How can artistic thinking and practices foster a healthier and more effective organizational culture?

On this episode of The Culture Kit, hosts Jenny Chatman and Sameer Srivastava host a panel of four experts to discuss using art in the workplace to unleash a team’s creativity and innovation—regardless of the industry.

From Google’s art-infused Quantum AI Computing Lab to new methods of teaching, the discussion revolves around the profound impact of integrating art into business, the role of AI in creative processes, and practical advice for overcoming resistance from those who don’t understand the value of the sometimes-messy creative process.

Panelists:

Erik Lucero leads the Google AI Quantum lab. He believes in the deep relationship between art, beauty, and the ability to innovate. Erik brought art into his new lab for the sole purpose of inspiring creativity in the team.

Forest Stearns is the Principal Artist and co-founder of the Artist-in-Residence program at the Google AI Quantum project.

Nir Hindie founded The Artian, a training company committed to nurturing an artistic mindset in the business environment. He’s a relentless advocate for the connections between artistic talent and business entrepreneurship as two areas that fuel each other.

Léo Boussioux is an assistant professor of Information Systems at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. He’s passionate about the transformative power of AI in art and creativity, and believes that we all have an artist within waiting to be unleashed.

This episode is based on the CultureXChange forum “Finding the Synergy between Art, Creativity, and Innovation” held on December 2, 2024 by the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation. Learn more.

• Why Google transformed a quantum computing lab into an artistic oasis, by Mike Cerre, PBS News, January 10, 2024: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-google-transformed-a-quantum-computing-lab-into-an-artistic-oasis
• DRAWEVERYWHERE PRESENTS: Quantum A.I. Artist in Residence, video by Filmmaker in Residence J.D.Brynn / Cinedata (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCWTO8YX2uQ
• Quantum Computing Inches Closer to Reality with Another Google Breakthrough, The New York Times, December 9, 2024: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/technology/google-quantum-computing.html
• Forest Stearns - DRAWEVERYWHERE: https://www.draweverywhere.com/
• Léo Boussioux’s website: https://www.leobix.us/
• The Artian website: https://theartian.com/

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Learn more about the podcast and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation at www.haas.org/culture-kit.

*The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation. It is produced by University FM.*

“Tribalism” has a generally negative reputation these days. It’s often used to refer to an us-versus-them mentality, or a culture that’s divisive and exclusionary. But that perception, according to cultural psychologist Michael Morris, “could not be more inaccurate as a description of what human tribal instincts are. They're instincts for solidarity, not for hostility.”

On this episode of The Culture Kit, hosts Jenny Chatman and Sameer Srviastava interview Michael Morris, a professor at Columbia Business School, about his new book Tribal: How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together.

Jenny, Sameer, and Michael discuss how tribal instincts allowed humans to break away from the primate back, and how these deeply ingrained instincts show up in organizations today. They also delve into modern and historical examples of leaders utilizing tribalism to adapt culture and even heal rifts.

Leaders can recognize and harness the three main types of tribal psychology:

1. The Peer Code – This is the impulse to match the behavior of the people around us.These norms allow for the smooth functioning of human interaction and are the basis for collaboration.
2. The Hero Code – This is the emulation of those with status or prestige. This instinct is triggered by symbols.
3. The Ancestor Code – This is the curiosity and urge to maintain the traditions and customs of past generations. This instinct is triggered by ceremonies and rituals.

• Tribal: How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together, by Michael Morris
• Michael Morris’ Website
• “A Language-Based Method for Assessing Symbolic Boundary Maintenance between Social Groups.” By Anjali Bhatt, Amir Goldberg, and Sameer B. Srivastava. Sociological Methods & Research, 2022.
• “Two-Sided Cultural Fit: The Differing Behavioral Consequences of Cultural Congruence Based on Values Versus Perceptions.” By Richard Lu, Jennifer A. Chatman, Amir Goldberg, and Sameer B. Srivastava. Organization Science, 2024.
• 2025 Culture Connect Conference, Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation

Do you have a vexing question about work that you want Jenny and Sameer to answer? Submit your “Fixit Ticket!”

Learn more about the podcast and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation at www.haas.org/culture-kit.

*The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation. It is produced by University FM.*

Should corporate leaders speak out on social and political issues? And if they decide to do so, what’s the best approach?

On this episode of The Culture Kit, hosts Jenny Chatman and Sameer Srivastava chat with Matt Kohut, a leadership communications expert, about his new book Speaking Out: The New Rules of Business Leadership Communications.

Jenny, Sameer, and Matt dig into historical examples of corporations and politics colliding, the potential pros and cons of deciding to weigh in on social issues, and strategies for business leaders to evaluate risk and maintain accountability when deciding to speak out.

This episode’s question came from Laszlo Bock, co-founder of Humu and former Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google.

