The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway - The Algebra of Happiness

Episode Date: December 23, 2021

For our final episode of the year, we hear Scott read an excerpt from his National Bestseller, “The Algebra of Happiness.” He shares stories of his family, overcoming his imposter syndrome, and finding his voice.  Audio excerpted courtesy Penguin Random House Audio from THE ALGEBRA OF HAPPINESS by Scott Galloway, read by Scott Galloway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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NMLS 1617539. welcome to the prop g pods final episode of the year jesus christ 2021 good riddance anyways in today's episode we're sharing an excerpt from my book the algebra of happiness read by yours truly um this is not a cop-out a little bit of a cop yours truly. This is not a cop-out, a little bit of a cop-out, a little bit of a cop-out, but this is a book that of all the things we do on this podcast, the segments of the show that get the most response are our algebra of happiness segments. And so here's the full one. We're going full Monty with AOH. In 1982, Emerson Junior High School, in its ninth grade poll, named me Most Comical and Steve Martin. Since then, I've successfully navigated all awards and recognition. A month ago, a friend of mine, Anne Maffei, texted me. Please respond to my brother.

He wants to give you an award that recognizes your work. Anne's brother is Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, a mass media firm founded by the original gangster of cable, John Malone. Hashtag badass. Before that, Greg was CFO of Microsoft, which feels even more gangster uber cool to me. I think being CFO of the evil empire of the 90s is as close to Darth Vader of the corporate world as one can get. But Greg is too likable to be the Dark Lord. So I envision Greg as Darth Vader after he defeats the Emperor, removes his mask, and returns from the dark side.

So a quick search of the inbox, and there they are. Emails from Greg and his colleagues congratulating me as I'm the 2018 recipient of the Media for Liberty Award. I had been gracious enough to ignore them for two months. Liberty, five years ago, crafted an award for an author or journalist who writes about the intersection of politics and the economy. I'm pretty sure Greg is a billionaire, as all the elected officials at the event were really, really nice to him. Remember, he was CFO of Microsoft in the 90s.

And I think it's fitting that a professor was too out to lunch to respond. So I got back to Greg. Yes, this is awesome. Thanks. two out to lunch to respond. So I got back to Greg, yes, this is awesome, thanks, and agreed to accept the award at a ceremony in D.C. over dinner and drinks at the Newseum, D.C.'s favorite museum for 2016, according to the Washingtonian. I'm excited about the day, but anxious and uneasy. I'm nervous that I'm flying too close to the sun. That in sum, I'm a fraud. Increased attention and recognition puts a guy on my shoulder, whispering in my ear, who are you kidding?

You're a fraud. Whenever success came my way, it was because I was fooling them. I didn't warn recognition as an academic, nor rewards as an entrepreneur. I felt an anxiety, always, that I'd be found out for what I really am. The son of a secretary who did poorly in school, did not invest in relationships, was selfish, and isn't that gifted? Someone whose only real talent was self-promotion and taking credit for other people's work. A fraud. The anxiety is sort of dissipating as I realize that most successful people reach beyond their grasp. 70% of Americans admit to experiencing imposter syndrome. Unless you take time to squash these thoughts, psychologists claim they only get louder. So I cut myself some slack,

as there's been some hard work, risk, and giving along the way. Still, there's always the insecurity whispering in my ear, I know who you really are. I hope this is insecurity, not common sense or clarity. Anxious Scott goes to Washington. The dinner and awards ceremony were wonderful overlooking the capital reflecting on the day i loved being american despite the voice on my shoulder i summoned the skills to present well during the conversation with greg who is great at helping others be better at what they do i had friends in the audience ranging from my best friend from the

fourth grade to my new friends from Florida and a dozen in between. Like many important events, there were moments of melancholy. I wish my mom could have seen me. I wish my dad was well enough to have been there. I have a good friend who attended whose husband is very sick, and I could feel some of the weight and sadness she was bearing, and how generous it was of her to be there. I also felt the love of friends and my wife, who rode on planes and trains for six hours to cement the moment for me. Achievement is just a moment in pencil unless you can share it with people you care about. Then it becomes real, a memory in permanent ink, the voice of insecurity still on my shoulder.

However, it dims as I feel American, relevant, and loved. We'll be right back. Hey, it's Scott Galloway, and on our podcast, Pivot, we are bringing you a special series about the basics of artificial intelligence. We're answering all your questions. What should you use it for? What tools are right for you? And what privacy issues should you ultimately watch out for? And to help us out, we are joined by Kylie Robeson, the senior AI reporter for The Verge,

to give you a primer on how to integrate AI into your life. So tune into AI Basics, How and When to Use AI, a special series from Pivot sponsored by AWS, wherever you get your podcasts. Think about those businesses that grew their sales beyond their forecasts. Companies like Momofuku or Feastables by Mr. Beast or even a legacy business like Mattel. When you think about them, sure, you think about a product with demand, a focused brand, and influence-driven marketing. But part of their secret is actually the business behind the scenes, as in the business that makes selling and buying simple. And for millions of companies, that business is Shopify. Nobody does selling better than Shopify, home of the number one

checkout on the planet. With their Shop Pay feature, they can boost conversions up to 50%, meaning way less carts going abandoned and way more sales going... So if you're into growing your business, you want a commerce platform that's ready to sell wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling, whether that's on the web, in your store, and everywhere in between. Because businesses that sell more, sell on Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash voxbusiness, all lowercase.

