HBR IdeaCast
1,701 episodes - English - Latest episode: 17 days ago - ★★★★ - 1.6K ratingsA weekly podcast featuring the leading thinkers in business and management.
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Episodes
A Roadmap for Today’s Entrepreneurs
April 09, 2024 13:00 - 27 minutes - 27 MBMany people aspire to entrepreneurship but we all know it's a high-risk endeavor. Bill Aulet, the Ethernet Inventors Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management, has for decades studied what it takes for start-ups to succeed and advises the next generation of founders on how to do it. He discusses the key trends and changes he's seen over the past few years, and outlines concrete steps anyone can take to get a new venture -- including those within larger organizations ...
Treat Email Like Laundry — and Other Tips from Google’s Productivity Expert
April 02, 2024 13:00 - 27 minutes - 27 MBThe amount of work we need to get done seems to grow daily. To avoid becoming overwhelmed, we have to become more productive than ever. Laura Mae Martin has advice on what has worked well at one of the biggest organizations in the world. She's the Executive Productivity Advisor at Google and shares the practical ways she helps her colleagues and company executives manage their time, calendars, email inboxes, and more. Martin is the author of the new book Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal ...
Why the Glass Cliff Persists
March 26, 2024 13:00 - 29 minutes - 28.7 MBIt's been nearly two decades since the term "glass cliff" was coined; it refers to the tendency for women to break through the glass ceiling to top management roles only when there is a big crisis to overcome, which makes it more difficult for them to succeed. In short, senior female leaders are often set up to fail — and this continues to happen today, as recent examples from business, politics, and academia show. Sophie Williams, a former C-suite advertising executive and global leader at N...
Why Leaders Need to Value Their Retirement-Age Workforce
March 19, 2024 13:00 - 27 minutes - 26.8 MBA growing number of workers are reaching retirement age around the globe. At the same time, many countries face a worker shortage, especially in critical areas like health care. Ken Dychtwald, cofounder and CEO of Age Wave, says it’s time for companies to stop overlooking this valuable labor pool, because AI alone won't alleviate the tight supply. He explains why many late-career people want to work longer. And he shares creative and often simple ways that companies can keep older workers eng...
What’s Your Interviewing Style?
March 12, 2024 13:00 - 28 minutes - 27.8 MBThere's a lot of advice out there on how to get job interviews right, whether you're the one trying to get hired or the one evaluating the candidates. But the dos and don'ts aren't always applicable to every person. In fact, author Anna Papalia thinks we're better served by understanding and leveraging our own natural interviewing style. Having spent years as a corporate recruiter, organizational consultant, and coach to students and professions, she's conducted thousands of real and mock int...
To Negotiate Better, Start with Yourself
March 05, 2024 13:00 - 26 minutes - 25.3 MBThe coauthor of the classic book Getting to Yes has new advice on how to negotiate, designed for a world that feels more conflicted than ever. William Ury, cofounder of Harvard’s Program on Negotiation, has come to learn that the biggest obstacle in a negotiation is often yourself—not your opponent. Ury, who also coined the term BATNA, explains the latest thinking from his research and consulting. He shares his tried-and-true methods for overcoming yourself to negotiate better outcomes at wor...
Rethinking Growth at All Costs
February 27, 2024 13:00 - 28 minutes - 27.8 MBMany companies, especially in the tech world, have come to embrace the idea of growth at all costs. But according to research from Gary Pisano, professor at Harvard Business School, most firms fail to consistently increase revenues and profits over the long term, adjusting for inflation. He says that it’s important for leaders to think more strategically about not just the rate of growth they want to achieve but the direction they want to grow in and their method for doing so. Trying to grow ...
Companies Can Win by Reducing Overwork
February 20, 2024 13:00 - 26 minutes - 25.9 MBOrganizations regularly reward devoted workers who put in long hours. At the same time, “always-on” communication spurred by the pandemic and new digital tools encourage workaholism. But research shows that it’s not just individuals who are harmed by overworking. Their employers are, too. Malissa Clark, associate professor and head of the Healthy Work Lab at the University of Georgia, explains how companies unwittingly create a workaholic culture — one that ultimately backfires with higher tu...
