark LaCour
Impromptu conversation with the owner of OGGN, the world's top oil, gas, and energy podcast network. Live from NRG Convention Center at NAPE Expo 2025.
-
EP:12 Navigating Change and Workforce Disruption with Guest Modesta Mahiga
In this episode,Christopher Donaleski andModesta Mahiga dive into the challenges of navigating global business shifts, AI disruption, and the evolving role of leadership in an unpredictable world. They discuss whytrust is the foundation of change management, how organizations can stayrelevant and...
-
Episode 11: Shift Happens: Mastering Change, DAP, and Training with Guest Laura Dean
Join Christopher Donaleski and special guest Laura Dean as they explore the art of managing change, leveraging Digital Adoption Platforms (DAP), and transforming training in the modern workplace. Through candid conversations and actionable strategies, discover how to overcome resistance, drive...
-
Episode 10: From Robots to Relationships: The Future of Work is Human with Guest Dane Laughlin
In this episode, we dive into how AI is transforming the workplace, redefining skills, and challenging leadership. From automation to authenticity, we explore the balance between human intelligence and technology in shaping the future of work.
-
Episode 9: Gamification, AI, and the Future of Remote Work with guest Tony Alampi
In this episode, Christopher welcomes Tony Alampi, owner of X Factor Consultants, to explore the evolving landscape of learning and technology. Tony shares his unique journey from video game development to e-learning consulting, offering insights into the challenges of learning in a fast-paced,...
-
Ep 8: Exploring Geoscience, Innovation, and the Future of Energy with Ryan Jarvis
In this episode of the Smidgen of Proof podcast, Christopher Donaleski is joined by geoscience expert Ryan Jarvis for a compelling conversation about the fascinating intersections of geoscience, technology, and the evolving energy industry. Ryan shares insights into the art and science of...
-
Ep 7: Automation and False Identities in the Workplace
In this episode, we explore a pervasive illusion in the modern workplace—the belief that automation can substitute for the unique value that only humans provide. We delve into how this misconception fosters a culture overly focused on efficiency, often at the expense of genuine talent and the...
-
Ep6: Automating Workflows + Squint AI with Guest JB Farge
JB Farge, an ex-Subsea 7 employee who is now part of the Squint AI team, is our guest on this episode about automation and the future of assisted workforce training.
-
Ep5: Taxes and Technology with Guest Casey Barka
If you want to know how to innovate for less, this might be the show you want to check out. We discuss beer, explosives, taxes, and AI.
-
Ep4: All About Smart Manufacturing with Guest Mike Nager
Join us as I interview Mike Nager about his published books in the smart manufacturing space. We discuss the future of the industry, the role people will play in the future, and why we should remain optimistic about the next industrial evolution.
-
Ep3: How Change Breeds Success
How do we identify success and how does that drive you forward. Are there patterns or specific areas we must focus around or is it just pure luck. This episode we dive into ways to change how we think about things and how we can create our own success.
-
Ep2: Intelligence vs Speed
Sometimes it is better to just do it, other times it may require research and critical thinking. We dive into how speed and intelligence can help us or stop us and how to apply a little bit of logic in how we think of these two topics.
-
Ep1: No Shortcuts to Success
How everyone and no one has the secret to success. You define your own success and we discuss a few things that will help you along your journey.
About this show
It is said that the average person makes 35,000 decisions each day. Each decision, whether conscious or unconscious, is based on what we know and what we believe to be right. Join us as we explore how technology shapes our decisions and how we, in turn, influence the tech around us. We’ll dive into the impact of tech on daily life, our interactions, and how we navigate a rapidly changing world. From business insights to life’s big questions, we’ll uncover new perspectives and stories to better understand the evolving relationship between people, technology, and each other.
Hosted by
Christopher Donaleski
Categories