People and culture leader Margo Downs joined us for an episode of the Creative Confidence series to share lessons learned from her years as a leader in people operations at Stitch Fix, Starbucks, and lululemon athletica—companies well known for their distinctive cultures. We dove into the building blocks of culture, her framework for operationalizing culture at scale, and how to impact culture regardless of your seniority or title.
In this Office Hours episode of our Creative Confidence Series, David Kelley, founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school, chats with IDEO U Dean Suzanne Gibbs Howard and answers questions from our community on design thinking, creativity, and leadership. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Listen to this episode on our podcast, and check out their full conversation to hear more of David’s thoughts on the core abilities of the most successful design thinking practitioners.
Effective collaboration is fueled by empathy—an awareness of others and an ability to detect their emotions and understand their perspective. To come up with truly innovative solutions requires new ideas. And to bring new ideas to light requires seeking a diversity of perspectives and creating a welcoming space for people to share their ideas without fear of judgment.
In this episode of our Creative Confidence Series, New York Times bestselling author Daniel Coyle chats with IDEO Managing Director Coe Leta Stafford about his newest book, The Culture Code, three skills that the most successful teams have in common, and how high performing teams react to tension differently. He shares why these skills are important and tactical ways to implement them today, whether you’re leading a team or want to make a change from wherever you sit.
Innovation expert and author Warren Berger has spent years studying how questions can transform our business and personal lives and tap into our creative potential. In this episode of our Creative Confidence Series, he shares insights from his new book, The Book of Beautiful Questions, featuring hundreds of big and small questions that harness the magic of inquiry to tackle challenges we all face—at work, in our relationships, and beyond.
There’s a reason why the saying “curiosity killed the cat” has stuck around. Not all cultures or workplaces welcome curiosity as a path toward innovation. Some see it as questioning orthodoxy or stirring up trouble. But asking questions to uncover new problems and drive your thinking is a critical step toward achieving innovation. So how do we bridge the gap between those two competing perspectives?
In this episode of our Creative Confidence Series, Chris Flink, executive director of the Exploratorium, former IDEO partner, and a founding faculty member of Stanford University’s d.school talks to IDEO U Dean Suzanne Gibbs Howard about the evolution of the museum over 50 years, how they’ve expanded their reach globally, and how they cultivate creativity with their visitors, the broader community, and within their own organization.
In our most recent Creative Confidence Series chat, David Kelley, founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school, and IDEO U Dean Suzanne Gibbs Howard sat down to discuss the core abilities of the most successful design thinking practitioners and personal stories and learnings from David’s friendships with several of today’s most innovative CEOs and leaders. Hear from more innovative leaders on the IDEO U podcast.
At IDEO, we know that our greatest tool for innovation and problem solving is creativity. But from the time we’re children, we’re taught that creativity is only for some people, or that it’s something you lose as you grow older. It’s considered fanciful, rather than intrinsic to good design, and even business. To us, it’s the most important part of what we do, and helps us open our minds to discovering new solutions to tough problems.
Great teams and organizations are built on the support of great leaders, and to become a great leader requires intense self-reflection and commitment to a growth mindset. Keith Yamashita, SYPartners Chairman and Founder, recently shared this insight and more tips for cultivating creative leadership
How do you move past challenges, even when constraints are tight and solutions are elusive? It’s all about supporting rather than managing, and showing grit, resilience, and optimism, even after several rounds of prototypes, or the realization it’s time to start asking new questions. Here are four ways to maintain momentum as you address a design challenge.
In our most recent Creative Confidence Series chat, Charles Hayes, Executive Managing Director of IDEO Asia, and IDEO U Dean Suzanne Gibbs Howard discussed creative leadership and a changing culture of innovation in China.