Transforming Work with Sophie Wade: Recent Episodes
Sophie Wade
Sophie addresses current business conditions and explores ways to navigate the disruption. She shares informative insights and interviewing leading innovators who are providing or benefiting from transformative solutions that will allow companies to emerge with sustainable models, mindsets, and business practices.
Find out how to transition to more effective, productive, and supportive new ways of working—across locations, generations, and platforms—as we harness these challenging circumstances to drive significant, multidimensional changes in all our working lives.
“JJ” Jessica Reeder, a workplace innovation and culture transformation leader, shares insights from her deep experience designing communications systems, scaling multicultural teams and aligning culture with strategy. Bringing pivotal learnings from early fully-remote companies such as Toptal and GitLab, JJ explains how self-management, thorough documentation, and systematized collaboration underpin successful remote work. She describes the cultural shifts required for hybrid and distributed workforces and advocates for systems thinking and clear communication to empower modern work managers.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:24] JJ didn’t know what studying linguistics would entail when she chose it but she loved it.
[02:47] Linguistics gives JJ a framework to understand the history of humanity and migration.
[03:10] Living in another culture opens up her global perspective and gives her a different lens.
[04:24] JJ’s appreciation for engineers stems from their clarity and direct information transfer style.
[05:49] JJ transitions early to working remotely focused on content and communication projects.
[06:35] Noticing the growth of formal distributed work, JJ joins one of the first all remote companies.
[07:14] JJ starts building a distributed community across cultures for a global virtual developer network.
[08:15] Nurturing connections among talented remote professionals requires deliberate strategies.
[08:56] Remote talent feels more connected when engaged with a peer community.
[09:54] JJ moves to GitLab to explore systematized connectivity and is launched into remote work consulting by the pandemic.
[13:01] GitLab was designed for remote work with full documentation, tools, and systems.
[14:11] Realizations they need to understand other companies’ different perspectives.
[16:44] Conviction in remote work but recognition that unprepared managers are challenged.
[18:30] JJ highlights self-management as a cornerstone of GitLab’s decentralized operating model.
[19:07] Clear documentation and SOPs reduce managerial load while teaching remote processes.
[20:35] Others’ embrace of remote work affirms JJ’s long-held belief in the global distributed workforce.
[22:34] JJ studies industrial organizational psychology and joins Upwork for an applied learning experience.
[23:24] JJ helps Upwork transition from an office-based to remote-first workforce.
[24:12] Engagement is often relationship based, differing between employee and freelance contributors.
[25:00] Emotional connection isn’t always needed; the mission can generate engagement.
[26:43] JJ finds that many workers thrive as project contributors without deep social integration.
[28:08] More varied distributed operational models are needed, especially for larger companies.
[30:36] Distributed work effectiveness requires more than dedicated time for human connection.
[31:25] Clearly documenting and consistently applying standard operating procedures and behaviors is crucial.
[32:05] Standardizing—behaviors, tools, expectations—was a major Upwork project JJ worked on.
[32:47] Accessible knowledge and intentional transparency are essential and must be intentional.
[34:58] The Forest Ranger book gives JJ great insights about distributed operations.
[36:19] The ‘manual’ shows how philosophy, behavioral standards, transparency and documentation empower independent workers.
[37:24] To train distributed workers, companies must clarify expectations—behaviors, work, standards.
[39:15] Hybrid work requires embracing a digital-first mindset even when working partially in-office.
[40:54] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To become digital first, one, understand time—such as core hours, two, communicate digitally—with documented processes, and three, systematize collaboration—designating how and where work is done.
[41:57] Communication processes must be modeled by leadership and enforced by managers.
[42:26] Systematized collaboration tools create visibility, drive cohesion, and replace physical context.
RESOURCES
“JJ” Jessica Reeder on Linkedin
JJ’s website
The Forest Ranger book
QUOTES
“This decentralization of management. Instead of someone managing your work, there's somebody who is directing your output or directing your outcome. So understanding how to empower people to self-manage their work.”
“Collaboration is really just about trading work back and forth and doing it in a very effective way.”
“To be effective at our work, we need to have a source of motivation. We need to have proof that our work is doing something that we believe in. We do need to have some sort of a mission that we're contributing to, but we don't need to necessarily be deeply emotionally engaged.”
“Having standard operating procedures and behavioral standards is clearly documented and consistently applied throughout the organization is crucial in remote work. It is absolutely a deal breaker if you don't have people understanding how they are supposed to work.”
“One of those things where you have to decide - how transparent of an organization do we want to be. If we don't buy in on transparency, then we're going to have challenges with distributed work.”
“Becoming a digital first organization doesn't block your ability to have a functioning hybrid organization. In fact, it enhances it. It really will make your hybrid organization more powerful. It will help people to get the most out of work, whether they're in the office or not.”
“All of the things that you need to have a highly functioning team can be empowered by really embracing the digital first mentality.”
“Collaboration needs to be systematized. It needs to happen on as few disparate tools as possible.”
Mark Dixon, Founder and CEO of IWG, which he started in 1989 as Regus, discusses workplace evolution and flexible work trends. He shares insights from building IWG’s 18-brand network serving 8 million users across 120+ countries. A serial entrepreneur, Mark shares how evolving workforce needs and digital tools shape location-agnostic office strategies. He emphasizes structuring real estate portfolios to empower employees and align with their work, and critiques outdated RTO policies. Mark discusses reshaping onboarding and productivity practices across roles and generations. He debunks in-office apprenticeships in today’s tech-facilitated world.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:36] Mark Dixon find school too slow and leaves to start getting involved in business.
[02:39] After his first—sandwich—venture, Mark travels the world to gain more experience.
[02:59] Mark builds a successful hotdog business, then co-living apartments in Belgium.
[03:45] Exploring entrepreneurial opportunities in Europe lays the foundation for IWG.
[05:37] Mark’s struggles securing office space in reveals a market need for flexible workspaces.
[06:07] On a hunch, the first center opens in 1989, based on simplicity, speed, and outsourcing needs.
[07:21] Companies want flexibility, speed, and capital-light solutions—not real estate complications.
[09:32] IWG's first clients are mostly large enterprises, while half now are SMEs and entrepreneurs.
[10:31] All clients’ reasons are the same: efficiency off the balance sheet with flexibility and speed.
[11:19] IWG’s 18 brands offer diverse options from flexible warehouse space to a private members’ club.
[13:07] A hospitality mindset is key—providing functioning workspaces with good internet and support.
[14:05] Technological advances enable management at distance, where employees have support.
[15:32] Workers increasingly self-optimize office usage: hourly, daily, or long-term team project space.
[16:50] Good management skills, not location, drives productivity and effective team outcomes.
[18:49] More projects and fractionalized work are driving demand for short-term collaboration spaces.
[20:58] IWG supports distributed workers and teams globally with platform-like flexible access.
[21:23] Businesses shift to convenient offices near where people live to reduce commute strain.
