Creative Confidence Podcast

Host Mina Seetharaman chats with IDEO CEO Mike Peng about what creative excellence means today and how leaders can cultivate it on their teams. Mike shares three favorite leadership philosophies, stories from his global career, and practical ways to spark creativity, build healthy friction, and stay inspired. Sign up for invitations to live podcast recordings at ideou.com/podcast . __________ Get...

Learn how interaction designer Takashi Wickes uses AI to prototype ideas with more creativity, intention, and humanity. In this conversation with host Mina Seetharaman, Takashi shares mindsets, stories, and practical methods from IDEO U’s Prototyping with AI online course to help you stay curious, embrace friction, and keep humans at the center of AI-powered design. Sign up for invitations to live...

How can leaders bring AI into their organizations thoughtfully, without losing what makes them human? In this Asked & Answered episode, AI strategist and IDEO alum Justin Massa joins host Mina Seetharaman to answer listener questions and share a grounded, practical view of AI adoption. Justin explains why so many companies struggle to move from experimentation to impact, how to foster a culture of...

AI strategist and former IDEO partner Justin Massa joins host Mina Seetharaman to help leaders cut through the hype and focus on where artificial intelligence can create the most value. He shares practical frameworks for identifying strategic opportunities, balancing automation with augmentation, and bringing AI into your organization in a way that’s both human-centered and high-impact. Learn how...

In this Asked & Answered episode, Jennifer Lo, IDEO's Senior Director of Design Futures, responds to community questions about how leaders can bring futuring into their organizations. From making the case for ROI, to balancing visionary leadership with grounded operators, to practical ways to get started, Jennifer shares insights on how to use futuring to build resilience and readiness. Read more...

What does it mean to think like a futurist—and why should every leader learn how? In this episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, Jennifer Lo, Senior Director of Design Futures at IDEO, shares how futuring can help leaders navigate uncertainty, build resilient strategies, and shape the future they want to see. Learn how to spot signals, expand your strategic horizon, and use storytelling and a...

In this bonus episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, storyteller and strategist Catherine Connors returns to answer top questions from our IDEO U community. We explore what it really means to lead with story—beyond frameworks and formats—and how storytelling can be used to build culture, scale ideas, and drive meaningful change. Catherine shares her take on how to build storytelling capacity...

In this conversation, IDEO CEO Mike Peng shares what it really takes to foster creative collaboration on teams. From designing for trust and tension to navigating ambiguity and divergent thinking, Mike offers a clear-eyed look at how leaders can create the conditions for breakthrough ideas. Originally aired on August 8, 2019, this episode is full of timeless guidance for today’s fast-moving, compl...

What makes a story powerful enough to shift culture? In this episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, Catherine Connors—former Head of Content at Disney Interactive and founder of storytelling consultancy StoryQuo—shares five key shifts that can help leaders use story as a tool for transformation. From rethinking traditional formats to embracing play and shared authorship, Catherine challenges...

How are creative professionals actually using AI today? In this Asked and Answered follow-up episode, Google DeepMind’s Matthieu Lorrain and IDEO’s Savannah Kunovsky respond to questions from the IDEO U community. They cover real-world examples of AI-powered co-design, how to maintain creative control with liquid content, designing for neurodivergence, and what it means to make nature a creative c...

Google DeepMind’s Matthieu Lorrain and IDEO’s Savannah Kunovsky on how AI is reshaping creative work. __________ Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast . Build your creative problem-solving skills with IDEO U's online courses in human-centered design, AI, leadership, and more at ideou.com . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As technology accelerates, the challenge and opportunity is to stay anchored in what really matters: people. Host Mina Seetharaman talks with  Grace Hwang , former GM of Design and UX Research for Mixed Reality at Microsoft, about how leaders can use human-centered design to navigate this shifting terrain with clarity and creativity. Grace, a former IDEO associate partner and longtime advocat...

The Creative Confidence Podcast has been going strong for eight years, with more than 120 leaders sharing their advice, tips, and stories with the IDEO U community. Longtime podcast listeners might recognize the voices of IDEO U Founder Suzanne Gibbs Howard and Design Director Coe Leta Stafford, our original hosts who masterfully surfaced insights and lessons from our expert guests. Now, we’re exc...

Learn how to lead through change and uncertainty with a human-centered approach. Discover three key leadership levers to help your team navigate uncertainty with clarity and confidence. __________ Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast . Build your creative problem-solving skills with IDEO U's online courses in human-centered design, AI, leadership, and m...

Explore how overcoming limiting beliefs and enhancing your leadership mindset, with guidance from Bonnie Wan, can propel your growth as a leader. __________ Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast . Build your creative problem-solving skills with IDEO U's online courses in human-centered design, AI, leadership, and more at ideou.com . Hosted on Acast. See...

Discover how small actions today can shape the future you want. Learn key strategies for taking control of your future with empathy, experimentation, and your unique superpower. __________ Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast . Build your creative problem-solving skills with IDEO U's online courses in human-centered design, AI, leadership, and more at i...

Learn the core mindsets of systems thinking to tackle complex problems. Our beginner's guide helps you zoom in and out, shift perspectives, and reframe challenges for lasting solutions. __________ Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast . Build your creative problem-solving skills with IDEO U's online courses in human-centered design, AI, leadership, and m...

Discover the importance of human-centered leadership and AI. Learn how to balance technological advancements with empathy and ethics to drive sustainable success with Chair of IDEO, Tim Brown. __________ Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast . Build your creative problem-solving skills with IDEO U's online courses in human-centered design, AI, leadership...

What skills can help us get the most out of AI? When we approach AI in a human way, with people at the center, it can be a powerful tool that augments how we work. As AI becomes more and more widespread across industries, it’s critical to learn the skills to harness and collaborate with AI in a way that is humanistic, ethical, and impactful. In this episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, we s...

Great products and services are driven by great product strategy. But too often we get stuck in the strategy part of product strategy, failing to get tangible enough to make insight-driven decisions about our roadmaps. In this episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, we speak with YC Sun, Design Director at IDEO. He shares common challenges for leaders when it comes to product strategy, the key...

We all want to be great managers. But when it comes to actually working with and leading young people, there’s no clear strategy or playbook for success. Too often it feels like we’re having to decide between two extremes: enforce high standards and risk pushing our mentees away, or take a more gentle approach and withhold criticism, therefore missing out on critical learning moments. Often the en...

Most of us recognize why curiosity is important. Few of us know how to practice and unleash its full potential. But when leaders embrace curiosity, it becomes a catalyst for transformation, helping leaders challenge their assumptions, connect with people, and build cultures where everyone feels like they matter. Learn why curiosity is one of the most important skills for leaders today, plus tangib...

At its worst, friction can be a destructive force in an organization. Friction can undermine productivity and innovation, create inefficiency, and even chip away at our energy and enthusiasm for work. But what if friction could be reframed as something positive—something that makes the right things, like joy, productivity, and creative thinking, easier? Learn how great leaders use friction to make...

Learn about how play gives us permission to dream and diverge, think outside the box, and discover solutions to unprecedented problems with Michelle Lee, Managing Director at IDEO and Instructor of our newest Creative Thinking for Complex Solving course. __________ Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast . Build your creative problem-solving skills with ID...

What makes a good insight? Learn about how to make customer research impactful with Arianna McClain, Head of Research & Insights at Cruise. __________ Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast . Build your creative problem-solving skills with IDEO U's online courses in human-centered design, AI, leadership, and more at ideou.com . Hosted on Acast. See acast....