WorkLife with Adam Grant

In a world filled with requests, saying no is a challenge for many—even those who aren’t people-pleasers. Adam Grant explores the psychology behind why we struggle to turn others down and what we can do about it. He’s joined by psychologist Vanessa Bohns, Sherri Lu of the Eldest Daughter Club, and playwright Topher Payne to discuss strategies for delivering an effective “no.” The episode argues that setting boundaries isn’t selfish; it’s essential for creating personal space and building healthier relationships.

Kaya Henderson details how she transformed DC Public Schools from one of the lowest-performing to one of the fastest-improving districts by listening to and collaborating with the community. She explains why you must put the people closest to the problem at the center of your decision-making, how to say no transparently without destroying trust, and the crucial step of establishing shared goals before diving into contentious negotiations.

Bill Gurley joins Molly to discuss why peer relationships matter more than mentorship in building a career you love. Gurley, author of Running Down a Dream, argues that reciprocal, two-way relationships built on vulnerability and shared experience are the most valuable source of professional wisdom. He and Molly reflect on the cross-disciplinary peer groups that helped each of them at difficult crossroads. They offer practical tips for building authentic relationships with people who understand, push, and support you.

Elise Hu interviews Molly Graham about her TED talk on career risk-taking and the emotional side of work. They explore how to distinguish good fear from bad, why success feels messier than it looks, and the skills needed to leave the corporate ladder. The conversation also touches on aging in the workplace and Graham's new role as host of WorkLife.

Hilary Gridley, a former team leader at Whoop, joins Adam Grant and Molly to discuss how AI can enhance management. She explains that AI tools can help managers coach, give feedback, and develop talent more efficiently, as long as they are used to augment human skills rather than replace them. The conversation covers practical advice to avoid AI-generated slop, common pitfalls in organizational AI adoption, and the enduring importance of clarity and communication within teams.

In this episode of WorkLife Lessons, Molly addresses a rarely discussed workplace phenomenon: layering. She explains what happens when a fast-growing company hires someone above or alongside an existing employee, and why it can be so unsettling. Molly offers a six-step framework for employees to navigate the experience and shares principles for managers to layer their teams while preserving trust. She also reflects on a past conversation with Don Faul, who shared how he was layered early in his career at Facebook and what he learned.

Don Faul, a former Marine Corps officer who led elite units before becoming an operational leader at Facebook, Google, and CrossFit, discusses how military experience shaped his approach to leadership. The episode explores how pressure reveals and forges leadership character, the importance of humility and service, lessons from General Mattis, and the translation of military leadership principles to high-stakes civilian environments.

Chris Anderson, TED Chairman, discusses the counterintuitive decision to make TED Talks free and globally accessible online—a choice that transformed a small, exclusive conference into a household name. He explores what it takes to let go of things that brought you success, the experiments with giving things away, and his transition of TED stewardship to Sal Khan. The episode examines how releasing control of valuable assets can paradoxically strengthen and extend their impact.

Stacy Brown-Philpot, former CEO of TaskRabbit and founder of Cherry Rock Capital, discusses why religious faith is a legitimate source of grounding and decision-making at work—despite being treated as taboo in many professional environments. She shares how bringing her faith into her leadership, establishing an interfaith workplace group, and building community outside work deepened her professional relationships and resilience through uncertainty.

Ify Walker, founder of Offor, discusses the "work twisties" — that disorienting feeling of burnout and lost instinct at work. She and Molly reflect on their own experiences, and Ify shares strategies for recovery, including her practice of being 10% braver every day. She also offers advice for job seekers looking for new opportunities.

Modupe Akinola sits down with company builder Molly Graham at TED2026. Graham shares her journey from scaling Facebook to giving a TED Talk and becoming the host of WorkLife with Molly Graham. The conversation covers three practical insights: why the most effective people ask basic-seeming questions, how she quiets her inner critic by naming it 'Bob the Monster,' and why she advises managers to 'give away their Legos'—delegate ownership—to help teams scale.

