Robert Richman

Robert Richman

Author: Smart People Industries October 26, 2014 Duration: 42:07
Robert Richman - Have you ever noticed that many of the most admired companies these days tend to have one common thread, and it's not just a great product? They have one thing that everyone seems to be talking about, despite what industry they are in, where they are located, or what they do. That one thing is culture. Culture has become a buzzword that gets thrown around in every coffee shop in Silicon Valley. Every CEO dreams of building a culture like Zappos, or Apple - where the employees seem to literally LOVE their job. But what exactly does it mean? And how does a company build a truly incredible, profitable, and unifying culture? Additionally, how do you as an individual figure out which organizational cultures are better for you? We answer these questions and many more this week when we speak with speaker, author, and culture architect, Robert Richman.   Robert is the author of the upcoming book, The Culture Blueprint: A Guide to Building the High-Performance Workplace. Robert was the co-creator of Zappos Insights, an innovative program focused on educating companies on the secrets behind Zappos’ amazing employee culture. Robert built Zappos Insights from a small website to a thriving multi-million dollar business teaching over 25,000 students per year. Through his work, Robert has been responsible for improving the employee culture at hundreds of companies like Procter & Gamble, Whole Foods and Amazon.  As one of the world’s authorities on employee culture, Robert is a sought after keynote speaker at conferences around the world and has been hired to teach culture in person at companies like Google, Toyota, and Eli Lilly. He has pioneered a number of innovative techniques to build culture, such as bringing improv comedy to the workplace. "To build a strong culture you have to first ask yourself, 'What is most important to us above everything else?'" - Robert Richman Quotes from Robert: What we learn in this episode: How did Zappos build one of the most incredible corporate cultures in the world? As an employee, how do you find cultures that align with your values? What works and what doesn't work when building culture in an organization? How do you create alignment in an organization without setting in place too many rules? Resources: The Culture Blueprint: A Guide to Building the High-Performance Workplace - Pre Order Today! http://www.robertrichman.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every other week, Chris Stemp and Jon Rojas sit down with a guest who has fundamentally shaped their field, driven not by a rigid agenda but by genuine curiosity. The Smart People Podcast from Smart People Industries is built on the idea that the most compelling insights emerge from relaxed, authentic dialogue. You’ll hear authors, innovators, and cultural leaders-each with significant recognition in areas like business, education, or society-speak in a way that often feels more like a fascinating dinner conversation than a formal interview. Chris’s thoughtful questioning, paired with Jon’s producer perspective, gently guides discussions into unexpected territories, revealing the personal journeys and nuanced ideas behind public achievements. This podcast thrives in the space between expertise and accessibility, making complex topics relatable without sacrificing depth. It’s for anyone who believes that learning is a continuous, engaging process, and that the best lessons come from listening to people who think differently. Tune in biweekly for conversations that are as intellectually substantial as they are genuinely enjoyable, reminding us that smart discourse can be both enlightening and warmly human.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 500

Smart People Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Thom Shanker [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:07
“There was this explosion. A cloud. Red Mist. He self-detonated. A suicide vest. As sometimes happens with suicide vests, shoes and shins still stood on the roadway, disconnected for eternity from their owner.” -Thom Sha…
Roger Simmermaker [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:05
Made in America. We all (well, maybe) remember when that used to mean one thing. Quality. As times changed and we moved towards become larger consumers, companies shifted their manufacturing to places in order to take ad…
Cathy Davidson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:14
It’s a topic that we have brushed up against before on the podcast, but haven’t completely jumped into. How does all of today’s technology and instant gratification affect our ability to pay attention. Are computers and…
Jeff Ryan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:52
The 60’s had the space race to the moon, the 70’s had peace, love and hippies and the 90’s had the internet. BUT, the 80’s had the best thing of all…..wait for it…..wait for it…..NINTENDO, and more specifically the Ninte…
Nintendo Overtime [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:41
Chris and I have a discussion about Nintendo following our interview with Jeff Ryan. As you can tell, we had a lot of fun discussing Nintendo this week. Leave your top 5 games in the comments section! Episode below: Lear…
Seth Godin [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:27
A lot of the ways companies reach you on a daily basis can be tied back to one man. This same man was recently dubbed “America’s Greatest Marketer” by American Way Magazine. Well, it just so happens that this week we had…
Lauren Shockey [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:40
We’ve all had the thought before. “That’s it. I’m quitting my job and I am going to culinary school. I am becoming a chef or opening my own restaurant.” Personally, I’ve had this thought many times. I’ve contemplated ope…
Dr. Geoff Marcy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:10
Take a look into the sky tonight and try to imagine how many planets are out there. As of February 2011, there are 1,235 unconfirmed planetary candidates out there. It is widely estimated that there are billions of plane…
Gretchen Rubin [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:30
How many times have you found yourself wondering why you are not as happy as you could be? There are plenty of times that I am sit at my desk and I start to wonder things like, “am I on the right career path?,” “what wou…
Bill Poundstone [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:11
This week’s guest is a guy I would love to emulate. His profession goes a little something like this. Find interesting subject, research the hell out of interesting subject, write about interesting subject in a clear and…