OutsideVoices with Mark Bidwell

Michael Bungay Stanier, the Founder of Box of Crayons, teaches the principles of how to do less hard work and more good work to the everyday stressed out manager. Michael opens a new door for managers who are struggling to get everything done. Often times, managers do not want to become coaches, but understanding basic coaching methods can help them to become more effective leaders. Habits also play a strong role in a leader’s ability to adapt to these new principles and succeed.

Kevin Cashman is Senior Partner at Korn Ferry, specialising in CEO & Executive Development and Keynote Speaking. Kevin has been in the industry for slightly over 30 years, and has seen leadership principles grow and evolve. He has advised thousands of senior executives and senior teams, in more than 60 countries, so here’s why he believes you need to take a pause, and ask questions, in order to cultivate an innovative company culture.

Chip Conley has successfully re-invented himself mid-career. His story of going from founder and CEO of the leading chain of boutique hotels in the US, Joie de Vivre, to being an intern at Airbnb and mentor to founder Brian Chesky, will be of interest to anyone feeling overwhelmed by changes in their industry, or worried about becoming irrelevant in the workplace as a result of technology or other disruptive forces shaping our world of work.

Whitney Johnson is the author of Disrupt Yourself and a contributor to the Harvard Business Review. Whitney is best known for her work on driving corporate innovation through personal disruption. She discusses the four things that help you know whether you're on the right or wrong S curve and shares examples of how to disrupt a constraint in a company environment.

In this episode, we are joined by Angela Duckworth, who is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, which proposes the concept of ‘grit’ as using passion and personal conscientiousness to achieve long-term goals. Angela has also been a winner of the MacArthur Genius Fellowship.

Safi Bahcall is a second-generation physicist and entrepreneur, whose first book, Loonshots, has been described as a cross between Freakonomics and the da Vinci Code. At the heart of the book is a philosophy which is foundational for everything we do at OutsideLens: that you can learn a great deal by applying the tools and techniques from one world, in this case the world of physics and to a lesser extent psychology, to the world of innovation in business.

Vas Narasimhan, the CEO of Novartis, talks about some of the changes underway in Novartis, such as how AI is being used to overcome organizational biases, the importance of both big “P” and small “p” purpose in an organization of 125,000 associates, of whom over 50% are millennials, and the 5 year cultural transformation the company has embarked on.

In the first half of my interview with Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, we discuss what Reimagining Medicine means in an R&D based company that is deeply committed to innovation; addressing the needs of the 2 billion people with no access to health care; and the potential for, and challenges of, radically improving patient outcomes with advanced therapies. 

This is OutsideVoices with Mark Bidwell, bringing you fresh and diverse perspectives that help you navigate the world we live in.

In this episode, we are joined by author and journalist, Gillian Tett, to discuss the role anthropology plays in today’s business world. Gillian is the author of the award-winning book, Fool’s Gold, which analyses the origin of the 2008 financial crisis, and most recently, The Silo Effect, and is currently a columnist and US Managing Editor of The Financial Times.

In this episode, we are joined by Hal Gregersen, author of The Innovator’s DNA, to discuss his latest book, Questions are the Answer. Hal is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Innovation and the Executive Director of the Leadership Center at MIT, and has previously taught at Dartmouth College, The World Economic Forum, and the London Business School.

In this episode, we are joined by Amy C. Edmondson to discuss her latest book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Amy is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School and is the world expert on psychological safety, a topic recently made famous by the findings of Google’s Project Aristotle, the quest to build the perfect team.

In this episode, we are joined by writer and speaker, Adam Fisher, to discuss his latest book, Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley (As Told by the Hackers, Founders, and Freaks Who Made It Boom). Adam has previously worked as a freelance journalist for a variety of prestigious publications and as Features Editor of New York Magazine and Wired Magazine.

In this episode, we are joined by Wanda Draper, who is the Executive Director at Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture to discuss her experience on the board of a museum and how museums can influence innovation. Wanda has over 40 years of experience in both broadcast and print journalism and has previously worked as Director of Programming at NBC-affiliated WBALTV, Director of Public Information for the Governor of Maryland, and as a reporter for The Baltimore Sun.

In this episode, we are joined by cognitive psychologist, Christopher Chabris, who is perhaps best known for his collaborative research on the Ig Nobel prize-winning ‘Gorillas in Our Midst’ experiment and his subsequent popular psychology book, The Invisible Gorilla. Chris is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Union College in New York and a Senior Investigator at Geisinger Health System.