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To futureproof your job against robots and AI, you should learn how to code, brush up on your math skills and crack open an engineering textbook, right? Wrong. In this surprisingly comforting talk, tech journalist Kevin Roose makes the case that rather than trying to compete with the machines, we should instead focus on what makes us uniquely human. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Today, another episode from ZigZag, hosted by Manoush Zomorodi. This is episode 4 of The ZigZag Project, a special season all about how to realign your work with your core values. In step 4, we move into a more practical phase and start asking hard questions like: What might you need to sacrifice, in order to align your values with your work? Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett shares a story about what she gave up as a young aide, working for the city of Chicago. Manoush gives her own example and ask...
Why do we encourage kids to play sports? Why does writing “captain of the lacrosse team” mean anything on a résumé? And why don’t we extend that same respect to people who play video games at the highest levels? In this episode, William Collis, maestro of esports – aka competitive video games – makes the case that video games develop real, tangible and transferable skills. And it’s time that we appreciate them. So, after the talk, Modupe figures out how we can bring more video games into the wor...
Profit, money, shareholders: these are the priorities of most companies today. But at what cost? In an appeal to corporate leaders worldwide, Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya calls for an end to the business playbook of the past – and shares his vision for a new, "anti-CEO playbook" that prioritizes people over profits. "This is the difference between profit and true wealth," he says. After the talk, Modupe offers some simple practices that can help leaders realize this vision, by putting people ba...
Today, another episode from ZigZag, hosted by Manoush Zomorodi. This is episode 3 of The ZigZag Project, a special season all about how to realign your work with your core values. The third step requires getting weird. Because we're gonna need to dig deep to find new ways to roll back climate change, bring equity to society, and pay our bills. If, after a year of lockdowns and stress, you feel drained at the thought, meet Rob Walker, author of The Art of Noticing. Rob has some unusual ways to in...
If it’s the richest country in the world, why does the American economy fail so much of the American public? Heather C. McGhee is a public policy expert who has spent the past several years trying to understand that question. Her conclusion, carefully detailed in a NYT bestselling book called The Sum of US, is that racism leads to bad public policy. Policies that have a cost for everyone—not just people of color. In this talk, she proposes a new way of thinking that can lead to a more prosperous...
The pandemic showed HR consultant Patty McCord something she has been espousing for years: workers are adults, with responsibilities and obligations. It seems obvious, yet at work, so many people are treated like children: too much oversight, micromanaged, with rules that get in the way of performance, rather than enhance it. But before you go set everyone free, how do you separate the rules that liberate from the ones that constrain? In this episode, hosts Corey Hajim and Modupe Akinola wrestle...
Today, an episode from another show in the TED Audio Collective: ZigZag, hosted by Manoush Zomorodi. This is episode 2 of The ZigZag Project, a special season all about how to realign your work with your core values. Conflict resolution specialist Priya Parker joins Manoush to talk about visioning: Taking time out of our daily lives to clarify our professional and personal purpose. With 60% of the project’s beta testers reporting that work is an important part of their identity (and 25% saying t...
As technology gets smarter and encroaches on more and more jobs, we have to face a question: how do we differentiate the work that humans should do from the work machines should do? In other words, no matter how smart the machines get, what will humans always do better? In this talk, Kai Fu Lee, technology investor and author of AI Superpowers, offers a surprising answer: love. And proposes nothing short of a redesign of the labor market to prioritize jobs that require compassion. But why wait? ...
To accomplish environmental change at the scale and pace we need, huge corporations have to make some fundamental changes. How will they do it? In this talk, the head of sustainability at Google, Kate Brandt, shows how one of the biggest companies in the world is aiming to translate techniques from nature, to build a circular system where nothing goes to waste. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
The past year changed us. We’re defining success differently. We’re ready for a reset. So for the next few months, we're sharing something special: The ZigZag Project, another show from the TED Audio Collective. In six episodes of ZigZag, a podcast about being human, host Manoush Zomorodi will help you better align your personal values with your professional ambitions. In a process that has been beta tested by listeners and with insight from luminaries who have helped her stay the course, the sh...
More and more, we buy through online marketplaces: Amazon, Uber, Airbnb — the list goes on. But this convenience and efficiency comes with a hidden cost, mostly to small local businesses and workers. Does it have to be that way? Amane Dannouni doesn’t think so. In this talk, the BCG technology consultant shares stories we’re not used to hearing: of online apps in Southeast Asia and Africa that have found a way to help local economies, even as they disrupt them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...
We’re seeing more and more full-time work replaced with part-time jobs, contract work, side gigs. “The term side hustle just seems to fit with this ethos where people are putting together a few different things to make a living,” says Nicaila Matthews Okome. Nicaila is the host of Side Hustle Pro, a podcast that spotlights Black female entrepreneurs. And in this talk she introduces us to the entrepreneurial spirit inside today’s side hustle revolution. Is a side hustle right for you? How do you ...
You know the "forgotten middle": they're the students, coworkers and regular people who are often overlooked because they're seen as neither exceptional nor problematic. How can we empower them to reach their full potential? In this talk, Danielle R. Moss describes how her mother’s special attention allowed her to climb out of the middle and towards her potential. Now, she offers that same kind of attention to high school students across the country. After the talk, Modupe and Corey explore what...
What do companies get when they go public on a major stock exchange? The opportunity for anyone to invest, giving the company access to a bunch of cash that allows for huge growth. And...pressure to think in the short term. This can end up hurting their workers, the environment, and even their own long-term strategy. In this episode, a proposal for a new kind of stock exchange, that isn’t just trying to shift a few rules but is building a whole new system to incentivize thinking in the long term...
