Creative Confidence Podcast
IDEO U
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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
8 snips
Apr 29, 2026 • 51min
How to Use AI For More Human-Centered Research: Hannah Rosenfeld
Hannah Rosenfeld, executive design researcher at IDEO who teaches human-centered research with AI, explains how AI can expand researchers’ roles. She outlines a framework using AI for widening the aperture, surfacing patterns, acting as a thought partner, and prototyping ideas. Short, practical takes on using speed and scale to see more and ask bigger questions.
31 snips
Apr 15, 2026 • 1h 3min
6 Patterns for Building Organizational Agility: Clay Parker Jones
Clay Parker-Jones, organizational designer at Airbnb and author of Hidden Patterns, explores invisible systems that shape success. He walks through six composable patterns for agility. Topics include structuring teams as networks, vesting decision power, designing temporary roles, shaping space and rituals, and fast iterative steering.
18 snips
Apr 1, 2026 • 42min
How Great Teams Leverage Tension as a Source of Innovation: Daniel Coyle (Replay)
Daniel Coyle, bestselling author who studies group performance and culture, explains how tension can fuel innovation. He discusses key culture-shaping moments, why vulnerability and leader signals matter, and how teams turn disagreement into experiments. Short, research-backed stories show storytelling, rituals, and simple frameworks that help teams channel friction into forward motion.
Mar 20, 2026 • 44min
What Gets In the Way of Trust on Teams: Q&A with Ben Swire
Ben Swire, co-founder of Make Believe Works and author of Safe Danger, helps teams build trust through designed experiences. He discusses why vulnerability can backfire, repairing harm, inclusive retreat design, micro rituals for online meetings, and ways leaders and teams can rebuild connection after breakdowns.
Mar 5, 2026 • 57min
Building Risk-Taking Teams: Ben Swire
Ben Swire, co-founder of Make Believe Works and author of Safe Danger, helps teams build trust and creative confidence. He discusses why most team building fails, the difference between comfort and psychological safety, practical rituals to rehearse risk, and how leaders can model vulnerability to make real cultural change.
Feb 18, 2026 • 39min
Playful Thinking Under Pressure: Q&A with Cas Holman & Michelle Lee
Michelle Lee, IDEO partner who helps teams apply playful thinking to tough challenges, and Cas Holman, play designer behind Rigamajig, discuss play under pressure. They tackle making psychological safety fast, using constraints to spark creativity, collaborating without losing edge, and bringing playful practices into policy and healthcare. The conversation is pragmatic, story-driven, and full of quick, usable approaches.
19 snips
Feb 4, 2026 • 51min
How a Playful Mindset Leads to Better Work: Cas Holman & Michelle Lee
Michelle Lee, IDEO partner who brings playful thinking into complex organizations, and Cas Holman, play designer and creator of Rigamajig, discuss play as a leadership mindset. They explore asking better questions, design function versus form, psychological safety, seeding playful conditions, adult play types, purposeful friction, and balancing exploratory play with business goals.
33 snips
Jan 21, 2026 • 44min
Leadership Philosophies in Practice & Building Creative Teams: Q&A with Mike Peng
In this engaging discussion, Mike Peng, CEO of IDEO and a veteran in design leadership, dives into the essence of modern creative leadership. He explores how to foster trust in resistant teams, emphasizing empathy as a tool for converting skeptics. Mike shares valuable lessons on the importance of psychological safety and building strong, complementary teams. He also highlights how failure has shaped his approach, encouraging leaders to embrace small wins and seek inspiration from everyday sources to elevate creative excellence.
69 snips
Jan 7, 2026 • 51min
Part 2: Honest, Realistic, and Optimistic Leadership Advice from Friends of IDEO
In this enlightening conversation, Ilya Prokopoff, a seasoned partner at IDEO, teams up with Frederik Pferdt, former Chief Innovation Evangelist at Google. They explore innovative leadership strategies, emphasizing the importance of nurturing potential and embracing uncertainty with curiosity. Conversations about vulnerability highlight transforming fear into action. They discuss grounding decisions in values and cultivating creativity amid AI. Frederik offers daily practices to build confidence and inspire a future-ready mindset. A must-listen for aspiring leaders!
84 snips
Dec 30, 2025 • 44min
Key Abilities of Creative Problem-Solvers: David Kelley (Replay)
David Kelley, the innovative mind behind IDEO and Stanford's d.school, shares insights on fostering creative problem-solving. He emphasizes the importance of deeper experiences over quick workshops for genuine innovation. Kelley discusses navigating ambiguity to uncover revolutionary solutions and stresses the value of rapid prototyping. He provides strategies for engaging leadership and ensuring client buy-in, while advocating for projects framed to encourage iterative design. Lastly, he inspires students to embrace unique life experiences that cultivate creativity.
