Jenny Gottstein & Olivia Vagelos, experiential designers at IDEO, share juicy details and stories that show how just about any experience can be made better with a bit of intentional design.

Creative Confidence Podcast

Experience Design: Jenny Gottstein & Olivia Vagelos

With 10 years of experience as an entrepreneur and CEO, Brit Morin has learned a lot about what it takes to get an idea off the ground and how to inspire and lead a team. In this episode, she shares stories from the early days of her startup Selfmade, lessons on human-centered leadership, ways women are uniquely suited to excel as entrepreneurs, and skills she says are often under-valued but closely tied to entrepreneurial success. 

View the full recap at ideou.com/blog

Human-Centered Entrepreneurship: Brit Morin

If you’re wondering where to start with strategic planning, pause for a minute before getting into tactical ideas or writing a hundred-page strategic plan of action. Focus on identifying your strategic problem first. 

Strategy advisor Roger Martin shares common mistakes people make in the early stages of strategic planning and how to avoid them, ways to think creatively about your strategic problem, and how to frame a question to guide your thinking. 

View the full recap at ideou.com/blog.

Getting Started with Strategic Planning: Roger Martin

Why leading change always starts with people, and tools you can try to make people the catalysts for change.

View the full recap at https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration

Leading Change: Deirdre Cerminaro and Bryan Walker

Learn how to create a remote influence plan from Sacha Connor, Founder of Virtual Work Insider.

View the full recap at https://ideo.in/sacha

Influence as a Remote or Hybrid Worker: Sacha Connor

Learn about what makes a good strategy with Roger Martin, strategy advisor and bestselling author.

https://ideo.in/roger

Why Strategic Planning Feels like a Waste of Time: Roger Martin

What makes a good insight? Learn about how to make customer research impactful with Arianna McClain, Head of Research & Insights at Cruise.

Insights in Action: Arianna McClain

Learn about how play gives us permission to dream and diverge, think outside the box, and discover solutions to unprecedented problems with Michelle Lee, Managing Director at IDEO and Instructor of our newest Creative Thinking for Complex Solving course.

Creative Confidence Series

The Power of Play: Michelle Lee

At its worst, friction can be a destructive force in an organization. Friction can undermine productivity and innovation, create inefficiency, and even chip away at our energy and enthusiasm for work. 

But what if friction could be reframed as something positive—something that makes the right things, like joy, productivity, and creative thinking, easier?

Learn how great leaders use friction to make the right things easier and the wrong things harder with Bob Sutton, organizational psychologist and New York Times best selling author.

How Great Leaders Use Friction: Bob Sutton

We all want to be great managers. But when it comes to actually working with and leading young people, there’s no clear strategy or playbook for success. Too often it feels like we’re having to decide between two extremes: enforce high standards and risk pushing our mentees away, or take a more gentle approach and withhold criticism, therefore missing out on critical learning moments. Often the end result can be intergenerational misunderstanding. How do we interact with young people so that they feel inspired, enthusiastic, and energized rather than disengaged, outraged, or overwhelmed? 

In this episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, we speak with David Yeager, author of The Science of Motivating Young People: A Groundbreaking Approach to Leading the Next Generation for Managers, Parents, and Educators. He shares how to cultivate a mentor mindset, the science and research on mentoring young people, applying a growth mindset to cultivate young talent, and key tools and strategies to employ for better mentorship.

Manager Mentorship Strategies: David Yeager

What skills can help us get the most out of AI? 

When we approach AI in a human way, with people at the center, it can be a powerful tool that augments how we work. As AI becomes more and more widespread across industries, it’s critical to learn the skills to harness and collaborate with AI in a way that is humanistic, ethical, and impactful. 

In this episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, we speak with Tom Gruber—product designer, entrepreneur, and co-creator of Siri. He shares critical skills to get the most out of AI, why AI needs human-centered design, and the ethics of using AI tools. https://ideo.in/3MiQGVn

Humanistic AI: Tom Gruber, Co-Creator of Siri

Discover the importance of human-centered leadership and AI. Learn how to balance technological advancements with empathy and ethics to drive sustainable success with Chair of IDEO, Tim Brown.

The Role of Human-Centered Leadership in the Age of AI

Learn the core mindsets of systems thinking to tackle complex problems. Our beginner's guide helps you zoom in and out, shift perspectives, and reframe challenges for lasting solutions.

