Explore every episode of the podcast Culture Matters

Saurabh Nigam is a seasoned HR leader, entrepreneur, and author of People Powered Startups. Over the last two decades, he has helped build and scale people functions across some of India's most prominent startups and high-growth organizations, including Snapdeal and Beroe. Today, through his advisory work, he partners with founders and leadership teams to build organizations where people and business can grow together.

In this episode, Saurabh joins Subbu to explore what it really takes to build people-powered organizations, why culture is far more than perks and policies, and how HR can become a genuine strategic partner in scaling businesses.

We explore:

• Saurabh's journey from software engineer to HR leader, and the mentors who shaped his thinking
• What working alongside founders at high-growth startups taught him about ambition, experimentation, and building at speed
• Why startups don't need more HR processes—they need better organizational design
• The strategic role of HR in helping businesses scale sustainably rather than simply adding more people
• Why culture is best understood as "the way we work together" rather than office perks or employee benefits
• How leaders can intentionally shape culture by defining what's okay—and what's not okay—as organizations grow
• Why purpose is the foundation of every successful team, and how founders can rally people around a shared mission
• How HR leaders can demonstrate business impact by connecting people initiatives to customer outcomes, innovation, and business performance
• Lessons from People Powered Startups on building organizations where great ideas are matched by great people practices
• Why India's founders are among the country's greatest enablers—and what it takes to build companies that last 

Dr. Marcus Ranney is a physician, entrepreneur, explorer, and founder of Human Edge, a longevity science company focused on helping individuals and organizations improve health, energy, and performance. He is the author of At the Human Edge and Good Stress, Bad Stress, and has led scientific expeditions to some of the world's most extreme environments, including Mount Everest.

In this episode, Marcus joins Subbu to explore what it really takes to live longer, healthier, and more energetic lives, and why many of the biggest breakthroughs in longevity have less to do with hacks and more to do with everyday habits.

We explore:

• How Marcus's Mount Everest expedition shaped his views on leadership, risk, and resilience
• Why the journey matters more than the summit, both in the mountains and in life
• The fascinating role of mitochondria in energy, performance, and healthy aging
• What longevity science actually tells us—and the myths we should stop believing
• Why exercise remains the single most powerful intervention for living a longer, healthier life
• The difference between good stress and bad stress, and why stress isn't always the enemy
• Practical ways to build healthy stress into everyday life through movement, recovery, and lifestyle choices
• How Human Edge helps individuals and organizations improve health through a data-driven, lifestyle-first approach
• Why organizations are beginning to see employee energy and health as strategic business priorities
• Simple daily habits that can improve health without making life more complicated

Rebecca Hinds is Head of the Work AI Institute at Glean, a researcher of organizational behavior and collaboration, and the author of the bestselling book Your Best Meeting Ever. Over the course of her career, Rebecca has studied how people work together, how teams make decisions, and how technology shapes collaboration.

In this episode, Rebecca joins Subbu to discuss why meetings have become one of the biggest sources of frustration in modern organizations and what leaders can do about it.

We explore:

• Why a World War II-era sabotage manual bears an uncomfortable resemblance to many modern meetings
• The concept of "meeting debt" and how calendars become overloaded over time
• Why equal airtime is one of the strongest predictors of team performance
• How power, status, and hierarchy influence who speaks and who stays silent
• Why fewer meeting participants often lead to better outcomes
• The hidden costs of pre-meetings and meeting overload
• The debate around cameras on versus cameras off in virtual meetings
• What research tells us about Zoom fatigue and the unequal burden it places on different groups
• How AI can improve meetings, and the ways in which it can inadvertently make them worse
• Why successful AI adoption is ultimately a human and organizational challenge, not just a technological one

Jim Harter is Chief Scientist for Workplace Management and Wellbeing at Gallup and one of the world’s leading researchers on employee engagement, wellbeing, and organizational performance.

For decades, Jim has studied how people experience work—what helps them thrive, what drives performance, and why some organizations consistently create stronger cultures than others. His work has shaped global conversations around engagement, strengths, leadership, and the future of management, and the annual State of the Global Workplace report has become one of the most widely referenced studies on the modern workplace.

In this episode, Jim returns to Culture Matters to unpack the findings from the 2026 report and what they reveal about the current state of work globally.

We explore:

• Why employee engagement has now declined for the second consecutive year
• The growing pressure and emotional burden managers and leaders are carrying
• What organizations with highly engaged managers are doing differently
• Why AI adoption is ultimately a management and leadership challenge
• The tension between productivity gains and rising fear around AI-driven job loss
• How leadership and management roles may need to fundamentally evolve
• The relationship between engagement, wellbeing, burnout, and performance
• And why this moment may represent a genuine inflection point in the future of work

R. Gopalakrishnan (Gopal) is one of India’s most respected business leaders, having held senior roles at Unilever and the Tata Group. Over the years, he has also become a thoughtful voice on leadership, learning, and life through his writing and speaking. Nirmala Isaac is a doctoral scholar whose work spans organizational behavior, leadership, and sustainability, with a deep interest in trust and institutional dynamics.

In this episode, Gopal, Nirmala, and Subbu explore the deep and fascinating relationship between India and China through the lens of history, culture, and exchange. Drawing from their book, the guests bring together the ideas of Chanakya and Sun Tzu to uncover how civilizations evolve, interact, and learn from one another over time.

We cover:

• The origin story behind the book and the collaboration
• The idea of “travel, trade, and thought” as the foundations of civilizational exchange
• How business offers a unique, practical lens to build relationships across borders
• The similarities and differences between Chanakya and Sun Tzu
• What ancient dynasties like the Mauryas and the Han can teach us about leadership and stability
• Stories of cultural exchange that still echo today, from language to rituals
• Why relationships, whether between people or nations, evolve by focusing on shared interests
• And what modern leaders can learn from history about navigating complexity and difference

Vinay Kumar is a leadership facilitator and organizational development expert who has spent close to two decades helping leaders and organizations navigate complex conversations, build alignment, and strengthen culture. He’s the Founder Director of C2C OD and has been the global chair of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF).

In this episode, Vinay and Subbu explore facilitation not just as a skill, but as a fundamental shift in how leadership shows up today. In a world where knowledge is abundant and easily accessible, the role of the leader is evolving, from being the one with answers to the one who creates the conditions for better answers to emerge.

We cover:

• What facilitation really means and why it’s often misunderstood
• Why facilitation is becoming an essential leadership capability
• How leaders can move from giving answers to asking better questions
• The role of facilitation in building alignment and driving cultural change
• Why culture is the “spine” of an organization and what happens when it’s unstable
• Common mistakes facilitators and leaders make when working with groups
• The importance of creating spaces where all voices are heard
• And why leadership, ultimately, is a practice, not a theory, and never a finished product

Pawan Kumar Marella is a global business leader whose career spans sales, marketing, strategy, and general management across India, Africa, and the UK. From starting out in sales at Unilever—despite training in engineering and finance—to setting up business operations in Ethiopia and later working in corporate strategy in London, Pawan’s journey reflects both range and reinvention.

