FRICTION with Bob Sutton
Stanford eCorner
Part organizational design. Part therapy. Organizational psychologist and Stanford Professor Bob Sutton is back to tackle friction, the phenomenon that frustrates employees, fatigues teams and causes organizations to flounder and fail. Loaded with raw stories of time pressure, courage under ridiculous odds and emotional processing, FRICTION distills research insights and practical tactics to improve the way we work. Listen up as we take you into the friction and velocity of producing made-for-TV movies, scaling up design thinking, leading through crisis and more. Guests include Harvard Business School historian Nancy Koehn, Eric Ries of Lean Startup fame, and restaurateurs Craig and Annie Stoll; as well as academic leaders from Stanford University and beyond. FRICTION is a Stanford eCorner original series.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 12, 2017 • 27min
Constructive Chaos vs. Clusterf***s
Dom Price, head of R&D and work futurist at Atlassian, discusses the fine line between constructive chaos and disruptive messiness in organizations. He highlights how intentional chaos can spark creativity, enabling teams to engage in heated debates within structured constraints. Emphasizing cognitive diversity, Price shares insights on fostering efficient team dynamics and effective communication. He also addresses the challenges of distributed teams and the importance of balancing leadership dynamics to inspire accountability and collaboration.
Jul 5, 2017 • 25min
The Basic Hygiene of Management
Management expert Michael Dearing discusses the timeless truths of good management, rules of engagement for creative tension, and the importance of velocity in startups. The podcast also explores intentional friction in retail design, enhancing communication in organizations, and the role of capitalism in advancing civilization.
Jun 28, 2017 • 23min
Don't Sugar Coat Your Culture
In this engaging conversation, Patty McCord, former chief talent officer of Netflix, shares her bold insights on workplace culture. She emphasizes treating employees as 'fully formed adults' rather than coddling them with perks. McCord critiques the shortcomings of annual performance reviews and advocates for timely, honest feedback. The discussion also dives into the importance of constructive conflict, navigating office politics, and fostering trust to drive innovation. Overall, her perspective challenges traditional HR norms for sustainable, productive work environments.
Jun 19, 2017 • 18min
Agile is a State of Being
In this podcast, they discuss the role of friction in slowing down progress in workplaces, how to identify and eliminate sources of friction, and the importance of speed for entrepreneurs. They also touch on ways to navigate organizational frictions for better project management, the impact of belief misalignment, and the benefits of embracing agility in entrepreneurship. Additionally, they explore interventions to reduce friction in hiring processes and preview upcoming episodes on hiring and firing strategies.