Unlock the Power of Systems Thinking: Deirdre Cerminaro

Explore how overcoming limiting beliefs and enhancing your leadership mindset, with guidance from Bonnie Wan, can propel your growth as a leader.

How to Improve Your Leadership Mindset for Greater Growth: Bonnie Wan

Learn how to lead through change and uncertainty with a human-centered approach. Discover three key leadership levers to help your team navigate uncertainty with clarity and confidence.

What Leaders Should Know About Leading Through Change: Melanie Bell-Mayeda

The Creative Confidence Podcast has been going strong for eight years, with more than 120 leaders sharing their advice, tips, and stories with the IDEO U community. Longtime podcast listeners might recognize the voices of IDEO U Founder Suzanne Gibbs Howard and Design Director Coe Leta Stafford, our original hosts who masterfully surfaced insights and lessons from our expert guests. Now, we’re excited to introduce you to the new voice of the Creative Confidence Podcast – IDEO’s Head of New Ventures, Mina Seetharaman. 

In a special episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, IDEO CEO Derek Robson sat down with Mina to learn more about her journey to creative confidence – what it means to her, lessons she’s learned, and advice she has for leaders. Plus, some very important facts, like her animal alter ego. 

Introducing Mina Seetharaman: Your New Creative Confidence Podcast Host

Explore how to lead with human-centered design in a tech-driven world. Insights from Grace Hwang on ethical innovation, safety, and designing for impact.

Staying Human-Centered in a Tech-First World | Grace Hwang

Google DeepMind’s Matthieu Lorrain and IDEO’s Savannah Kunovsky on how AI is reshaping creative work.

AI x Creativity: Matthieu Lorrain & Savannah Kunovsky

How are creative professionals actually using AI today? In this Asked and Answered follow-up episode, Google DeepMind’s Matthieu Lorrain and IDEO’s Savannah Kunovsky respond to questions from the IDEO U community. They cover real-world examples of AI-powered co-design, how to maintain creative control with liquid content, designing for neurodivergence, and what it means to make nature a creative collaborator.

Asked & Answered: Matthieu Lorrain & Savannah Kunovsky

What makes a story powerful enough to shift culture?

In this episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, Catherine Connors—former Head of Content at Disney Interactive and founder of storytelling consultancy StoryQuo—shares five key shifts that can help leaders use story as a tool for transformation.

From rethinking traditional formats to embracing play and shared authorship, Catherine challenges conventional ideas about storytelling and invites us to create stories that people want to carry forward.

Whether you're trying to connect more deeply with your team, design more inclusive narratives, or spark culture change, this conversation offers actionable insights for leaders in every industry.


Read the episode recap: https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/storytelling-for-leadership


Connect with Catherine Connors on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherineconnors/


Check out IDEO U's Storytelling for Influence online course: https://www.ideou.com/products/storytelling-for-influence

Storytelling for Change with a Former Disney Exec: Catherine Connors

In this conversation, IDEO CEO Mike Peng shares what it really takes to foster creative collaboration on teams. From designing for trust and tension to navigating ambiguity and divergent thinking, Mike offers a clear-eyed look at how leaders can create the conditions for breakthrough ideas. Originally aired on August 8, 2019, this episode is full of timeless guidance for today’s fast-moving, complex world.

Creative Collaboration with IDEO CEO Mike Peng (Replay)

In this bonus episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, storyteller and strategist Catherine Connors returns to answer top questions from our IDEO U community. We explore what it really means to lead with story—beyond frameworks and formats—and how storytelling can be used to build culture, scale ideas, and drive meaningful change.

Catherine shares her take on how to build storytelling capacity inside teams, how AI is reshaping the narrative landscape, and why co-authorship is the future of leadership storytelling.

Whether you're looking to grow your storytelling skills, scale your influence, or help your team connect more deeply to their work, this episode offers practical insight for how to be a better storyteller and lead with narrative intention.

Want to go deeper? Explore our Communicating for Impact Certificate—a 3-course program designed to help you speak and lead with clarity, empathy, and influence: https://www.ideou.com/products/communication-certificate

Read the recap of this podcast episode on the IDEO U blog:
https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration

Asked & Answered: Catherine Connors on Storytelling for Leaders, Scale, and the Future of Narrative

What does it mean to think like a futurist—and why should every leader learn how? In this episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, Jennifer Lo, Senior Director of Design Futures at IDEO, shares how futuring can help leaders navigate uncertainty, build resilient strategies, and shape the future they want to see. Learn how to spot signals, expand your strategic horizon, and use storytelling and artifacts to make long-term thinking feel actionable today.