Last week, you heard the latest thinking from Adam Grant, organizational psychologist extraordinaire, about his newest book. This week, we dive into the archives for a classic. We have a lot of ideas about what leads to our most creative thoughts. Today, Adam and Modupe tell us why we’re wrong. You might want to bring a pen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Some exciting news. Today, TED is launching the TED Audio Collective, a collection of podcasts all about ideas, brought to you in audio. So we’re sharing an episode we thought you’d like that features not one, but two TED hosts. In Design Matters, Debbie Millman interviews creative people about how they design the arc of their lives. In this episode, she interviews Adam Grant, organizational psychologist and host of WorkLife. Together, they examine his astonishing career—quite an exercise with s...
Did you know that in the US the average white family has ten times as much wealth as a black family? Ten times. But while we wait for government policies to shrink that gap, we all decide where our money goes. So how can we collectively chip away at that gap, now? In this episode, we find out. First, through a talk by BCG consultant Kedra Newsome Reeves that follows her family through generations to understand how policy helped build this gap—and what financial institutions can do now to shrink ...
Feelings are complicated. And even more so at work. We like to believe the ultimate professional is stoic, but what important information do we miss when we disregard our emotions on the job? In this episode, Harvard psychologist Susan David helps us break free from the "tyranny of positivity" and embrace the full range of our emotions. After the talk, Modupe extends this idea to the workplace by examining a time she shed tears at a meeting with colleagues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...
When an organization is battered by critics, how does it usually respond? “Deny and push back, put out some sort of lame statement,” says Bob Langert, “and no progress is made at all.” But based on 25 years leading sustainability and corporate responsibility at McDonald’s, Bob proposes another way: To work with critics. In this talk, he shares stories that take us from the Amazon to slaughterhouses, from tree huggers to corporate suits, all in the search for common ground with his greatest detra...
You might think working from home is an introvert’s fantasy. “But,” says writer Morra Aarons-Mele, “the truth is, for many introverts remote work is kind of a nightmare.” In this talk, she helps introverts understand how to protect their precious energy in a virtual work life. Lessons we can all learn from. But how do you know if you're an introvert or not? After the talk, Modupe explains why the answer isn’t as clear cut as you might think. For more from Morra, check out her podcast "The Anxiou...
What do you do when a company doesn’t act in line with your values? Boycott? Divest? In essence, stop the flow of money? That's the typical advice. But sustainability consultant (and former comedian) Vinay Shandal says we’re missing a whole set of tools more effective than walking away. He looks to the most intimidating and influential profit-chasing investors in the world for techniques on how to make real social change. After the talk, Modupe chats with Corey Hajim, TED’s Business Curator, to ...
Confidence. We talk about it all the time. We know it matters. And still, educator and activist Brittany Packnett thinks we underestimate it. "Confidence,” she says, “is the necessary spark before everything that follows.” In this talk, Brittany identifies the three basic elements of this elusive force, which can be especially valuable for people whose role models don’t look like them. After the talk, Modupe shares one more technique that has propelled her year after year at work. Spiderman make...
Today, an episode from WorkLife with Adam Grant, another TED podcast. Many workplaces have become increasingly lonely, even before the coronavirus pandemic made more of us literally remote. It’s not just an unpleasant feeling—loneliness can hurt our health and our job performance. Find out why it's time for happy hours to finally die—and how it might take less than a minute to start building real connections. Subscribe to WorkLife wherever you're listening to this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...
"Today we're sharing an episode from another TED podcast: ZigZag, hosted by Manoush Zomorodi. In 2018, Backstage Capital's Arlan Hamilton was on the cover of Fast Company magazine. The headline was irresistible: homeless, gay, Black woman becomes hot-shot Silicon Valley investor. But the reality is that Black female founders still get token amounts of funding, despite being the fastest growing demographic in the startup world. On this episode, Arlan reflects on whether she's improved the plight ...
This year we’ve heard a lot of companies step up—or at least, say they’re stepping up—and making diversity a priority. But what does it mean to truly build an inclusive workplace? In this interview from TED@BCG, Starbucks COO Rosalind G. Brewer lays out how to bring change to companies from the grassroots, by focusing not on metrics, but relationships. In a candid conversation, she shares Starbucks’ missteps over the years and how they addressed their own failings. The lessons aren’t just for th...
Athletes train their bodies to run faster, jump higher, throw farther. So why don't they train their minds, too? Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, the highest paid player in the NFL, shares how “neutral thinking” helps him handle high pressure situations, on and off the field. After the talk, host Modupe Akinola examines how we can use stress to our advantage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
How do you lead in times of absolute upheaval, when you can't predict what change could come tomorrow? With humility, transparency, and urgency, says leadership researcher Amy C. Edmondson, because these are the ingredients that make a workplace psychologically safe. After the talk, host Modupe Akinola breaks down how Amy’s concept can help employees build safer, more resilient workplaces — with or without support from the boss. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Our brains create categories to make sense of the world, recognize patterns and make quick decisions. But this ability to categorize also exacts a heavy toll when it comes to unconscious bias. In this powerful talk, psychologist Jennifer L. Eberhardt explores how our biases unfairly target Black people at all levels of society — from schools and social media to policing and criminal justice — and discusses how creating points of friction can help us actively interrupt and address this troubling ...
Capitalism urgently needs an upgrade, says PayPal CEO Dan Schulman, and it starts with paying people enough to actually invest in their futures. He explains the epiphany that led PayPal to create a whole new metric for adequate pay, Net Disposable Income, and why investing in employees' financial health is just good business. After the talk, host Modupe Akinola makes the case for going one step further and considering how fair pay might actually mean something pretty different for every employee...