Go to shopify.com slash voxbusiness to upgrade your selling today. Shopify.com slash voxbusiness. Find your voice. When I was around five, I noticed that people behaved differently around my father. They would gaze into his eyes, nodding and then laughing. Women would touch his arm, laughing, and men, when they saw him, would yell, Tommy! Genuinely happy to see him. He was great with a turn of phrase, funny and clever. That is British. The cocktail of articulate, irreverent, and smart, chased with a Scottish accent, made my

dad attractive to women and employers. My mother explained to me, your father is charming. At gatherings, inevitably, a semicircle forms around my dad and he tells jokes and shares his take on things ranging from space if it never ends everything has already happened to management the key is a good job description this charm sustained for a decade an upper middle class lifestyle for him my mom and me as my father roamed the western United States and Canada, maintaining in 15-minute spurts pseudo-friendships with the managers of the outdoor and garden departments at Sears and Lowe's. In exchange for his company, my dad's 200 pseudo-friends would over-order bags of shit as he was selling fertilizer for O.M. Scott's and Sons, an international telegraph and telegram, that is ITT,

company. In his late 50s, after the marketplace made it clear a recently laid-off manager from ITT was no longer welcome in the Fortune 500, he began giving seminars, open to the public, at a local community college. Cheap fluorescent lighting made the space feel like an operating room in an East German hospital. There were six rows of eight folding chairs, an overhead slide projector, transparencies with smudges, and a table at the back with half-empty two-liter bottles of Dr. Pepper, Sprite and Tab, and lemon squares my stepmom had baked. Around 15 people, mostly in their 50s and 60s, would attend. My dad would speak for 90 minutes, breaking halfway through so everyone could venture

to the hall and have a cigarette. I attended a few times as a teen. At that age, I found everything involving my parents lame, but this felt especially sad, depressing even. In exchange for imparting his wisdom on mostly other unemployed smokers, my dad had to pay $10 to $20 for gas and treats. My dad reflects on these seminars as the happiest he's ever been. He was where he was meant to be, in front of a group of people, speaking and teaching. Charm skips a generation. I did not inherit my father's charm. In fact, being offensive, the opposite of charm, is something I've developed a knack for. Not a

speak-truth-to-power kind of offensive, but a tone-deaf, saying-exactly- at exactly the wrong moment kind of offensive. I regularly say things and write emails that make good people feel bad, and I know it. No excuse. Because I'm successful, people often recast this offensiveness as honesty or even leadership. No, it's just being an asshole. I'm working on it. However, my father did pass on the ability to hold a room of people, as long as it's a windowless boardroom or conference hall on the 55th floor of a midtown building or in the basement of a hotel. Most people become increasingly uncomfortable as the group grows. I experienced the inverse.

One-on-one, I'm an introvert, insecure even. But as the room fills, other skills kick in. In front of dozens, crisp insights find me. In front of hundreds, humor and warmth. And thousands, a rush of adrenaline and the confidence to reach beyond my grasp and be inspiring. I may be wrong, but my heart is in the right place. I can look each person in the eye and assert I believe what I am saying to be true. Stand-up. To hone their craft, comedians do stand-up at clubs. For me, stand-up is class, where I hone the craft of speaking every Tuesday night for three hours in front of 170 second-year MBAs.

I'm much more focused and put more effort into class than in front of any board or gathering of gold-circle commercial real estate brokers. I make much less, about $1,000 per podium hour. Note, this sounds like more than it is, as you spend several hours outside of class prepping or meeting with students for each podium hour. Note, this sounds like more than it is, as you spend several hours outside of class prepping or meeting with students for each podium hour. In addition, the amount of bullshit you endure to get this platform, advanced degrees, department politics, is substantial. Two things. My dad will only get on a plane for two things, and they aren't to see his grandkids or spend time with friends. He will only get on a plane to see the Toronto Maple Leafs play or to watch his son teach.

He sits in the back row of the classroom. At the beginning of class, we ask any visitors to introduce themselves. We get a half a dozen curious undergrads or applicants in almost every class. My dad waits until they're done and then, really dialing up the accent, says, I'm Tom Galloway, Scott's father. There's a pause, then sustained applause. I observe my dad riveted on my every word and movement for the next three hours. I wonder if at 88, he looks at me and feels disappointment

that he didn't have the opportunities to reach his full potential as a speaker, or if he feels the reward of evolutionary progress, seeing himself, but version 2.0. Seeing my dad in class reminds me that the difference between bribing people to listen to you with lemon squares and being paid $2,000 per minute at corporate gatherings is not talent. My dad has more of that. The difference is being born in America and the generosity of California taxpayers who gave the child of a secretary the chance to attend a world-class university. The mix of my dad's talent and the confidence I received from the abundant love of his second wife

gave me the skills and opportunity to stand in front of a room of people, look each in the eyes, and say, I believe this to be true. That's all for this episode. Audio excerpted courtesy of Penguin Random House Audio from The Algebra of Happiness by Scott Galloway, read by, wait for it, Scott Galloway. Thank you for tuning in all year long. This has been a wonderful year for us. Thanks to the team and thanks for listening.

People come up to me and say, hi, they interrupt my dinners, they interrupt my walks, and they come up and say, hey, Prof G, and how does it feel to be interrupted from what you're trying to get done that day and have someone come up,

some stranger come up and just start barking at you? It feels wonderful. Thank you. I hope you've had a wonderful year. I hope the next year is better for all of us. Our producers are Caroline Shagrin and Drew Burrows. Claire Miller is our assistant producer.

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