Dan Ariely on innovation, marketing and bureaucracy

I had a great conversation with Dan Ariely, someone I respect for his ability to make me question my own assumptions about human behavior. We covered how contradictions shape our everyday life, how work and life can blend into something better than balance, why people often say one thing but mean another, what AI might do to our sense of control, and how fear and bureaucracy can hold us back. It felt honest, challenging, and eye-opening.

Here’s what we talked about:

00:00 Harmony and dealing with contradictions
05:00 Moving from “work-life balance” to “work-life harmony”
08:00 Why people’s words and actions rarely line up
12:00 Bureaucracy, AI, and the clash of regulatory visions
19:00 Risk aversion, social pressure, and our ancient fears
25:00 Promotions, the Peter principle, and flawed incentives
30:00 Setting the right goals without crushing motivation