Show Notes
What parts of yourself have you learned to hide in order to be taken seriously? My guest on this episode is Mark Heywood, a friend of the show, returning guest and someone I've collaborated with on a number of projects.
Episode Summary & Guest Profile Mark has spent more than twenty years working in crisis management and operational resilience, while simultaneously building a successful career as a bestselling novelist, screenwriter and, more recently, stand-up comedian.
On the morning we recorded this conversation, Mark published an article marking his fifty-first birthday. In it, he reflected on the pressure many of us feel to present only one version of ourselves professionally, arguing that his creative and corporate lives were never really separate.
As he puts it, they were 'not two jobs, but one obsession wearing two different lanyards.' That simple idea becomes the starting point for a much wider discussion about the stories we tell ourselves, and the stories organisations tell themselves.
Along the way we explore: Why "stay in your lane" may say more about other people's expectations than your own potential. Why organisations often encourage people to bring their whole selves to work, while rewarding conformity. What interviews, dress codes and organisational culture reveal about human behaviour. Why stories often influence behaviour more effectively than rules, policies and frameworks. What films can teach us about operational resilience, cybersecurity and crisis management. Why the Titanic remains one of the most powerful lessons in organisational failure. How imagination is a strategic capability rather than a soft skill. Why thinking through "severe but plausible" scenarios requires organisations to become better storytellers. Links Mark's birthday article: "A Birthday Declaration from Someone Who Spent Over Twenty Years Pretending to Be Half of Himself" (LinkedIn)
Mark's Behind The Spine podcast
The Writing Salon
Behind The Spine podcast
Mark on LinkedIn
Mark's previous appearances on the show talking about The Creative Industries under COVID, and Human Risk in the Creative Industries
Films, Stories & People MentionedDie Hard Apollo 13 The Martian The Odyssey (Christopher Nolan) Don't Look Up Snakes on a Plane Sharknado Noah's Ark RMS Titanic Rachel Heyhoe Flint Jeremy King
AI-Generated Timestamped Summary 00:00 – Why do we hide parts of ourselves to be taken seriously?
03:40 – Mark explains why he stopped separating his creative and corporate identities.
08:00 – Which hobbies and outside interests are considered professionally acceptable—and why?
10:30 – Job interviews, authenticity and bringing your whole self to work.
16:00 – Jeremy King on why behaviour matters more than dress codes.
19:00 – Rachel Heyhoe Flint, the MCC and what institutional rules reveal about culture.
23:00 – Why stories influence behaviour more effectively than rules.
24:00 – The Trojan Horse and using films to teach cybersecurity and resilience.
29:00 – The Titanic as a lesson in organisational resilience rather than maritime history.
32:00 – Conduct versus outcomes: why testing matters more than compliance.
36:00 – Using stories and popular culture to make risk real.
38:00 – Noah's Ark, history and the enduring power of storytelling.
40:30 – CrowdStrike, PPE and why organisations keep repeating the same mistakes.
46:00 – Stories aren't predictions—they're a way of exploring possibility.
49:00 – A ransomware exercise and the danger of relying on fixed policies.
52:00 – Returning to the Titanic: preparing for the inquiry before the crisis.
55:00 – Thinking like an attacker and challenging assumptions about cyber risk.
58:00 – Taylor Swift, insurance and why seemingly ordinary data can become highly sensitive.
1:02:00 – The idea of "risk inflation" and why yesterday's rules aren't enough.
1:10:00 – Why memorable stories change behaviour more effectively than realistic scenarios.
1:15:00 – Reverse stre
More from The Human Risk Podcast
What does it actually take to prevent sexual harassment at work? Policies, training, reporting mechanisms and statements of zero tolerance are one thing. Creating a workplace where sexual harassment is genuinely less likely to happen is something else entirely.
What can financial markets teach us about human behaviour? Why might the size of a CEO’s signature tell us something useful about the company they run? And why, even when smart investors know something is probably a bubble, might they keep investing anyway?
What if understanding regulation could help us spot when politicians are promising the impossible? Regulation sounds simple in theory. Something poses a risk, so we create rules and a regulator to control it. In practice, things get complicated very quickly. It's something we all benefit from, but equally can experience as redtape that prevents us from doing what we think we ought to be able to.
What if AI could help us understand people better, rather than simply replacing what humans do?
What’s the last thing you learned simply because you wanted to know?