Podcast Cafe Culture

The Café Culture Podcast: Your Go-To Thought Diversity Resource

We’ve enlisted the minds of academics, researchers, thought leaders, and practitioners to discuss the power of diverse thinking and share simple strategies for fostering thought diversity in your business today. Listen here and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform to catch new episodes weekly.

The Origin of Thought Diversity with Jessica Pearce Rotondi

In this inaugural episode, author of the History.com article “How coffee fueled revolutions – and revolutionary ideas” provides a thought-provoking “history lesson” on the origin of coffee houses, which just might be the origin of thought diversity and a spark that helped trigger the Age of Enlightenment.

Jessica Pearce Rotondi is a New York-based writer, editor and author of the highly acclaimed book, "WHAT WE INHERIT: A Secret War and A Family's Search for Answers.”

The Benefits of Thought Diversity with Allison Reynolds

In Episode 2, 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 benefits to your company and why you should begin fostering thought/cognitive diversity (or as we call it Café Culture) at your workplace.

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

When To Apply Thought Diversity with John Palumbo

Take a “break” from the formal interview format with host John Palumbo, who talks about some of the applications and strategies for thought diversity. John will answer that burning question: “When can (or should) my organization apply thought diversity?”

John Palumbo is the founder of BigHeads Network, a full-service podcast production company and thought diversity specialist.

Bringing Thought Diversity to Your Workplace with Antonia Hock

In this episode, global expert on organizational transformation and thought diversity expert, Antonia Hock discusses some simple ways companies can begin fostering thought diversity and create Café Culture within their organization.

Antonia Hock 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.

Collaborate & Become a “Reframer”

In this Break Room episode, host John Palumbo discusses the strategy of Reframing that will help expand your horizon to some of the more diverse and disparate people you might want to collaborate with to gain inspiration for a problem you’re trying to solve or an objective you’re trying to meet.

John Palumbo is the founder of BigHeads Network, a full-service podcast production company, and a thought diversity specialist.

How Panasonic Fosters Thought Diversity with Brian Rowley

Hear the head of marketing at Panasonic, Brian Rowley, discuss some of the benefits and results his organization has experienced by encouraging different teams to collaborate and come together. Brian talks about inviting some unexpected outside perspectives to help his team build crucial soft skills.

Brian Rowley is the Vice President of Marketing for Panasonic Systems Solutions Company of North America. In this episode he focuses on digital transformation and encourages discussion on what businesses need to be successful and how to deliver on the human experience to foster loyalty and create a sense of community.

A.B.C.D. (Always Be Connecting Dots)

In this Break Room Episode 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.

Creating Your Café

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.

Kate Gerasimova is a Senior Associate at gothamCulture, where she helps clients create efficiencies and improve their business performance through strategy and organizational development, change management, and process improvement.

Why Social Media & AI are Thought Diversity Killers

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?

Creating Café Culture… from the Coworking Category

When it comes to creating a thought diverse Café Culture dynamic, some co-working spaces seem to have it all figured out. In this episode, founder of the co-working space Common Desk (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.

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.

Creating Collisions: Adding Value

In this Break Room Episode, 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!

Getting Comfortable with Conflict

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, and being prepared to embrace some debates and disagreements.

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.

More Simple Strategies

In this Break Room Episode, host John Palumbo introduces a few simple approaches your company can take to foster thought diversity, including what he calls “Ride Alongs”, which bring 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.

Summing Up the Season

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.

Phil Drapeau is the SVP and GM of Keurig Dr Pepper’s Coffee Business Unit leading both Coffee Brand Marketing and the Away From Home channel

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