Mike Schroepfer, former CTO of Facebook, discusses how great company culture is built through leader behavior rather than values statements. Drawing from his decade building Facebook's engineering organization, Schroepfer explains why culture emerges through how leaders respond to failure, make decisions under pressure, and teach people what actually matters. The episode argues that culture is revealed in crisis—and leaders who normalize learning over blame build organizations that compound strength under stress.

Claire Hughes Johnson, former COO of Stripe, discusses how success rarely follows a straight path. The episode explores the gap between how we perceive our own struggles in real time versus how they appear in hindsight, the role of resilience and perspective in navigating uncertainty, and how to make decisions when you can't yet tell if you're failing or succeeding. Johnson shares insights on leadership under pressure and reframes the messiness of success as both inevitable and instructive.

Molly Pennington, host of WorkLife, answers listener questions about navigating workplace challenges with Ashley Murphy, a member of her team and co-creator of Glue Club, a leadership development community. The episode covers three practical problems leaders face: working productively with bosses you disagree with, determining when to hire an executive coach, and how to position yourself to employers when you don't fit traditional career boxes.

Molly Graham, former Facebook executive and new host of TED's WorkLife podcast, sits down with Anne to explore what meaningful work means and how to find your purpose. They discuss the gap between work and life purpose, the role of serendipity in career discovery, and how to stay open to opportunities you never anticipated. The episode addresses a timely question from a new graduate navigating their first career moves.

Mark Rober, one of YouTube's most successful creators with 75 million followers, discusses how he built a sustainable channel by posting only one carefully crafted video per month instead of chasing algorithmic trends. He reveals the counterintuitive strategy of prioritizing quality over quantity, shares his approach to avoiding burnout in the fast-paced creator economy, and explains how this philosophy has led to over 16 billion views without sacrificing his principles or mental health.

In this special feed drop from LinkedIn’s Hello Monday, host Jessi Hempel interviews Caroline Wanga, President and CEO of Essence Ventures. Wanga shares her philosophy of building a career with intention and authenticity, including the concept of creating and iterating on a personal career map rather than following a traditional path. Drawing from her own journey from intern to C-suite at Target, she emphasizes that the 'next right move' is unique to each individual. She also discusses the role of authenticity in leadership and offers tools for living and working with purpose.

Journalist and TED Radio Hour host Manoush Zomorodi discusses how to stay adaptable as industries transform. Drawing from her career navigating shifts in media technology—from broadcast radio to digital production to blockchain—she reflects on what it takes to remain relevant when the ground keeps shifting beneath you.

Max Mullen, co-founder of Instacart, argues that AI expertise isn't about formal training but about building a relationship with the tool through repeated, purposeful use. He challenges the pressure to "just play around" with AI and instead focuses on solving real problems, suggesting that most people are closer to competence than they think if they approach the technology with intention and iteration.

Julie Zhuo, early product leader at Facebook and co-founder of Sundial, argues that risk-taking is a learnable skill built through daily practice rather than dramatic, one-time moves. She explores the distinction between courage and fearlessness, the mechanisms of fear that hold us back, and the deliberate strategies she's used to challenge her own anxieties. The conversation reveals how small, incremental risks compound into genuine capability and confidence.

Patty Stonesifer, founding CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and early Amazon board member, shares her counterintuitive approach to career decisions: ignore prestige and use a concise personal mission statement as a filter. She explains how a nine-word mission statement she wrote decades ago helps her turn down high-profile roles that don't align and advocate for what matters. During the episode, she coaches host Molly through the process of writing her own mission statement in real time.

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant joins Molly Graham to reveal how he makes major life and career decisions when the data is unclear. He shares the four questions he uses to evaluate any big project, his philosophy of 'deliberate then dive'—thoroughly analyze then commit wholeheartedly—and his personal approach to measuring success beyond metrics. The conversation shows that even a champion of evidence-based thinking often relies on intuition and structured frameworks for the most important calls.

What does it take to have a great career? And how do you know what job you should take, which you should quit, and which you should try to change? In this special episode from How to Be a Better Human with host and comedian Chris Duffy, learn about your new WorkLife host, Molly Graham.

