Eric Morrison is a research lead who is less interested in how things are, and more interested in what they could become. While his resume includes names like Disney, TikTok, and now Google, Eric doesn’t see himself as a corporate auditor of “user friction.” Instead, he sees his role as an enabler of novelty.

With a background in history from Yale and organizational science from Oxford, Eric brings a specific kind of academic depth to the high-velocity world of Silicon Valley. We sat down with him to talk about the thrill of building things that haven’t existed before, the lessons learned from being wrong, and why he’s more interested in “meaningful impact” than “incremental gains.”