Most of us are familiar with Google’s moonshot projects that span everything from self-driving cars to AIs that can beat world champion GO players. Less well known are the ways that Google is re-inventing how it designs and optimizes its own internal operations.

When Tim Cook introduced the Apple Watch, many hoped it might do for wearable computers what the iPhone did for smartphones. And yet, great design aside — our ever expanding armoury of smart watches, smart rings, augmented eyewear, wireless earbuds, connected bracelets and fitness trackers — all seem to scream for a more elegant solution. We have hit Peak Tech, while somehow missing peak productivity along the way.

Now that robots look like they are in fact serious about taking some of our jobs, us humans can at least reassure ourselves that we are better at creative tasks like design. But is that, in fact true?

Some of the biggest sources of stress inside organizations are secrets. When a new boss is appointed, merger talks begin or layoffs are rumored, everyone goes into threat response mode. Personal survival is paramount, and people lose focus and stop creating valuable work.

David Epstein is the New York Times bestselling author of The Sports Gene, an investigative journalist, and a long time contributor for Sports Illustrated where he co-authored the 2009 report that Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez had used steroids. He has also been a crime writer, has lived in the Sonoran desert, on a ship in the Pacific Ocean, and in the Arctic. Fortunately, it was in Soho, New York City that I was able to meet up with him where we talked about the intersection of sports and genetics, the physiology of elite athletes, why Kenyans are such great marathon runners, Belgian Blue cattle, the origins of cognitive ability, and how to find the world’s best fighter pilots or bob sled drivers.