He is also the author of Dear Rookie, Don’t Panic—a candid, practical guide to navigating the realities of corporate life. Drawing from two decades of experience, the book distills what most professionals learn the hard way: how to deal with uncertainty, manage relationships, build credibility, and grow through setbacks.

In this episode, Pawan and Subbu explore the often-unspoken side of early careers—the panic, the pressure, and the steep shift from campus to corporate life. They unpack what it really takes to succeed at work: skill, but adaptability, self-awareness, and the ability to work effectively with others.

We cover:

• Why the transition from competition to collaboration is harder than most expect
• The four non-negotiables for long-term success: health, integrity, trust, and showing up
• What personal branding really means—and why it’s more than self-promotion
• How to navigate teams, conflict, and corporate culture with practical tools
• The idea of “trust but verify” and how to build reliability without micromanaging
• Why performance is the true currency of corporate life
• The importance of visibility and documenting your work in today’s environment
• And how the energy you bring—being a radiator or a vacuum cleaner—shapes the culture around you

Jim Harter is Chief Scientist of Workplace Management and Well-being at Gallup — one of the world’s most trusted voices in understanding what makes work, and workers, thrive. Over three decades at Gallup, Jim has helped shape how organizations across the globe make sense of engagement, performance, and well-being.

His research has defined the modern science of engagement. From pioneering the first meta-analysis linking engagement to performance outcomes, to co-authoring Wellbeing at Work with Jim Clifton, Jim’s work has influenced leaders, managers, and policymakers in every industry.

In this episode, Jim and Subbu explore the evolving story of how people feel about their work: what drives engagement, why well-being can’t be separated from it, and how today’s hybrid workplaces are testing the limits of both. They unpack Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace 2025 report — from the sharp decline in manager engagement to the paradox of remote work, where autonomy rises but connection fades.

We cover:

• How Gallup’s decades of research have reshaped our understanding of work
• The drop in global engagement and why it matters more than most leaders think
• Why managers hold 70% of the variance in engagement and what to do about it
• The three habits of great managers
• How engagement and well-being intertwine, and why one without the other won’t last
• The rise of “the great detachment” and what it says about loyalty and belonging
• How AI and hybrid work are redefining the manager’s role
• The next frontier in Gallup’s research: strengths utilization and how it drives both performance and prosperity

Professor Malissa Clark is one of the world’s leading scholars on workaholism, burnout, and the science of healthy work. She is Professor and Head of Psychology Department at the University of Georgia, where she also leads the Healthy Work Lab. Her research has redefined how we think about overwork as a multidimensional phenomenon with deep consequences for individuals, families, and organizations.

Prof. Clark is the author of Never Not Working, a book that blends rigorous research with personal insight to challenge the myths of productivity and the culture of “always on.”

In this episode, Malissa and Subbu unpack why workaholism is far more complex than simply clocking long hours, how burnout is preventable, and what both individuals and organizations can do to build healthier ways of working. They also explore the hidden costs of overwork on families, the myths that refuse to die, and the cultural signals that silently enforce “ideal worker” norms.

We cover:

• Malissa’s winding career path—from sales and consulting to academia
• Why she founded the Healthy Work Lab and what “healthy work” really means
• The four dimensions of workaholism: motivational, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral
• Why long hours don’t predict productivity—and how overwork can harm teams
• The health consequences of chronic overwork—from poor sleep to cardiovascular risk
• The ripple effects of workaholism on spouses, children, and workplace culture
• Burnout as an organizational problem, not just an individual one—and why it’s preventable
• Practical strategies to “kick the habit”: Eisenhower matrix, recovery breaks, and mastery experiences
• How organizational norms—like praising late-night availability—shape unhealthy cultures
• What leaders can do to reset expectations, model balance, and experiment with change
• The promise and challenges of the four-day week movement
• Why vulnerability and personal storytelling matter in academic work

Daniel Pink is one of the world’s most influential thinkers on work, behavior, and human motivation. He is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers—including Drive, When, and The Power of Regret—books that have shaped how leaders, educators, and individuals approach purpose, timing, decision-making, and the emotions that drive us.

Across a career that spans law, politics, speechwriting, and two decades of groundbreaking writing, Dan has made complex research in psychology and behavioral science accessible to millions of readers worldwide. His TED talks have been viewed tens of millions of times, and his work continues to influence the way organizations and individuals think about performance, choice, and meaning.

In this episode, Dan and Subbu unpack why regret is not something to suppress but a vital emotion that helps us learn, grow, and make better choices. They also explore how to navigate today’s flood of information, the habits of good decision-making, and the human commonalities revealed by studying regrets from around the world.

We cover:

• Dan’s winding career path—from law school and politics to bestselling author
• Why he regrets not having mentors early in his career
• How he stays current with fast-moving research without drowning in information
• The puzzle at the heart of The Power of Regret—why an emotion that feels terrible is so universal
• Why “no regrets” culture is misguided, and how to confront regrets productively
• The difference between regrets of action and inaction—and why inaction regrets dominate as we age
• The four universal categories of regret: foundation, boldness, moral, and connection
• What 26,000 submissions to the World Regret Survey reveal about being human
• How to deal with regrets through self-compassion, writing, and sense-making
• The regret optimization framework, and how to apply it to the decisions that matter most
• Why kindness and pro-social behavior should become our “default setting”
• How changing the delivery of ideas matters as much as the ideas themselves in an age of AI and distraction

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is a historian, futurist, and one of the most compelling voices rethinking the way we work, rest, and create. He is the author of Rest, Shorter, and The Distraction Addiction—books that have reshaped the global conversation on productivity and wellbeing.

Alex has worked across academia, tech, publishing, and firms like the 4 Day Week Gobal. Today, he leads programs with 4.dk - a Dutch team leading 4-day week experiments in Denmark, and 4 Day Week studio.

In this episode, Alex and Subbu explore the science and art of deliberate rest, why overwork is counterproductive, and how the four-day week is moving from radical idea to mainstream practice. The conversation draws on history, neuroscience, and real-world experiments to reveal how we can all work better by working less.

We cover:

• Alex’s unconventional “Grand Theft Auto” career path—from historian to tech futurist to rest evangelist
• The mentors and moments that shaped his thinking
• Why overwork persists—and how it erodes creativity, judgment, and empathy
• What it really takes to rest well: active recovery, multiple time scales, and deliberate planning
• The “four-hour rule” of deep work and how great minds from Darwin to Hemingway structured their days
• The link between morning routines, the default mode network, and creativity
• The concept of deep play and why serious hobbies sustain high performance
• The business case for the four-day week, and what early adopters have learned
• How AI is changing the way we discover and apply research
• What the music industry can teach us about creativity and collaboration in the age of automation

Michael Morris is the Chavkin-Chang Professor of Leadership at Columbia Business School, and one of the world’s leading scholars at the intersection of culture, cognition, and leadership. A cultural psychologist by training, his research has shaped how we understand identity, influence, and the psychology of change across global contexts. Over a career spanning decades, Prof. Morris has published over 200 academic papers and founded Columbia’s Leadership Lab and Behavioral Lab.

