Brian Uzzi
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Brian Uzzi

Richard L. Thomas Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change; Professor of Management and Organizations

Kellogg Faculty Page →

Unique. Revolutionary. Fundamental. A Little Hype Can Help Scientists Win Grants.

“Promotional language is important not just for securing funding but for actually conveying the merits of good ideas.”

Researchers: Hao Peng, Huilian Sophie Qiu, Henrik Barslund Fosse and Brian Uzzi

June 11, 2024

Innovation

Podcast: Can Complexity Science Help Us Understand Organizations?

On this episode of The Insightful Leader: From climate change to neuroscience, this new approach is reshaping how we study complicated systems.

Researchers: Benjamin F. Jones, Brian Uzzi and Dashun Wang

February 20, 2024

Data Analytics

Organizations Are Complex. Complexity Science Can Help Us Understand Them.

You can’t study the behavior of a flock by looking at individual birds. It’s time to bring that holistic approach to the social sciences, too.

Researchers: Benjamin F. Jones, Brian Uzzi and Dashun Wang

February 12, 2024

Organizations

Not Sure Where to Start with Your AI Strategy? Here Are 3 Steps

Companies across the economy are harnessing AI for a variety of functions in their businesses, with some further along in their strategies than others.

Researchers: Brian Uzzi

December 16, 2023

Innovation

How AI Can Help Researchers Navigate the “Replication Crisis”

A new tool predicts whether a specific study is likely to replicate, building confidence in the findings among scientists, funding agencies, and the public.

Researchers: Wu Youyou, Yang Yang and Brian Uzzi

July 1, 2023

Innovation

Podcast: How to Prepare for Your New Algorithmic Coworker

For better or worse, generative AI is here to stay. On this episode of The Insightful Leader: What could it mean for you and your team?

Researchers: David Ferrucci and Brian Uzzi

June 12, 2023

Leadership

Will AI Kill Human Creativity?

What Fake Drake tells us about what’s ahead.

Researchers: Brian Uzzi

May 26, 2023

Innovation

What Should Leaders Make of the Latest AI?

As ChatGPT flaunts its creative capabilities, two experts discuss the promise and pitfalls of our coexistence with machines.

Researchers: Brian Uzzi and David Ferrucci

April 26, 2023

Leadership

Twitter Is “Running A Musk”

Elon Musk has built several visionary businesses. But after a month with Musk in command, Twitter is in trouble with users, advertisers, and the government.

Researchers: Brian Uzzi

December 13, 2022

Leadership

Gender-Balanced Teams Do Better Work

When it comes to teams of scientists, “men and women are both part of the recipe for success,” according to new research.

Researchers: Yang Yang, Tanya Y. Tian, Teresa Woodruff, Benjamin F. Jones and Brian Uzzi

September 13, 2022

Organizations

Take 5: Learn to Love Networking (or at Least Tolerate It)

First, you got to nail the basics.

Researchers: Ellen Taaffe, Craig Wortmann, Edward (Ned) Smith, Leigh Thompson, Brian Uzzi and and coauthors

July 29, 2022

Careers

Take 5: How to Be a Better Mentor

Be sure your mentee “owns” the relationship—and don’t shy away from tough conversations.

Researchers: Bernard Banks, Diane Brink, Carter Cast and Brian Uzzi

April 14, 2022

Leadership

Take 5: How to Become an Expert in Something New

Turns out, there’s a “special sauce” that can help you get there. But expertise can also come with a curse.

Researchers: Jan A. Van Mieghem, Brian Uzzi, Luis Rayo, Lu Liu, Jillian Chown, Dashun Wang, Matthew D. Rocklage, Derek D. Rucker, Loran Nordgren and Steven Franconeri

October 25, 2021

Careers

3 Ways AI Can Help You Improve Diversity

Your company already holds the data that can lead to sustainable change.

Researchers: Brian Uzzi

August 19, 2021

Data Analytics

How Does a Polarized U.S. Move Beyond Its Current Conflicts?

A discussion about the psychology of group conflict, the risks of rampant misinformation, and the importance of resilient institutions.

Researchers: Cynthia S. Wang and Brian Uzzi

March 30, 2021

Organizations

How AI Can Help Weed Out Faulty Scientific Research

Solid science is more important than ever, yet experts often struggle to predict which studies will replicate. Artificial intelligence could do the job better.

Researchers: Yang Yang, Wu Youyou and Brian Uzzi

August 4, 2020

Data Analytics

What’s the Secret Ingredient to Great Mentorship?

It’s not just subject-matter expertise, according to a new study.

Researchers: Yifang Ma, Satyam Mukherjee and Brian Uzzi

July 7, 2020

Careers

Take 5: What Business Leaders Can Learn from the World of Sports

Specialists and scrappy underdogs can be just as indispensable in the office as they are on the playing field.

Researchers: Brayden King, Rima Touré-Tillery, Brian Uzzi, Noshir Contractor, J. Keith Murnighan and Daryl Morey

March 2, 2020

Leadership

The Psychology Behind Conflict—and When It Can Be Harnessed for Good

A conversation about the role conflict plays in organizations and communities.

Researchers: Brian Uzzi, Nour Kteily and Cynthia S. Wang

January 3, 2020

Organizations

Your Work Friends and Enemies Are Affecting Your Performance

A look at social triangles among day traders shows that profits increased under certain combinations of friend and foe.

Researchers: Omid Askarisichani, Jacqueline Ng Lane, Francesco Bullo, Noah E. Friedkin, Ambuj K. Singh and Brian Uzzi

January 2, 2020

Organizations

Podcast: When Teams Mess Up, Who Takes the Fall?