[23:30] RTO mandates are based on leaders responding to questions with data support.
[24:00] 80% of Fortune 500 companies are becoming more distributed, often providing offices nearer to where people live.
[25:22] Virtual onboarding and apprenticeships are effective supported intentionally with technology.
[28:45] Workspace purchasing shifts from real estate to procurement, finance, and HR departments.
[29:30] Many companies want offices which are convenient for the people they want to hire.
[30:00] Organizations are focused on their balance sheet and being capital light and flexible.
[31:54] IWG spends significant resources studying work design for customers and IWG employees.
[32:48] Design investments encompass tech needs and usage and evolving user expectations.
[33:52] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To optimize work and location for outcomes, structure your portfolio, not your policy, and give people the best support for the jobs they are doing.
RESOURCES
Mark Dixon on LinkedIn
IWG’s website
Some IWG brands’ websites: Regus, Spaces, HQ workspaces
The Hybrid Working Calculator white paper
The Future of Work – A trends forecast for 2024 white paper
QUOTES
“Business people in general understood the value of capital light - focus capital on core business, not on peripheral activities. The value of service. The value of immediacy. I can just take it--the value of flexibility.”
“Companies are understanding that they're in the job of supporting people to be more productive. That's the job. They're very focused on their balance sheet. They're very focused on capital light. They're very focused on flexibility.”
“In a modern tech-facilitated world, you structure your portfolio, not your policy. It’s not a question of RTO or not—it’s about enabling the best support for the people for the job they’re doing.”
“80% of Fortune 500 use us, and the majority of them are moving to a more distributed workplace.”
“We used to deal with just property directors. Now we are talking to procurement, human resources. and to finance people.”
“Companies are understanding that they're in the job of supporting people to be more productive.”
Steven Puri, Founder and CEO of The Sukha Company and former Academy Award-winning CGI producer and Hollywood executive, shares his insights from movie production and experiences as a tech entrepreneur. Emphasizing applied learning, Steven offers strategic and tactical insights for designing remote and hybrid work, cultivating focus, and supporting fulfilled cohesive teams to reduce churn. Drawing parallels with the Hollywood model, he discusses project-based collaboration, individualized productivity rhythms, and creating environments that support deep, self-directed learning and growth.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:33] Steven shares how each beneficial life opportunity has come from unexpected “left turns.”
[01:57] Early on, Steven balances interests in journalism and coding, influenced by his engineer parents.
[03:42] At USC, Steven’s tech fluency gives him entrée to film during the shift from analog to digital.
[04:30] Working on trailers and music videos, Steven connects with aspiring filmmakers and directors.
[05:26] Independence Day needs digital effects launching Steven’s Hollywood experience producing visual effects for major directors and films.
[06:49] Co-founding a company after Academy Award success, the team delivers for investors.
[10:43] Returning to technology to have agency, Steven starts and raises money for two tech companies.
[12:01] Reviewing failed ventures, Steven’s top learning is to listen more to others.
[13:30] Recognizing the Hollywood production cycle has always operated in remote, hybrid and in-person phases.
[14:50] How remote/hybrid/in-person phases of filmmaking offer insights for modern work design.
[15:37] The principle about personal productivity is to find a dedicated place where your mind settles.
[18:17] In film projects, separation of visionary and operational leadership roles is critical.
[19:18] ‘Flow’ principles—such as feedback loops and daily metrics—enables continuous improvement.
[20:42] End of day progress reviews in film production supports high-intensity teamwork.
[23:32] Creative breakthroughs are enabled when the brain is distracted, not singularly focused.
[27:07] Steven buys a friend’s startup’s code base to build upon the to-do list using Hollywood learning.
[28:07] The Sukha platform is rooted in work design insights to enable deep focus.
[29:55] The app improves focus by limiting overwhelm and breaking major tasks into sub-steps.
[31:07] Sukha’s assistant adapts to personal styles—momentum-building or starting with difficult tasks.
[33:38] Understanding your own work rhythms to optimize for deep productivity.
[35:17] Sukha uses curated music and real environmental sounds scientifically tuned for flow states.
[37:30] Timers and breaks prevent burnout and encourage brain recovery post-focus.
[38:49] Feedbacks help users learn from distractions and track progress with real-time productivity scores.
[40:08] Optional co-working “coffee shop” to share energy and foster community accountability.
[41:06] Social facilitation theory supports the idea that seeing others work can increase your output.
[44:41] A user describes how Sukha helps him be being present with his kids or lose the whole day.
[45:46] The goal is not just productivity, but meaningful, self-fulfilling work that leads to happiness.
[46:18] Steven renames the company “Sukha” - a Sanskrit word meaning happiness and self-fulfillment – which is his ultimate goal for people to achieve.
[46:51] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Cultivating self-fulfilled, cohesive teams reduces churn. If people are enabled to do great work, they want to stay.
RESOURCES
Steven Puri on LinkedIn
The Sukha Company website
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
QUOTES
“That pulse has existed for a hundred years in film. It is very well respected. Here's what you do as a leader of these teams that are remote, hybrid, in person, hybrid, remote.”
“Set your environment up properly—that’s one principle of getting into flow.”
“The principle about productivity, even if you work from your home, have a dedicated place where your mind settles into, ‘oh this is where I focus’.”
“You can only be as good as you want to be. We are just tools to help you be great. To do something that you're capable of. You have inside you something great if we can help you get it out. That's why I'm here.”
“We want to evoke that coffee shop—that clubhouse of people all trying to write the next great script.”
About creativity: “It’s always about the other thing.”
Prithwiraj ‘Raj’ Choudhury, Lumry Family Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, shares insights from years of research included in his newly released book “The World is Your Office: How Working from Anywhere Boosts Talent, Productivity and Innovation”. As a scholar of geography, talent, and innovation, Raj describes real world examples to illustrate how decoupling location from labor creates options and opportunities for employers and employees. He explains the economic benefits of 'working from anywhere' models for local communities. Raj emphasizes practical hybrid frameworks and team-based decision-making to unlock innovation, as well as AI and digital twins to offer more flexibility for all workers.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:40] Raj studies computer science and engineering but would have loved to study literature.
[01:57] As a singer-songwriter, Raj discusses writing songs in Bangla and playing in a band.
[02:47] Raj starting out at IBM and then starts consulting and travels the world.
[03:19] Switching to academia give Raj flexibility and creativity to focus on research and poetry.
[04:32] Raj becomes a migration scholar researching the match of distant talent with work.
[06:17] Infosys’ hiring from small Indian towns revealed underutilized high-potential talent.
[07:08] Challenging early-career postings develop superior problem-solving skills that boost Indian bureaucrats’ later careers.
[09:05] Gen Z can benefit from digital nomad visas to travel and work globally and build connections.
[10:25] “Work from Anywhere” enables a person to choose the town, city, or country to work in.
[10:54] Raj stresses in-person connections so “working from anywhere” is often not working from home.
[12:15] Tulsa’s remote worker program is a win-win benefitting individuals and the community.
