Inside Alphabet’s X: Nurturing Radical Creativity

Alphabet Inc.’s X (formerly Google X) creates the most daring innovations to tackle the world’s biggest problems. CEO Astro Teller joins Azeem Azhar to explain how he creates a culture of radical creativity and nurtures the audacity to fail.

X, Alphabet Inc.’s “moonshot factory,” dares to solve big problems with breakthrough technologies. Most of their projects fail. But some — like self-driving cars and the AI that powers Google — are already changing the world. CEO Astro Teller joins Azeem Azhar to explain how he built a culture of radical creativity, where employees are encouraged to dream — and to fail — big.

In this episode they explore:

Why allowing the right amount of chaos is vital for flourishing creativity.
The five basic principles at the heart of X.
Why innovation dies if only success is rewarded.
What inspiration Astro takes from Willy Wonka.

Further reading:

“Inside X, Google’s top-secret moonshot factory” (Wired, 2020)
“Astro Teller on How to Handle Failure” (Wired, 2019)
“Astro Teller, ‘Captain of Moonshots’ at Alphabet’s X, Is on a Roll” (WSJ, 2018)

@astroteller

@Theteamatx

@azeem

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