Episode Overview

Podcast: In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen
Guest: Lars Strannegård, Dean of the Stockholm School of Economics
Release Date: March 7, 2025
Episode Theme:
Nicolai Tangen interviews Lars Strannegård about his innovative leadership at the Stockholm School of Economics. The conversation delves into redefining business education through cultural integration, the concept of "bildung," the traits of effective leaders, and the challenges and opportunities AI brings to higher education.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance of Culture in Business Education

• Why culture matters ([00:29]):
  Lars Strannegård explains that culture at the Stockholm School of Economics means engaging with arts, literature, and music. This exposure helps students "see the world from new perspectives" and opens their senses to learning.

  • “Art can actually serve as a sort of intellectual and emotional itching powder to make you understand the world in another way and also increase your humbleness.” – Lars Strannegård [01:14]

• Culture’s impact on learning environment ([01:36]):
  Strannegård emphasizes that an environment enriched with culture awakens feelings and perception, making learning more engaging and opening up new roads to creativity.

2. Fostering Creativity and Openness

• Creativity through exposure ([02:20]):
  Creativity is enhanced by combining familiar things in new ways, which happens when students broaden their perspectives.
  • “If you just walk on the track that you’ve always been walking on, you won’t come up with new ideas.” – Lars Strannegård [02:51]

3. Bildung vs. Ausbildung

• Explaining 'bildung' ([03:18]):
  The German concept of "bildung," and its Scandinavian equivalent, refers to the deeper maturation and approach to the world that remains after factual knowledge fades.
  • “Bildung is that which is left after you’ve forgotten what you’ve learned.” – Lars Strannegård [03:31]

4. Stockholm School's Educational Mission: FREE

Strannegård explains the school's mission acronym "FREE," encapsulating their approach to modern education ([04:01]):

• F: Fact and science-based approach
  • Vital in an era where generative AI can fabricate information.
  • “We’re living in some kind of ontological crisis where you don’t know that what you see actually exists.” – Lars Strannegård [04:21]
• R: Reflective and self-aware
  • Encouraging students to question data sources and internalized opinions.
• E: Empathetic and culturally literate
  • The arts are used to boost empathy and understanding of different cultures.
• E: Entrepreneurial and responsible
  • Students are urged to take action and exercise agency.
• "If you go into the world being fact-based, reflective, empathetic and entrepreneurial, it’s sort of a vaccination to getting stuck in mental models and theories..." – Lars Strannegård [05:21]

5. Leadership Insights: Common Traits of Great Leaders

• Observations from experience ([06:02]):
  Strannegård highlights authenticity and the ability to create meaning as core traits shared by effective leaders.
  • “That it matters to you, that you’re not playing a game... that it’s your true self speaking and being there.” – Lars Strannegård [06:25]

6. The Case for Interdisciplinary Education

• Beyond business backgrounds ([07:03]):
  Both Strannegård and Tangen argue the value of hiring and working with people from non-business backgrounds (e.g., historians, theologians).
  • “Every type of education... is a bit like watching the sky through a straw. And you need to have many straws nowadays in order to understand the world.” – Lars Strannegård [07:52]

7. AI’s Transformative Role in Education

• AI's impact on learning & assessment ([08:07]):
  The rise of generative AI challenges traditional testing and the educator’s role, as AI often outperforms humans cognitively.
• What should universities teach? ([09:29]):
  Strannegård stresses the importance of sharpening “human intelligence”:
  • Empathy
  • Sense-making
  • Contextualization
  • Language skills
  • “Machines are great at being machines... but they are not human. And they can’t beat us in being human.” – Lars Strannegård [09:34]
  • “Educational institutions should really help students to develop their human intelligence... How do we become even better humans as the machines are becoming better at what they’re doing?” – Lars Strannegård [09:50]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On culture as “itching powder”:
  “Art can actually serve as a sort of intellectual and emotional itching powder to make you understand the world in another way and also increase your humbleness.” – Lars Strannegård [01:14]

• On the limits of traditional education:
  “Every type of education... is a bit like watching the sky through a straw. And you need to have many straws nowadays in order to understand the world.” – Lars Strannegård [07:52]

• On human vs. artificial intelligence:
  “Machines are great at being machines... but they are not human. And they can’t beat us in being human.” – Lars Strannegård [09:34]

Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Topic | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:29 | Introduction of culture at SSE and its impact | | 01:36 | The role of culture in learning environments | | 02:20 | How exposure enhances creativity | | 03:18 | Defining and discussing 'bildung' | | 04:01 | The 'FREE' educational mission explained | | 06:02 | Traits of great leaders | | 07:03 | The value of interdisciplinary backgrounds | | 08:07 | AI’s disruptive influence on education | | 09:29 | How universities should adapt; focusing on "human" skills |

Tone

The tone of the episode is thoughtful, curious, and slightly philosophical, with both host and guest sharing a strong belief in curiosity, open-mindedness, and the need for education to keep pace (and stay human) in a rapidly changing world.