[12:50] Lower cost of living and greater community engagement make smaller cities attractive for remote talent.
[13:51] Work from anywhere helps reverse brain drain as talent returns to or remains in smaller towns.
[15:57] Raj frames three hybrid models for teams based on meeting frequency and venue flexibility explaining when “working from anywhere” is feasible.
[19:33] Performance should be measured by work quality, not time, presence, or attendance.
[20:16] Managers remain essential for setting direction and motivating teams—not monitoring activity.
[22:33] Managerial span of control can increase with remote tools, leading to leaner organizations.
[24:46] Generative AI can codify individuals' knowledge into scalable personal bots.
[25:27] AI-driven bots can extend a person’s ‘human capital’ across time zones and workloads.
[26:30] Questions arise about bot/IP ownership—e.g. who controls the bot if an employee changes jobs.
[28:29] Bots can assist with non-personal tasks, but human connection remains essential for leaders.
[30:41] Raj emphasizes in-person gathering benefits rather than debating where events are organized.
[31:20] Research shows people cluster by identity at in-person events unless serendipity is engineered.
[32:09] Shared transportation like taxis can build bonds across silos and increase connection diversity.
[33:23] “Virtual water cooler” meetings with senior leaders improved intern ratings—but bias remained.
[35:40] Raj’s book outlines Working from Anywhere: the business case, solutions for the challenges, and future possibilities.
[36:27] Digital twins make work from anywhere possible for blue-collar roles such as in factories and hospitals.
[37:30] Remote operation of facilities from centralized hubs is becoming feasible and more widespread.
[38:40] Work from anywhere extends flexibility to all worker types, closing the white-blue collar divide.
[39:55] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Working from anywhere is the way to attract and retain talent nationally or globally. It’s a talent strategy, not a work arrangement.
RESOURCES
Prithwiray Choudhury on LinkedIn
Choudhury’s new book “The World is Your Office: How Working from Anywhere Boosts Talent, Productivity, and Innovation”
Research by Prithwiraj Choudhury
Phone-er Tare Pakhi song by Prithwiray Choudhury
Ekader Sohor song by Prithwiraj Choudhury
QUOTES
“Instead of moving the person, move the work. Let the person live where he, she or they want to live and just move the work to where the person is. So that's what I call ‘Work from Anywhere’”.
“Performance should only be measured based on the quality of work and nothing else. So how many days people work, how many hours they work, how many meetings they attend, how many times does the manager see their face? All of that is irrelevant.”
“The manager should really matter in setting the high level policy, setting the goals of the quarter of the month. And then really inspiring people to bring the best out and mentoring and coaching them, and acting as a problem solver.”
“Hybrid is a mix of work from anywhere days and in-person days. Work from anywhere and in-person being equally important…There are two decisions to make. The first decision is how frequently should they meet? Should they meet every week or once a month or once a quarter? And the other decision they need to make is the venue of meeting.”
“I honestly feel that instead of telling the whole company that they need to do the same form of hybrid, every team should be left to its own devices to choose what works best for them.”
“Working from anywhere is the way to attract and retain talent nationally or globally. It’s a talent strategy, not a work arrangement.”
"With AI and automation and digital twins, now it's possible to work from anywhere in a blue collar setting for factory workers, for folks working in a hospital or a warehouse and in a power plant or an energy rig. And so now this white collar/blue collar divide about work flexibility is going to get mitigated."
Kamber Parker Bowden, Founder and CEO of Generational Performance Solutions, explains how leadership must evolve to integrate a multigenerational workforce in modern work environments. Kamber shares research insights and her personal journey that sparked her focus on closing workforce gaps and fostering cross-generational collaboration. To bridge differences, Kamber emphasizes clear communication, setting expectations, and empathy. She explores how different generations value flexibility, entrepreneurship trends, and side hustles’ appeal for younger workers. Kamber recommends building trust and supporting internal growth pathways to engage and retain younger talent.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[01:42] Kamber shares her early dream of becoming a broadcast journalist before shifting paths.
[03:32] Kamber’s first job in corporate insurance proves to be a poor fit and she doesn’t stay long.
[04:24] Many of Kamber’s friends also leave their jobs after 18 months or less—why?
[05:41] Common narratives of starting work after college and climbing the corporate ladder.
[06:33] Lack of clear expectations and poor communication emerge as key reasons for early exits.
[07:16] Despite good salary and benefits, Kamber leaves because of poor mental, physical and emotional health.
[08:03] Taking a pay cut at a nonprofit which offers flexibility, Kamber develops her business on the side.
[09:30] Companies often focus heavily on recruitment while neglecting retention and development.
[13:48] Check which generational research to trust.
[14:39] The issues of skills gaps as skills not being transferred sufficiently from experienced workers.
[15:14] A feature of modern work is Gen Zs’ interest in side hustles and the Creator Economy.
[17:31] The current lack of trust in the establishment and younger employees’ desire for fulfilling work.
[18:24] Job satisfaction and career growth outweigh stability and recruiters become more aggressive.
[19:36] How can organizations cultivate opportunities to entice younger employees to stay?
[23:08] Millennials have a unique position understanding both older generations and Gen Zers.
[23:51] Millennials reject being grouped with Generation Z.
[24:23] Micro-generational differences shape unique experiences and perspectives.
[25:01] “Entitlement” is best understood through generational context and upbringing.
[26:45] Gen Z seeks in-person connection; Millennials look for flexibility and remote work.
[28:06] Communication breakdowns arise when expectations go unspoken or unmet.
[30:46] Data helps leaders understand generational change, trends, and frustrations.
[31:56] Kamber asks leaders to consider the risks of falling behind if they resist adapting to change.
[32:57] The importance of understanding senior professionals as well as younger workers.
[34:38] Helping young and emerging leaders build bidirectional communication skills.
[35:45] Recognizing people as individuals with different communication styles.
[36:10] Kamber trains on respectful tech mentoring and basic professionalism.
[37:42] Trust starts with understanding each team member’s communication preferences.
[38:24] Asking about preferred communication methods can transform team dynamics.
[40:03] Generation Z’s ideas of professional dress vary widely, so clarity is essential.
[41:10] Kamber suggests sharing dress codes during hiring to avoid judgments and misunderstandings.
[44:10] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: “To improve how you lead a multi-generational team, build trust, set clear expectations, and ask your team their top communication style.”
RESOURCES
Kamber Parker Bowden on LinkedIn
Generational Performance Solutions website
QUOTES
“So many companies put so much effort into the recruiting and not as much on the growth, the development, the retention, the activation of talent.”
“We rarely talk to any young professionals that either don't have a side hustle or don't have that interest.”
“Trust is broken or never even begun. When there is a lack of clear expectations, when there is a misunderstanding, that typically leads to some type of disconnect. How you bridge that is truly through understanding how people communicate.”
“If somebody is not fulfilled, even if they're getting paid what they want to get paid, but they're not fulfilled in other ways and there aren't growth opportunities, they will leave.”