When Should Companies Weigh in on Contentious Issues?
February 13, 2024 13:00 - 29 minutes - 29.3 MBIn a globally connected and highly politicized world, organizations are increasingly expected to comment on social, political, and environmental issues. But taking a stance doesn't always make business sense and can backfire when employees or consumers see a disconnect between leaders’ words and actions. Alison Taylor, associate professor at New York University, says there's a better way to make decisions on corporate speech, which includes involving workers in the process. Taylor is the auth...
Stuck on a Problem? Try Switching Up Your Approach
February 06, 2024 13:00 - 25 minutes - 25.5 MBMany leaders confidently go about tackling challenges. After all, relying on their experience got them to where they are. But taking the same approach over and over again can actually hold you back. Sometimes you need to switch up your tactics to break through to the next level. Decision-making expert Cheryl Strauss Einhorn says the first step is to understand your personal problem-solving style. Then she explains a framework to assess the situation and select the best approach. Einhorn is fo...
How to Reduce the Friction that Hurts You — and Harness the Friction that Helps
January 30, 2024 13:00 - 29 minutes - 28 MBOrganizations too often subject their employees and customers to unnecessary friction that creates inefficiency and causes frustration. But, in some situations, friction can be a positive force, spurring more innovation and better decision-making. So how do you reduce the bad kind and embrace the good? Stanford professors Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao have studied this problem for seven years and offer strategies for leaders at every level to help them recognize when friction is needed or not and...
What the New Freelance Economy Means for Your Talent Strategy
January 23, 2024 13:00 - 30 minutes - 29.8 MBThe rapid pace of technological change is making a big impact on hiring. Some organizations are dynamically securing freelance workers through platform apps like Upwork and Freelancer. Other companies are investing heavily in work enabled by artificial intelligence. John Winsor and Jin Paik say these structural changes call for a reimagining of your talent strategy — one that is open to flexible, project-based work for talent inside or outside your organization — and they explain how to go ab...
Making Peace with Your Midlife, Mid-career Self
January 16, 2024 13:00 - 29 minutes - 29.3 MBResearch shows that happiness bottoms out for people in their mid to late 40s. We might struggle with mid-career slumps, caring for both children and aging parents, and existential questions about whether everything has turned out as we'd planned. But Chip Conley says we can approach this phase of our personal and profesional lives with a different perspective. He's a former hospitality industry CEO and founder of the Modern Elder Academy, and he explains how to reframe our thinking about mid...
Supercharge Your One-on-One Meetings
January 09, 2024 13:00 - 30 minutes - 30.4 MBMost good bosses know that they should schedule regular one-on-ones with each of their team members. But fewer know exactly how to manage these meetings well, in part because organizations rarely offer relevant training. Steven Rogelberg, Chancellor's Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, has spent years researching the best way to prepare for, structure, engage in, and follow up on one-on-ones. He says they're a key way to boost performance, and offers tips for ensuring...
The Best Return-to-Office Policies Aren’t One-Size-Fits-All
January 02, 2024 13:00 - 24 minutes - 25.1 MBA growing number of companies are mandating office time for employees and structuring hybrid work under broad, rigid rules. But pushing people into the office is a mistake, argues Kimberly Shells, a senior director in the Gartner HR practice. She shares research showing how much flexibility and autonomy and belonging workers want. And Shells says organizations can still foster those qualities in an in-person office culture that also improves productivity and collaboration. She explains that c...
Best of IdeaCast: Behaviors of Successful CEOs
December 26, 2023 13:00 - 27 minutes - 28 MBFor the qualities that top-performing CEOs have in common, research shows some surprising results. It turns out that charisma, confidence, and pedigree all have little bearing on CEO success. Elena Botelho, partner at leadership advisory firm ghSMART and coleader of its CEO Genome Project, studied high performers in the corner office. The analysis found that they demonstrated four business behaviors: quick decision making, engaging for impact, adapting proactively, and delivering reliably. Bo...
Why More Companies Are Getting in on the Resale Game
December 19, 2023 13:00 - 25 minutes - 26.1 MBFor a long time, conventional wisdom ruled that companies should avoid reselling their own products in used condition. There’s the threat of cannibalization, marketing confusion, and tricky logistics that can erase margins. But more name-brand retailers are jumping into resale, says Wharton marketing professor Tom Robertson. Thanks in part to Gen Z with its zeal for sustainability, he says consumer demand is rising fast for reused goods. He sees a revolution where brands cash in on resale, kn...