In this episode, Prof. Morris and Subbu unpack the deep instincts that shape our collective lives—from the psychology of sports teams to corporate leadership—and why culture is not fixed, but dynamic, contested, and constantly evolving.

To listen to the full episode, go here: bit.ly/m/cult_m

We cover:

- Prof. Morris' journey from literature and cognitive science to pioneering cultural psychology

- The origin story of the field—and why it had to reemerge after being sidelined for decades

- Why culture is not what people say, but what people signal

- What South Korea’s 2002 World Cup team taught us about identity and adaptability

- Peer, hero, and ancestor instincts—and how they shape organizational behavior

- What leaders often get wrong about culture change

- Why the legitimacy of the messenger matters more than the message

- How companies like Infosys, HCL, and GM shifted culture through surprising signals

- The future of cultural analysis in an age of AI and big data

Amy Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School, and one of the world’s foremost thinkers on organizational behavior. Best known for her pioneering work on psychological safety, Amy’s research has transformed how leaders build trust, foster learning, and create high-performing teams. Her books—including The Fearless Organization and Right Kind of Wrong—have become must-reads for anyone serious about culture and innovation.

In this episode, Amy and Subbu dive deep into the science of failing well, teaming in a hybrid world, and why psychological safety isn’t about being nice but about being brave. We explore the roots of her work, lessons from early setbacks, and what it takes to build resilient, learning-focused organizations in an age of AI, burnout, and constant change.

In this episode, we cover:

• Amy’s unconventional journey—from working with Buckminster Fuller to redefining team learning
• The surprising discovery that launched psychological safety research
• Common myths about psychological safety
• How hybrid and remote work are reshaping interpersonal risk-taking
• The difference between errors and failures, and why most organizations confuse the two
• What “intelligent failure” looks like, and how to cultivate it
• Why team-based learning is the underappreciated engine of innovation
• The link between psychological safety and burnout—and what leaders can do about it
• A systems-thinking lens for navigating consistent, variable, and novel work contexts
• Amy’s next big question: Given the larger societal and technological changes around us, how do we make work work for everybody?

Ankur Mehra is a creator economist, bestselling author of Pixels to Profits, and one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices on the creator economy. With a diverse career spanning the armed forces, big tech, and media, Ankur brings a rare blend of structure, strategy, and storytelling to the world of digital creators. He has worked with platforms like Facebook and Instagram, built media partnerships with cultural icons like Rajinikanth, and today champions the rise of creator-led ecosystems.

In this episode, Ankur and I unpack how the creator economy is not just disrupting media—it’s reshaping leadership, organizations, and the future of work. We explore what it means for CEOs, CHROs, and employees to embrace their voice, create content with purpose, and build communities—not just audiences.

In this episode, we cover:

• Ankur’s journey from lieutenant in the Indian Army to creator economy evangelist
• The media moment that changed how he saw purpose at work
• Why creators are the new media, and what that means for influence and trust
• How CEOs and CHROs can lead with content and culture through employee-generated content (EGC)
• The 5C and 3R frameworks that decode the complexity of content creation
• Mental health, originality, and fighting FOMO in a content-saturated world
• A thought-provoking glimpse into the decentralized, creator-led future of the internet

Gurucharan Singh Gandhi (Guru) is the CHRO of Vodafone Idea Limited and has held leadership roles at Madura, Aditya Birla Capital, Max Life Insurance, and more. He’s the author of Kabir in Corporates and Careerathon, and a passionate marathon runner who brings a poetic clarity to life and work.

In this episode Guru and I explore how careers are best viewed as long-distance runs rather than short-term races. Guru shares his unconventional, adjacency-led career path and the life lessons that came from embracing change, nurturing endurance, and respecting the track—whether in work or while running a marathon.

In this episode, we cover:

• Guru’s zigzag yet intentional career journey across sales, L&D, and HR
• Why personal evolution is the real foundation for career growth
• The metaphor of running – from hydrating well to forgetting the last race – and how it mirrors modern careers
• Learning to recognize your own “drivers” and how not to get trapped by comparison
• How resilience, reflection, and mentorship help you navigate downturns
• What forgetting the last race teaches us about transitions and adaptability
• A provocative take on the future of work – and why the question should be “whose future of work?”

Whether you're early in your career, rethinking your path, or just looking for a fresh take on leadership and growth, this episode is a thoughtful listen packed with insights.

Dave Ulrich is ranked #1 management guru by Business Week, named one of the Top 10 Creative People in Business by Fast Company, a Top 5 Executive Coach by Forbes, and consistently featured on the Thinkers50 list of the world’s most influential business thinkers. Dave has written over 30 books, shaped the field of HR as we know it, and continues to inspire with his unwavering passion for ideas with impact.

In this episode, Subbu and Dave discuss Dave's illustrious career spanning over 4 decades, how he keeps going even today, the evolving definition of culture, how culture impacts customer value, the importance of hope, and a whole lot more.

Key topics discussed:

• How Dave got interested in the field of organizational behavior and theory
• Dave's OCD - Organization Compulsive Behavior
• What keeps Dave going even today
• Why does culture matter?
• How the definition of culture has evolved over the years
• A bold new definition of culture
• Why culture transformation efforts may fail
• Rituals turn personal habits into realized values and guiding principles
• When rituals can become powerful in an organizational context
• A lesson from Dave's mentor: the late CK Prahlad
• Employee experience v/s team performance
• The need to look seriously at mental health in a work setting
• The 5 waves of employee experience
• HR is on the cusp of transformation, thanks to AI
• Word-ball game!
• The future of work and the emphasis on culture
• How stay relevant in the world of AI
• Honoring Dave's legacy

Aruna Gopakumar is the founder of leadership consulting firm Navgati and The School Of You. Aruna is also co-author of the book 'And How Do you Feel About That’. She has spent over two decades helping leaders navigate complexity, build emotional intelligence, and create meaningful impact. She is a Master Certified Coach (MCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), and also an expert in the area of Transactional Analysis.

In this episode, Subbu and Aruna discuss a whole host of topics, including why it's time we shifted the narrative around mental health at the workplace.

Key topics:

• Aruna's very unique career arc spanning engineering, MBA and psychotherapy!
• The motto - Build and they will come!
• The journey to becoming an author
• Stories of personal transformation
• Shifting the narrative on mental health at work
• Aruna's new venture - The School Of You
• Down the rabbit hole with Alice in Wonderland
• Thoughts on the future of work

Tessa West is a Professor of Psychology at New York University and a leading expert in the science of interpersonal communication. This is the second time that Professor West has come on this show – to listen to our first conversation, check out episode 12 of this podcast. In this episode, we dive deep into her latest book – Job Therapy, How Do You Find Work That Works For You

Key topics covered -

• Our psychological relationship with jobs and careers 
• Can a job fundamentally change a person?
• Why we need to hear tough feedback
• Take the daily stress test 
• How to do some psychological self-digging
• Uncovering the 5 types of 'career-goers'
• In your quest for compensation, don't forget status
• How status differs from power
• What to do when you feel like an underappreciated star
• Dealing with the newcomer hump 
• Your skills are great, but are they helpful?
• The big reveal!
• Why leaders need to think about the psychological well-being of their teams
• Head or heart, where do you start?