“We have to be what I like to call ‘generationally curious’ and I think that's a true leadership skillset.”
“And I always ask [leaders] ‘what happens if you don't?’ Things are not changing, they've already changed. And so are you going to be ahead of the curve? Are you going to be ahead of your peers or are you going to kind of sit back and see what happens and then risk being farther behind in 10 years? And usually that snaps them into attention.”
Stephen Dooley is Founder of Roamr, a corporate travel accommodation platform built for distributed teams. Merging insights from trust dynamics and the sharing economy, Stephen explains how a personal pain point led to an innovative travel solution rethinking cost structures and workplace needs. He shares how listening to customer feedback evolved the initial concept into a fresh approach to business travel that—being empathetic and practical—supports flexibility, connection, and culture while delivering measurable impact for businesses and employees alike.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:22] Stephen studies commerce aligning early interests in business and entrepreneurship.
[01:45] A year abroad gives Stephen an exciting experience and global perspective.
[03:11] The year studying in the US sparks Stephen’s ambition and sharpens his interpersonal skills.
[03:47] Graduate research initially focuses on financial technology and wealth management.
[05:15] Stephen is interested in tech-related consumer psychology dynamics and adoption drivers.
[06:25] The sharing economy reverses historical fundamental trust patterns and behaviors.
[07:11] Younger consumers now influence their parents' tech-based adoption decisions.
[08:34] Stephen takes a new role then the pandemic hits, requiring rapid learning.
[09:28] A light bulb moment about new realities for travel, lifestyle and career compatibility.
[09:47] A great workation opportunity is dashed by unaffordable accommodation.
[10:42] Identifying remote work necessities reveal need for better infrastructure.
[11:17] Location flexibility is widespread, but how to take advantage of new opportunities.
[12:21] Societal tailwinds are behind Working From Anywhere and distributed work.
[12:55] Roamr launches with an employee-focused offering home swaps for workations.
[13:49] During customer discovery, many employers ask to apply the model to corporate travel.
[14:20] Employees get alternatives to hotels, financially benefit, and firms save money.
[14:52] Now business travel is more relationship-focused, so culture and collaboration benefits can outweigh reduced costs.
[16:31] Travel expenses can be significant so more than 20% in savings is valuable.
[17:09] Improved culture, engagement, and retention offer meaningful additional benefits.
[19:21] More younger workers understand the Roamr concept and have much interest to connect and network.
[20:09] Hosting income also helps employees towards meaningful financial goals.
[21:04] Roamr aligns CFO cost savings priorities and CPO employee experience goals.
[22:40] Global platform partners expand reach to over 100 countries.
[24:31] Top talent understand their worth and if not offered flexibility will work elsewhere.
[25:50] Finding the option(s) that work for each person—where is the middle ground?
[28:08] Research revealed how taxi rides fostered long-term interactions.
[28:46] Engineering connections by mapping users to have facilitated serendipity.
[29:32] Adding personal networks to expand reach, connectivity, and flexible opportunities.
[31:50] Employees can create and plan local events during work trips.
[32:30] Visibility avoids missed connections among nearby remote coworkers.
[33:15] Highlighting common interests to encourage sharing experiences while traveling.
[34:11] In-person sales increase in relevance as AI outreach becomes oversaturated.
[36:02] Commoditized business travel offers few incentives for employees to reduce costs.
[37:15] Incentivizing smart booking combined with uplifts for culture and engagement.
[37:47] Buffers in travel planning processes reveal hidden budget inefficiencies.
[38:55] Roamr is a win-win choice – an optional, flexible alternative to hotels.
[39:18] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP – How can you think differently about business travel processes to avoid or reduce bloated costs?
RESOURCES
Stephen Dooley on LinkedIn
Roamr’s website
QUOTES
“What if we could make work from anywhere, work from everywhere?”
“It's a platform that helps companies save 30% on their corporate travel accommodation and we do that by paying employees instead of hotels.”
“We believe that’s a way better way to build culture rather than a kind of team building awkward session in the middle of the office.”
“So we’re not just saying we want to save money. We actually want to make the experience better, more intentional, more engaging.”
“How do we find a way to give some flexibility, but also bring teams together and make it work?”
“Everybody can send a million emails now. How are we going to stand out? How we're going to build those relationships?”
Kelli Lester is the Co-founder and Partner at Onyx Rising, a change management consulting firm. Kelli discusses how leaders can navigate uncertainty, empower their teams, and drive innovation. She highlights the importance of leaders’ vulnerability, adaptability, and inclusive decision-making in today’s evolving business landscape. Kelli draws from her experiences navigating mergers, workforce integration, and cultural shifts to offer insights for leaders wanting to improve workplace dynamics and foster meaningful collaboration. Kelli explores strategies for developing high-potential talent, bridging generational divides, and cultivating authentic leadership.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:50] Kelli studies communications to have her own TV show and develops her voice.
[04:00] Working for the Mayor’s office, Kelli needs to understand the pulse of the community.
[04:50] Kelli works at the Census Bureau exploring why people might not want to be counted.
[05:54] The Mayor reinforces understanding and serving the community’s needs.
[07:02] Mergers and acquisitions at Sara Lee reveal leadership challenges in cultural integration.
[08:10] Required field experience to get promoted reveals assumptions that Kelli’s boss questions.
[10:12] A human-centric leadership approach creates a more integrated company.
[11:01] Transforming the talent review processes to increase transparency and fairness.
[12:00] Layoffs can be done with empathy, when leaders speak the truth and are authentic.
[14:20] Organizations often rely on external voices, such as consultants, to challenge leadership.
[15:08] A colleague’s feedback helps Kelli adapt and improve team collaboration.
[16:46] Leaders must proactively understand individual motivations and work preferences.
[18:51] Modeling behavior as a leader is essential.
[19:55] Organizational and personal “whys” drive lasting behavior change.
[21:28] Self-awareness helps leaders recognize their thought process and expectations.
[24:41] To create an innovative organization, it is vital to learn to seek and receive feedback.
[26:23] Leaders benefit from actively seeking input from those who challenge them.
[29:18] Psychological safety enables innovation and trust through vulnerability.
[31:56] Exposure to different perspectives strengthens emotional intelligence in leaders.
[33:40] Kelli’s leadership model focuses on exposure, inclusion, understanding, and disruption.
[34:59] Leaders can disrupt exclusionary behaviors and outdated leadership models.
[36:22] Many companies talk about innovation but lack true commitment.
[37:01] Risk-averse industries approach innovation as a necessity rather than an opportunity.
[38:16] Think tanks help diverse teams generate innovative ideas and solutions.
[39:16] Younger employees’ adaptability supports problem-solving and innovation.
[39:47] Innovation thrives when integrated into culture, performance, and reward systems.