Read the recap of this conversation and see the futures cone framework mentioned on the IDEO U blog at ideou.com.

Follow Jennifer Lo on LinkedIn for more futuring inspiration: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-lo-28654b3/

How to Think Like a Futurist: Jennifer Lo

In this Asked & Answered episode, Jennifer Lo, IDEO's Senior Director of Design Futures, responds to community questions about how leaders can bring futuring into their organizations. From making the case for ROI, to balancing visionary leadership with grounded operators, to practical ways to get started, Jennifer shares insights on how to use futuring to build resilience and readiness.

Read more on the IDEO U blog at ideou.com.

Asked & Answered: Jennifer Lo on Bringing Futuring into Your Organization

AI strategist and former IDEO partner Justin Massa joins host Mina Seetharaman to help leaders cut through the hype and focus on where artificial intelligence can create the most value. He shares practical frameworks for identifying strategic opportunities, balancing automation with augmentation, and bringing AI into your organization in a way that’s both human-centered and high-impact.

Learn how to use Justin’s AI Opportunity Matrix, discover four universal entry points for AI innovation in businesses, and hear why reframing ROI beyond efficiency is key to sustainable growth.

Read the recap of this discussion on the IDEO U blog at ideou.com. 

Want to learn more? Build your own AI adoption plan and learn tools for creativity, strategy, and responsible innovation in IDEO U's AI x Design Thinking Certificate, an 8-week online program. Learn more at ideo.in/aicert. 

How to Invest in AI for Your Business: Justin Massa

How can leaders bring AI into their organizations thoughtfully, without losing what makes them human? In this Asked & Answered episode, AI strategist and IDEO alum Justin Massa joins host Mina Seetharaman to answer listener questions and share a grounded, practical view of AI adoption. Justin explains why so many companies struggle to move from experimentation to impact, how to foster a culture of safe exploration, and why empathy and trust remain at the heart of leadership in the age of AI. Read the recap of this conversation on the IDEO U blog at ideou.com.


Asked & Answered: Justin Massa on Adopting AI with Purpose and Confidence

In our Creative Confidence series chat with IDEO CoLab Co-Managing Director Joe Gerber, we explored the world of business prototyping. In his early days as a Business Designer at IDEO, Joe noticed that experimenting and prototyping were an essential part of IDEO’s process and became curious about prototyping something complicated and abstract like a business. Applying the design approach and philosophy to new business ventures with techniques like prototyping creates a clearer path forward.

How to Prototype a Business with Joe Gerber

Design thinking is a mindset (almost a way of life). It opens you up to new directions and perspectives. And the more you exercise the design thinking muscle, the better you get at it. Each time you engage with the process, you end up feeling more capable. 

As founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school, David Kelley has been practicing design thinking for nearly 30 years. He’s passionate about using design to help unlock creative confidence in everyone from students to business executives. As instructor of our new online class, Hello Design Thinking,  David brings his years of learning and expertise to this design thinking introduction. Join IDEO U Dean Suzanne Gibbs Howard and IDEO U Co-Managing Director Coe Leta Stafford for a discussion with David on design thinking as a roadmap for routine innovation. An audience Q&A will follow.

David Kelley on Design Thinking

We spoke with Paul about what he sees as cornerstones of creative leadership, how to catalyze people toward action, and his no fear attitude toward delving into the void—aka darker more challenging topics like death and aging.

Advice from IDEO’s Chief Creative Officer on Inspiring Creative Work

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.

Learn more about building the skills and abilities to deepen your design thinking practice with our Advanced Design Thinking Certificate: ideo.to/y4EyDx

David Kelley on the Design Abilities of Creative Problem Solvers

Roger Martin is a bit of a legend in the strategy world. His book Playing to Win, written with former Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley, is a favorite in business schools. And decades of work consulting with some of the world’s most recognizable companies have cemented his place as one of today’s leading business thinkers. In this conversation, get an inside look at Roger’s approach to business strategy and hear about our newest course, Designing Strategy: https://ideo.to/u3xSQA

How to Create Winning Strategies: Roger Martin

Former NASA astronaut and SpaceX advisor, Garrett Reisman walks us through his experiences in space and what he’s learned about teamwork, innovation, and creative problem solving along the way. View the full recap at ideou.com/blog.

Innovation in Orbit: Garrett Reisman

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.

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