1. Should you take a position at all? This should always be the first step before deciding what the position is or how to communicate it.
2. Mission relevance: What are your organization’s values and how will taking a stance on an issue align with those values?
3. Evaluate risk: How might this position potentially backfire? Hold a pre-mortem meeting to help determine risk.

• Speaking Out: The New Rules of Business Leadership Communications by Matthew Kohut (October 2024)
• Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities That Make Us Influential by Matthew Kohut and John Neffinger
• “When to Talk Politics in Business: Theory and Experimental Evidence of Stakeholder Responses to CEO Political Activism.” Working paper by Tommaso Bondi, Vanessa Burbano, and Fabrizio Dell’Acqua. Cornell Tech and SC Johnson School of Management, Cornell University, New York, 2023.

Do you have a vexing question about work that you want Jenny and Sameer to answer? Submit your “Fixit Ticket!”

Learn more about the podcast and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation at www.haas.org/culture-kit.

*The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation. It is produced by University FM.*

While “psychological safety” has become somewhat of a buzzword in management circles, it’s a concept that forward-thinking leaders dismiss at their own peril.

“I cannot think of a place where lower psychological safety would help you in any way,” says Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson, known for her pioneering research on the topic. “Lower psychological safety would make you take fewer risks, but not necessarily better risks. So having anxiety about what other people think of you isn't a great state for optimal performance.”

In this bonus episode of The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer, Edmondson, along with WD-40 CEO Steve Brass, joins hosts Jenny Chatman and Sameer Srivastava to discuss how to create a culture of psychological safety—and why it matters. This session was held November 13, 2023 as part of the Culture XChange series sponsored by the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation and is being broadcast publicly for the first time.

• The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. By Amy C. Edmonson. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
• “What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team.” By Charles Duhigg, The New York Times Magazine, Feb. 25, 2016.
• “When feeling safe isn’t enough: Contextualizing models of safety and learning in teams.” Sanner, B., & Bunderson, J. S. (2015). Organizational Psychology Review, 5(3), 224-243. https://doi.org/10.1177/2041386614565145
• Tribe Culture: How It Shaped WD-40 Company. By Garry Ridge. Telemachus Press, 2020.

Do you have a vexing question about work that you want Jenny and Sameer to answer? Submit your “Fixit Ticket!”

Learn more about the podcast and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation at www.haas.org/culture-kit.

*The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation. It is produced by University FM.*

When Patrick Collison and his brother John Collison founded digital payment company Stripe in 2010, he didn't come in with “any kind of enlightened leadership expertise or genetic muscle memory.” As the company took off and grew to a dominant platform with $1 trillion in total payment volume and millions of customers, its culture grew more intentional—and strategic.

“Because Stripe's domain is really complicated and the details really matter, if we make a mistake—just one mistake—there's a very good chance that somebody's paycheck is wrong…There's a culture at Stripe of just really prizing the small details,” he says.

In this bonus episode of The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer, Collison shares his leadership journey and the evolution of Stripe’s unique culture in a fireside chat with hosts Jenny Chatman and Sameer Srivastava. This interview took place on April 16, 2024 as part of the Dean’s Speaker Series, co-sponsored by the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation. Bringing in a diverse mix of preeminent business leaders, the Dean's Speaker Series provides the Haas community with insightful perspectives on effective leadership and opportunities for thought-provoking discussions. Learn more.

Do you have a vexing question about work that you want Jenny and Sameer to answer? Submit your “Fixit Ticket!”

Learn more about the podcast and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation at www.haas.org/culture-kit.

*The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation. It is produced by University FM.*

What are the benefits and challenges of running a fully remote company? What does research show about the shift to “work from anywhere”? In this bonus episode of The Culture Kit, host Sameer Srivastava interviews Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, the Lumry Family Associate Professor at the Harvard Business School, and Brandon Sammut, Chief People Officer at Zapier, on how to use technology and organizational insights to create high-performing, inclusive, and engaging remote work cultures.

Choudhury is one of the pioneers in research on the future of work, especially the changing geography of work. He was included in Forbes’ Future of Work 50 list last year and Time’s Charter 30 list of thinkers and innovators shaping the future of work in 2024.

Sammut is a two-time chief people officer currently at Zapier, a software automation platform with an all-remote team that spans over 40 countries. He believes that remote work is the way to expand both individual opportunity and business results, drawing on his prior experience in talent acquisition, talent development, strategy, consulting, business development, and venture capital.

This episode is based on a CultureXChange forum held on April 11th, 2024 by the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation. Learn more.

Do you have a vexing question about work that you want Jenny and Sameer to answer? Submit your “Fixit Ticket!”

Learn more about the podcast and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation at www.haas.org/culture-kit.

*The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation. It is produced by University FM.*