Deepak Jayaraman's mission is to help people play to potential. He strives to do it through his advisory work as a coach and sounding board, as a podcaster and as an author. As an advisor, Deepak works with Leaders and Organizations with a growth mindset and helps them play to their full potential. Deepak has been curating the Play to Potential Podcast since Dec 2016.

In this episode, Subbu and Deepak discuss Deepak's unconventional career path, navigating the 'messy' midlife, the paradox of self-awareness, discovering our values and a whole lot more.

Key topics covered:

• Why Deepak chose an unconventional career path 
• Lessons from long distance running
• Getting to Work-life harmony
• What inspired Deepak to write his book - Play To Potential
• Type 1 v/s Type 2 personalities
• How to navigate the 'messy middle' of life
• Why it's OK to let go of the trapeze
• The paradox of self-awareness
• Cultivating internal and external self-awareness
• Three ways to discovering our values and principles
• The FLAVOUR Model of leadership
• "Where to play" is the most strategic question
• 6 inspiring stories of people living a FLAVOUR-ful life
• Crafting a FLAVOUR-ful work culture
• The word-ball game
• Midlife is the time for opportunities
• Being fluid about our identities

James is the founder of Behavioral science practice firm More Than Now. He’s an expert in bringing behavioral science into organizations, and is changing the workplace one experiment at a time. Priya is a co-conspirator behavioural scientist and works closely with James at More Than Now. She is a London School of Economics and Harvard University graduate, and is particularly interested in the field of wellbeing. 

Key topics discussed in this episode:

• How James Elfer founded More Than Now 
• How Priya got hooked to behavioural science thanks to Danny Kahneman's work
• The power of experimental research within organizations
• The problem with organizational decision making processes
• Solving organizational problems and contributing back to science
• Will your inclusive leadership program work? Test it first
• Redefining our approach to developing leaders  
• Marrying goal-setting with the Fresh Start Effect
• Boosting psychological safety across the organization
• Behavioral science to boost talent attraction 
• Rethinking unconscious bias training
• Behavioral science jokes!

Nitin More is the founder of Brainaayan, a consulting organization focused on leadership development, people manager development, DEI, and building high performing teams. Nitin’s work encompasses neuroscience, psychology and associated areas. He has a PhD in linguistics, and has spearheaded Learning and Development with firms such as Facebook and Google.

In this episode, we discuss Nitin’s career journey from a PhD in linguistics to an L&D professional, the role of language in shaping culture, how we can build resilient organizational cultures and so much more!

What we discussed:

• Nitin's background as a linguistics professor
• The crucible experiences of Nitin's career
• How to scale a culture
• The role of language in shaping culture
• The research on organizational resilience
• Bouncing back from adversity
• Key findings from the research
• The factors that can make you more resilient
• How can organizations build resilient cultures?
• The word ball game!
• The future of leadership development

R Gopalakrishnan (Gopal) has spent over 50 years in executive roles at both Unilever and the Tata Group. He is one of the most celebrated leaders and incisive authors in the corporate world today. Harish Bhat is a marketer, bestselling author, poet and columnist. Harish has spent all 37+ years of his career with the Tata group, and until recently Harish was Brand Custodian of the group.

In this episode, Subbu, Gopal and Harish dive into the legacy of Jamsetji Tata. They discuss how the philosophy of one of the greatest Indians of the 19th century has left a lasting impact on successive generations of business leaders of the Tata Group.

Key points:

• Tribute to Shri Ratan Tata
• How the experience of working at the Tata Group shaped our guests' outlook towards life
• How Mr. Bhat found a writing mentor in Mr. Gopal
• How the book idea for Jamsetji Tata came to be
• Why is Jamsetji Tata among the greatest Indians of the 19th century?
• Is 'enlightened capitalism' an oxymoron or can community and enterprise go together?
• The river source as an analogy to the birth of organizational philosophy
• How Jamsetji Tata focused on worker welfare by way of pension, insurance and more
• Learning from failures - the story of Tata Shipping Line
• People are tougher to build than factories!
• How successive leaders have groomed talent at the Tata Group over the years
• Hire for attitude, train for skills
• Note of thanks

Vivek Gambhir is a Venture Partner with Lightspeed. He’s also the Chairperson of the Board of boAT Lifestyle. He serves on the board of a number of firms such as Honasa Consumer Limited and Magic Pin. His career has spanned leadership roles with firms such as Godrej Consumer Products and Bain & Co. Vivek also runs the weekly blog Monday 8am which has over 20k subscribers.

Sunder Ramachandran brings 20 yrs of experience across healthcare, financial services, and technology, including a 5-year stint as an entrepreneur, during which he founded a consulting firm serving companies in the business process management space. Sunder is currently the head of transformation and commercial excellence at Dr. Reddy’s, with stints spanning firms such as GSK, Pfizer, JLT and more. 

In this episode, Subbu, Vivek and Sunder discuss the factors that can help professionals navigate a successful corporate career, including continuous learning, being an effective team player, giving and receiving feedback, bringing your best self to work, successfully transitioning across roles and much more.

Key points -

• The career arcs of Vivek and Sunder
• The backstory behind the book - Headstart
• The idea behind a 'to-learn' list
• Effective team work requires the right team culture
• Consider an appreciation tracker to keep your team motivated
• Why asking for feedback is critical for self-improvement
• Bring your best self to work
• Working through adjacencies as you pivot roles
• The three-day rule as the litmus test to moving roles
• The 'Slingshot move' can aid your transition
• How to be a go-getter
• Why it's important to build your personal brand
• The authors' favorite stories from the book
• How a health scare shifted Vivek's outlook towards work and life
• Thoughts on the future of work

Jay Van Bavel is a Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University, an affiliate at the Stern School of Business, Director of the NYU Center for Conflict & Cooperation. He is co-author of the award-winning book "THE POWER OF US", and an award-winning teacher and public speaker. 

In this wide-ranging conversation, Prof Jay and Subbu discuss a new way to think about our identities, how bias, prejudice and discrimination work, how to dissent well, and a whole lot more.

Key topics:

• How Prof Jay got interested in the field of social psychology
• How principles of prejudice can be used to unravel team conflict
• The wine-and-cheese party that brought the co-authors together
• How our identities are shaped (it's not what you think)
• The significance of Minimal Group Studies by Henry Tajfel
• Our identities are constantly shifting
• How do we throw away parts of our identity that no longer serve us?
• How do we surface our biases and start acting on them?
• Dealing with backlash against DEI initiatives
• Is there a right way to dissent?
• Why effective leadership matters for team culture
• Engaged followership v/s Quiet Quitting
• Tyrants, but of the petty kind
• Word-ball game
• Do we over-identify with our work-selves?

