Creative Confidence Podcast

How do leaders apply playful thinking at work when time is short and the stakes are high?In this Q&A episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, host Mina Seetharaman is joined by play designer and author Cas Holman and IDEO Partner Michelle Lee to explore how a playful mindset holds up under real-world constraints.Building on their earlier conversation about why play matters at work, this episode focuses on what it looks like in practice: navigating tight timelines, creating psychological safety quickly, collaborating without losing your competitive edge, and leading in high-stakes environments like policy and healthcare.Through real stories and answers to listener questions, Cas and Michelle share practical ways leaders can make values-aligned decisions under pressure, design safety through structure, use constraints to fuel creativity, and model vulnerability to unlock better thinking. Related resources:Playful by Cas HolmanCreative Thinking for Complex Problem Solving online course with IDEO U, taught by Michelle LeeFull episode recap on the IDEO U blog__________Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast.Build your creative problem-solving skills with IDEO U's online courses in human-centered design, AI, leadership, and more at ideou.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Play isn’t the opposite of serious work. Iit’s a leadership mindset that helps teams stay curious, creative, and effective under pressure.In this episode of the Creative Confidence Podcast, host Mina Seetharaman is joined by Cas Holman, play designer and author of Playful, and Michelle Lee, IDEO Partner and Executive Co-Managing Director, to explore how play supports better questions, psychological safety, and innovation at work.Drawing on Cas’s work designing open-ended play systems and Michelle’s experience leading teams at IDEO, they share practical examples of how playful thinking shows up in real organizations and why it leads to better outcomes.Related resources:Playful by Cas HolmanCreative Thinking for Complex Problem Solving online course with IDEO U, taught by Michelle LeeFull episode recap on the IDEO U blog__________Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast.Build your creative problem-solving skills with IDEO U's online courses in human-centered design, AI, leadership, and more at ideou.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

IDEO CEO Mike Peng returns to the Creative Confidence Podcast to answer questions from listeners about modern creative leadership. Building on his previous episode, Mike goes deeper on how to lead creative teams when organizations resist change, how to reduce fear and build trust, what failure has taught him about leadership, and how to stay inspired in a fast-moving world.If you’re a leader trying to foster creativity, guide teams through complexity, or rethink what creative excellence looks like today, this listener-driven episode offers grounded advice, real stories, and clear perspective you can apply right away.__________Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast.Build your creative problem-solving skills with IDEO U's online courses in human-centered design, AI, leadership, and more at ideou.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The creative leadership advice continues. In Part 2, creative leaders including IDEO partners, alumni, and IDEO U instructors share hard-won lessons on relationships, reflection, and staying human as we move into 2026. Host Mina Seetharaman and IDEO Partner Ilya Prokopoff share reactions and builds on each leader's advice.Many of the leaders featured on this episode have been guests on the podcast. Find links to their episodes at ideou.com/blogs/inspiration.Guests on this episode:Grace Hwang — Design Leader; Former IDEO Associate Partner; Co-Founder, Upturn HealthMichelle Lee — Partner and Executive Managing Director, IDEO; IDEO U Instructor: Creative Thinking for Complex Problem SolvingSara Kalick — Founder, The Possible: IDEO U Instructor: From Superpowers to Great TeamsJenn Maer — Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Knitted; IDEO U Instructor: Storytelling for InfluenceJennifer Riel — Adjunct Professor, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto; Former Head of Global Strategy, IDEO; IDEO U Instructor: Designing Strategy & Activating StrategySusie Wise — Designer, Design for Emergence; Author, Design for BelongingTakashi Wickes — Founding Designer, Open Studio; IDEO U Instructor: Prototyping for AIYC Sun — Senior Design Director, Healthcare and Wellbeing, IDEODabney Hailey — Founder and Principal, Hailey Group; Lecturer, MIT SloanAmy Bonsall — Founder, Light Actions at Collective; IDEO U Instructor: Designing a BusinessFrederik Pferdt — Former Chief Innovation Evangelist, Google; author of What’s Next is Now__________Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast.Build your creative problem-solving skills with IDEO U's online courses in human-centered design, AI, leadership, and more at ideou.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a Creative Confidence Podcast replay. In celebration of 20 years of the Stanford d.school, we’re revisiting our conversation with David Kelley, founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school, on the core abilities of the most successful creative problem-solvers. David also shares personal stories and learnings from his friendships with several of today’s most innovative CEOs and leaders.At a moment when creativity is increasingly essential to leadership, this episode offers a chance to revisit the fundamentals of creative problem-solving and hear them directly from one of the people who helped define the field.Many of the ideas David shares in this episode align with his Creative Essentials, a roundup of the best advice he's collected across his long career. Read about David Kelley’s Creative Essentials here:https://stanfordmag.org/contents/how-to-be-creative__________Get episode recaps and register for free live podcast events at ideou.com/podcast.Build your creative problem-solving skills with IDEO U's online courses in human-centered design, AI, leadership, and more at ideou.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.