Keep noticing.
A short personal welcome to the conversations, ordinary observations, and quiet philosophy behind the channel.
Watch the welcome · 1 minuteWarren Pennicooke · Leadership / writing / ideas
A life shaped by
decisions and people.
I write and create from a career in military leadership, teaching, and training—and from a lasting interest in what happens when we listen before we decide.
New here? You’re welcome.
A good place
to begin.
A place for people who are tired of being shouted at but are not finished asking difficult questions. Begin with a welcome, then follow the question that speaks to you.
Questions worth staying with.
Explore respect, identity, attention, and judgment through a small selection of reflective films.
Explore Start HereMore than being useful.
What happens when being needed becomes the way we measure our worth? An audio essay about service, care, and belonging.
Listen to the essay · 33 minutesIf you’re thinking about identity, continue with Who Are You When Your Title Is Gone? For another perspective on judgment, try Being Certain Doesn’t Make You Right.
Selected work
The work, in
four forms.
Books, a manuscript, film, and audio. Different ways of returning to the same question: how do we live and lead with greater attention?
Principles of Decision-Making and People
Leadership, deliberate planning, and the people within every system.
Explore the bookWhere Listening Begins
An Iraq lesson about assumptions, perspective, and the discipline of hearing the people around us.
About the manuscriptThe Optimistic Absurdist
Reflective videos about meaning, character, judgment, and the human condition.
Visit the channelA Longer Thought
Original audio essays that give an idea more room to breathe.
Listen to the podcastProfessional foundation
Leadership is a
human practice.
Plans matter. The people who carry them matter more. That lesson connects my work in uniform, in the classroom, and on the page.
01 / Service
U.S. Army
Twenty years of leadership and service, including deployment to Iraq and decisions with real consequences for teams.
02 / Education
ROTC instructor
Four years teaching at the University of Hawaiʻi, helping future leaders think beyond a plan to the people it affects.
03 / Analysis
See the full professional history Military training
Work as a freelance training analyst, continuing to examine how people, processes, and systems meet in practice.
Publications & manuscript
Longer thoughts.
Made tangible.
Published
Principles of Decision-Making and People: From a Soldier’s Perspective
Planning, leadership, and the relationship between people, processes, and systems.
Published
Empowerment: A Journey of Discovery
Growth, agency, and what we can make possible for ourselves and others.
Manuscript seeking publication
Where Listening Begins
Leadership, tempered assumptions, and the practice of listening before deciding.
A continuation of the work
The conversation
continues.
The Optimistic Absurdist is a place for people who are tired of being shouted at but are not finished asking difficult questions. The channel explores those questions in film; A Longer Thought gives them space in audio.
About Warren
“Look at the mountains.
And listen.”
I’m Warren Pennicooke. I hold a graduate degree in Liberal Studies, and my work has taken me from military leadership to teaching, writing, and making films. Travel, reading, and ordinary life keep widening the view. I am still learning how much a good question can reveal when we give it time.
Contact
Let’s begin with
a conversation.
For a question, a thoughtful disagreement, or a collaboration about leadership, writing, or the human condition:
rmpodcast2024@gmail.com ↗