unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc

Innovation demands different skill sets, methods, and leadership approaches from business owners. The challenge for leaders is to find the balance between three innovation areas: preservation, destruction, and creation. These concepts are central to the innovation framework designed by business strategy coach Vijay Govindarajan. In his book  The Three-Box Solution , Vijay teaches a framework for a...

Colleges and universities used to be among the nation's most prestigious institutions. Recently, parents, as well as the public, have become more concerned about whether or not college is even worth the expense. Are universities still the true bastions of open inquiry? Have liberal arts become obsolete in the 21st century?  According to conservative political theorist and professor Jonathan Marks,...

Researchers and academics tend to focus on what people have in common, instead of looking at individual differences and nuances, which often drive decisions and judgements. In his latest book, Olivier Sibony, professor of strategy and award-winning author, showed the detrimental effects of noise in many fields, like judicial systems, hospitals, recruitment, human resource departments, and machine...

Although knowledge is valuable, it is limited. In contrast, our imagination is limitless, allowing us to rethink problems and create solutions. Our imagination plays a critical role in finding new opportunities, rethinking our businesses, and finding growth pathways. However, many companies are losing the ability to imagine. How can organizations harness this skill and keep it alive?  Martin Reeve...

Innovation is all about shifting focus. Most successful companies usually begin innovating by looking within--finding stale patterns of operating and new ways to streamlining operations. Using a list of more than 2,000 successful companies and organizations, world-renowned speaker and innovation scientist, Larry Keeley used a proprietary algorithm to determine ten meaningful categories of innovati...

Textiles have played a significant role in our history and culture, starting with the Stone Age and continuing to the present. As award-winning journalist Virginia Postrel tells us, thread and fabric played are catalysts in revolutionizing human labor and innovations that economic historians often overlook.  The Fabric Of Civilization is Virginia's book on textile history that stitches our aesthet...

For the past decade, Michael Wade, professor of innovation and strategy at IMD Business School, and his co-authors studied the thought process of inventors, scientists, doctors, entrepreneurs, and artists. The product of this collaboration is the book A.L.I.E.N. Thinking: The Unconventional Path To Breakthrough Ideas. Wade and his colleagues learned that these people’s out-of-the-world ideas helpe...

Experimental research has been a perennial practice in the natural sciences, but social scientists have taken it up in recent decades as well. Randomized trials have been used to design policies aimed at increasing educational attainment, lowering crime rates, enhancing employment rates, and improving living standards among the poor. In his book, Randomistas , Andrew Leigh, an economist turned pol...

To understand how humans react and adapt to economic change, we need to study how these people who live in harsh environments survived these conditions. From war zones to natural disasters and failed states, to aging societies and those who are challenged by technological advancement. In his book, Extreme Economies , economist, and journalist Richard Davies features stories of communities that exp...

Most billion-dollar startups are founded by non-technical individuals— one of the many insights that Ali Tamaseb notes in his recent book. Ali spent countless hours manually collecting what may be the biggest data set ever on startups — comparing billion-dollar startups with those that failed to succeed.  In his book  Super Founders , Ali brings together 30,000 data points on nearly every factor t...

Our collective ability to deal with infections has impacted human development for over 5,000 years. Through unprecedented advancements in hygiene and medicine, humanity has been able to break free of epidemic cycles, which has resulted in a world that is urbanized, globalized, and unimaginably wealthy. Global trade, however, made us more vulnerable to newly emerging diseases. Today, there is a str...

For many established companies, enormous resources and risky decisions stand in the way of innovation. There are ample opportunities for innovation in large companies, both in terms of technology and business models. But often, a plateau happens when the mindset becomes stagnant. Striking the balance between short-term needs and committing resources to bold innovation is critical. Gary Pisano, Sen...

According to today’s guest, the human mind is both genius and pathetic, brilliant and idiotic. As a species, we have learned to control fire, established democratic institutions, walked on the moon, and sequenced our genome. Our societies and technologies are extremely complex, but most of us do not really know how a pen or a toilet works. How have we achieved so much despite understanding so litt...