[40:08] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Modern leadership traits include self-awareness, seeking, receiving, and giving feedback, and promoting psychological safety
RESOURCES
Kelli Lester on LinkedIn
Onyx Rising’s website
QUOTES
"There isn't one way to lead. There are also two versions of the truth, right? Two truths can exist at the same time."
"Leaders must involve multiple layers in decision-making for better outcomes."
"We have to learn how to seek and receive critical or negative feedback."
"Exposure to difference is critical. Many times, people are navigating the world thinking everything is set up the same way for everyone."
"If you tell a leader, this is what good leadership looks like, you integrate it into your performance management, you have ways to reward that behavior, then you'll see more and more of it."
Phil Kirschner, Founder of PK Consulting, is an innovator at the intersection of employee experience, corporate real estate, organizational effectiveness, and technology strategy. Drawing on his background at Credit Suisse, WeWork, and McKinsey, Phil shares insights about professional and personal responses to workplace changes. He discusses leaders’ and employees’ intuitions and the frictions affecting trust. Phil explains the cultural impact of co-working environments and how a hospitality mindset helps achieve strategic human-centric productized work experiences to meet employees’ modern work needs.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:57] Phil shares his experiences in corporate real estate, workplace strategy, and employee experience.
[02:45] Cost management taught Phil the importance of understanding workplace dynamics.
[04:20] Phil loves the dimensions of workplace change recognizing people’s emotional responses.
[05:41] How work-life integration can mean the physical manifestation of a policy in the work world.
[06:38] Place is personal, affecting choices, relationships and how people communicate.
[07:44] How office changes impact managers’ perceived control over their teams.
[08:45] Executives visiting WeWork’s offices were often surprised by the energy and vibrancy.
[10:12] Employees embracing the WeWork hospitality, community culture, and work patterns typically had better experiences than those who resisted.
[14:00] How smaller companies smaller office investments allows them to be more responsive than large organizations which often struggle with underutilized space.
[15:15] COVID revealed more humanity at work—executives were seen differently and trusted.
[16:22] The Edelman Trust Barometer shows the first ever dip in trust in corporate leadership.
[16:50] Employees’ and executives’ different intuition about what was ‘better before’ and for whom.
[18:22] Discrepancies in pre-COVID experiences change expectations for new work environments.
[19:22] Phil shares how a real estate company failed to extend workplace flexibility to frontline staff.
[22:00] A critical missing question: what needs to be true to allow greater flexibility and not have core metrics dip?
[24:40] Remote work enables business continuity and offer an operational risk mitigation framework.
[25:00] Digital-first companies have better organizational health by adapting for being distributed.
[25:45] Experiencing inefficient processes to develop metrics and optimize operations.
[29:02] HR, IT, and Facilities Management need to collaborate to enable modern workplaces.
[29:54] Work experience needs productization and someone in charge.
[31:07] Real estate reporting to HR help shift the focus from cost control to employee experience.
[32:35] Hospitality oriented experiences are typically revenue lines not expense related.
[34:31] Companies with “virtual-first, but not placeless” mindset rethink workplace strategy effectively.
[35:53] Many executives assume office presence is essential without analyzing why.
[39:10] Organizational health and connecting business objectives and work experience.
[40:30] How corporate cultures can connect and align employees with purpose enabling change.
[43:06] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: The first questions to ask at the start of any good change program: who thinks something is wrong? What do they think is wrong? And who else knows?
RESOURCES
Phil Kirschner on LinkedIn
Phil Kirschner, Contributor – Leadership Strategy, Forbes
QUOTES
"Many employees are feeling gaslit when they hear leaders say, ‘It was better before,’ because that doesn’t resonate with them."
"Trust in organizations dipped for the first time in Edelman’s latest trust barometer report."
“When I walk into the building, if the experience of getting in or registering a visitor or attending event is, is not a great one, at that point, I do not know or care whose problem it is. I want one place to go easily and I want a hospitality feeling in the response to that, which is really difficult for groups that are viewed as an expense.”
“The companies that say place isn't the thing, then tend to come back around with much more interesting and studied uses and new designs of place, whether that's somebody's house, whether that's a coworking space, whether that's an “office” that they retain for gathering purposes, right? These are the same companies that tend to staff up on workplace experience. They staff up on customer success for tools, they staff up for gathering.”
Ashley Proctor, Founder of Creative Blueprint, Coworking Canada, and COHIP, is one of the founders of the coworking movement. She shares her experiences designing coworking environments as catalysts for creative and business synergy with economic sustainability and social impact. Ashley explains the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration and how intentional community-building leads to long-term success. She emphasizes how coworking represents a shift in how people connect, co-create, and thrive together shaping the future of work.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:45] Ashley Proctor chooses to study art and design for its creative problem solving.
[02:34] Ashley feels at home with people at college who are all ‘a little bit weird’!
[03:42] Space issues during a renovation lead Ashley to create a shared study and learning environment.
[04:55] XSpace is created to provide an external, student-run environment which has lasting impact.
[06:22] Coworking for artists looks different than for information workers with laptops.
[06:51] The Foundry building creates a maker space for artists, entrepreneurs, and tech startups.
[07:53] Cross-industry coworking results in artists being more entrepreneurial and entrepreneurs being more creative in problem-solving.
[09:49] 312 Main transforms a former police building into a coworking hub focused on social impact.
[12:18] A bold vision and complex situation requires extensive community consultation and is a slow build.
[13:34] Co-creation stimulates the necessary transformation supported by the local community.
[14:40] Thoughtful coworking design includes harm reduction, de-escalation strategies, and cultural inclusivity. [24:00] The coworking movement is rooted in accessibility, inclusion, and empowering independent workers. [26:30] COHIP (Coworking Health Insurance Plan) emerges to address gaps in coverage for freelancers. [29:00] Ashley’s personal health crisis highlights the need for sustainable, independent health coverage. [31:30] COHIP expands to serve artists, entrepreneurs, and small businesses across Canada. [34:00] The IDEA Project challenges coworking spaces globally to enhance inclusivity and accessibility. [37:00] Coworking is about fostering connections and collaboration, not just providing office space. [39:30] Larger organizations can benefit from coworking’s agility and cross-pollination of ideas. [42:00] Companies are increasingly funding coworking memberships to support hybrid work needs. [45:00] Employees thrive with autonomy in choosing coworking spaces that suit different tasks. [47:30] Coworking hubs in rural areas provide professional environments without long commutes. [50:00] Ashley shifts focus to mentorship and ensuring long-term sustainability of coworking models. [53:00] Community land trusts and coworking hubs can serve multiple civic and emergency functions. [56:00] Larger organizations should see coworking as a strategic investment, not just a perk. [58:30] Flexible workspaces help companies reduce costs, improve retention, and boost productivity. [1:01:00] Coworking spaces offer expertise in workplace design, benefiting both employees and companies. [1:03:30] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Your company can benefit from coworking by realizing lease cost savings, the coworking provider’s informed use of assets, tools, and space, and improved employee wellbeing and retention.
