HBR IdeaCast
Episodes
When ‘Best Practices’ Backfire
14 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Freek Vermeulen, an associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the London Business School, argues that too many companies are following s...
The Hardscrabble Business of Chinese Manufacturing in Africa
07 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Irene Yuan Sun, a consultant at McKinsey, explains why so many Chinese entrepreneurs are setting up factories in Africa. She describes what it’s lik...
Astronaut Scott Kelly on Working in Space
31 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Scott Kelly, a retired U.S. astronaut, spent 520 days in space over four missions. Working in outer space is a lot like working on earth, but with dif...
2017’s Top-Performing CEO on Getting Product Right
24 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Pablo Isla, the CEO of Inditex, is No. 1 on Harvard Business Review’s list of “The Best-Performing CEOs in the World 2017.” He opens up about hi...
Everyday People Who Led Momentous Change
19 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Nancy Koehn, a Harvard Business School historian, tells the life stories of three influential leaders: the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, the pacifi...
So, You Want to Join a Startup
12 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Bussgang, a venture capitalist who teaches entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School, knows from personal experience and having funded many sta...
How Successful Solopreneurs Make Money
05 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Dorie Clark, a marketing strategy consultant, answers a burning question: how do people make money off of what they know? She outlines the options for...
Microsoft’s CEO on Rediscovering the Company’s Soul
28 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s third CEO, opens up about his effort to refresh the culture of the company and renew its focus on the future. He reflects...
Transcending Either-Or Decision Making
21 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jennifer Riel, an adjunct professor at the Rotman School of Management, presents a model way to solve problems: integrative thinking. It’s taking th...
Find Your Happy Place at Work
14 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Annie McKee, a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the book “How to Be Happy at Work,” tells the story of her journey to...
How to Fix “Team Creep”
08 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Mortensen, an associate professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD, discusses the research on "multiteaming"—when employees work not only a...
Why Everyone Should See Themselves as a Leader
31 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sue Ashford, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, breaks down her decades of research on leadership—who achieves i...
Basic Competence Can Be a Strategy
24 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Raffaella Sadun, a professor at Harvard Business School, explains why seemingly common-sensical management practices are so hard to implement. After s...
How the U.S. Navy is Responding to Climate Change
18 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Forest Reinhardt and Michael Toffel, Harvard Business School professors, talk about how a giant, global enterprise that operates and owns assets at se...
When to Listen to a Dire Warning
10 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism adviser to U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, has made a career of investigating disaster warnin...
When Startups Scrapped the Business Plan
03 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Blank, entrepreneurship lecturer at Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Columbia, talks about his experience of coming to Silicon Valley and building com...
Build Your Portfolio Career
27 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Kabir Sehgal, a corporate strategist, Grammy-winning producer, investment banker, bestselling author, and military reserve officer, talks about buildi...
How AI Is Already Changing Business
20 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Erik Brynjolfsson, MIT Sloan School professor, explains how rapid advances in machine learning are presenting new opportunities for businesses. He bre...
Nike’s Co-founder on Innovation, Culture, and Succession
13 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Phil Knight, former chair and CEO of Nike, tells the story of starting the sports apparel and equipment giant after taking an entrepreneurship class a...
How Authority and Decision-Making Differ Across Cultures
06 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Erin Meyer, professor at INSEAD, discusses management hierarchy and decision-making across cultures. Turns out, these two things don’t always track ...
Mental Preparation Secrets of Top Athletes, Entertainers, and Surgeons
29 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Dan McGinn, senior editor at Harvard Business Review, talks about what businesspeople can learn from how top performers and athletes prepare for their...
The Talent Pool Your Company Probably Overlooks
22 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Austin, a professor at Ivey Business School, and Gary Pisano, a professor at Harvard Business School, talk about the growing number of pioneeri...
Blockchain — What You Need to Know
15 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Karim Lakhani, Harvard Business School professor and co-founder of the HBS Digital Initiative, discusses blockchain, an online record-keeping technolo...
Which Type of Entrepreneur Are You?