Some exciting news from Adam Grant on a change coming to WorkLife! For the full text transcript, visit Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming April 28th, 2026: WorkLife with Molly Graham The world of work is changing, fast. The full range of human emotion can happen on the job: ambition and failure, joy and burnout, confidence and self-doubt.

You’ve probably experienced a “gut feeling” before—that sense of uneasiness in your stomach that tells you something is off, but your brain hasn’t quite worked out what it is yet. But can you really trust what your gut tells you?

In 1998, soccer star David Beckham made international news at his first World Cup when he lost his cool and got a critical red card. But he went on to lead his teams to numerous titles, become runner up for World Player of the Year, and even be knighted for his contributions to the game.

Welcome to The Curiosity Shop! In the inaugural episode, Brené and Adam discuss how a public disagreement about authenticity almost ended their relationship before it began.

Jessica Campbell is a hockey coach with the Seattle Kraken, and the first full-time female assistant coach in NHL history to work behind the bench.

Leanne ten Brinke is a social psychologist at the University of British Columbia and an expert on narcissists, psychopaths, and liars.

Esther Perel is a psychotherapist known for her innovative approach to relationships. In this episode, Adam and Esther discuss the relational baggage we all carry through our lives and into our work, and how our differing personalities and relationship styles can affect collaboration and culture.

Matt Damon is best known as the Hollywood icon from movies like Good Will Hunting and The Martian, but he has another passion offscreen: ensuring access to clean, safe water around the world.

Sara Seager is an astrophysicist and planetary scientist whose research focuses on exoplanets—planets outside our solar system orbiting other stars.

Hélène Landemore is a political scientist at Yale who studies democracy. She has a radical idea for fixing politics: what if we replaced career politicians with citizen assemblies, filled with people chosen by lottery?

Zarna Garg is a stand-up comic, screenwriter, bestselling author, and one of the busiest people in comedy right now.

What does it take to build a strong community? In his new book Flourish, journalist and bestselling author Dan Coyle unveils novel insights.

If you’ve ever wondered what “skibidi rizz” means or why kids are so obsessed with the number 67, Adam Aleksic wrote a book on it. Aleksic, better known at @etymologynerd online, is a 24-year-old linguist known for his enlightening and entertaining videos on the origin of words.

Ken Burns is a documentary filmmaker who has produced works about Mark Twain, Jackie Robinson, the American Buffalo, the Civil War, and now, in his latest work, the American Revolution.

Ken Burns has won countless awards for his documentary films on Mark Twain, Jackie Robinson, the American buffalo, baseball, the Civil War—and his latest takes on the American Revolution.

Alain de Botton is a philosopher, bestselling author, and cofounder of The School of Life, known for his fearless engagement with the complexity of human existence. In this special episode, Adam co-hosts alongside former guest RaQuel Hopkins, a therapist, social media star, and fan of Alain’s work.

Shannon Hale is the author of more than 50 books for all ages, including the Princess Academy series and her graphic novel memoirs.

Margaret Atwood is best known as the author of The Handmaid’s Tale, and she’s won a slew of awards for her novels, poetry collections, and children’s books. Now, at the age of 86, she’s written her first memoir, The Book of Lives.

Slowing the process of aging is something many people are interested in—and there’s a lot of pseudoscience out there about how to do it. Eric Topol is a cardiologist at Scripps and a prolific researcher on the genetics of longevity.

Oz Pearlman has been called the World’s Greatest Mentalist—he’s performed for some of the world’s top celebrities and made it to the finals on America’s Got Talent. In this episode, Oz joins Adam live at Authors@Wharton to show off his tricks and discuss the real skills behind his rise to success.

In our rapidly changing world, it might make you feel crazy to look around and see others going about life as usual. There’s actually a term for this phenomenon: hypernormalization.

The Ku Klux Klan is one of the tightest-knit White supremacist groups in America—once someone joins, they’re usually in for life. But since the 1980s, over 200 members have renounced their affiliation, and all give credit to the same man: a Black jazz musician named Daryl Davis.

