Stanford eCorner

In order to understand how friction helps and harms work, Stanford’s Bob Sutton, author of the forthcoming “Asshole Survival Guide,” interviews management expert Michael Dearing, a former senior vice president at eBay who has done corporate strategy for the Walt Disney Co. and now heads Harrison Metal, a VC and education firm that focuses on general management, business leadership and product deve...

Startups may want to downplay the free food, beer and haircuts and start hiring and treating workers like the adults they need to thrive long term, according to acclaimed leadership consultant Patty McCord. In this episode, the former chief talent officer of Netflix speaks bluntly with host Bob Sutton about how backstabbing, passive-aggressive behavior and overall coddling of employees are all bad...

Friction is the force that stands in the way of getting things done, and it’s everywhere because we work in an increasingly complex and collaborative world. But before we can eliminate this costly drag on our time, we must first call out the enemy. In this episode, Stanford management Professor Bob Sutton and Stanford business Professor Hayagreeva "Huggy" Rao describe how friction takes hold and s...

How often do entrepreneurs and corporate leaders think about issues like fairness, accessibility or unseen biases in the technologies they invent and advance? That’s the challenge for companies leading the digital transformation that’s disrupting every aspect of society, says Toni Townes-Whitley, Corporate Vice President of Worldwide Public Sector and Industry at Microsoft, in this talk about inno...

Renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman shares his passion for translating the complexities of cognition into mind-blowing inventions and educational material for the masses. The public-television host, bestselling author and Stanford adjunct professor speaks with Tina Seelig of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program about his decision to leave the lab and dedicate his life to bringing scientific...

Carlos Watson, co-founder and CEO of Ozy Media, describes how its forward-focused digital news magazine, Ozy, looks more toward innovators in business sectors outside traditional media. The Emmy-winning journalist shares the unlikely origins of his entrepreneurial drive, and explains how his wide-ranging career has been fueled by family, curiosity and the thrill of starting fresh.

Why look at old things in new ways? Rich Cox, Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, joins host Tina Seelig to share and discuss the listener submissions to the Stanford Innovation Lab: Innovation Challenge. People, young and old, from around the world submitted their ideas for how to create value from unmatched socks. From coffee filters to dating sites to diapers for the developin...

Tim Kentley-Klay and Jesse Levinson, co-founders of autonomous-vehicle startup Zoox, detail a not-too-distant future when we’ll get into their cars and do nothing other than say where we need to go. In conversation with Stanford Professor of the Practice Tina Seelig, the two entrepreneurs explain how self-driving cars work and how their fleet of electric vehicles could make owning a ride obsolete.

Do you need more friction in your life? Stanford Professors Bob Sutton and Tina Seelig continue their lively discussion about the need for friction in the creative process. They share insights from research and their personal experiences about the best times to debate, when to accept a decision and move on, and tips for how to coax more innovative thinking from a team.

What motivates you to share a photo on Instagram — or not? Kevin Weil, head of product at the company, discusses everything from user behavior to business strategy with Stanford Professor of the Practice Tina Seelig. Weil describes how mission alignment helps teams succeed and allows Instagram to continue experimenting and thriving inside its parent company, Facebook.

Olivia Fox Cabane and Judah Pollack, co-authors of the book “The Net and the Butterfly: The Art and Practice of Breakthrough Thinking,” share tips on how we can train ourselves to have more “eureka” moments with mental exercises that awaken more regions of our brains and build our comfort level with failure and uncertainty — two givens on the way to innovation.

Is "friction" within a team positive or negative? Stanford organizational expert and bestselling author Bob Sutton joins Tina Seelig to discuss his fascination with the tensions within teams and businesses. They also explore how much positive and negative reinforcement leaders should give to elicit the best and most creative results from others, and how to teach these skills.

Imagine learning to code with no internet connection. Or creating a business plan from behind bars. Beverly Parenti, co-founder of The Last Mile, joins Tina to share the challenging journey of bringing innovation and technology training to prisoners. Can constraints fuel creativity? When does structure provide stability and opportunity? Tina and Beverly reflect on this rewarding work and how it sh...