08 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Kuenne, entrepreneurship lecturer at Princeton, and John Danner, senior fellow at the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley’s Haas...
Why Finance Needs More Humanity, and Why Humanity Needs Finance
01 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Mihir Desai, professor at Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School, argues for re-humanizing finance. He says the practice of finance, with incr...
4 Behaviors of Top-Performing CEOs
26 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Elena Botelho, partner at leadership advisory firm ghSmart, talks about the disconnect between the stereotype of the CEO and what research shows actua...
Why Doesn’t More of the Working Class Move for Jobs?
18 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Joan C. Williams, director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, discusses seri...
How to Survive Being Labeled a Star
11 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jennifer Petriglieri, professor at INSEAD, discusses how talented employees can avoid being crushed by lofty expectations -- whether their own, or oth...
Low-Risk, High-Reward Innovation
04 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Wharton professor David Robertson discusses a "third way" to innovate besides disruptive and sustaining innovations. He outlines this approach through...
Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant on Resilience
27 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg talks about returning to work after her husband’s death, and Wharton management and psychology professor Adam Grant dis...
Our Delusions About Talent
20 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of business psychology at University College London, dispels some of the myths that have persisted in the 20 years ...
To Reinvent Your Firm, Do Two Things at the Same Time
13 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Scott D. Anthony, Innosight managing partner, discusses why established corporations should be better at handling disruptive threats. He lays out a pr...
Dealing with Conflict Avoiders and Seekers
06 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Gallo, HBR contributing editor, discusses a useful tactic to more effectively deal with conflict in the workplace: understanding whether you gener...
How Personalities Affect Team Chemistry
30 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Deloitte national managing director Kim Christfort talks about the different personality styles in an organization and the challenges of bringing them...
The Rise of Corporate Inequality
23 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom discusses the research he's conducted showing what’s really driving the growth of income inequality: a widening ga...
Break Out of Your Managerial Bubble
16 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Hal Gregersen, executive director of the MIT Leadership Center at Sloan School of Management, says too many CEOs and executives are in a bubble, one t...
Making Intel More Diverse
10 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Danielle Brown, Intel Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, talks about the corporation’s $300 million initiative to increase diversity, the largest ...
Reduce Organizational Drag
02 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Mankins, Bain & Company partner and head of the firm's Organization practice, explains how organizations unintentionally fail to manage their ...
Globalization: Myth and Reality
24 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Pankaj Ghemawat, professor at NYU Stern and IESE business schools, debunks common misconceptions about the current state and extent of globalization. ...
Why You Should Buy a Business (and How to Do It)
16 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff, professors at Harvard Business School, spell out an overlooked career path: buying a business and running it as C...
Escape Your Comfort Zone
09 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Andy Molinsky, professor of organizational behavior at Brandeis International Business School, discusses practical techniques for getting outside of y...
Business Leadership Under President Trump
02 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Larry Summers, former U.S. treasury secretary, is calling on American business leaders to stand up to President Donald Trump. Summers sharply criticiz...
Generosity Burnout
28 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Senior leaders Brad Feld, Sarah Robb O’Hagan, Mike Ghaffary, Heidi Roizen, and John Rogers Jr. discuss burning out on giving, the techniques they us...
Stopping and Starting With Success
19 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jerry Seinfeld shares his insights into innovation, self-criticism, and how to know when to quit. The U.S. comedian conquered 1990s television with hi...
Voices from the January-February 2017 Issue
13 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Roger Martin of Rotman School of Management, Paul Zak of Claremont Graduate University, Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School, comedian Jerry...
Collaborating Better Across Silos
05 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Harvard Law School lecturer Heidi K. Gardner discusses how firms gain a competitive edge when specialists collaborate across functional boundaries. Bu...
Restoring Sanity to the Office
29 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Basecamp CEO Jason Fried says too many people find it difficult to get work done at the workplace. His company enforces quiet offices, fewer meetings,...
The Secret to Better Problem Solving
22 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg discusses a nimbler approach to diagnosing problems than existing frameworks: reframing. He’s the author of “Are You Sol...
