MIDDLE PATH RESOURCES

Middle Path Video Library

This library brings together videos Russ uses in Middle Path workshops and follow-up conversations. Some explain the Middle Path models directly; others bring the ideas to life through research, stories, film, and real-world examples.

If Russ directed you here, choose the topic he mentioned below. Otherwise, begin with the five-part Middle Path Foundations series.

Jump to:

Middle Path Foundations
The Three Traps
Perception, Empathy, and Conversation
The Hero’s Journey, Meaning, and Purpose
Winning, Success, and the Sucker’s Choice
Leadership, Motivation, and Practice
Magic, Misdirection, and the Knower Trap

Video Menu

Middle Path Foundations

Chris Holmberg, creator of Leadership and the Middle Path, introduces several of the curriculum’s central ideas. These five videos are designed to be watched in sequence.

1. The Gap

Chris explains the dissatisfaction gap—and why meaningful change takes place not only at the level of knowing, but at the level of being.

2. The Hero's Journey and the Knower Trap

Chris introduces the Hero’s Journey and explains the first of three traps that can interfere with effective problem-solving.

3. The Victim Trap

Chris explores the Victim Trap—something we all fall into—the role of mutual accountability, and language that helps out of the trap.

4. The Sucker's Choice and Completion of the Journey

Chris explains the Sucker’s Choice, the challenge of facing our internal enemies, and the distinction between winning and success.

5. Problem-Solving and the Hero's Journey: Sending an Seeking

Chris maps the Hero’s Journey to a four-stage problem-solving process: sensing, seeking, solving, and starting.

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The Three Traps

The Knower Trap, Victim Trap, and Sucker’s Choice can limit what we see and what becomes possible. These examples help make the traps easier to recognize in ourselves and others.

Penn & Teller Lure Us into the Knower Trap—Part 1

While examining alternative medical practices, Penn and Teller demonstrate how certainty about what we expect can shape what we believe we are seeing. Contains graphic imagery.

We Hear What We Expect—The Knower Trap

Professor Mercer uses a simple audio demonstration to show how expectations shape perception. Although the recording remains the same, students hear different phrases as the words on the screen change—a vivid reminder that certainty is not evidence of accuracy.

Penn & Teller Lure Us into the Knower Trap—Part 2

In a trick originally created for Saturday Night Live, Penn and Teller once again draw us into the Knower Trap—the blindness that can accompany certainty.

“Whoa. That’s Not Good”—The Victim Trap

A commercial from Ogilvy shows two people thoroughly stuck in the Victim Trap. Their predicament is funny—and uncomfortably familiar.

Inside Man—The Sucker’s Choice

A scene from Inside Man shows two characters caught in a false choice, placing power and shadow values ahead of principle.

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