46. Stay Creative: How to Keep Your Ideas Fresh and Practical
“To be creative, ideas must be both novel and useful. That’s the definition that we use in creativity research,” says Justin Berg, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business. But, he warns: “Novel ideas are often not very useful and useful ideas are often not very novel.”In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Berg sits down with lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams to share lessons from his work on creativity, which has included conducting experiments with both movie directors and circus performers. “The takeaway is that we should never stop being a creator. As managers and executives climb up the organizational ladder, they may benefit from staying involved in the creative R&D side of things, rather than just spend time having ideas pitched to them.” Connect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn ********This episode is sponsored by Grammarly. Let Grammarly take the busywork off your plate so you can focus on high-impact work. Download Grammarly for free today
3 Dec 202123min
45. Recipes From the “Communication Kitchen”: How to Handle Three Common Challenges This Holiday Season
In each episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Stanford GSB lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams asks his guests the same question: “What are the first three ingredients in a successful communication recipe?” Answers have ranged from specific and poetic, to impactful and thought-provoking. In this episode, we bring you some favorite responses, as well as Matt’s tips for solving three common communication challenges that tend to arise during the holiday season. Connect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn ********This episode is sponsored by Grammarly. Let Grammarly take the busywork off your plate so you can focus on high-impact work. Download Grammarly for free today
18 Nov 202116min
44. Act Like a Leader: How Lessons From The Theater Can Help You Step into Power
"Leadership is a role that you play, like a part you play in other people’s lives. And [your] expression of that role is your responsibility as a leader,” says Stanford GSB lecturer Melissa Jones Briggs. Jones Briggs’ work combines techniques from the theater with social science research to teach lessons about power and communication. In this conversation with host Matt Abrahams, she discusses how acting in a leadership position requires staying present and also knowing when to step back. “Power and authority often determine which stories are centered and which stories are marginalized,” Jones Briggs says. “By uncovering previously untold stories, we can create environments that invite new stories in, and that helps shape inclusive and equitable work cultures.”Connect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn ********This episode is sponsored by Grammarly. Let Grammarly take the busywork off your plate so you can focus on high-impact work. Download Grammarly for free today
11 Nov 202121min
43. Get Psyched: How Time and Situations Shape Our Communication
“Social psychologists believe that if we want to understand our own behavior and the behavior of others, the first thing we have to ask or notice is, ‘What is the situation in which they are performing, in which they are behaving?’ And then we want to know as much about the situation as possible.”In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Stanford emeritus psychology professor Phillip Zimbardo sits down with host Matt Abrahams to discuss how time influences our perception and our positive or negative thought processes. The two also talk about how the findings of Zimbardo’s most notable (and controversial) study — the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment — inform our understanding of human behavior. Connect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn ********This episode is sponsored by Grammarly. Let Grammarly take the busywork off your plate so you can focus on high-impact work. Download Grammarly for free today
28 Okt 202121min
42. Space, Pace, and Grace: How to Handle Challenging Conversations
Being a better listener has a lot to do with silence, says Collins Dobbs, a lecturer in management at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “A lot of people are uncomfortable with the smallest modicum of silence, but learning often happens when we create distance for useful reflection.”In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Dobbs talks with host Matt Abrahams about the importance of “space, pace, and grace” when you’re receiving others’ feedback and handling the emotions that come out during tough discussions. “There’s often a lot more focus on the skill set on delivering emotion than receiving emotion, but if the receiver of emotion can put themselves in a place of curiosity, agency, and openness. . . . opens up a whole new world of possibilities.” Dobbs is an executive coach and teaches several courses, including Interpersonal Dynamics, and Leadership Labs. Connect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn ********This episode is sponsored by Grammarly. Let Grammarly take the busywork off your plate so you can focus on high-impact work. Download Grammarly for free today
15 Okt 202126min
41. Speak like a Founder: How Successful Entrepreneurs Communicate to Their Teams
“Part of teamwork is dating,” says Stefanos Zenios, The Investment Group of Santa Barbara Professor of Entrepreneurship and Professor of Operations, Information & Technology. “Dating each other to see whether you can work well together. It’s about developing how you will speak with each other in the team, how you will manage difficult conversations, and how to be respectful, but also how to help each other grow.” In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, host Matt Abrahams sits down with Professor Zenios to hear more about the methods shared in the Stanford GSB project-based course Startup Garage. Connect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn ********This episode is sponsored by Grammarly. Let Grammarly take the busywork off your plate so you can focus on high-impact work. Download Grammarly for free today
30 Sep 202121min
40. Mindset Matters: How to Embrace the Benefits of Stress
“Stress is natural, stress is inevitable when you're living a life that's connected with things you care about. And learning how to embrace it, learning how to work with it is really what helps us thrive and grow and perform at our highest level, according to psychologist and associate professor at Stanford, Alia Crum. In this episode, Crum talks with host and lecturer Matt Abrahams about her research and findings as principal investigator of the Stanford Mind and Body Lab where she is focusing on reshaping our mindset to embrace stress. “There's a whole side of stress that shows that it can have enhancing qualities on our cognitive functioning, our physical health and on how we behave and interact with others,” she says.Connect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn ********This episode is sponsored by Grammarly. Let Grammarly take the busywork off your plate so you can focus on high-impact work. Download Grammarly for free today
16 Sep 202127min
39. Brains Love Stories: How Leveraging Neuroscience Can Capture People's Emotions
In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, lecturer and podcast host Matt Abrahams sits down with David Eagleman, a neuroscientist and the host of the PBS series The Brain, to discuss why our brains are wired for storytelling and how new senses might impact our connection and communication with others. “I’ve always been really interested in this idea of how we can pass information to the brain via unusual channels," Eagleman says. "We’ve got our eyes or ears or fingertips and our nose, we’re very used to this and we sort of think these are fundamental, but of course, this is just what we’ve inherited from a long road of evolution... It turns out you can push information in the brain in other ways.”Connect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn ********This episode is sponsored by Grammarly. Let Grammarly take the busywork off your plate so you can focus on high-impact work. Download Grammarly for free today
2 Sep 202123min