What Superconsumers Can Teach You
15 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Eddie Yoon, author of "Superconsumers" and growth strategy expert at The Cambridge Group, explains how companies can find their most passionate custom...
The “Jobs to be Done” Theory of Innovation
08 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Clayton Christensen, professor at Harvard Business School, builds upon the theory of disruptive innovation for which he is well-known. He speaks about...
Handling Stress in the Moment
01 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
HBR contributing editor Amy Gallo discusses the best tactics to recognize, react to, and recover from stressful situations. She's a contributor to the...
How Focusing on Content Leads the Media Astray
23 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Bharat Anand, author of The Content Trap and professor at Harvard Business School, talks about the strategic challenges facing digital businesses, and...
Why the White Working Class Voted for Trump
18 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Joan C. Williams, distinguished professor and director of the Center for WorkLife Law at UC Hastings, discusses the white working class voters who hel...
A Leadership Historian on the U.S. Presidential Election
10 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Harvard Business School professor Nancy Koehn talks about the surprising election of businessman Donald Trump as U.S. president, and what leaders thro...
Re-Orgs Are Emotional
03 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen Heidari-Robinson and Suzanne Heywood, authors of "ReOrg: How to Get It Right" explain how good planning and communication can help employees a...
The 10 People Who Globalized the World
27 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jeffrey Garten of Yale School of Management discusses how Genghis Khan, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, Margaret Thatcher, and others made the world more in...
What the World’s Best CEOs Have in Common
20 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Long-term thinking, short-term savvy, and relentless focus on employees.
Power Corrupts, But It Doesn’t Have To
13 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Authority changes us all. Berkeley's Dacher Keltner, author of the HBR article "Don't Let Power Corrupt You" and the book "The Power Paradox" explains...
When Not to Trust the Algorithm
06 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Cathy O'Neil, author of "Weapons of Math Destruction" on how data can lead us astray–from HR to Wall Street.
Macromanagement Is Just as Bad as Micromanagement
29 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Tanya Menon, associate professor at Fisher College of Management, Ohio State University, explains how to recognize if your management style is too han...
Building Emotional Agility
22 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Susan David, author of "Emotional Agility" and psychologist at Harvard Medical School, on learning to unhook from strong feelings.
Excessive Collaboration
15 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Cross, professor at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, explains how work became an exhausting marathon of group projects....
Making the Toughest Calls
08 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Joseph Badaracco, Harvard Business School professor, explains what to do when no decision feels like a good decision. He is the author of "Managing in...
Email: Is It Time to Just Ban It?
01 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
David Burkus, author of "Under New Management", explains why some companies are taking extreme measures to limit electronic communication. Burkus is a...
The Connection Between Speed and Charisma
25 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Bill von Hippel, professor at the University of Queensland, on how the ability to think and respond quickly makes someone seem more charismatic.
How Work Changed Love
18 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Moira Weigel explains how the changing nature of work has reshaped the way we meet, date, and fall in love. She's the author of "Labor of Love: The In...
Negotiating with a Liar
11 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Leslie John, Harvard Business School professor, explains why you shouldn't waste time trying to detect your counterpart's lies; instead, use tactics d...
In Praise of Dissenters and Non-Conformists
04 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Grant, Wharton professor and author of "Originals", on the science of standing out.
The Zappos Holacracy Experiment
29 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ethan Bernstein, Harvard Business School professor, and John Bunch, holacracy implementation lead at Zappos, discuss the online retailer's transition ...
The Era of Agile Talent
21 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
More of us are working in organizations employing a mix of freelancers, contractors, consultants, and full-timers, explains Jonathan Younger, coauthor...
We Can’t Work All the Time
14 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Anne-Marie Slaughter on (finally) bringing sanity to the work/life struggle.
Teaching Creativity to Leaders
07 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO, on breakthrough problem-solving.
Brexit and the Leadership Equivalent of Empty Calories
30 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Blyth of Brown University and Gianpiero Petriglieri of INSEAD discuss Britain's vote to leave the European Union.
A Brief History of 21st Century Economics
23 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Tim Sullivan, co-author with Ray Fisman of "The Inner Lives of Markets," on how we shape economic theory -- and how it shapes us.
