Stanford eCorner

As the person who helped launch and then lead Google Analytics to 70 percent coverage of the web, Amy Chang had accomplished a lot in eight years. But then, she left to launch her own tech startup, a relationship-intelligence platform called Accompany. In conversation with Matt Harvey of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, Chang talks about getting out of one's comfort zone and laying the groundwork for a successful career.

How good are you at limiting your screen time? Because of the way humans evolved, our brains are no match for the engineers, designers and companies that collectively create the devices and apps that demand our attention all day long, according to technology ethicist Tristan Harris. A former tech entrepreneur himself, Harris is now co-founder of Time Well Spent, a nonprofit movement to create an ecosystem that aligns technology with our humanity.

Industry disruptors, it stands to reason, tend to be outsiders. But how comfortable are you not being an outlier? Serial entrepreneur Catherine Berman shares her story of coming to terms with the traits and experiences that set her apart from friends and colleagues throughout adolescence and early in her career. Embracing her uniqueness emboldened Berman to launch several social ventures, the latest being a social-impact startup in fintech called CNote.

There was a time, not long ago, when information we desperately wanted wasn’t at our fingertips. What’s the best deal on flights to New York? How much does that home down the street cost? Serial entrepreneur Rich Barton has made a career out of providing all those juicy details by launching platforms such as Expedia, Zillow and the company-review site Glassdoor. He shares his journey and advice for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Even as adults, we still have to deal with bullies, at work and otherwise. Stanford Professor Bob Sutton has devoted his career to studying organizational behavior and dysfunction, and lately, figuring out how we can avoid or deal with people who demean, disrespect and drain those around them. The professor of management science and engineering draws on academic research and anecdotes included in his new book, “The Asshole Survival Guide: How to Deal with People Who Treat You Like Dirt.”

Entrepreneur Sandy Jen has lived with self-doubt and insecurities throughout her life: in college, at her first startup, and later as a working mother. But facing the risks she feared each time gave her confidence that a shy, little girl from the suburbs can grow up to improve people’s lives through technology and a passion for impact. She co-founded the senior-care startup Honor, and this is her story.

For our wrap-up of FRICTION, Stanford Engineering’s Bob Sutton returns to the premise of the podcast - work doesn’t have to suck - and shares his top five takeaways from all the lively and frequently raw discussions he’s had over the summer with fellow experts on management, organizational behavior and other aspects of today’s work environment. A professor of management science and engineering, Sutton signs off by asking listeners for answers to two questions about friction that still haunt him. Here’s your chance to nail a simple test by a tenured Stanford professor and bestselling author.

At the end of our live recording of the final FRICTION episode, which you should listen to first, Stanford University business Professor Hayagreeva “Huggy” Rao took to the stage and shared some closing thoughts on podcast host Bob Sutton’s raucous conversation with Kim Scott about her new bestselling book “Radical Candor.” In scholarly, dulcet tones, Rao observes how we can't be brutally honest with one another without the social lubricants of wonder and insight.

For our final full episode, Stanford Engineering’s Bob Sutton sits down with Kim Scott, author of the New York Times bestseller “Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity.” Before a live audience in San Francisco, they discuss how we can all develop the courage to tell co-workers when they can do better, as well as face critical feedback ourselves. Do you pull punches just because you want to be liked, or fear you’ll make someone else angry? Multiply that over an entire organization, and you have the sort of ubiquitous friction that’s devilishly invisible but disastrous overall. As Scott says, the goal is to both care personally and challenge directly: “We totally forget that our humanity is an asset, and we should bring it to bear at work.”

This special episode gives you a taste of eCorner's new podcast for the summer, FRICTION. Stanford Engineering Professor Bob Sutton interviews acclaimed leadership consultant Patty McCord. The former chief talent officer of Netflix speaks bluntly about how backstabbing, passive-aggressive behavior and overall coddling of employees are all bad for businesses — and how actual grown-ups can hear and handle the truth, even when they disagree. In other words, 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.