On this episode of The Insightful Leader: how to make sure you’re not blaming the wrong person.

Researchers: Ginger Zhe Jin, Benjamin F. Jones, Susan Feng Lu and Brian Uzzi

December 18, 2019

Careers

Dozens of New Terrorist Organizations Emerge Each Year. Which Ones Will Become Most Dangerous?

A new tool gets at the answer using the same techniques that investors use to evaluate startups.

Researchers: Yang Yang, Adam Pah and Brian Uzzi

November 4, 2019

Policy

For Teams, What Matters More: Raw Talent or a History of Success Together?

A study of professional sports teams suggests that one factor is clearly more important, but the best teams combine them both.

Researchers: Satyam Mukherjee, Yun Huang, Julia Neidhardt, Brian Uzzi and Noshir Contractor

June 3, 2019

Leadership

How Big Is the Gender Gap in Science Research Funding?

Two new studies look at who wins the prestigious grants and prizes that can make or break a scientist’s career.

Researchers: Brian Uzzi, Diego FM Oliveira, Yifang Ma and Teresa Woodruff

May 2, 2019

Policy

Take 5: How to Build a Collaborative Workplace

Simple strategies for reaping the benefits of collaboration.

Researchers: Benjamin F. Jones, J. Keith Murnighan, Leigh Thompson, Brian Uzzi, Jan A. Van Mieghem and Dashun Wang

March 13, 2019

Organizations

To Land Top Jobs, Women Need Different Types of Networks than Men

Simply being well-connected is not enough.

Researchers: Yang Yang, Nitesh V. Chawla and Brian Uzzi

March 1, 2019

Careers

Who Gets Blamed When a Group Project Goes Wrong?

Here’s why consequences stick to some team members more than others, according to a new study of retracted academic papers.

Researchers: Ginger Zhe Jin, Benjamin F. Jones, Susan Feng Lu and Brian Uzzi

February 1, 2019

Strategy

The Science Behind Word-of-Mouth Recommendations

In the age of Yelp, two new studies explore why we offer advice and how it spreads.

Researchers: Sara Soderstrom, Brian Uzzi, Derek D. Rucker, James H. Fowler, Daniel Diermeier, Alessandro M. Peluso, Andrea Bonezzi and Matteo De Angelis

November 2, 2017

Marketing

Take 5: How Humans Benefit as Machines Get Smarter

Kellogg faculty explain how human–machine partnerships can improve everything from your commute to your self-esteem.

Researchers: Brenna Argall, David Ferrucci, Eli J. Finkel, Todd Murphey, Rima Touré-Tillery, Brian Uzzi and Adam Waytz

June 8, 2017

Innovation

Take 5: How to Encourage Innovative Thinking

Kellogg faculty on what it takes to ensure your new product or great idea takes off.

Researchers: Brian Uzzi, Benjamin F. Jones, Kelly Goldsmith, Klaus Weber and Loran Nordgren

April 7, 2017

Innovation

The Surprising Speed with Which We Become Polarized Online

Users isolate themselves in social media echo chambers, even when they start out looking at a variety of posts.

Researchers: Alessandro Bessi, Fabiana Zollo, Michela Del Vicario, Michelangelo Puliga, Antonio Scala, Guido Caldarelli, Brian Uzzi and Walter Quattrociocchi

April 6, 2017

Organizations

Podcast: Will Machines Ever Truly Understand Us?

The relationship between humans and computers is deepening. What does the future hold?

Researchers: Brian Uzzi, David Ferrucci and Sandra Waxman

December 2, 2016

Ready to Make a Risky Decision? Your Words Suggest Otherwise

Mining digital communications for emotions can lead to better decisions.

Researchers: Bin Liu, Ramesh Govindan and Brian Uzzi

May 5, 2016

Can Computers Make Us Better Thinkers?

IBM Watson creator David Ferrucci on the thought partnership at the heart of machine learning.

Researchers: David Ferrucci and Brian Uzzi

July 6, 2015

Data Analytics

The Ultimate Data Set

Computational social science aims to discover universal facts.

Researchers: Brian Uzzi

May 1, 2015

Understanding How Stock Traders Forage for Profit

Day traders behave like bees when deciding what to buy and sell.

Researchers: Serguei Saavedra, R. Dean Malmgren, Nicholas Switanek and Brian Uzzi

December 1, 2014

Finance & Accounting

A Virtuous Mix Allows Innovation to Thrive

The right mixture balances conventionality, novelty, and collaboration

Researchers: Brian Uzzi, Satyam Mukherjee, Michael Stringer and Benjamin F. Jones

November 4, 2013

Where Busy Bees and Business Converge

The striking similarities between ecological and organizational networks

Researchers: Serguei Saavedra, Brian Uzzi and Felix Reed-Tsochas

July 5, 2011

Economics

Synchronicity Pays

Instant messaging helps traders buy and sell at the right time

Researchers: Serguei Saavedra, Kathleen Hagerty and Brian Uzzi

March 14, 2011

Finance & Accounting

The Price of a Billable Hour

Social networks affect transaction costs

Researchers: Brian Uzzi and Ryon Lancaster

July 1, 2009

Science as Team Sport

Collaborating at a distance pays off

Researchers: Benjamin F. Jones, Stefan Wuchty and Brian Uzzi

October 10, 2008

Collaboration and Creativity

The small-world problem

Researchers: Brian Uzzi and Jarrett Spiro

October 1, 2007

Teamwork Takes Center Stage

How the Broadway musical can teach important lessons to business leaders

Researchers: Roger Guimerá, Brian Uzzi, Luis A. Nunes Amaral and Jarrett Spiro

April 11, 2007