WorkLife with Adam Grant

It’s hard to make change at work happen. But wherever you sit in the hierarchy, there are steps you can take to overcome resistance and motivate people to embrace new ideas. In this episode, Adam brings in an education change agent, a business turnaround specialist, and a bestselling author to identify what you can do to improve the status quo. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/WL49

How do you avoid joining a toxic culture– and build a healthy one once you’ve arrived? In this episode, Adam explores how to recognize the four deadly sins of work culture before you join an organization, and shares strategies that can help shape a thriving workplace from the inside. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/WL48 We have a quick favor to ask you! We love making the show, and we're always trying to make it better. So if you have a few minutes, please take our survey at surveynerds.com/worklife

Disability is far more common and far more diverse than we might realize. But often, people are reluctant to reveal their disabilities, and managers don’t know how to address them. In this episode, Adam investigates some extraordinary steps workplaces are taking to support people with disabilities– and those without. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/WL47 We have a quick favor to ask you! We love making the show, and we're always trying to make it better. So if you have a few minutes, please take our survey at surveynerds.com/worklife

It’s been two years since offices around the world were thrown into virtual environments to do their jobs, and now many leaders are itching to get everyone back in the office. But new evidence demonstrates that hybrid work can be good for people and organizations. Adam brings an economist and a management expert to weigh in on the science of hybrid work, and make a road map to success in the modern (sometimes virtual) workplace. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/WL46 We have a quick favor to ask you! We love making the show, and we're always trying to make it better. So if you have a few minutes, please take our survey at surveynerds.com/worklife

Before Ava DuVernay became the first Black woman director to win Sundance and get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, she was a publicist with a little hobby, a big dream, and a lot of patience. Adam talks to Ava about how she turned her side gig of filmmaking into a brilliant career, how her leadership style has evolved over the years, and what studying MLK while making the movie Selma can teach us about what it really takes to inspire. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/T4G29 We have a quick favor to ask you! We love making the show, and we're always trying to make it better. So if you have a few minutes, please take our survey at surveynerds.com/worklife

Satya Nadella is a modern renaissance man; he’s a cricket enthusiast, poetry lover, oh, and the chairman and CEO of Microsoft with a nearly perfect approval rating on Glassdoor. Satya has led a transformation at Microsoft, up-ending the culture, and rethinking remote and hybrid work. In this episode, Adam talks to Satya about the future of work, leadership, and building cultures of care. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/T4G28 We have a quick favor to ask you! We love making the show, and we're always trying to make it better. So if you have a few minutes, please take our survey at surveynerds.com/worklife

Today, something a little different. We're sharing an episode of No Stupid Questions, a podcast about human behavior hosted by Adam’s colleague and friend Angela Duckworth—a worldwide expert on grit—and Stephen Dubner, host of Freakonomics Radio. In this episode, Angela and Stephen debate whether emotional intelligence is necessary for good leadership. Stephen also wonders if emotional intelligence is something that can be learned, and the two discuss whether high E.I. might actually have negative repercussions. To hear more episodes on the weird and wonderful ways that humans behave, follow No Stupid Questions wherever you're listening to this. We have a quick favor to ask you! We love making the show, and we're always trying to make it better. So if you have a few minutes, please take our survey at surveynerds.com/worklife

Jon Batiste has had a record year—he was the most nominated artist at the Grammys, winning five of his ELEVEN nominations across multiple categories, including Album of the Year. When he’s not making musical history, he’s a touring artist, late-night band leader, and Oscar-winning composer. In this episode, Jon talks with Adam about the creative process of making his genre-defying music, his prodigious background as a young musician in New Orleans, the role of focus and variety in building a successful career, and the power of art to make real change. For the full text transcript, visit https://tedtalks.social/3FCKvYj We have a quick favor to ask you! We love making the show, and we're always trying to make it better. So if you have a few minutes, please take our survey at surveynerds.com/worklife

Perfectionism is on the rise–and not just in job interviews when people claim it’s their greatest weakness. But the desire to be flawless is not always productive—or healthy. As a recovering perfectionist, Adam dives into how he managed to abandon the quest for 10s while holding onto his drive for excellence. For the full text transcript, visitgo.ted.com/WL45 We have a quick favor to ask you! We love making the show, and we're always trying to make it better. So if you have a few minutes, please take our survey at surveynerds.com/worklife

Great pitches can seem like genius or magic. But you don’t have to be a great salesperson to give a great pitch. Whether you’re floating an idea at a team meeting, looking for investors for your startup, or applying for your next job, life is full of pitching moments. In this episode, we bust myths about what it takes to drum up excitement–and share insights from Hollywood and Silicon Valley on ways to improve your chances of getting your audience on board. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/WL44 We have a quick favor to ask you! We love making the show, and we're always trying to make it better. So if you have a few minutes, please take our survey at surveynerds.com/worklife