This episode emphasizes how coworking drives innovation, inclusivity, and economic growth while providing practical benefits for individuals and organizations alike.
RESOURCES
QUOTES
Verbatim Quotes from Ashley Proctor Episode Title: Coworking as a Catalyst for Innovation and Community
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"Working as a movement."
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"I feel like I'm solving problems and sometimes founding an entity is the way to do it, to continue to solve it for other folks."
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"When we build those spaces with intention, we can have a lot of layered impact."
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"I've been saying from the beginning that what we're doing really is about what we're doing when we're working together."
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"The magic that happens when we work together."
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"It was a massive vision for a very complex space in a complex neighborhood."
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"The key pillars, like I said, is that essential upfront communication, so the design and what we're working towards is fully community-led and then community-centered."
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"Coworking is about what happens when we work together."
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"The coworking movement and industry remains inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible."
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"The diversity and the collaboration is what makes it work."
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"To empower their employees to do their best work, they need to give them that flexibility of choice as well."
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"I'm seeing a lot of growth in rural communities or outside of the urban core, where people don't want to commute all the way downtown to go to work."
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"Happy and healthy employees are productive and loyal employees."
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"We don’t need to maintain headquarters in these office spaces around the world that are mostly empty."
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"We are really just starting to see this blossom around the world."
Dan Bladen, CEO and co-founder of Kadence, and Dave Cairns, Future of Work Strategist at Kadence, each discuss aspects of the evolving dynamics of modern workplaces and spaces. Dan shares insights from Kadence’s journey developing workplace technology and breaking down and rebuilding work to facilitate workflow and rhythm for distributed workers. Dave highlights the benefits of data-driven understanding of people flow and space utilization as well as intentional gatherings. They recognize flexible hybrid models’ acceptance and leaders’ increasingly purposeful coordination.
TAKEAWAYS
Dan Bladen Interview
[01:22] Dan explains his background in theology, music, and technology.
[02:57] Growing up with engineers, hardware, and gaming encouraged Dan to build computers.
[05:04] Traveling around the world in 2012, connectivity and charging are basic needs.
[05:40] Dan co-founds Chargify to make wireless charging a game changer as WiFi did for connectivity.
[06:41] Dan notices offices were already half-empty as people start ‘agile working’ in the 2010s.
[07:25] The business of checking an employee into a hot desk while also charging their laptop.
[08:06] Strong growth stops with the pandemic, then a Fortune 50 company asks to use Chargify’s software to enable safe office-based work.
[09:36] The checking-in capability leads to a business pivot to workplace coordination software.
[11:02] Dan isn’t enthralled, but the market is large and 90% of companies are going hybrid.
[12:20] Dan sees the potential of hybrid work to benefit from more work-life balance.
[12:44] Finding rhythm with your family and your team and having a contract with your employer.
[13:35] In the past, people had to act predictably as spaces were static.
[14:36] Kadence philosophy breaks down the ‘work stack’—starting with the ‘why’ of work—vision and values
[15:13] Moving from performative inputs to quantitative outputs.
[16:10] Work defined by time not place—so what is the work ‘operating system’?
[18:08] Kadence starts as desk-booking software and becomes a hybrid work management platform.
[20:05] The hybrid shift is influenced by market conditions and economic pressures.
[21:00] Data shows the best-performing companies are hybrid.
[21:40] Servant leadership is rising and thinking about culture and the next generation.
[22:51] Over 50% of hybrid companies now organize regular in-person events.
[23:16] Time to trust is accelerated during face-to-face times of togetherness.
[23:29] Leaders must be intentional about when and where they gather their teams.
Dave Cairns Interview
[24:32] Dave discusses how deep friendships build up live and asynchronously.
[25:33] The mismatch between real estate supply and demand that Dave notices in 2019.
[26:10] Pandemic shifts remind Dan of his poker-playing time when he was working remotely.
[27:37] Merging two experiences, learning more about the nature of work, beyond office space.
[28:07] Learning from many sources for the first time that office spaces pre-COVID were half empty.
[29:30] Dave’s content resonates with people struggling with their working lives and rigid policies.
[30:36] Many workers feel forced into office attendance without a clear reason.
[32:23] Canada has a quieter acceptance of hybrid work compared to the U.S.
[33:19] New York seems to have the most polarized views on remote and in-office policies.
[36:17] The mismatch between work policies/mandates and actual employee behaviors.
[37:26] Employees often coordinate informally and inefficiently, giving organizations no insights.
[38:27] Most firms still lack clear data on how their offices are actually being used.
[40:30] Some leaders demand full office occupancy despite low attendance rates.
[41:06] Gathering granular data to understand people flow and office space utilization.
[42:06] High lease costs, renewals or financial pressure are key factors to drive real change.
[43:19] Proactive companies learn workflow and people coordination before downsizing space.
[46:04] Leaders are balancing executive mandates with employee flexibility to achieve results.
[49:31] Companies recognize hybrid’s importance but lack the knowledge to execute well.
[51:56] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Have an intentional gathering strategy. Accept that teams can make some of their own decisions. Figure out how your office spaces, your workspaces, if you have any, are being used.
RESOURCES
Dan Bladen on LinkedIn
Dave Cairns on LinkedIn
Kadence’s website
QUOTES
“Now there's this opportunity for people to be more unpredictable and spaces to be flexible.” – Dan Bladen.
“So the only way to measure if that work was getting done was by measuring and observing the quality of the outputs.” – Dan Bladen.
“We started rebuilding it [work]. And really it boils down to people, places and the projects that they're working on.” – Dan Bladen.
“Work doesn't happen in a place anymore. It actually happens in the working week. And where you choose to place yourself is part of your toolkit and your coordination layer.” – Dan Bladen.
“Work is going to be reimagined a bit like an OS.” – Dan Bladen.
Darcy Marie Mayfield is a specialist in culture architecture and experience design. Darcy shares her experiences in hospitality at Airbnb and designing systems to codify and scale company culture at early fully remote organizations. She discusses how initiatives like Tulsa Remote have revitalized cities by attracting remote workers and fostering local collaborations. From engineering serendipity to creating consistent rituals and empathetic leadership, Darcy offers actionable insights into creating inclusive, connected thriving communities and environments for remote and distributed workers and teams.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:27] Darcy’s early and enduring passion is hospitality and helping people feel they belong.
[02:34] At Airbnb, Darcy pilots early remote work initiatives to explore flexible work models.
[04:06] Darcy leaves Airbnb as they lack remote work flexibility and moves to a rural area.
[04:23] TaxJar’s leadership wants to take the company fully remote, so Darcy joins for the challenge.
[05:10] The vision is to build a strong company with a strong product and strong profits while people enjoy their lives.
[06:00] Darcy works with academic researchers to study and codify culture in a fully remote organization.
[06:56] How do you architect culture where there are no physical walls?
[07:40] Codifying culture for scale involves understanding the founders’ DNA and origins.
[08:56] Deep listening sessions to co-create with employees and reveal how values show up.