How Hybrid Work Is (And Isn’t) Reshaping Cities
December 12, 2023 13:00 - 31 minutes - 31.2 MBEconomic activity has long been concentrated in big metropolitan areas. But has the rise of remote work technology -- and its accelerated adoption during the pandemic -- changed that? How are talent flows between geographies changing? And what does it mean for employers? Richard Florida, professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto known for coining the term "creative class," shares his latest research, which shows the deepening links between urban centers in var...
Setting AI Projects Up for Success
December 05, 2023 13:00 - 24 minutes - 24.4 MBUnfortunately, you can’t set up your organization’s artificial intelligence projects like just any other IT project. By their nature, AI endeavors are quite different and suffer high failure rates. But there are proven approaches you can take to increase your odds of success. Iavor Bojinov, assistant professor at Harvard Business School and former LinkedIn data scientist, breaks down five critical steps for an AI project to turn into an effective product: selection, development, evaluation, a...
New Here: Getting a Raise Is a Process, Not a Conversation
November 30, 2023 13:00 - 33 minutes - 33.1 MBIntroducing HBR’s podcast for young professionals, New Here, hosted by Elainy Mata. Whether it’s your first job or a fresh start, New Here will help you build a meaningful career on your own terms. In this episode, author and personal finance expert Anne-Lyse Ngatta and author, career advisor, and past HBR IdeaCast guest Gorick Ng explain how to lay the groundwork before you ask for a raise, when and how to start the conversation with your manager, and how to navigate the negotiation that may...
Fast Casual Food Pioneer Ron Shaich Explains How to Find a Niche — and then Scale
November 28, 2023 13:00 - 30 minutes - 30.3 MBThe restaurant business is notoriously competitive and often propelled by passing fads. But, first at the helm of Au Bon Pain, and then as the founder of Panera Bread, Ron Shaich managed to create an entirely new category of dining between fast food and table service and then dominate that market in the United States. He says the strategies that brought him success can be applied in any type of organization: listen to and observe customers so you know what they want, create a truly different...
Why Private Equity Needs to Invest More in Talent Development
November 21, 2023 13:00 - 22 minutes - 23.8 MBTraditionally, private equity companies have created value at the companies they own by taking on debt, restructuring, and exploiting underserved opportunities. But surging interest rates and increased competition have made it much harder to deliver strong returns. Ted Bililies, a partner and managing director of AlixPartners, says private equity leaders can no longer count on financial engineering to drive performance. Instead, they need to invest in the human capital at their portfolio comp...
Nvidia’s CEO What It Takes To Run An A.I.-Led Company Now
November 14, 2023 13:00 - 22 minutes - 23.3 MBThe future of AI goes far beyond individuals using ChatGPT. Companies are now integrating artificial intelligence into all aspects of their businesses. One key player in this transition is Nvidia, the AI-driven computing company, which makes both hardware and software for a range of industries. In this episode, HBR editor in chief Adi Ignatius speaks with Nvidia’s CEO and cofounder Jensen Huang at HBR’s Future of Business conference about how he keeps his company agile in the face of accelera...
Nvidia’s CEO On What It Takes To Run An A.I.-Led Company Now
November 14, 2023 13:00 - 22 minutes - 23.3 MBThe future of AI goes far beyond individuals using ChatGPT. Companies are now integrating artificial intelligence into all aspects of their businesses. One key player in this transition is Nvidia, the AI-driven computing company, which makes both hardware and software for a range of industries. In this episode, HBR editor in chief Adi Ignatius speaks with Nvidia’s CEO and cofounder Jensen Huang at HBR’s Future of Business conference about how he keeps his company agile in the face of accelera...
A High-Performance Coach on the Key to Achieving Your Full Potential
November 07, 2023 13:00 - 29 minutes - 28.9 MBWhat holds many people back from attaining the success they want - whether it's winning an Olympic medal or a seat in the C-suite - isn’t a lack of effort or talent. It’s the fear of other people’s opinions. That’s according to Michael Gervais, a performance expert and founder of the consultancy Finding Mastery. He works with top athletes and executives around the world to help them overcome FOPO and improve their performance and well-being. Gervais is the author of the book The First Rule of...
