Ravin Jesuthasan is a global thought leader, futurist, and bestselling author on the future of work. He has authored six books and over 200 articles including 15 for the Harvard Business Review and the Sloan Management Review. He is a regular presenter at the World Economic Forum and has been featured extensively by CNN, BBC, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and Fortune, among others. Ravin is also featured prominently on PBS’s widely acclaimed documentary series The Future of Work. He is a frequent guest lecturer at universities around the world including Caltech, Oxford, Northwestern, NYU, and USC. He is also a facilitator of the executive education programs at Caltech.

In this episode we discuss the following:

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Sandra Matz, Professor at Columbia Business School, is a computational social scientist who studies human behavior using Big Data analytics. She was named a Poets & Quants 40 under 40 Business School Professor, and her new book, Mindmasters, explores how algorithms penetrate the most intimate aspects of our psychology. In this episode we discuss the following:

We now live in a digital village, where AI can learn so much more about us than we realize. And naturally, this ability can be used to influence us for good or bad.

Pay attention to AI progress. Look out for ways it can help us. But also be on the lookout for how it can harm us. 

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Sarah Dalton is a partner at Conchie Associates, a consulting firm that uses psychometric assessments to help CEOs and Boards select talented leaders. She is the author of the book, The Five Talents that really Matter, with co-author Barry Conchie. Sarah earned a Masters degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Colorado State University. In this episode we discuss the following:

To achieve our potential, it is most effective to focus on areas where we have some natural ability and curiosity. Motivation and hard work can only take us so far.

Rather than constantly working on our weaknesses, it is often more effective to harness our strengths.

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Ken Burns is an icon. He’s been making documentaries for nearly 50 years, and has taught more people about American History than anyone else. His documentaries span topics such as baseball, jazz, national parks, U.S. presidents, authors, and inventors. And his television series, The Civil War, attracted an audience of 40 million during its premiere, becoming the most watched show in the history of public television.

Ken’s films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including seventeen Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Oscar nominations. And Ken won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and was recently inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.

In this episode we discuss the following:

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Elizabeth Umphress is a professor of management at the University of Washington where she researches ethical decision making and organizational justice. She has been published in the top management journals, including the Academy of Management Journal and Organization Science.

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Barry Conchie is Founder & President of Conchie Associates, which has a database of over 58,000 C-suite executives. Previously, Barry headed the Gallup organization's Global Leadership Research and Development business.

Born and educated in the UK with PhDs in Cognitive Neuroscience and Statistical Modeling at Oxford, his work for Gallup began in London where he developed their leadership consulting business across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and eventually the Americas as well.

Barry has 40 years of experience in the areas of psychometric assessment and testing, executive coaching, and team optimization. He has been ranked as one of the top 50 leadership thinkers in the world by Leadership Insights magazine. And he is also the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling co-author of Strengths-Based Leadership.

In this episode we discuss the following:

The reality is that most people are not going to be outstanding leaders. So, we should strive to be brilliant in the roles that best fit our capabilities, and then surround ourselves with people who have complementary skills who are brilliant in their roles.

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Costas Markides, professor of strategy at the London Business School, is one of the world’s foremost experts on strategy and innovation.

He examines how companies can create a culture of continuous innovation and the role that individual managers play in making a company more innovative.

Costas is the author of four books on strategy and innovation, he was listed by Forbes.com as one of the world’s most influential management gurus, and has served as a Fellow of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Costas received his BA and MA in Economics from Boston University, and his MBA and DBA from Harvard Business School. 

In this episode we discuss the following:

• What often seems like an obvious answer to a problem is usually not the right answer. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, 1000s of companies diversified, only to refocus decades later. An obvious explanation for this was that the companies had made a mistake. But an alternative explanation was that the companies were right to diversify when they did and then right to refocus when they did because the market had changed.

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In this episode I ask Tozer about his image, and whether or not he cares what people think of him. He also describes how he was forced to move once because his neighbors complained about him.

Rita McGrath is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and longtime professor at Columbia Business School. She is widely recognized as a premier expert on leading innovation and growth during times of uncertainty. Rita has received the #1 achievement award for strategy from the prestigious Thinkers50 and has been consistently named one of the world’s Top 10 management thinkers. Rita has also consulted CEOs of Fortune 500 companies worldwide.  

Rita has written five books, including Discovery Driven Growth, cited by Clayton Christensen as creating one of the most important management ideas ever developed.

Rita received her Ph.D. from the Wharton School and has degrees from Barnard College and the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs.

In this episode we discuss the following:

At any given time, we’re in one of two situations: low uncertainty or high uncertainty. And the mistake we so often make is using the techniques we use for low uncertainty in the domain of high uncertainty.

When we’re in an uncertain environment, where we’re making a lot of assumptions, we need to collect data to convert those assumptions to facts. Rita calls this Discovery Driven Planning.

When planning for a conventional line of business, uncertainty is low, managers have good data, and people can accurately forecast the future with relative precision. But when launching an entirely new venture, uncertainty is high, so it doesn’t make sense to start off with a big team, ambitious goals, all the money upfront, and definite deadlines. Rather, we should do the opposite and start small, collect data, test assumptions, and iterate.

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Jennifer Latson is a writer, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and journalist who has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, TIME, The Boston Globe, and other publications. She is also the author of The Boy Who Loved Too Much.

Jennifer has an English degree from Yale University and an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from the University of New Hampshire.

In this episode we discuss the following:

Williams Syndrome, which occurs in about one in 10,000 people, makes people incapable of distrust, so people with Williams Syndrome love everyone (and they want to hug everyone). And in return, people love those with Williams Syndrome.

I love what Williams Syndrome teaches us. It’s not always about what we say, or how we say it. But rather, if we are genuinely curious about people and want to connect with them, they will feel it, and they will be forgiving if we aren’t the most articulate or charismatic.

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