Debbie Sterling, founder and CEO of GoldieBlox, shares her evolution from lonely inventor to inspiring entrepreneur with a vision to give young girls the confidence to become engineers through hands-on play. Sterling talks about overcoming gender stereotypes and her own fears, as well as the entrepreneurial challenges of embracing failure and succeeding despite scant resources.

In this episode, host Tina Seelig challenges you to apply the lessons on brainstorming that were shared in the last three episodes of Stanford Innovation Lab. She reveals an assignment that requires you to look at something old in a brand new way. The most innovative ideas will be showcased on the final episode of the season, and all those who are mentioned will receive a special prize…. One thing...

Entrepreneur Tracy Young and Doug Leone, global managing partner at Sequoia, discuss the nature of a harmonious relationship between a startup’s founders and the VC firm investing in them. Young is co-founder and CEO of PlanGrid, which allows construction managers to oversee projects via their device. She and Leone speak with Toby Corey, a lecturer in Stanford University’s School of Engineering.

Let go of judgment in order to leap to your boldest and most innovative ideas. Emily Ma, from Alphabet’s X, joins host Tina Seelig to discuss how unlikely combinations of ideas can lead to breakthrough solutions to the thorniest problems… And, how to you take advantage of bathroom breaks to reset the agenda. This is the final of three episodes with Emily on brainstorming. Next up, Tina challenges...

What can MadLibs teach you about brainstorming? Emily Ma, from Alphabet’s X, joins host Tina Seelig to discuss how simple word choices in brainstorming profoundly influences what ideas are generated. They discuss what questions you can ask to squeeze out more diverse ideas, and how do you keep your team from falling back into incremental solutions. Emily also shares her strategy for color-coded vo...

What are the essential ingredients for a brainstorm? Before the Post-its go up and ideas start flying, the best facilitators engage in a healthy dose of planning. Emily Ma, from Alphabet’s X, and former IDEO designer, joins Tina to discuss how to energize teams to generate their best ideas. Plus: should you bring that funky paperweight from your desk, your fuzzy dice, and origami crane? Yes! All t...

Before Shirzad Chamine found his calling as a coach to today’s top CEOs and executive teams, he was a charismatic entrepreneur who turned into a hyper-critical tyrant without even knowing it. That dark chapter ignited his journey to understand how to conquer our self-sabotaging sides and live in the light of “Positive Intelligence” — the approach Chamine developed for mastering the mind and findin...

Di-Ann Eisnor, director of growth for Waze, explores whether authenticity can be preserved when a well-meaning startup scales to a workforce of hundreds and a user community of about a billion. Eisnor describes how the crowdsourced navigation and real-time traffic application has moved on from virtual cupcakes to encouraging carpooling in its quest to eliminate traffic congestion around the world.

Dave Evans, co-founder of the popular Life Design Lab at Stanford University, discusses the key concepts and exercises that guide students in their quest to figure out what they want to do in life. He underscores the importance of accepting who you are and connecting that to what you believe and do, while attacking dysfunctional notions like the one that dares you to be the “best version of yourse...

E-commerce entrepreneur Susan Feldman describes how she and her co-founder went from bootstrapping One Kings Lane in the midst of the Great Recession, standing out from competitors in the home-decor industry by carefully curating product and focusing on creative flair, and ultimately being acquired by Bed, Bath & Beyond in 2016. Feldman speaks with Stanford Professor of the Practice Tina Seelig.

University of Pennsylvania Professor Adam Grant, one of today’s most influential management thinkers, shares the top six takeaways from his book “Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World,” bringing his insights to life through amusing behavioral research and lively audience interaction. Grant explains why middle managers are notorious idea killers, why stress helps some rise to the occasion a...

How is launching a new romance like starting a business? Oh, let us count the ways… On this Valentine’s Day, host Tina Seelig serves up some playful thoughts on the similarities between starting a venture and falling in love. Plus, she whispers sweet nothings in our ears, hinting at what is to come for this new season of Stanford Innovation Lab.