How Job Training Must Change in the AI Age
October 31, 2023 13:00 - 28 minutes - 27.5 MBThe rapid expansion of artificial intelligence technology is creating, destroying, and changing jobs. And Harvard Business School professor Raffaella Sadun has been studying how leading companies are training and reskilling employees for this new paradigm. She says many firms underestimate how quickly and significantly workers will need to be reskilled and leave this effort to the HR department. Instead, she explains leaders and middle managers across the company are essential to manage this ...
Getting Feedback Right on Diverse Teams
October 24, 2023 13:00 - 29 minutes - 29.3 MBWe know that teams mixing people of different generations, genders, and cultures yield better outcomes, and that frank, constructive feedback is key to improving individual, group, and organizational performance. But these two attributes -- diversity and candor -- often clash, says Erin Meyer, a professor at INSEAD. She's studied the challenges that arise when teammates with different backgrounds try to give one another advice and offers recommendations for overcoming them, including establis...
Tools for Managers to Help Employees with Their Mental Health Challenges
October 17, 2023 13:00 - 26 minutes - 26.9 MBIt’s a reality that more employees are discussing their mental health in the workplace. And proactive leaders can serve their teams better by listening and responding. At the same time, managers can’t play the role of a therapist or the HR department. Counseling psychologist Kiran Bhatti and University of Cambridge leadership professor Thomas Roulet argue that following the basic practice of cognitive behavioral therapy can serve managers well. The researchers explain the mental-health first-...
Reflecting on What Matters After a Terminal Cancer Diagnosis
October 10, 2023 13:00 - 28 minutes - 27.6 MBHow does someone who's been told he will die much sooner than expected find contentment in the time he has left? As a former therapist, cofounder of the Deeper Coaching Institute, and business book author, Mark Goulston has spent his entire career trying to help others manage their emotions, improve their communication, and find the right balance between the personal and the professional. Faced with his own cancer diagnosis, he's been reflecting on lessons learned in his own life, things he ...
How to Solve Tough Problems Better and Faster
October 03, 2023 13:00 - 28 minutes - 27.5 MBWhen it comes to solving complicated problems, the default for many organizational leaders is to take their time to work through the issues at hand. Unfortunately, that often leads to patchwork solutions or problems not truly getting resolved. Instead, Anne Morriss offers a different framework: to increase trust and transparency and the speed of execution to truly tackle big problems. Morriss is an entrepreneur, leadership coach, and founder of the Leadership Consortium. With Harvard Business...
Improve Your Impromptu Speaking
September 26, 2023 13:00 - 29 minutes - 29.1 MBWe all know that leaders need to captivate audiences and effectively convey their ideas. But not every speaking opportunity can be prepared and practiced. That's why it's so important to learn the skill of speaking off-the-cuff, and Matt Abrahams, lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and host of the podcast Think Fast, Talk Smart, has advice to help. He explains how to stay calm in these situations, craft a compelling message, and ensure you've made a good impression. Abrahams...
How Companies Can Recommit to Their DEI Goals
September 19, 2023 13:00 - 26 minutes - 25.2 MBAfter the summer of 2020 in the United States, many organizations made a big push to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in their ranks and operations. But now, many fear that that momentum is slipping, especially in the face of economic headwinds. Laura Morgan Roberts, organizational psychologist and professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, says it is time to recommit to these efforts by creating the conditions for all workers to flourish. She explains four fr...
People with Disabilities Are an Untapped Talent Pool
September 12, 2023 13:00 - 25 minutes - 24.2 MBIt is now accepted wisdom that increasing the diversity of your workforce in any dimension can improve both organizational culture and performance. But one group — people living with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities — continues to be overlooked by many companies. Luisa Alemany, associate professor at London Business School, has studied workplaces that do recruit and hire employees with disabilities and found that it can be a true source of competitive advantage. She expl...
