Episode notes
Do you stick to the rules or do you roll through stop signs? Whether you’re “tight” or “loose” — how closely you adhere to social norms — has major implications for your life at home and at work. “To be effective, we want to be ambidextrous,” says Michele Gelfand, the John H. Scully Professor in Cross-Cultural Management and Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “Even if we might lean tight or loose, we want to be able to create a context where we can have both tight and loose elements.”Sophisticated strategies will fail if they don’t account for…
Podcast
If/Then
Stanford GSB · Business · English
How do we lead with purpose, make better decisions, and navigate an uncertain future? On If/Then , Stanford GSB faculty break down cutting-edge research on leadership, strategy, and more, exploring enduring questions and the forces reshaping business and society today, from AI to geopolitics. Hos
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S2 · E41 · 24 Sep 2025 · 21 min
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Professors reflect on what Stanford GSB has accomplished in one hundred years and what the future may hold.
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S2 · E40 · 27 Aug 2025 · 56 min
View From The Top: “Lisa Su Is Still Curious About How Things Work”
This week on If/Then, we’re sharing an episode of View From The Top: The Podcast, an audio series featuring leaders from around the world in conversation with MBA students. Recorded live at the CEMEX Auditorium at Stanford Graduate School of Business, episodes feature insights on effective leadership, the values that guide it, and lessons learned along the way.Lisa Su, the chair and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), leads one of the world’s most influential technology companies, a pioneer in high-performance computing and designer of chips that power everything from cellphones to…
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S2 · E39 · 13 Aug 2025 · 16 min
The Joy of Discovery and Why Research Matters
As we celebrate the conclusion of the second season of the If/Then podcast, we present a bonus episode featuring Deborah H. Gruenfeld, the Joseph McDonald Professor and Professor of Organizational Behavior and a Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Gruenfeld, who appeared on the first season of If/Then in an award-winning episode about hierarchies and the nature of power, returned to the studio to share her thoughts on the value of academic research and its impact on individuals and organizations. “The nice thing about research is that it…
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S2 · E38 · 30 Jul 2025 · 34 min
The Future of Everything: "The Future of Motivation"
How do you stay motivated when your goal is months — or even years — away? Stanford’s Szu-chi Huang breaks down the science of sticking with it.
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S2 · E37 · 9 Jul 2025 · 24 min
Think Fast, Talk Smart: "Tensions and Trade-Offs of Leadership and Communication"
Leadership isn’t about avoiding uncertainty: it’s about embracing the clarity that ambiguity can bring.
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S2 · E35 · 11 Jun 2025 · 28 min
The AI Prescription for Healthcare
AI has the potential to reshape medicine. But translating its promise into solutions for providers and patients is a high-stakes challenge.“There’s a lot more problems than solutions available,” says Mohsen Bayati, the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Professor of Operations, Information & Technology at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “So it’s ripe for innovation.”From trust and privacy to hallucination and data quality, the complications are significant. Bayati says that safely and effectively integrating AI into an enormous industry that treats people in their most vulnerable moments requires…
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S2 · E34 · 28 May 2025 · 27 min
Designing the AI Organization
“The way I think about trying to anticipate and shape the AI future requires us to take a step back and ask ourselves first, ‘What does this technology do? What does it enable?’” reflects Amir Goldberg, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “That’s very different from asking ourselves, ‘How is the technology implemented?’” From locating the origins of innovation to identifying hidden barriers blocking new ideas, Goldberg presents a framework for harnessing novel technological capabilities like AI — capabilities that are essential for staying ahead of…
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S2 · E33 · 14 May 2025 · 30 min
What Happened to the Middle?
Neil Malhotra, the Edith M. Cornell professor of political economy at Stanford Graduate School of Business, aims to identify the nature of our tumultuous political moment in his work. In this episode, Malhotra explores rising distrust, shifting political identities, and what these changes mean for individuals — and businesses. Plus, the billion-dollar question: “Is Trump creating a movement that is separate from himself or is it identified with himself?” Malhotra asks. “It remains to be seen.”Is there a political question you’d like us to explore? Email us at [email protected]…
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S2 · E32 · 30 Apr 2025 · 26 min
Small Business, Big Impact
Sridhar Narayanan, a professor of marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business, studies how small businesses operate and why they’re so important, especially in the developing world. “Modernizing small businesses will have a profound impact on economies worldwide in many ways,” he says. In this episode of If/Then, Narayanan explains why so many retailers still rely on cash, how modernization can boost revenue, and what these patterns reveal about credit access, trust in institutions, and global economic development.Have you modernized a small business or did you choose to stick with…
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S2 · E31 · 16 Apr 2025 · 28 min
Could Financial Literacy Change the World?
Only a third of the global population is financially literate. Why? Because most of us don’t learn the basics of personal finance in school — or elsewhere. Treating financial literacy as an afterthought can have serious consequences, from personal calamities to economic crises, according to Annamaria Lusardi, a professor of finance and the director of the Initiative for Financial Decision-Making at Stanford Graduate School of Business. On this episode of If/Then, Lusardi makes the case for treating financial education like preventative care: essential, cost-effective, and an enormous…
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