Why you should take a risk every day with Julie Zhuo | from WorkLife with Molly Graham
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey everyone, Chris Duffy here. Today, we are sharing an episode of a podcast that we think you are going to love. This has been handpicked by the TED staff, and we think that as a How to Be a Better Human listener, you are going to come away with a fresh idea and a totally new perspective. So enjoy this episode and head to the link in the description afterwards to hear even more.
Most of us think about risk-taking at work the wrong way.
What common misconceptions do we have about risk-taking?
We imagine it as this big dramatic thing. Quit your job. Start a company. Say the thing that could get you fired. And yes, I will admit that I have probably helped cement that version of risk in my own TED Talk.
How can small daily risks improve our confidence?
Sorry. But that way of thinking about risk has a side effect. It becomes all or nothing. You're either a risk taker or you're not. If we think about risk taking that way, a lot gets left out. The question you didn't ask in the meeting because you were worried it would make you look stupid. The feedback you've been sitting on for two weeks. The boundary you've been meaning to set. We don't call those risks. We just call them things we didn't do.
What personal experiences shaped Julie Zhuo's views on risk?
And here's what I've come to believe. The people who are actually good at taking risks didn't get there by making one giant leap. Or even by taking big risks over and over again. They built a practice, small, uncomfortable swings over and over, not until it stopped feeling scary, but until the fear stopped getting in the way. I know that's been true for me. So today I want to explore how do you actually get better at taking risks? And is it something that anyone can do? I'm Molly Graham, and this is Work Life, a show where we untangle the messy human side of work. Today, I'm talking to someone who has thought more carefully about the daily practice of risk than almost anyone I know. Julie Zhu was one of the earliest design and product leaders at Facebook, where she helped build and manage teams through some of the most explosive growth in tech history.
She later wrote The Making of a Manager, which has become a field guide for first-time leaders, and is now the co-founder of Sundial, a company using AI to help organizations make better decisions. Julie is a craftsman and not just in design. When she wants to understand something, she dives in deep and builds a whole practice around it. For example, she did that with writing. One blog post a week for a year and then landed a book deal. One of the things she has applied that craft to is risk because she decided it was something she wanted to get better at. So I want to talk to her about what she did, what she learned, and what she really thinks it takes to be brave. Julie, welcome to Work Life.
Hi, Molly. Thank you for having me here.
How can we practice taking risks in our daily lives?
I'm so happy you're here. Oh, gosh. I'm so excited to be here. You've written about this idea of everyday risk and pushing yourself to take small risks regularly. I'm curious, what gave you that idea and why did you think it was important?
I started to have this idea because I think one of the things that I'm worried about for myself. And in fact, I think I recognize about myself is that I am just like a real scaredy cat when it comes to life. There's a lot of things that really scare me. And when they scare me, I sometimes have this inclination of like, okay, well, maybe that's not for me. I can't do it. Somebody else is much better than that. And it got to the point where I started to see that as a pattern. But when I was little, I somehow got it into my head that I was really not athletic. Like, in fact, I was just terrible at all things, physical things. I think maybe it was exacerbated by the fact that I had asthma. So my mom was always like very protective around me and, you know, going out and playing sports.
And then my mom would have all these stories and she's like, well, I'm not really very athletic myself. In fact, I hate running. I hate sports.
What role does fear play in our decision-making?
I hate this. And so maybe you inherited those genes in addition to the asthma. So I just had this whole narrative that these things were hard. And I think that I probably had this strong identity of like, okay, if I'm not good at sports, maybe I'm good at things that use my brain.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:04–0:30
2
What common misconceptions do we have about risk-taking?
0:30–0:45
3
How can small daily risks improve our confidence?
0:45–1:13
4
What personal experiences shaped Julie Zhuo's views on risk?
1:13–3:03
5
How can we practice taking risks in our daily lives?
3:03–4:17
6
What role does fear play in our decision-making?
4:17–5:42
7
How do we distinguish between courage and fearlessness?
5:42–7:33
8
What strategies can managers use to foster a safe environment for risk-taking?
7:33–37:05
Speakers
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