The Company Of Strangers by renowned economist Paul Seabright illustrates how fragile everyday life can be. In this episode, he talks about the book and describes how our ability to reason abstractly has enabled institutions such as money, markets, and banking systems to lay the foundation for the social trust we rely on daily. How did trust shift from smaller communities and family units to large...

Measuring informal interactions can improve the chances of a major project's success. Ben Waber, CEO and co-founder of Humanyze, stresses the importance of these hidden social levers and networks within your teams to facilitate better communication. He points out that organizations can improve workplace performance with the right employee analytics tools.   In this episode, he shares stories from...

As modern leaders, we are challenged by the pace and complexity of change, the need for collaboration, and the push to align teams. Developing mindful leadership capabilities is a vital skill for leaders today to overcome stress, burnout, anxiety, and overwhelm.   In this episode, best-selling author and executive coach, Marc Lesser, shares his proven seven-step method to mindful leadership. He ta...

Award-winning Harvard Business School professor Felix Obelholzer-Gee says that data about the rate of change in companies is no faster today than in previous years. Hence, long-term strategies make more sense for businesses today, despite our rapidly changing world. His book Better, Simpler Strategy discusses the three modes of value creation-- value for customers, suppliers, and employees. This s...

The first half of the episode discusses distinguished professor Gregory Clark's book, A Farewell To Alms . During the eighteenth century, England underwent a period of rapid industrialization and economic growth. Clark explains why industrialization made the whole world rich but not equally rich. The episode ends with Prof. Clark and Greg exchanging views on how much our fate is affected by our fa...

For a while now, machines have been inseparably tied to our lives. The algorithms on Google, Netflix, Amazon, Xbox, and Tinder have run your life unwittingly. Machines are digesting data that you willingly share with them. Artificial intelligence has also impacted healthcare, from the development of vaccines to the search for a cure for cancer. Machine learning is transforming every aspect of our...

Traditionally, biologists and ecologists study microbes and hosts separately. And, it’s only recently that 'Hologenomics' emerged as a discipline with a holistic perspective. Rob Dunn's work in this field influenced his three best-selling books, Delicious , The Wildlife Of Our Bodies , and Never Home Alone . In this episode, Rob takes us on a scientific taste adventure. In his use of “hologenomics...

Developed nations like the United Kingdom and the United States are experiencing growing radical oppositions and deep divisions between rural communities and bustling urban centers. A severe lack of opportunities plagues poorer communities. Young people have little to look forward to except a bleak job market, while older workers are marginalized as their skills lose value. One of the world's most...

Did you know that all humans go through a period, during late infancy or early childhood, when their sense of smell judgement is almost completely blank? That's the reason babies put anything and everything in their mouths. It turns out disgust and displeasure for particular tastes and odors are learned.  Renowned food and cooking scientist and James Beard award-winning author Harold McGee takes u...

Why do we feel bad after losing a loved one? What causes people to people panic and worry?? How can people pursue happiness even after heartbreaks? Understanding our bad feelings gives us real power. In his new book, Good Reasons For Feeling Bad , Dr. Randolph Randy? Nesse, a pioneer in evolutionary medicine, transforms our understanding of mental disorders.  As opposed to asking why some people s...

Could plants and nature sounds make you happier at work? What kind of scent should you wear on your first date? Can a simple hug make grandma and grandpa healthier? Charles Spence, sensory science and experiential psychology expert, tells us how our senses alter how we feel and think, in his groundbreaking book, Sensehacking . He describes how hacking our senses and stimulating them in nature, at...

Machine learning and big data are becoming increasingly important, and some say they can make predictions more accurate than ever before. But as risk expert Gerd Gigerenzer explained in his book Risk Savvy , the surprising truth is that we often get better results by using simple rules and considering less information in the real world. In this episode, Gerd reveals concepts behind Risk Savvy and...