Thinkers & Ideas

Doyne Farmer challenges traditional economic models, advocating for complex systems thinking to improve predictions. Topics include limitations of standard economics, benefits of agent-based modeling, applying alternative modeling in business, and how CEOs can embrace complexity thinking.

Professor Ethan Mollick discusses the impact of AI on business and education, emphasizing the importance of coexisting with AI. Topics include training people to use AI effectively, substituting vs complementing workers with AI, generating long-term value with AI, AI regulation, and AI's transformation of education.

Gerd Gigerenzer, an expert on human decision-making, challenges the view of intuition as inferior to rationality. Topics include heuristics, power of intuition, using intuition in business, distinguishing right intuition, and AI using intuition. The podcast explores intuition as unconscious intelligence shaped by experience, the role of biases, and the relationship between intuition, improvisation, and problem-solving.

In Climate Capitalism: Winning the Global Race to Zero Emissions, Akshat Rathi tells the stories of people around the world who are building impactful solutions to tackle climate change.Rathi is a senior reporter for Bloomberg News, focusing on climate and energy. He also hosts the weekly Zero podcast, in which he talks to the people leading the fight for a zero-emissions future. In his new book, Rathi argues that the best way to cut carbon pollution is by harnessing capitalism. Combating climate change requires a combination of smart policies, financing, technological innovations, and leadership—without killing markets or competition.Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Rathi discusses the essence of climate capitalism, how to scale up individual success stories, and how to navigate the challenging political context. Key topics discussed: 02:09 | Definition of climate capitalism07:19 | Success stories: Chinese EVs, Orsted11:31 | The need to combine tech, policies, and finance12:52 | How to scale case studies to big solutions16:24 | Navigating a polarized political context18:45 | Making climate solutions profitable24:06 | Where CEOs should start

Associate professor Kohei Saito discusses the need for economic system change to combat climate change. He explores radical ideas like de-growth, challenges posed by capitalism, and alternative metrics of progress. The conversation touches on prioritizing well-being over GDP growth, exploring utopian ideas for happiness, and creating sustainable business models. Saito also shares insights on engaging marginalized voices for societal transformation.

Alison Taylor, Clinical associate professor at NYU Stern, discusses how companies can reach 'higher ground' ethically. Key topics include governance importance, purpose deployment, political stances, trust building, and solutions for businesses.

Organizational psychology expert Bob Sutton and Martin Reeves delve into the concept of friction in organizations, discussing its negative consequences, characteristics of good friction, and practical steps for removing it. They explore the impact of friction in a world of AI and its application in academia, highlighting the need for strategic management to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

In Permacrisis: A Plan to Fix a Fractured World, Mohamed El-Erian and Michael Spence, along with their coauthors, Gordon Brown and Reid Lidow, consider how we’ve arrived at this state of constant instability and insecurity—and suggest concrete ways to break the cycle.Mohamed El-Erian, president of Queens’ College Cambridge University, was previously the chair of President Obama’s Global Development Council, a Deputy Director at the International Monetary Fund, and CEO and co-CIO of PIMCO.Michael Spence, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Philip H. Knight Professor and dean, emeritus, at Stanford Graduate School of Business, was awarded the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.Together with Martin Reeves, the Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, El-Erian and Spence discuss new approaches to thinking about growth, economic management, and managing a global order, as well as how leaders could unlock the full potential of technologies that could drive growth, and ensure that the benefits of technological advancements, like AI, are widely distributed to avoid exacerbating national tensions.Key topics discussed: 01:59 | Defining permacrisis08:58 | The essence of how we need to think differently about growth and value10:32 | Unlocking the full potential of technologies that could drive growth14:09 | How to ensure that the benefits of technological advancements, like AI, are widely distributed to avoid exacerbating national tensions19:40 | Anticipating or managing similar crises (COVID-19) in the future25:15 | Reforming multilateral institutions

Dr. Fei-Fei Li, a leading AI expert and former Google scientist, shares her journey from immigrating to the U.S. at 15 to becoming a pivotal figure in artificial intelligence. She discusses the evolution of AI, highlighting breakthroughs from Alan Turing to modern advancements like ChatGPT. Li emphasizes the ethical implications of AI, urging businesses to navigate bias and privacy concerns responsibly. She also explores how AI can create competitive advantages and the need for educational reforms to prepare future generations for an AI-driven world.

Jay Barney, a professor of strategic management, discusses the power of stories in changing organizational culture. Topics include defining culture, successful culture change examples, characteristics of culture-changing stories, navigating culture wars, and applying stories and culture change in a business school setting.