Thought Sparks

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C Suite strategist, business founder and best selling author, sits down with Julia Dhar, Managing Director & Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Founder of the BCG Behavioral Science Lab. Julia is the co-author of How Change Really Works: Seven Science-Based Principles for Tra...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C Suite strategist, business founder and best selling author, sits down with Corey Rosen, the founder of the National Center for Employee Ownership, a nonprofit that conducts research on the effects of employee ownership, employee ownership law and practice, and open-book management and em...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C Suite strategist, business founder and best selling author, welcomes Bobby Herrera, co-founder and president of the Populus Group and author of The Gift of Struggle.       0:00:  Welcome to Thought Sparks  0:18: The Bus Story  3:21: Family Background & The Bracero Program  6:33: Grow...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C Suite strategist, business founder and best selling author, welcomes Don Hambrick, Evan Pugh Professor and the Smeal Chaired Professor of Management at Pennsylvania State University and author of The Improbable Professor.     0:00  Introduction & Welcome  0:29  Welcoming Don Hambrick...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C Suite strategist, business founder and best selling author, sits down with Sebastian Wernicke, author of “Data Inspired: Building an Organizational Culture of Inquiry for Lasting Transformation” and expert in data science, machine learning and AI.    0:00 Introduction & Welcome  1:08...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C Suite strategist, business founder and best selling author, sits down with Bill McGowan, founder and CEO of Clarity Media Group and a  two-time Emmy Award-winning correspondent. Bill’s second book is Speak, Memorably: The Art of Captivating an Audience, written alongside co-author Julian...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Rick Goings, founder of The Rick Goings Institute for Management and Executive Leadership at Rollins College. Formerly, Rick held several senior executive roles at Avon Products and served as Chairman & CEO of...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Beth Gardiner, journalist with bylines in National Geographic, the New York Times, the Guardian, the Washington Post, and Scientific American; and author of the new book Plastic Inc.: The Secret History and Shocki...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Joe Pine, management advisor and author of the new book The Transformation Economy: Guiding Customers to Achieve Their Aspirations. Joe shares insights into the transition from  the experience economy to the trans...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Caroline Webb, former McKinsey partner, leadership coach, and economist. Her new book, Leadership Intelligence, which is available on September 8, gives practical strategies for leaders facing 21 everyday manageme...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Caroline Stokes, author of AfterShock to 2030: A CEO’s Guide to Reinvention in the Age of AI, Climate, and Societal Collapse, and member of the Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2026.     0:00 — Cold Open: The Trust Crisi...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Rebecca Hinds, Head of the Work AI Institute & Director of Thought Leadership  at Glean to discuss her new book Your Best Meeting Ever.     0:00 Intro & Welcome  0:13, Meet Rebecca Hinds  0:58, Rebecca&#39...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Rory Sutherland, vice chairman of the Ogilvy & Mather group of companies and expert in behavioral science and creativity.   Their conversation took place in person at the Ogilvy offices in London.     0:00 The...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, hosts Kevin Nolan, CEO of GE Appliances, who talks through Haier’s acquisition of GE Appliances, and his advice for leaders facing massive transformations.     0:00 - Intro: Can you choose between growth and profitability?  0:27...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Bill Klepper, Academic Director in Executive Education at Columbia Business School, to celebrate Bill’s retirement and reflect on his expertise in executive learning, strategic leadership and corporate governance....

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Charlene Li, author of author of Groundswell, Open Leadership, and The Disruption Mindset, and a new book, written with Katia Walsh:  Winning with AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success .    0:00 - Introduction &amp...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Victor Grizzle, CEO and Executive Chairman of Armstrong Industries, to speak candidly about the massive transformation he led at Armstrong, inspired by McGrath’s work on growth outliers.        0:00 Introduction ...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Michael Clinton, former president and publishing director and current special advisor to the CEO of Hearst Magazines, author of “Longevity Nation”, “ROAR Into The Second Half of Your Life.”, and expert on the busi...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Roger Dennis, advisor on long term thinking and foresight and cultural transformation specialist.     00:00 Introduction   00:22 Welcome Roger Dennis   01:03 How Roger became a futurist   03:05 "Getting above...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Jonathan Brill, business futurist and co-author of AI and the Octopus Organization: Building the Superintelligent Firm.       1:56: Explaining the Octopus Metaphor  3:25: AI-Enabled Bottom-Up Innovation  8:01: The...

  In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, speaks with fellow Silicon Guild Members Chris Shipley and Scott Barry Kaufman, editors of the upcoming essay collection “Leading for Tomorrow: Unlocking Human Potential in the Era of Continuous Change and Endless Possibility”...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, speaks with Sharmla Chetty, CEO of Duke Corporate Education and expert on human-centered leadership, AI, and workforce transformation.    0:00 Introduction  0:57 Sharmla's Story: Growing Up Under Apartheid  3:30 Systems Chan...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, speaks with MacKenzie Price, co-founder of Alpha Schools, about the limitations of the traditional education system, and what other educational models are possible.     0:00 – Intro teaser: raising adaptable young people and the...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, speaks with April Dunford, expert on brand and product positioning, and author of Obviously Awesome, recently rereleased in its second edition, and Sales Pitch. Their conversation covers how good positioning unlocks value and he...

In this week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode, Rita McGrath, a Columbia University Business School Professor, C-Suite strategist, business founder and best-selling author, sits down with Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, to talk about his new book Incorruptible. They discuss what organizations beyond corruption look like, touching on financial gravity and fiduciary duty, and how we might move...