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A weekly podcast featuring the leading thinkers in business and management.

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes651Founded20 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
EntrepreneurshipManagementBusiness

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Artwork for HBR IdeaCast

Latest Episodes

Most leaders know they need to innovate, but many take a strong instinct and hold too tightly to an idea, rather than testing, experimenting, and playing to find the best solution. Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga, argues that by approaching product dev... more

Most leaders assume that when employees break rules, punishment is the answer. But according to researcher Michael Gill, associate professor at the University of Oxford Saïd Business School, that mindset overlooks a crucial reality: not all rule brea... more

Meetings are one of the biggest drains on time, energy, and morale at work, yet most managers are never actually taught how to run them well. Paul English, cofounder of Kayak, argues that organizations underestimate just how costly bad meetings can b... more

What does it take to manage a complex global institution when change is constant and resources are scarce? For Kelly T. Clements, Deputy High Commissioner at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), it’s about building resilient teams, partnering across sector... more

Key Facts

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Number of Listeners
Find out how many people listen to this podcast per episode and each month.

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People also subscribe to these shows.

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The McKinsey PodcastMcKinsey & Company
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Cold CallHBR Presents / Brian Kenny
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Recent Guests

Mark Pincus
Founder of Zynga, author of Life at the Speed of Play, Launch Products People Love
Zynga
Episode: Creating Products with Curiosity, Humility, and Play
Paul English
Co-founder of Kayak, author of The Meeting Book
Kayak (former) / Author
Episode: We All Hate Meetings—Here’s How to Make Them Work
Kelly T. Clements
Deputy High Commissioner, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
UNHCR
Episode: Reinventing an Organization to Do More with Less
Eric Ries
Author of The Lean Startup and Incorruptible; discusses how and why good companies go bad and how great companies stay great
Author, Incorruptible; The Lean Startup
Episode: What Leads Companies to Betray Their Own Principles
Donna Jackson Nakazawa
Journalist and author of Mind Drama, The Science of Rumination and How to Outwit Your Inner Defeatist
Author
Episode: How to Break Free of Negative Thought Spirals
Julia Dhar
Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group; Co-Author of How Change Really Works
Boston Consulting Group
Episode: The Leadership Skills That Make Transformation Stick
Nilofer Merchant
Former Apple executive, corporate consultant, and author of Our Best Work
Author; Former Apple executive
Episode: New Skills to Navigate Continuous Change
Charles Duhigg
Author of Supercommunicators
Author, Supercommunicators
Episode: Why Your Team Won’t Speak Up (And How to Fix It)
Ron Friedman
Psychologist and author of How to Build a Superteam That Keeps Getting Better; author of Superteams
Harvard Business Review, author of Superteams
Episode: What Sets Superteams Apart from the Rest

Hosts

Adi Ignatius
Host of HBR IdeaCast
Alison Beard
Co-host of HBR IdeaCast and interviewer

Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars from 4.9k ratings
  • Interactive listener

    All episodes

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Cardinals#1953
    United States2 months ago
  • Partisan

    Claiming Wikipedia is a credible source is a non sequitur. They only allow leftist ideologues to edit now. Most editors suffer from Trump derangement syndrome. Let Trump say something and web pages will immediately change in a partisan attempt to discredit what he just said.

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    This Ken
    United States8 months ago
  • Shifting into a new horizon? This is the podcast for you

    HBR IdeaCast delivers insightful conversations with industry leaders and experts - worth the listen, covering leadership, strategy, and innovation.

    Perfect for any professional seeking actionable takeaways and fresh perspectives on modern business challenges. This is one podcast you don’t want to miss.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    lavhill
    United Statesa year ago
  • Missed the boat again

    DEI episode missed the mark. Again. Good intentions don’t translate into results, nor fairness. So frustrating.

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    F500 Exec
    United Statesa year ago
  • Pseudoscience

    Largely pseudoscientific “social science” offering little-to-no utility outside the classroom.

    Apple Podcasts
    2
    hugefitzpatrick
    Australiaa year ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Listeners value actionable frameworks and real-world examples from big brands.
Guest mix is strong but some episodes feel overly academic for practitioners.
Thoughtful, research-backed leadership insights with practical takeaways.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#18
United States/Business/Management
Apple Podcasts
#223
United States/Business
Apple Podcasts
#4
Canada/Business/Management
Apple Podcasts
#8
United Kingdom/Business/Management
Apple Podcasts
#79
Canada/Business
Apple Podcasts
#120
United Kingdom/Business

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Creating Products with Curiosity, Humility, and Play
Q: So what do you mean by convincing yourself you know this is the right path without over-relying on metrics?
The key is to develop your taste and judgment over time by comparing your ideas with what others are doing and by testing enough variations to see which resonate. You should love the product and then verify with real users, using a mix of instinct and evidence rather than chasing a perfect metric.
Reinventing an Organization to Do More with Less
Q: How have you balanced diplomacy and speed in a politically volatile environment while pursuing efficiency?
We balanced ongoing diplomacy with pragmatic, region-by-region planning, focusing on resource mobilization, partner coordination, and scalable innovations that can be adjusted as context changes, so we can act quickly without sacrificing governance and humanitarian principles.
Reinventing an Organization to Do More with Less
Q: What principles did you want to instill from the get-go to foster a culture of change?
We aimed to flatten hierarchies where possible, ensure every invited participant could speak up, and institutionalize decision-making that valued the voices of colleagues worldwide and refugees themselves, while maintaining speed and accountability.
Reinventing an Organization to Do More with Less
Q: So how did you work with the incoming High Commissioner to prioritize what you wanted to change first?
We began with listening and consensus-building, analyzing the agency's needs, and then prioritizing changes in governance, decision-making, and culture. We emphasized decentralization to empower those closest to the people we serve and started a structured reform program that could scale with the organization's growth.
What Leads Companies to Betray Their Own Principles
Q: What Costco does that's different and could be replicated?
Costco maintains a consistent, mission-aligned approach by resisting price betrayals, engaging in careful governance, and relying on a fortress-like structure that protects its long-term promises and trust with customers.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
Interests
Professions
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Household Income
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Frequently Asked Questions About HBR IdeaCast

What is HBR IdeaCast about and what kind of topics does it cover?

This show features in-depth conversations with leading thinkers in business, management, and strategy. Episodes frequently explore organizational change, leadership psychology, team dynamics, strategy, and the impact of AI on work and decision-making. Guests range from professors and researchers to industry practitioners and business leaders, offering frameworks, actionable tactics, and real-world case studies. A standout pattern is translating academic research into practical takeaways for leaders aiming to improve culture, innovation, and performance at scale; some episodes emphasize cadence, safety, and stakeholder value, while others dissect customer experience and loyalty. Listeners can expect rigorous analysis balanced with tangible s... more

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To see how many followers or subscribers HBR IdeaCast has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.

Which podcasts are similar to HBR IdeaCast?

These podcasts share a similar audience with HBR IdeaCast:

1. HBR On Leadership
2. Coaching Real Leaders
3. The McKinsey Podcast
4. Cold Call
5. Inside the Strategy Room

How many episodes of HBR IdeaCast are there?

HBR IdeaCast launched 20 years ago and published 651 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

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What guests have appeared on HBR IdeaCast?

Recent guests on HBR IdeaCast include:

1. Mark Pincus
2. Paul English
3. Kelly T. Clements
4. Eric Ries
5. Donna Jackson Nakazawa
6. Julia Dhar
7. Nilofer Merchant
8. Charles Duhigg

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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