Pramath Raj Sinha wears many hats – he is a serial entrepreneur, having founded organizations like Harappa, 9.9 group, Vedica Scholars Program for Women, and is President at UpGrad. He is an institution builder – he was the Founding Dean of ISB and is the Founder and Trustee of Ashoka University. 

In this episode, Subbu and Pramath discuss the importance of mentorship, the value of education, how careers are transforming today, and how founders can build distinctive workplace cultures.

Key topics covered

• Pramath's reflections on building institutions
• The value of education and mentoring
• Why Pramath wrote his latest book - Learn Don't Study
• How the workplace and careers are transforming today
• Building distinctive workplace culture as a founder
• Why founders need to build self-awareness
• The word-ball game!
• Entrepreneurship is about recovering from failures
• Everyone is a leader
• The future of education and impact of AI

Jimbo Clark works across APAC with individuals, teams and organizations on achieving transformational change. He excels at meaningfully facilitating activities, games and simulations to bring new awareness of possibilities and clear actions for future improvements.

In this episode, Jim and Subbu talk about what it takes to enable meaningful change for people, and how this can be transformative for not just individuals, but also teams and organizations.

Key topics:

• Why Jimbo Clark decided to move to Taiwan from the US
• Jimbo's "Working Retirement" philosophy to life
• Busting the myth about people not wanting to change 
• Why less is more
• The origin story of THE BOX 
• Helping people think out of THE BOX
• Making the unconscious, conscious
• Applying THE BOX in the context of a period of transition
• The Word Ball Game!
• My experience with THE BOX

Biju is the Chief Evangelist at Fractal Analytics and Chairman at Final Mile Consulting. Biju and his colleagues have utilized Cognitive Neuroscience and Behavioral Economics and Design to develop a new research technique called Ethnolab and the communication practice of Non-Conscious Design.

Key topics covered in this conversation

• Biju's career spanning advertising to entrepreneurship
• Challenges with positively impact human behavior
• The power of the non-conscious
• Learning from neuroscience
• Working with the collective non-conscious
• How intentional rituals can help drive change 
• How rice farming drives collaborative behavior
• The role of context and work environment
• Workplace flexibility matters
• The word-ball game
• Closing remarks

Andrew Barnes is an innovator, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is also the pioneer of the 4-day work week movement. His organization, Perpetual Guardian, piloted the very first version of the 4-day week many years ago, and Andrew wrote a whole book about it.

In this conversation, we learn about how Andrew came up with the 4-day week idea on a long haul flight, why we are all collectively time poor, how to setup a 4-day week trial, and a whole lot more.

Key topics

• Highlights from Andrew's career
• How Andrew stumbled upon the 4-day week idea
• The way we work hasn't evolved in the last century
• We've all become collectively time poor
• Structuring the 4-day week at Perpetual Guardian
• Will people revert back to working 5 days a week?
• Does the 4-day week require a high trust culture?
• The value of beginning with a trial
• The state of ongoing trials across the world
• Will the rise of AI accelerate the adoption of the 4-day week?
• Being time rich will afford us the time to upskill
• Does the future of work have 4 working days in it?

Aarti Kelshikar is a specialist in human capital development, an intercultural coach, an executive coach, a facilitator and an author. She has written two books on the converging themes of leadership and cultural effectiveness. Her latest book is - How Women Work: Fitting In and Standing Out in Asia. 

In this episode, we discuss insights from Aarti’s research and writing. The first part of the conversation unravels the complex corporate cultures we operate in, and the second half of the conversation is focused on women leadership in Asia.

Key topics

• From compliance to culture: Aarti's fascinating work background
• The 4Ps: Purpose, Passion, Patience and Persistence 
• How Aarti discovered research and writing
• Our ability to manage ambiguity and uncertainty
• The prevalence of hierarchy and what it means for org culture
• How Aarti got to writing her second book - How Women Work 
• How Leadership in Asia compares to other regions
• Seeking inspiration from women leaders in Asia
• Are women held to different standards compared to men?
• Aarti's advice to aspiring women leaders
• How can men become better allies

Abhijit Bhaduri is a talent management advisor to firms. He is among the ten most sought after brand evangelists and is a coach and mentor to leaders in different stages of their careers. He is rated among the top ten learning experts globally and is a LinkedIn Top Voice. Abhijit's weekly newsletter has more than 300,000 subscribers and is a powerful voice shaping the profession. 

In this conversation, Subbu and Abhijit discuss career archetypes, why we may be at an inflection point when it comes to careers, and the skills required to navigate the new world of work.

Key topics

• Abhijit's career arc spanning iconic brands
• The opportunities that lie in front of talent professionals
• How Abhijit got to writing his newest book - Career 3.0
• The "AI-Phone moment" we are experiencing today
• Blue v/s White v/s No-collar jobs
• Are directional goals better than specific goals?
• Shift in the Work-Worker-Workplace equilibrium
• Is moonlighting acceptable?
• Lifetime employment has been replaced by lifetime employability 
• How can organizations leverage the creator economy?
• The implications of Careers 3.0 on Org Culture
• The six skills to navigate the Careers 3.0 world
• Stay like a green tomato!
• The Word-ball game!
• The future of careers

Vanessa Bohns is a social psychologist and a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University. She holds a PhD in Psychology from Columbia University and is the author of the book You Have More Influence Than You Think. Her research focuses broadly on social influence and the psychology of compliance and consent.

In this episode, Subbu and Prof Bohns discuss what we typically tend to get wrong about our ability to influence others, why assertiveness as a skill may be overrated, and how leaders can become better aware of the sway they hold over others.

Key Topics

• Prof Vanessa Bohns' journey into academia
• Why we hold ourselves back when complimenting others
• What we typically get wrong about our ability influence others
• The amplification of shared experiences
• The power of behavioral contagion
• Direct v/s indirect effect of our actions on others
• Assertiveness as a skill may be overrated
• Embarrassment can be a powerful motivator
• When influence turns into manipulation
• Leadership blind-spots on perspective-taking
• Taking responsibility of your positional power
• Becoming better aware of our influence over others
• The Word-ball game!
• Write a gratitude letter today

Krish Shankar is an industry veteran. He received his postgraduate diploma in HR from the prestigious XLRI way back in 1984. Since then, Krish has led the Human Resources function at firms such as Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Philips and Infosys. Krish is also the author of the book Catalyse – Power Up Your People Ecosystem.

In this conversation Subbu and Krish discuss key learnings from Krish’s career over the last 40 years, the megatrends driving the future of work, and how leaders can catalyze culture transformation initiatives.