If You Want Culture Change, Create New Stories
September 05, 2023 13:00 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBMany leaders realize they need to change their organization’s culture to save the business. But employees usually resist change and stick to past norms. Jay Barney, professor at the University of Utah’s Eccles School of Business, studied leaders who successfully led culture change and found one thing in common: they created and spread stories. He says it's not about making up stories but taking action — in authentic, yet theatrical and memorable ways. The new stories then emanate throughout t...
Leading a Workforce Empowered by New AI Tools
August 29, 2023 13:00 - 30 minutes - 29.2 MBNew AI technology enables anyone to become a programmer — opening doors to faster analytics and automation but also presenting big challenges. Organizations need policies and strategies to manage the chaos created by what Tom Davenport calls “citizen developers.” Davenport is a professor of management and information technology at Babson College, and he’s been studying how employees are using new AI tools and how companies can both encourage and benefit from this work. He suggests practical w...
How One Ukrainian Company Cultivated Resiliency Amid War
August 22, 2023 13:00 - 21 minutes - 21.1 MBCompanies plan for crises and aim to be resilient and adaptive in the face of all kinds of risks, but it’s always easier said than done. And perhaps none of these threats is as serious as war. That’s what Roman Rodomansky had to prepare his company for. He’s the cofounder and COO at Ralabs, a Ukrainian software development company. As Russia prepared to invade his home country, Rodomansky and his leadership team crafted a plan to survive and keep serving clients. He shares how his firm put pe...
How to Reinvent a Consumer Brand
August 15, 2023 13:00 - 26 minutes - 26 MBHow does a brand or product that's been around for decades suddenly become popular with a whole new segment of consumers? Terence Reilly has some pointers. As CMO of Crocs, he used social media and celebrity collaborations to drive sales of its signature boat shoes. Now, as president at Stanley, he has made the company's durable mugs TikTok famous and bestsellers across numerous retail outlets. He explains how listening to employees and customers and acting quickly on their insights can help ...
The VC Fund Closing Equity Gaps — and Making Money
August 08, 2023 13:00 - 26 minutes - 25.2 MBMuch of the business world has bought into the idea of stakeholder capitalism. But Freada Kapor Klein and Mitch Kapor say that doing some good by doing well isn’t enough when the business impact still creates negative effects and broader disparities overall. Freada, with a background in social justice and empirical research, and Mitch, an entrepreneur and investor who got his start making early spreadsheet software, strive to invest in ventures that close the distance between those with wealt...
How Companies Can Adapt to More Government Intervention
August 01, 2023 13:00 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBAfter decades of industrial policy that favored globalization and free trade, we are entering a new era. Prompted by the pandemic, climate change, rising geopolitical tensions and economic concerns, countries and groups of countries are once again using the power they have to intervene in the private sector, whether it's investing in drug development, offering clean energy tax breaks, or incentivizing domestic manufacturing. Harvard Business School professor Willy Shih wants to help corporate...
How One F-35 Fighter Pilot Makes Decisions Under Pressure
July 25, 2023 13:00 - 27 minutes - 25.7 MBThere are few jobs that demand decisive, clear thinking under pressure more than that of a fighter jet pilot. But the best combat pilots don't act on gut and muscle memory alone. They train to use proven mental models for making tough, fast decisions with extremely high stakes. Hasard Lee is a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and instructor who has learned, practiced, and taught these techniques. He breaks down the tools that individuals and organizational leaders alike can apply to some of their...
In Defense of Middle Management
July 18, 2023 13:00 - 28 minutes - 26.9 MBMiddle managers are meant to serve as a go-between for leadership teams and individual contributors. But in large organizations, with many layers of hierarchy, some of these roles feel like bureaucratic bloat, which, in tighter economic times, makes them a target for elimination. Emily Field, a partner at McKinsey & Company, thinks in many cases that's a mistake. She argues that most middle managers are critical to corporate performance and productivity, executive team insight, and employee w...
What the Best Leaders Know — and What Skills They Develop
July 11, 2023 13:00 - 27 minutes - 26.2 MBIf you had the chance to talk to hundreds of business leaders at the top of their game, what habits and patterns would you learn? Adam Bryant has done just that. He's the senior managing director of the ExCo Group and founded the “Corner Office” interview series at The New York Times. Along the way, he has identified the mindset and attributes that the world's best leaders have acquired to truly influence and change their organizations. He shares what they are and how to develop them in your ...
