Posts by Laura Counts

We tend to treat organizational structures—such as job titles, departments, and reporting lines—like furniture: always there, moved around a bit, but rarely questioned. But what if AI is about to redesign the whole office? And in a world where you have humans and agents working alongside each ot…

Most organizations say they want to foster creativity. But decades of research by Jack Goncalo, PhD 04, reveals they misunderstand it in fundamental ways: Leaders often implicitly reject novel ideas and penalize creative people when they’re up for leadership roles. In our Season 5 kickoff, Goncalo…

On this special episode, Sameer turns the tables on Jenny and puts her in the guest chair to talk about the new book she wrote with Stanford Professor Glenn Carroll – Making Organizational Culture Great: Moving Beyond Popular Beliefs, out April 2026. Based on decades of research, Glenn and Jenny�…

Should you bring your “whole self” to work? Why does authenticity matter for organizations? And what does being “authentic” even mean? On this episode of The Culture Kit, Jenny and Sameer sit down with their colleague Erica Bailey, whose research is changing how we think about authenticity a…

It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in or company you work for–—bad meetings are an unavoidable pain. But they don’t have to be. Rebecca Hinds is an organizational researcher who has spent the past 15 years helping teams fix their broken meetings—and broken collaboration in general. H…

With the majority of our waking life spent at work, conversations around mental health are crucial for a healthy workplace culture. But how do you open the conversation at work? How can leaders build the trust and psychological safety needed for these conversations? On this special episode, David Ko…

Think your workplace runs on pure merit? Think again. In this season-opening episode, Berkeley Haas professor and leading sociologist Toby Stuart reveals how hidden status dynamics shape whose ideas get heard, who advances, and why meritocracies might be a “nice myth to think about” but nearly i…

With so many shifting rules and cultural norms, career success can feel like mastering a complex game. Jessica Lindl, Vice President of Ecosystem Growth at Unity Technologies and a Haas MBA alum, shows how a gaming mindset can be an advantage in today’s workplace. Her new book, The Career Game [&h…

From ride-hailing services to warehouses to hiring platforms, algorithms are increasingly taking on the role of manager. What does this mean for worker autonomy and meaningful engagement with work? On this episode of The Culture Kit, hosts Jenny Chatman and Sameer Srivastava interview Lindsey Camero…

Why do some workplaces enforce strict rules while others never seem to start a meeting on time? What happens when a rule-following “Order Muppet”—think Kermit the Frog—pairs up with a “Chaos Muppet” like Cookie Monster? And what does how you load the dishwasher reveal about your cultural…