Curious Minds

CM 209: Joan Williams on Practical Solutions for Diversity

Imagine that fewer people are buying your organization’s product or service. It’s a shift you didn’t anticipate. To fix it, you study the data, identify the problem, and then take steps to address it. Your plan may include changes in marketing or team incentives. What it won’t include is doing nothing or trying to turn…

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CM 208: Mary-Frances O’Connor on How We Learn from Love and Loss

Why do we grieve, and what happens when we do? For much of human history, answers to these questions have come primarily from writers and thinkers. While they’ve given us powerful language to describe how we feel, they’ve shed little light on the science behind our feelings. Neuroscientists are changing that. Armed with innovative approaches…

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CM 207: David Robson on How Our Expectations Shape Us

From time to time, I’ll run across creative ways people are using apps I like. It often prompts me to learn more. I’ll watch some videos, read a few articles and, inevitably, what I discover is that I’ve been accessing just a fraction of what the software can do.  I got that same feeling while…

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CM 206: Nate Zinsser on Building Your Confidence

Confidence seems elusive. We do something that comes easily and we don’t think twice about it. Or we try something new that’s challenging and we can’t stop thinking about our mistakes. It can leave us thinking that confidence is something other people just seem to have. All the time. Performance psychologist Nate Zinsser knows that’s…

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CM 205: Claudia Goldin on Women, Careers, and Greedy Work

For women who want a career and a family, we might expect things would be easier today. After all, women have greater access to education and job opportunities. We’ve seen advances in reproductive health. And we’ve made inroads in anti-discrimination laws and policies. Yet gaps in pay and promotions remain a problem. Today’s guest, Claudia…

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