[09:20] Transitioning from an SMB to a mid-market culture means balancing collaboration with structure.
[11:16] During the pandemic, TaxJar’s remote model enables significant growth and low attrition.
[12:05] Darcy wants to help people and prove remote working works, but it gets exhausting.
[14:06] To normalize family-friendly environments, TaxJar’s CEO has to set the example.
[15:00] They are proud of having top talent who are really empathetic.
[16:29] At Stripe, Darcy observes strong identity tied to the office causing hybrid work challenges.
[18:26] Redesigning hybrid work, prompting leaders to model flexibility and track energy patterns.
[19:56] Understanding offsites, her team considers how to include remote participants equitably.
[20:34] Why to create experiences for remote workers that rival office-based interactions.
[22:18] Darcy describes Tulsa Remote and attracting remote workers to boost economic growth.
[23:34] The benefits of industry diversification and reverse the brain drain for Tulsa.
[24:33] Why people choose to move to Tulsa and partnering to solve local problems.
[25:09] “Engineering serendipity” to connect remote workers with local communities.
[26:28] Piloting a workation program that fosters deep connections between participants and locals.
[28:10] The pilot program results in nine out of twelve participants moving to Tulsa.
[29:28] Darcy personalizes participants’ experiences connecting them with relevant locals.
[32:59] How other cities have increasing willingness to benefit from digital nomads.
[34:17] The opportunity to create a blueprint for “sister cities” ready to create consistent, impactful remote work experiences.
[37:20] Madeira Friends aim to show the long-term economic benefits of attracting digital nomads.
[39:26] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To improve hybrid and remote outcomes, lean into cultural architecture. One, name channels to evoke desired behaviors. Two, cultivate consistent rituals. Three, give yourself permission to experiment.
RESOURCES
Darcy Marie Mayfield on LinkedIn
Darcy on Instagram
Tulsa Remote
QUOTES
"How do you architect culture when there’s no physical walls?"
"Codifying culture allowed us to emotionally and intrinsically move our culture from an SMB culture to a mid-market culture because that’s where our customers were going."
"Words make worlds. Use words that emote the behavior you want to see."
"Remote workers bring not just economic benefits but also a diversification of skills and innovative ideas to communities."
"Leaders must set the tone—if a leader is going to take a walk in the middle of the day, then everybody else will follow."
"It’s about designing the connections and programming so people feel like they belong so much earlier and so much more often."
Show host Sophie Wade welcomes 2025 focusing on the natural dynamic of modern work to facilitate executives’ and employees’ abilities to adapt. She outlines three priority areas for the year ahead, recommending how to adjust for and integrate AI as a core component of our tech-driven business and work. Highlighting research and examples, Sophie focuses on: human-AI collaboration, designing work for agility, and upskilling employees rapidly in the flow of work. Sophie emphasizes the principles of modern work: learning, intention, flexibility, and empathy, as well as systems thinking to help us recognize the full ramifications of our inventions and actions.
TAKEAWAYS
[00:42] Sophie sets the stage for 2025, focusing on adapting to rapid change.
[01:29] Embracing change is essential. Rigid work structures conflict with human nature.
[02:40] Work norms evolved based on prevailing possibilities and were not healthy or sustainable.
[03:25] Flexibility and adaptability are natural and essential human traits.
[03:58] Customization in work and products recognizes our individuality and different needs.
[04:40] Human-centric approaches and tools foster creativity and problem-solving.
[05:18] Early rigid work environments suppressed autonomy and innovation.
[06:18] Modern work requires collaboration and proactive preparation for change.
[07:20] Adapting to change thoughtfully can reveal the best evolutionary pathways.
[08:44] Systems thinking helps anticipate and manage the ripple effects of innovation.
[09:43] Modern work requires intentional action to navigate interconnected global systems.
[11:10] AI integration is transforming the workforce into blended human-AI collaboration.
[12:21] Leaders must identify opportunities for AI to complement humans and our skills.
[14:05] Flattening hierarchies and skills-based work systems boost agility and engagement.
[15:18] Internal talent marketplaces promote cross-functional use of employees’ skills.
[16:37] Upskilling is critical for addressing skill gaps and maintaining competitiveness.
[18:04] Continuous learning must be integrated into workflows for successful transformation.
[18:35] Approaching change with intention, flexibility, and empathy reduces friction and boosts outcomes.
[19:27] Empathy-centered leadership enables multigenerational and distributed teams to thrive.
IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Incorporate learning, intention, flexibility, and empathy into workplace strategies.
RESOURCES
Sophie Wade on LinkedIn
Sophie’s company Flexcel Network
SophieWade.com
QUOTES
“We can lean into our natural capacity to adapt if we reframe what we’ve been used to and why.”
“Work is in flux, nothing is set in stone, and adaptability is essential all along the way.”
“Human-centric approaches and tools foster creativity and problem-solving because we are not machines and aren’t good at pretending to be.”
“How you approach change, and specifically the significant ongoing changes occurring in and across our professional world, affects your ability to flex and adapt.”
“Adapting to modern work requires continuous learning as a core habit, integrated into workflows and supported as part of daily operations.”
“Empathy-centered leadership is critical, recognizing that each person has different skills, adapts at a different pace, and may encounter hiccups along the way.”
“Internal talent mobility isn’t easy or obvious to operationalize, but it is necessary to keep pace with the faster evolution of modern work.”
“Systems thinking recognizes that our actions are not independent or isolatable but always have ripple effects on others—and reciprocally on us.”
“AI integration is enabling the emergence of a collaborative, blended human-AI workforce that complements uniquely human skills.”
Mehmet Baha is the author of “Creating Psychological Safety at Work” and a psychological safety trainer and speaker. Baha, as he is known, discusses the critical role of psychological safety in team performance in the modern workplace. He shares insights about how open dialogue about mistakes and a strengths-based approach enhance trust, collaboration, and results. Baha explains the importance of curiosity and empathy, and giving autonomy. He offers leaders actionable tips for cultivating vulnerability and fostering safe spaces that support innovation.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:59] Baha’s childhood in Cyprus—a divided island—prompts his interest in conflict resolution.
[03:28] Assisting his father, facilitating leadership training shapes Baha’s career path.
[04:30] Music influences Baha’s innovative approach and teamwork skills.
[06:22] At Facebook early on, Baha experiences a psychologically safe workplace.
[08:05] Google’s Project Aristotle shows psychological safety is key for high-performing teams.
[09:00] Psychological safety becomes central to his training and consulting work.
[10:40] Clarity, purpose, and high standards are other key elements driving team success.
[11:28] Collaboration and openness drive better than hidden mistakes.
[12:20] Amy Edmundson’s 1990’s study connecting reported mistakes and successful outcomes.
[13:33] Research shows learning from mistakes boosts team performance.
[14:46] Sharing mistakes, building upon ideas, and appreciating employees’ strengths create psychological safety.
[16:25] Five points for leaders to model the vulnerability vital to foster psychological safety.