Key topics

• Reflections from Krish's 40-year career
• Overcoming career-related challenges
• How Krish came to writing and publishing his book Catalyse
• Is Krish a Beatles fan?
• The critical traits of an effective business leader
• The megatrends driving the future of work
• HR as a culture and emotions architect
• How do we make key behaviors come alive in an organization
• The importance of fair and equitable people practices
• Inclusion precedes diversity
• What happens when the Employee Value Proposition is at odds with the culture?
• Time to update the 70:20:10 model of learning
• The role of emotions at work
• AI as a foundational megatrend for the future

Aparna Piramal Raje has worn a variety of hats including that of a business leader, journalist, author, educator and public speaker. For well over a decade, she profiled not just the workspaces of CEOs but also corporate offices of multi-national firms, the government, and startups for her Mint column Head Office. She is the author of two books – Working Out Of The Box, and most recently, Chemical Khichdi.  

In this wide-ranging conversation, Subbu and Aparna discuss the big shifts in the world of work, workplace design, the evolution of leadership styles and mental health advocacy.

Key topics

• Aparna's multi-faceted career as a businesswoman, writer, educator and mental health advocate
• The big shifts in the world of work
• Workplace designs that make a difference
• The link between workplace design and org culture
• Have leadership styles evolved over the years?
• Do leaders who practice design thinking nurture empathetic workplaces?
• How Aparna got to writing her new book Chemical Khichdi 
• Unpacking Love Therapy and Work Therapy
• How do we all become better allies advocating for mental health?
• Performance and well-being can go hand in hand

R Gopalakrishnan, also known as Gopal, served for 31 years as a senior executive with Unilever and then for 17 years as Director of Tata Sons. He has authored over 15 books cutting across a variety of domains and is one of the foremost thought leaders in the field of management and business leadership. 

In this candid and no-holds barred conversation,Gopal shares insights from his first managerial stint back in the late 1960s. He discusses why it's imperative for executives to keep learning, how the cultures at Unilever and Tata Sons differ, and much more.

Key points

• Connecting the dots on Gopal's career
• Gopal's first managerial role
• The 4A framework of leadership development
• The learning imperative
• Intuition v/s rationality
• IQ+EQ+AQ = Future Leader
• Cultures at Unilever and Tata Sons
• The role of leaders and managers in nurturing org culture
• Rapid fire round
• Culture, habits and rituals
• The workplace of the future

S 'Venky' Venkatesh is the President - Group HR and a member of the board at RPG Group. Since 1996, Venky has been holding group HR leadership positions at the national and global level for large corporations.

In this episode, Subbu and Venky dive into the findings of the Gen Z Happiness Code report, which was commissioned and released by the RPG Group. We also discuss various initiatives that contribute to talent attraction and retention at RPG. 

Key topics discussed

• Insights from Venky's multi-decades-long career trajectory
• RPG group's focus on Happiness as a construct
• Why RPG commissioned the GenZ Happiness Code research
• Big aha moments from the study
• How GenZ's values differ from the previous generations
• Work isn't worship anymore
• Are they more individualistic or collectivist?
• Overcoming workplace toxicity
• Dealing with inter-generational conflicts
• Rapid fire round!
• Why autonomy matters
• What the workplace of the future looks like

Melanie Martinelli is the co-founder and director at the Learning Gym. She is a specialist in Learning Solutions and is passionate about researching and implementing latest and most relevant trends in the learning industry. Melanie assists individuals and organizations in building memorable learning experiences linked to performance.

In this episode, Subbu and Martinelli discuss what it takes to build a learning culture, the levers of learning transfer effectiveness and measurement techniques that actually work!

Key points

0:30 - Insights into Melanie's life and career trajectory

4:40 - At the intersection of finance and culture!

7:00 - Aha moments related to learning effectiveness and transfer

10:20 - What constitutes a learning culture?

16:20 - Return on Learning Investment v/s Return on Expectations

21:05 - Levers of learning transfer effectiveness

24:40 - Signals that an organization gives that it's serious about a learning culture

32:15 - Aligning learning with other processes such as performance and R&R

34:15 - Measurement techniques that work

40:30 - Rapid fire round!

42:50 - Focusing on learning events v/s transfer and culture

Shreyasi Singh is the Founder and CEO of Harappa, an online learning platform that focuses on building Thrive Skills - an essential set of cognitive, social and behavioral skills that enable professionals to succeed at all stages of their careers. Although Shreyasi is now an entrepreneur disrupting the Ed-Tech space, she’s had diverse experience in broadcast and print journalism, editorial leadership, book writing, teaching and higher education administration.

In this free-wheeling conversation, Subbu and Shreyasi discuss entrepreneurship, leadership styles, the representation of women at the workplace, research insights from Harappa's studies, and so much more.

Key topics

0:05 - The Harappa origin story

5:45 - Overcoming imposter syndrome

8:30 - Know your why

12:50 - The perks of being an outsider 

17:45 - The misplaced value of effortlessness

19:15 - Disrupting the ed-tech industry as a woman founder and CEO

25:00 - Shreyasi's style of leadership

31:15 - The culture at Harappa

35:35 - Insights from Harappa's research studies

41:30 - How entrepreneurship transformed Shreyasi

45:47 - Rapid-fire round!

47:45 - Is DEI a Utopian dream?

49:45 - A podcast-a-day...

Tessa West is a Professor of Psychology at New York University and a leading expert in the science of interpersonal communication. Her research focuses on understanding the nature and dynamics of social perception, addressing issues in the study of interpersonal and inter-group relations.

In this episode, Subbu and Professor West explore the topic of Jerks at work – toxic co-workers and what to do about them, incidentally also the name of the book authored by Professor West.

Key Topics

1:00 - Prof West's journey into academia, research and writing

5:00 - How common is the phenomenon of toxicity in the workplace?

7:40 - Why we are in a state of denial about toxicity at work

10:25 - Common misconceptions about jerks at work

14:40 - How toxicity can negatively affect our physiology

19:00 - The kiss-up kick-downers and how to deal with them

24:30 - Why the credit-stealers behave the way they do

30:00 - The impact of biases on how we gauge our contributions at work

32:00 - The bulldozers - people who take up all the airtime in a meeting

36:30 - Are micro-managers really just neglectful?

41:00 - Beware of the gaslighters

46:00 - Becoming better allies to each other

50:00 - Rapid fire round!

51:20 - We can do far better than virtue-signalling

Jeremy Utley is the Director of Executive Education at Stanford’s d.school and an Adjunct Professor at Stanford's School of Engineering. He is the co-host of the popular web series "Stanford's Masters of Creativity", and the co-author of the book ‘Ideaflow’.

In this episode, Subbu and Jeremy explore the concept of Ideaflow – why generating more ideas is critical to business success, and how leaders can enable a culture of ideation, experimentation and implementation.

