HBR IdeaCast

When it first came out in 2005, Freakonomics unearthed the hidden side to everything, helping bring behavioral economics to the forefront of popular culture. But it also has had lasting impacts on how leaders understand problems, how advertisers understand consumers, and how we all understand the workplace. Coauthor Stephen Dubner explains the difficulty of bringing complex economic concepts to the masses, what's surprised him about the hidden side of everything, and what he sees as the impact of his work. Dubner is coauthor of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explains the Hidden Side of Everything and host of the Freakonomics podcast.

In a crowded media and marketing environment, it can be hard to catch the attention and imagination of consumers. Two people paying close attention to what's working now are Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and seasoned marketing executive Bozoma Saint John, and they've just launched a reality show called "On Brand" to showcase the work that creatives and companies do to sell their ideas, products, and services. Fallon and Saint John share what their different career paths have taught them about personal branding, working collaboratively, managing teams, and how to navigate the changing media landscape.

Cory Doctorow, author and digital rights advocate, argues that big tech companies from Facebook to Google and beyond have evolved - or devolved - in a disappointing way. He says that many large tech companies begin with a good product, but that over time they prioritize first business customers, and then ultimately shareholders and profits over end users. That creates a decline in service quality, and Doctorow explains why that's bad for customers, companies, and the broader economy and society. Doctorow wrote the new book Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It.

Courage involves taking bold action despite uncertainty and fear. In a volatile business environment, it's hard to be brave. But Ranjay Gulati, a professor at Harvard Business School, says that there are strategies any of us can use to get improve our ability to make smart bets on the future. He's studied dozens of leaders across industries and explains how they embolden themselves and their organizations by building a positive narrative around the mission, cultivating self-confidence, stepping their way into a better understanding of the situation, finding connection, and staying calm. Gulati wrote the HBR article "Now is the Time for Courage" and the book How To Be Bold: The Surprising Science of Everyday Courage.

As a leader, psychology is fundamental to your success - whether that means understanding consumer behavior, team dynamics, or even your own biases and blind spots. Harvard professor Steven Pinker says that an important phenomena to understand is that of common knowledge and its downstream effects. It's the idea that there is power in knowledge, but also power in knowing what other people know - and that when a large group of people know what others around them know, and vice versa, that's when major change can happen. He explains how common knowledge underlies meme stocks, the rise of crypto, meeting etiquette and the success of Super Bowl ads. Pinker wrote the new book When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows . . .: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life.