Greg Louganis on How to Achieve Peak Performance
16 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The champion diver explains how visualization and ambitious goal-setting helped him achieve double gold medals in back-to-back Olympic Games and why h...
Getting Growth Back at Your Company
09 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Zook of Bain explains the predictable crises of growth and how to overcome them. His new book is "The Founder's Mentality," coauthored with Jame...
Asking for Advice Makes People Think You’re Smarter
02 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The research shows we shouldn't be afraid to ask for help. Francesca Gino and Alison Wood Brooks, both of Harvard Business School, explain.
Yo-Yo Ma on Successful Creative Collaboration
26 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The acclaimed cellist explains how he chooses and works with partners and shares advice on honing one's talent.
Be a Work/Life-Friendly Boss
19 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Managers play a huge role in their employees' personal lives, which in turn affects productivity, morale, and turnover at work. Professor Scott Behson...
Make Better Decisions
12 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Therese Huston, Ph.D. and author of "How Women Decide," offers research-based tips for both men and women on how to make high quality, defensible deci...
Let Employees Be People
05 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey, both of Harvard, discuss what they've learned from studying radically transparent organizations where people at all level...
Isabel Allende on Fiction and Feminism
28 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The bestselling author describes her creative process and explains why she was always determined to have a career.
The Condensed May 2016 Issue
22 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Bernstein, editor of HBR, offers executive summaries of the major features.
Understanding Agile Management
15 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Darrell Rigby of Bain and Jeff Sutherland of Scrum explain the rise of lean, iterative management tactics, and how to implement them yourself.
Smart Managers Don’t Compare People to the “Average”
07 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Todd Rose, the Director of the Mind, Brain, & Education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the author of "The End of Average: How...
Life’s Work: Dr. Ruth Westheimer
31 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Iconic relationship expert Dr. Ruth discusses what she's learned over a long career.
How to Say No to More Work
24 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Karen Dillon, author of the "HBR Guide to Office Politics", explains how to gracefully decline excessive projects–and thankless tasks.
The Condensed April 2016 Issue
22 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Bernstein, editor of HBR, offers executive summaries of the major features.
Are Leaders Getting Too Emotional?
17 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There's a lot of crying and shouting both in politics and at the office. Gautam Mukunda of Harvard Business School and Gianpiero Petriglieri of INSEAD...
Your Coworkers Should Know Your Salary
10 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Pay transparency is actually a way better system than pay secrecy. David Burkus, professor at Oral Roberts University and author of "Under New Managem...
Talking About Race at Work
03 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Kira Hudson Banks, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the department of psychology at Saint Louis University, and a principal at consulting firm the ...
The Art of the Interview
25 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Job interviews can feel more like a stylized ritual than a normal conversation. Esquire writer and journalist Cal Fussman, who's interviewed scores of...
The Condensed March 2016 Issue
19 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Bernstein, editor of HBR, offers executive summaries of the major features.
Closing the Strategy-Execution Gap
18 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Leinwand, co-author of the book "Strategy That Works," explains how successful companies solve this thorny problem.
Be a Superboss
11 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Lorne Michaels, Bill Walsh, Alice Waters–all have had a disproportionate impact in their respective industries through their knack for collecting an...
How to Give Constructive Feedback
05 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman have administered thousands of 360-degree assessments through their consulting firm, Zenger/Folkman. This has given the...
Being Happier at Work
28 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Emma Seppälä, Stanford researcher and author of "The Happiness Track," explains the proven benefits of a positive outlook; simple ways to increase y...
Stop Focusing on Your Strengths
21 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor at University College London and Columbia University and CEO of Hogan Assessments, explains how the fad for strengt...
Make Peace with Your Inner Critic
14 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Tara Mohr, author of Playing Big, explains how to deal with self-doubt (or help someone else manage theirs).
Achieve Your Goals (Finally)
08 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Heidi Grant Halvorson, author of "No One Understands You and What to Do About It" and "9 Things Successful People Do Differently," explains how to act...