
Creative Confidence Podcast
IDEO’s Creative Confidence Podcast shares candid conversations with creative leaders, changemakers, and innovators navigating today’s most pressing challenges. Through real-world stories and insights, we explore how to lead with creativity, build resilient teams, and drive innovation. Grounded in IDEO’s 40 years of expertise in design thinking and innovation, each episode offers inspiration and practical tools for audacious leaders at every stage of their careers. Hosted by Mina Seetharaman, Head of New Ventures at IDEO, the podcast brings a human-centered lens to the complexities of making more courageous futures.
Discover more at IDEOU.com.
Latest episodes

Jul 25, 2022 • 4min
Well Said: How Inclusive Leaders Give Attribution
Harvard Business School Professor Frances Frei and IDEO Senior Design Director Lauren Collins share advice for inclusive leadership, encouraging participation, and giving attribution.
This episode revisits one of our favorite moments on the Creative Confidence Podcast around the theme of enabling leaders to bring out the best in their team.
Listen to the full episode with Frances and Lauren and read a recap of the conversation on the IDEO U blog: ideo.in/well-said-lauren-and-frances

11 snips
Jun 29, 2022 • 32min
Envisioning the Future: Steve Schwall & Jan Rod
IDEO’s Steve Schwall and Jan Rod share stories of projects in the transportation and mobility world, techniques they rely on to create future-forward products and experiences, and how low-fidelity prototyping unlocks new ideas in highly complex industries.
View the full recap at ideo.in/steve-and-jan

Jun 22, 2022 • 36min
Managing Difficult Emotions: Liz and Mollie
Why it's good for business to bring emotions into the workplace, and skills and mindsets to manage our most difficult emotions.
View the full recap at ideo.in/lizandmollie

Jun 8, 2022 • 39min
Sustainability and Business: Maria Fujihara & Gabe Kleinman
Learn what businesses can do to address climate change with Maria Fujihara, Founder & CEO of SINAI Technologies, and Gabe Kleinman, Head of Portfolio Services at Obvious Ventures.
View the full recap at https://ideo.in/maria-and-gabe.

Apr 14, 2022 • 2min
Human-Centered Systems Thinking Online Course: Starts April 14
In our 5-week online course, Human-Centered Systems Thinking, you’ll:
- Gain techniques for mapping complex systems and identifying the root causes of a problem.
- Establish a shared view of the system and reframe problems from different perspectives to uncover new solutions.
- Find the right problems to solve and pick the best solutions to experiment with.
- Deepen your understanding of your organizational systems by taking an iterative approach to testing solutions and gaining insights.
Learn more: ideou.com/systems

Apr 12, 2022 • 37min
Facilitative Leadership: Dabney Hailey
We talked with Dabney Hailey, founder and principal of Hailey Group, about the Visual Thinking Strategies (or VTS) method, why it works, how to bring elements of it into your daily practice, and why leaders should shift to the facilitative leadership style this method teaches.
Read the recap at ideo.in/dabney.

29 snips
Mar 24, 2022 • 29min
How to Think in Systems: Deirdre Cerminaro
Human-centered systems thinking is an approach to problem solving that helps you see the interconnectedness of things while also staying grounded in the needs of your stakeholders.
Deirdre Cerminaro, IDEO Executive Design Director and IDEO U instructor, shares IDEO’s approach to systems thinking. Get tools, mindsets and examples you can apply to your own work to help you surface more impactful solutions.
View the full recap at ideo.in/deirdre.

6 snips
Mar 8, 2022 • 37min
Generalist vs. Specialist: David Epstein
Learn how being a generalist can lead to career success with David Epstein, New York Times bestselling author of Range.
View the full recap at ideou.com/blog.

6 snips
Feb 16, 2022 • 32min
A Framework for Impactful Presentations: Caricia Catalani
Learn how to incorporate improv techniques into your presentations for greater impact and engagement in this conversation with Caricia Catalani, Senior Design Director at Pear Therapeutics.
View the full recap at ideou.com/blog.

Feb 2, 2022 • 34min
Finding Creative Inspiration: Brandon Viney
Google Group Creative Director Brandon Viney shares how to use what inspires you to find your creative identity.
View the full recap at ideou.com/blog.