Best of IdeaCast: Escape Your Comfort Zone
July 04, 2023 13:00 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBWe know that trying new things, taking risks, and even failing are vital to most success stories. But getting out of areas where you’re comfortable and breaking through to the next level is easier said than done. Andy Molinsky, professor of organizational behavior at Brandeis International Business School, says that there are actions we all can take to get out of our safe zone and achieve our goals. In this classic episode, he shares his research and advice with former IdeaCast host Sarah Gre...
Why Entrepreneurs Don’t Need Venture Capital to Scale
June 27, 2023 13:00 - 30 minutes - 29.8 MBWith all the hype in the startup world around unicorns and hypergrowth, entrepreneurs feel enormous pressure to raise massive amounts of cash from venture capitalists. But now, as interest rates have risen, a lot of that funding has dried up. And a growing number of founders are seeking ways to scale without burning through cash to acquire users. Mike Salguero is the CEO and founder of the meat subscription service ButcherBox. After a negative experience with venture capital at his prior comp...
NBA Star Chris Paul on Mentorship and Taking a Stand
June 20, 2023 13:00 - 32 minutes - 30.2 MBMost of us can point to a few key people who have made a real difference in our lives and careers - a family member, a coach, a boss. And many who get that kind of mentoring build on the lessons they learn to become leaders and role models themselves. Basketball star Chris Paul is a prime example. He had the support of a tight-knit family growing up, was mentored by a great coach in college, and as an NBA rookie looked to league veterans for guidance. Now, at age 38, he's the seasoned vet, a ...
When Small Stresses Lead to Big Problems
June 13, 2023 13:00 - 30 minutes - 29 MBIt's easy to see how big stresses at work or home -- like layoffs, illnesses, or even a complex and important project -- cause anxiety too spike. But sometimes the stresses that cause the most hard are the tiny, everyday ones that build up over time into a much bigger problem because we don't take the time to recognize and manage our reactions to them. Former HBR editor Karen Dillon and Babson College professor Rob Cross studied the most common types of "microstress" and the ways in which the...
Why More Companies Should Have a Sabbatical Policy
June 06, 2023 13:00 - 25 minutes - 25.2 MBSabbaticals have long been thought of as an academic privilege, but a growing number of companies offer them, especially since the pandemic. DJ DiDonna, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and founder of The Sabbatical Project, has interviewed hundreds of workers who’ve taken them and studied organizations that offer them. From his research and his own experience on a sabbatical, DiDonna shares the surprising impacts that extended time off—paid or unpaid—can have on workers, teams, a...
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai on Leadership, AI, and Big Tech
May 30, 2023 13:00 - 30 minutes - 28.8 MBThe use of artificial intelligence and specifically generative AI is growing rapidly, and tech giants like Google have an important role to play in how that technology gets adopted and developed. Sundar Pichai is the CEO of Google as well as its parent company Alphabet, which he's led as an AI-first company for several years. He speaks with HBR editor in chief Adi Ignatius about shaping Google's AI strategy, putting safeguards in place, and how work and leadership will change as AI advances.
How Generative AI Changes Strategy
May 25, 2023 17:07 - 35 minutes - 33.7 MBStrategy is about making the future happen, not just reacting to it, according to author Gary Hamel. And with generative artificial intelligence, senior leaders suddenly wield an awesome new tool to change the fortunes of their organizations. The promise of generative AI is more than just a sweet hack to boost productivity and streamline operations. Its deeper potential lies in companies that rethink what they do and conjure brand-new, AI-first products and services. Simply put, generative AI...
Stop Looking for the Perfect Job
May 23, 2023 13:00 - 30 minutes - 30.5 MBOne of the first things we learn about people is what they do for a living. But the link between work and identify has moved far beyond that, especially in certain industries, geographies, and cultures. Many of us put everything we have into our jobs, expecting our careers to fulfill us. Author Simone Stolzoff argues for a different approach. He wants us to find work that keeps us engaged and gives us the security we need, while still allowing us to define ourselves in other ways. Drawing on ...