Key topics

1:35 - Jeremy's career trajectory and the courage to deviate from the past

3:30 - Primed for a breakthrough

4:25 - Quantity over quality of ideas

7:55 - Why we need to focus on creativity

10:00 - Every problem is an idea problem

11:30 - Defining Ideaflow

12:30 - Psychological safety as an essential enabler for Ideaflow

14:40 - The Einstellung effect

18:20 - Dare to be obvious

19:30 - Why is picking the best idea so difficult?

22:00 - Designing great experiments

28:20 - Working in a culture that doesn't support creativity

31:00 - Rapid-fire round!

33:45 - Why is collaboration so messy?

36:30 - How to brainstorm well as a team

38:30 - The value of a non-homogenous team 

40:00 - Pixar's dailies

42:50 - Creative collissions - what they are and how to have more of them

45:45 - What leaders get wrong about the creative process and what they should be doing instead

Anita Bhogle is an alumnus of IIT Bombay and IIM Ahmedabad. She spent her early career in advertising, market research and marketing consultancy. Over time, Anita went on to become an entrepreneur. She’s an author, most recently of Equal Yet Different. Anita wears many hats, she is also an amateur keyboard player and a homemaker.

Anita brings her years of consulting, entrepreneurial and research experience to weigh-in on the question: what holds women back from succeeding at the workplace? In this podcast episode, Subbu and Anita explore how women are equal yet different, and how organizational culture can either impede or enable progress for women at work.

Key topics

0:13 - Anita's unique can-do approach to life

5:15 - Creating a niche for yourself

7:15 - Crossing the chasm between intrinsic motivation and execution

8:30 - Equal Yet Different: the backstory to Anita's book

13:10 - How ingrained mindsets can be detrimental to advancement for women

16:20 - When gender becomes a liability for women's progress

20:53 - Why being 'mentally feminist' isinsufficient

23:05 - The role of allies at work

28:00 - The upsides and downsides of hybrid work

33:30 - The diversity agenda and the role of inclusion

40:20 - Anita's experience with inclusion at IIMA

43:45 - Best practices in reducing unconscious bias at the workplace

Anshuman Tiwari is the Global Head of Quality and Continual Improvement at DXC Technology. He is also a mid-career coach and a top voice on LinkedIn. He has taught quality principles, methods, and tools to over 10,000 professionals and 1,000 students, and helped his clients win several quality awards, including the Deming Prize. His mission is to make an impact and to lead people to deliver 10x results.

In this episode, Anshuman and Subbu delve into the fascinating realm where careers and organizational culture intersect.

Discover the impact of organizational culture on career trajectories and personal growth as we explore how culture can act as a powerful catalyst for success or a stumbling block to advancement. 

Key Topics

0:25 - How Anshuman built his career 'brick by brick'

5:10 - Anshuman's advice to his younger self

8:30 - Trends and patterns from the future of work to watch out for

12:20 - Anshuman's method for coaching mid-career professionals

18:30 - Is burnout a challenge among professionals today?

24:50 - Insights from the intersection of careers and culture

32:00 - Great cultures create great career opportunities for their people 

36:00 - The role of the manager in nurturing team culture

41:30 - The role of the organization in meeting career aspirations of its people

48:00 - The big post-pandemic shifts that have impacted our world

Sharath Jeevan works with global leaders to navigate direction, build motivating cultures, and nurture potential. Sharath was awarded an OBE in the 2022 Queen's New Year's Honours for founding and leading STiR Education, which has helped ignite the motivation of 200,000 school teachers around the world.

In this episode, Subbu and Sharath explore reigniting the power of intrinsic motivation in the workplace. They discuss topics such as guided autonomy, wicked work environments, pay transparency, the Big P and Small P of Purpose, and much more.

Key topics

1:00 - Sharath's journey to rediscovering Intrinsic Motivation

4:20 - A manifesto to reignite our inner drive

5:20 - The Big P and Small P of Purpose

8:45 - Autonomy and Mastery at work

10:45 - The problem with focusing too much on extrinsic motivation

13:45 - Is all burnout due to long working hours?

16:30 - Guided autonomy in action

19:00 - Thriving in a wicked work environment

22:50 - The power of pay transparency at work and why it matters

25:30 - Rethinking meritocracy

28:30 - Building talent v/s nurturing skills

30:00 - Re-framing how 'talent owners' approach the talent selection process

Sonali Gupta is a highly sought-after clinical psychologist, author, columnist, and workplace consultant, having worked with numerous leading organizations. Her book - 'Anxiety: Overcome It and Live Without Fear' was published around the time of the pandemic and has received wide critical acclaim.

In this episode, we shine a spotlight on fostering a culture of mental well-being in the workplace. As the world of work continues to evolve rapidly, understanding and prioritizing mental health has never been more important. Sonali's expertise in the field enables us to have a deep conversation about anxiety, mental health, well-being, and more.

Key Topics

0:07 - Sonali's journey to becoming a therapist

4:53 - Covid-19 and the importance of focusing on mental health

9:20 - Differentiating between normal and crippling anxiety

13:45 - The notion of the high-performing individual

16:45 - The physiological consequence of being always wired and always on

19:50 - Letting go of the 'itch' to get back to technology

25:35 - Advice for the high-performing individual

30:10 - Soothing rituals and pause rituals

35:05 - How managers and team members can take care of each other

40:25 - Building a culture of well-being

43:00 - Rethinking our basic assumptions of what constitutes good mental health

Hari TN is the Co-founder of Artha School of Entrepreneurship. He is also an evangelist, thought leader, and influencer in the Startup ecosystem. He is an alumnus of IIT Madras and IIM Calcutta. Hari has authored 8 books and is a columnist at Mint. His books ‘Saying No to Jugaad', ‘From 'Pony to Unicorn', and ‘Diversity Beyond Tokenism’ have been bestsellers.

Hari has been part of the leadership teams at five high growth start-ups and helped shape their growth journeys and exits, including a listing on NASDAQ. Three of these went on to become Unicorns. He is also passionate about helping founders build great companies and supporting women leaders discover their potential.

In this free-wheeling conversation, Subbu and Hari discuss organizational culture in the context of startups.

*Key Topics*

0:25 - Turning points in Hari's trailblazing career 

4:45 - Big insights and 'aha moments' about culture

7:30 - The 9 determinants of scale (and where culture fits in)

12:10 - The role of the external ecosystem in helping founders make sense of culture

13:10 - The analogy of the 'invisible hand' applied to org culture

15:30 - Executing on culture beyond the culture playbook

17:55 - Leveraging moments of truth to drive the right set of behaviors

20:30 - Aggressive v/s soft cultures

23:00 - Organizational self-awareness

26:00 - The role of the leadership team (beyond the founders) in driving culture

27:40 - Scaling culture across geographical boundaries

29:00 - Human Capital as an Achilles heel for startup founders

30:00 - Culture starts with hiring the right people

35:00 - Hiring for homogeneity v/s diversity

37:00 - The strongest elements of the BigBasket Culture

39:30 - The fox and the hedgehog strategy

Colleen is a highly sought-after coach, trainer and speaker, and she works with clients spanning the globe. Her areas of expertise cut across Neuroscience, Mindfulness, Brain-based Learning, Personal and Professional Coaching, and Emotional Intelligence.