Suleika Jaouad is the author of the memoir Between Two Kingdoms and the new Book of Alchemy—she’s also a lifelong journaler.

Malala Yousafzai is an activist for girls’ education and women’s empowerment, and the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate in history. In her new book, Finding My Way, is her effort to take control of her story after becoming a public figure at a young age.

Jacob Collier is a Grammy-winning musician, an exceptional teacher and communicator, and a rousing innovator onstage.

As a business journalist, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes for the New York Times DealBook, which he founded, and co-anchors Squawk Box on CNBC.

John Grisham is the author of over 50 #1 bestselling novels, including A Time To Kill and The Pelican Brief—but before he became the preeminent writer of legal thrillers, he had a tumultuous career as a lawyer.

RaQuel Hopkins is a therapist and HR professional whose hot takes on growth and well-being have challenged how many people talk and think about mental health.

Brené Brown is a researcher, storyteller, and author who hosts the podcast Dare to Lead and has given some of the most popular TED Talks of all time. Brené joins Adam live at Authors@Wharton to talk about her new book, Strong Ground.

Matthew McConaughey is the Academy Award-winning star of Dallas Buyers Club, Dazed and Confused, or Interstellar. But he’s not just an actor—he’s also an entrepreneur, philanthropist, teacher, and prolific writer.

At just 10 years old, Sean The Science Kid is our youngest guest ever. Sean is an internet educator with a voracious appetite for learning and a contagious passion for sharing his knowledge.

Molly Carlson is a professional high diver, three-time runner-up at the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, and the founder of Brave Gang, an online community of people who encourage each other to face their fears together.

On social media, enragement is often used to drive engagement. But what if the algorithm was tuned to what makes us feel good? As the CEO of Pinterest, Bill Ready is leading changes to his platform in the hopes of inspiring change in the tech industry.

Esther Perel and Adam Grant discuss how relationship patterns from our personal lives — attachment styles, conflict avoidance, people-pleasing — follow us into the workplace and shape professional dynamics.

Grant reframes impostor syndrome: rather than a pathology to be cured, moderate impostor feelings can be a signal of growth, humility, and high standards. The goal is not to eliminate impostor feelings but to use them productively.

David Beckham discusses the psychology of performing under extreme pressure — from penalty kicks to building business empires — and what his career taught him about mental preparation, recovery from failure, and leadership.

Grant presents the research on why most organizations fail at feedback: the giver fears damaging the relationship, the receiver fears hearing criticism, and the organizational culture does not support honest communication.

Grant presents research on the creative cliff illusion: people believe their best ideas come early in the brainstorming process and quality declines thereafter. In reality, the most original ideas typically emerge later, after the obvious ideas are exhausted.

Grant presents the research from his book Hidden Potential: why early talent is overrated, how character skills (proactivity, determination, discipline) matter more than raw ability, and how systems for developing potential matter more than identifying it.

Grant presents the research on meetings: the average knowledge worker spends 23 hours per week in meetings, most of which are unnecessary. He offers evidence-based strategies for reducing meeting load and improving meeting quality.

Grant explores languishing — the feeling of stagnation and emptiness that became widespread during the pandemic. Not depressed, not thriving, just... blah. He presents research on what moves people from languishing to flourishing.

Grant makes the case for intellectual humility: the willingness to change your mind when confronted with better evidence. He argues that being wrong is not a threat to identity — it is a sign of learning.

Grant reframes burnout as an organizational design problem, not an individual resilience problem. The research shows that burnout is caused by systemic factors — workload, control, reward, fairness — not by weak individuals.

Grant debunks the myth that procrastination is about laziness or poor time management. Research shows procrastination is an emotion regulation problem: we avoid tasks that trigger negative emotions like anxiety, boredom, or self-doubt.

Grant revisits his foundational research on reciprocity styles at work: givers (contribute without expecting return), takers (extract value), and matchers (trade evenly). The paradox: givers occupy both the bottom and the top of success metrics.