Café Culture

In this wrap-up of Season One, host John Palumbo is joined by SVP and General Manager at Keurig Dr. Pepper, Phil Drapeau and the two recap the season and discuss some of the things they learned, including the insights and strategies that surprised them most. Host Bio John Palumbo is the founder of BigHeads Network, a full-service podcast production company and thought diversity specialist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Break Room, host John Palumbo tosses out a few simple approaches your company can take to foster thought diversity including what he calls “Ride Alongs,” which brings different departments together...creating a “Guest Office,” where outsiders can “co-work” from your space...and even “Reframing Resumes,” which will help you start hiring and finding more diverse talent.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're going to foster thought diversity and bringing different minds together at your organization (which you NEED to do), you need to be prepared for some debates and disagreements. Of course, these are things that make some companies and leaders uncomfortable, but they're necessary and you need to embrace them. In this episode Harvard Business School Professor, Francesca Gino, discusses the ways companies can get comfortable with the “conflict” that's essential in fostering thought diversity. Guest Bio Francesca Gino is an award-winning researcher who focuses on why people make the decisions they do at work, and how leaders and employees can have more productive, creative and fulfilling lives.  She is the Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit at Harvard Business School and the author of a book called “Rebel Talent: Why it Pays to Break the Rules in Work and Life.”  She also co-wrote the Harvard Business Review article, “Managing a Polarized Workforce–How to foster debate and promote trust.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Break Room, host John Palumbo discusses why it's important for organizations to create casual or spontaneous collisions at their workplace, which is when employees run into one another and discuss ideas or projects or problems they're trying to solve. He even discusses ways your company can make collisions happen!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to creating a thought diverse Café Culture dynamic, some co-working spaces seem to have it figured out-their members come from all different fields and backgrounds and the spaces themselves are designed to create spontaneous “collisions” among members.  In this episode, founder of the co-working space Common Desk (which was recently acquired by WeWork), Nick Clark discusses co-working best-practices and strategies that any company can use to bring Café Culture to their organization. Guest Bio In 2011, Nick Clark quit his day job in commercial real estate and made a bet that coworking was the future of work. He started Common Desk with the goal of becoming a nationally known and recognized brand that services amenities and experiences inside office buildings. Common Desk has expanded its network to serve 4,000 customers at a total of 23 locations across 13 cities in Texas and North Carolina and was acquired by WeWork in 2022.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Break Room, host John Palumbo discusses how social media and its AI and algorithms are designed to feed us information that mirrors our own values and opinions and we end up in a sort of echo chamber, which is the opposite of what thought diversity is all about. So, what should organizations and leaders do?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, author of the article,“3 Powerful Ways to Improve Diversity of Thought On Your Team,”  Kate Gerasimova discusses strategies that every organization can use to bring a thought diverse Café Culture to their organization, including hiring outside the box and how to brainstorm differently. Guest Bi0 Kate Gerasimova is a Senior Associate at Gotham Culture, where she helps clients create efficiencies and improve their business performance through strategy and organizational development, change management, and process improvement.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Break Room, host John Palumbo discusses one of the most important elements of thought diversity–DOT CONNECTING, which is making connections between everything we learn from the diverse perspectives around us and the problem we're trying to solve...or skills we're trying to build...or objectives we're trying to meet.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, the head of marketing at Panasonic, Brian Rowley, discusses some of the benefits and results his organization has experienced by encouraging different teams to collaborate and come together. He even talks about how he has invited some unexpected outside perspectives to help his team build crucial soft skills. Guest Bio Brian Rowley is the Vice President of Marketing for Panasonic Systems Solutions Company of North America and has extensive experience across partner relationship management, digital marketing, lead generation, and product management. As one of your hosts, he focuses on digital transformation and encourages discussion on what businesses need to be successful and how to deliver on the human experience to create a more meaningful connection, a sense of community, and to foster loyalty.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Break Room, host John Palumbo discusses a strategy that will help open your eyes to some of the more diverse and disparate people you might want to collaborate with or spend time with, to get some inspiration for a problem you're trying to solve or an objective you're trying to meet. It's called REFRAMING, and as you'll hear, it's an approach you should start practicing now!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the BIG questions a lot of companies want answered when it comes to bringing thought diversity to their organization is–HOW do we do it? In this episode, thought diversity expert, Antonia Hock discusses some simple ways companies can begin fostering thought diversity and creating a Café Culture. Guest Bio Antonia Hock is a sought-after, author, thought leader and frequent global keynote featured speaker. She is considered a global expert on organizational transformation and building experience-based brands, creating a culture of customer-centricity, empowering employees and issues around diversity in the workforce, and innovating experiences for the future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Break Room is where host, John Palumbo takes a “break” from the more formal interview format to offer up some quick insights, thoughts, stories and strategies about thought diversity. In this episode he talks about several applications for thought diversity, since so many people out there are always wondering, “When can (or should) my organization apply thought diversity?”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're looking to solve tough problems faster, research has proven that you should create a workplace where different and diverse perspectives can come together (like they do in coffee shops). In this episode, co-author of the Harvard Business Review article, “Teams Solve Problems Faster When They're More Cognitively Diverse”  joins us to talk about the many reasons why your company should begin fostering thought/cognitive diversity (or as we call it Café Culture) at your workplace. Guest Bio: Allison Reynolds is a member of faculty at the UK's Ashridge Business School where she works with executive groups in the field of leadership development, strategy execution and organization development. She has previously worked in the public sector and management consulting, and is an advisor to a number of small businesses and charities.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever wondered where and when the whole “thought diversity” dynamic may have started? Well, we have. In fact, we believe it all began back on the Ottoman Empire when coffeehouses were first introduced and, for the first time, all different classes were able to come together to exchange ideas and philosophies. In this episode, author of the History.com article “How coffee fueled revolutions–and revolutionary ideas” Jessica Pearce Rotondi provides an entertaining“history lesson” about the origin of coffee houses, which just might be the origin of thought diversity as well. Guest Bio: Jessica Pearce Rotondi is aNew York-based writer, editor and author of the highly acclaimed book,"WHAT WE INHERIT: A Secret War and A Family's Search for Answers.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cafés rose to prominence in Europe during the late 17th century, because unlike restaurants and eateries specializing in expensive meals, cafés minimized their selection in favor of providing coffee and affordable admission.  This ease of convenience and affordability made them accessible to all different classes...and the establishments became a retreat to foster community and promote the exchange of ideas and philosophies. It's a dynamic that became known as CAFÉ CULTURE and helped trigger the AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT. And Café Culture still exists today since cafés (AKA “coffee shops”) continue to be places where disparate perspectives collide and come together to share and create ideas. Not surprisingly, the Café Culture dynamic has spilled over into the business world where companies (big and small) are focused on finding ways to bring diverse minds together inside their four walls, because it's been proven that diverse teams are able to create more innovative ideas, products, and solutions. In the corporate world this dynamic is called “cognitive or thought diversity,” but those of us who work in the coffee industry still call it, “Café Culture.” Whichever name you use, the fact remains that companies are looking for inspiration, tools, approaches, and strategies to help foster thought diversity (or Café Culture) at their organization. So, it should come as no surprise that one of the most iconic companies in the coffee industry, Keurig, decided to help. Introducing the Keurig Commercial podcast, Café Culture–a podcast with one important mission: to become your “go to” thought diversity resource. We plan to do this by featuring inspiring and eye-opening conversations with influential thought diversity researchers, academics, thought leaders and practitioners who will provide you with insight and information you can use to foster this crucial dynamic at your organization.  Simply put, we're going to help you bring Café Culture to your workplace!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.