Colleen has over 10,000 hours of training and coaching experience, a master’s degree in leadership, a Postgraduate Diploma in Neuroleadership and a PhD in Mindfulness and Leadership.

In this conversation, Colleen and Subbu discuss how coaching can be used as a tool to enable leadership development and drive positive organizational culture. Great leadership is synonymous with coaching. Being in tune with our emotions and being present in the moment are skills that leaders can master, and this reflects in the way we show up for our people. A knock-on effect is that this behavior reflects in our culture. A culture of coaching leads to humility, strong relationships, and a truly empowered workforce.

Key topics

0:35 - Colleen's journey into coaching

2:30 - Defining coaching as a construct

4:15 - The myths of what coaching is (what it isn't)

6:20 - Where neuroscience and coaching intersect

10:05 - The role of emotions in the workplace

13:15 - Being mindful in an always-on work environment

16:30 - Mindfulness as a way to becoming more present

18:50 - Getting in touch with your emotional self

20:00 - Coaching in the context of leadership

23:30 - The paradigm shift required for leaders

26:10 - Driving a culture of coaching

29:00 - Tracking the success of coaching interventions

30:40 - Empowering people from the top-down

34:00 - The shift from leadership to managerial coaching

Professor Rishikesha Krishnan is the Director of IIM Bangalore and a leading expert in strategy and innovation. With over 140 publications spanning from academic journals to the popular press, Professor Rishi is an accomplished author and thought leader.

In this conversation, Subbu and Professor Rishi discuss the steps to enable innovation in any organization, how to tap into the creative potential of employees, dealing with honest failures, and much more.

Key Topics

0:25 - How Prof Krishnan was inspired to study innovation

2:00 - Biggest takeaways from researching innovation through all these years

3:35 - Four steps to successful innovation in an organizational context

7:10 - The pipeline, velocity and batting average problems when driving innovation

9:15 - Day-to-day behavioral factors that may slow down innovation

11:40 - The 'jugaad' way of innovating

13:10 - Low prices don't always equate to poor quality or sub-optimal user experience

16:00 - Have we crossed a tipping point in the startup ecosystem?

19:05 - Maximizing the creative potential of your people

22:30 - How to deal with honest failures

24:43 - The impact of managerial practices on driving an innovative culture 

29:00 - Building and encouraging communities of practice 

31:28 - Decoding empathy as a construct in design thinking

36:10 - Expanding methods to conduct customer immersion in the digital era

37:00 - Exciting innovations in the health-tech space

Anand Narayanan is a Vice President at Beroe and dons the dual hat of Head of Marketing and Head of HR. Beroe is a global SaaS-based procurement intelligence and analytics provider.

In this conversation, Subbu sits down to discuss how Anand and his leadership team have instated a people-friendly work environment at Beroe. In particular, the discussion focuses on Beroe's successful experiment with implementing a 4-day workweek for all of its employees, which has been in force since 2017.

Key points

0:50 - About Beroe and it's organizational history + operating context

8:30 - How Anand Narayanan took on the mantle of HR Head at Beroe

12:30 - Confronting the reality of high employee stress

16:00 - The pivot from effort-based to productivity-based output

18:00 - Strategies to arrest attrition 

25:00 - The genesis of the 4-day workweek idea

26:30 - Ideating with different flexi-work models keeping in mind peak-productivity

29:30 - Debating the pros and cons with the management team

31:00 - The announcement and conditions of the 4-day workweek experiment

35:15 - Praise from the ultimate stakeholders: customers

37:00 - Recruiting and working with a core group of change evangelists

39:45 - Cultural reaction to the change

43:35 - Results of the experiment - impact on productivity, customer feedback, employee engagement, culture

48:00 - Being ready when Covid hit in 2020

49:00 - How meetings are managed at Beroe

57:00 - Feedback on Glassdoor and actions from the management team

1:00:00 - Is the 4-day week the future of work?

1:06:30 - The facets of culture that enabled a 4-day week at Beroe

Egbert Schram is the Group CEO at Hofstede Insights, and an established speaker and sparring partner on the topic of how, where and when the culture factor impacts business and organisational operations. He has worked in the field for some two decades and in over 40+ countries with clients such as GE Healthcare, Central Bank of Nigeria, UNDP, Coca Cola, to name a few. Egbert holds various additional roles in organisations such as the Forbes Business Council. He is the Chair of Finnish Dutch Chamber of Commerce, and on the Amcham advisory board in Finland.

Egbert's style is provocative yet delicate, focused on making a complex topic understandable. Subbu and Egbert discuss culture at the societal, national and organizational levels, how culture develops, the link between organizational culture and strategy, and much more.

Key points

4:00 - Geerte Hofstede's legacy of culture studies and application

8:00 - What is culture?

11:15 - The interplay between national and organizational cultures

16:00 - How does org culture develop and the role of leaders in shaping culture

20:35 - The link between strategy and organizational culture 

27:30 - The reasons leaders don't nearly focus enough on culture

31:00 - Organic approach v/s active approach of managing org culture

35:20 - How can employees play an active role in shaping org culture?

39:00 - Leading with purpose

41:10 - The journey to culture change

45:30 - Direct v/s indirect culture change

48:45 - The biggest myths about culture and how to overcome them

54:30 - What's new and upcoming in the field of measuring and developing culture?

Raj Raghunathan is a professor of marketing at the McCombs School of Business, the University of Texas at Austin. He teaches one of the most successful online courses on Coursera on the subject of happiness, titled - A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment, and has a written a book on the topic called - If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Happy?

Subbu and Professor Raj discuss what motivated him to research a not-so-lucid topic as happiness, a working definition of happiness, the seven sins and habits of the highly happy, prioritizing happiness, and how leaders can facilitate interpersonal trust in an organizational context.  

Topics

• 2:35 - Correlation between career success and life success
• 6:00 - Definition of happiness
• 9:00 - Happiness as a construct for organizations (Affective v/s reflective)
• 12:45 - Functional advantages of happiness
• 13:35 - Happier people tend to be more productive
• 15:30 - Non-energetic joy
• 19:30 - The 7 deadly sins of happiness (and the 7 habits of the highly happy)
• 19:45 - Chasing superiority v/s flow
• 22:30 - Leaving happiness on the table by being more cynical than we ought to be
• 24:00 - Mind addiction v/s mindfulness 
• 24:45 - The fundamental happiness paradox
• 26:45 - Why organizations don't pay enough attention to employees' happiness
• 34:30 - Being overtly control seeking and what to do instead
• 35:05 - Psychological Reactance v/s Psychological Safety and Employee Voice
• 38:00 - Quality of decisions in teams that don't encourage psychological safety
• 40:45 - The Dispassionate Pursuit of Passion
• 45:35 - Post-traumatic growth 
• 51:30 - The application of 'Smart Trust'