[17:40] Examples include creating "failure reports" to promote organizational learning.
[18:53] Openness helps leaders improve team trust and psychological safety.
[19:45] One leader fosters openness that enables company-wide sharing of team mistakes.
[20:50] Team performance is seen when participants are willing, open, and ambitious.
[21:33] Leaders must be role models for sharing and learning from mistakes.
[22:05] The ratio of positive to negative feedback plays a crucial role in creating psychological safety.
[23:38] A case study about an award-winning practice of quarterly “mistake breakfasts”.
[26:32] How innovation and a turnaround at a bank is stimulated by psychological safety.
[28:08] Traditional organizations benefit from psychological safety, also enhancing physical safety.
[29:15] Leaders' role in co-creating safe work environments.
[31:05] Why to encourage employees—closest to the work—to share and implement their ideas.
[32:12] Psychological safety supports creativity and sharing of innovative ideas.
[32:43] How employees’ silence in meetings indicates an environment lacking psychological safety.
[33:19] The seven points demonstrating Fearless Organizations.
[35:08] Baha connects empathy with conscious listening which is key for safe workspaces.
[35:56] Curiosity is crucial, starting with curiosity about ourselves.
[38:06] Leaders can support safe work environments despite more pressure and workload.
[36:55] Leaders need to encourage open dialogue about challenges and mistakes.
[39:21] How AI can help us work with more humanity, compassion, and authenticity.
[39:27] Empowering employees through autonomy enhances psychological safety.
[40:22] Autonomy is important as micro-management greatly hinders psychological safety.
[40:35] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To improve psychological safety, show curiosity, share mistakes and give employees autonomy.
RESOURCES
Mehmet Baha on LinkedIn
Baha’s book “Creating Psychological Safety at the Essential Guide to Boosting Team Performance”
Baha’s book “Playbook for Engaged Employees: Practical Insights to Master Leadership, Agility, Teamwork, Learning, and Psychological Safety” QUOTES
“Sharing mistakes, learning from them, and improving is one key element of creating psychological safety.”
“In a psychologically safe team, mistakes are seen as opportunities to learn, not as reasons to blame.”
“If we cannot listen well to others, we cannot really talk about psychological safety.”
“One of the biggest barriers to creating psychological safety is micro-management behavior.”
“As leaders, managers, we can share a mistake we made, what we learned from this, and what we did later to improve it.”
“In high-performing teams, there is a ratio of three to five positive feedback for every negative feedback.”
Helen Lee Kupp is Founder and CEO of Women Defining AI and co-author of best-selling book “How the Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to do the Best Work of Their Lives". She discusses her experiences as a strategy and operations leader benefiting from collaborative experimentation and elevating use cases when exploring AI and other technologies for business and workplace transformation. From her tenure at Slack, Helen emphasizes data fluency and intuitive decision-making, defining and applying metrics, and implementing flexible systems. Her insights offer guidance for navigating AI adoption, hybrid work, and creating flexible human-centric frameworks that empower people and processes.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:21] Helen interest in chemistry and bioengineering prompts her to study chemical engineering.
[03:43] Helen loves to pair biology’s organic messiness with engineering and systems thinking.
[04:36] Reflecting on a non-linear career path guided by attraction to ambiguous problems.
[06:17] Helen’s desire for real-world impact leads her from lab work to consulting then startups.
[08:07] Joining Slack early, Helen drives innovation projects, expanding as a consumer product.
[09:30] The challenge of using data effectively, needing shared definitions across teams.
[11:01] How leaders must foster data fluency to enhance decision-making processes.
[11:50] Building operational intuition to make decisions using data and metrics in context.
[14:05] Flexibility is integral for organizational systems to adapt to changing market conditions.
[15:52] A ‘bridge’ describes a balanced need for stable data infrastructures for specific metrics and flexible systems for evolving demands.
[18:19] An innovative process to elevate metrics from team insights to company-wide KPIs.
[20:28] Hybrid data approaches enable both innovation and operational consistency.
[22:36] Slack’s approach to dynamic work systems shapes Helen’s understanding of agile leadership.
[24:02] How workplace tech evolves impacting team collaboration and decision rhythms.
[26:15] Helen is an early Slack user and comfortable and effective async worker as an introvert.
[29:17] ‘How the Future Works’ enabled the authors to share personal experiences and codify the redesigning of work.
[32:24] Helen’s consulting trained her about team protocols enabling effective teamwork.
[34:36] How personal work preferences are supported by team agreements.
[37:55] Helen is prompted to actively define AI inclusively not stumble into it.
[38:58] Women Defining AI launches serendipitously to craft AI development and adoption.
[43:18] A community of experimentation, Helen approaches the future with a flexible mindset.
[45:01] The importance of building intuition for using AI—it’s just as messy as humans!
[45:01] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Embrace discovery mindsets and start small by piloting AI in manageable areas of your work, ensuring hands-on practice and learning opportunities for your teams to explore its potential impact.
RESOURCES
Helen Lee Kupp on LinkedIn
Women Defining AI
Almost Technical
Helen’s book “How the Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to do the Best Work of Their Lives”
QUOTES
“We have a chance to redesign it all right. To redesign not just how we operate together, but to be thoughtful about how different everyone is and bring all that into the redesign.”
“People are looking for structured guidance. They’re not looking for all the answers. But they’re looking for at least that you are thinking through it and that they can try.”
“Experimenting and piloting use cases with individuals and teams to see what works for them and finding ways to elevate that across the broader organization and share practices. The more you can do that, the faster you’ll learn.”
"I appreciate the consulting training because we had to come together in teams so frequently with new teams and new managers. We needed a process around how do we understand how we operate, which may be different than your last team. How do we communicate best and how do we ensure we solicit the best of everyone in this group?"
Michael (Mike) Todasco, Visiting Fellow at the James Silberrad Brown Center for Artificial Intelligence at San Diego State University. He shares insights from driving innovation at PayPal and discusses AI-enabled opportunities for non-technical users and potential entrepreneurs, drawing parallels with earlier transformation generated by GPS access. Mike explains the need for participation, exploration, innovation, and updated education to foster creativity, adapt, and thrive in AI-integrated workplaces. He elevates humans' ingenuity and discerning of quality which complement advanced technical capabilities.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:55] Mike’s interest in finance starts with selling baseball cards as a child.
[03:03] Mike joins General Electric after a college professor talks so much about Jack Welch.
[04:06] Mike doesn’t get his first choice. He is sent to work on aircraft engines.
[04:20] The rotation program helps Mike find out all the jobs he doesn’t want to do!
[04:57] The lasting impression a new employer can make being nimble and scrappy.
[06:22] Cool tech lures Mike who starts his own venture, then joins PayPal.
[07:29] Working on innovation products being launched at PayPal.
[08:33] Mike has a game-changing meeting with a group of patent lawyers.
[09:35] Brainstorming innovative products across PayPal teams, Mike develops a new skill.
[10:21] Innovation is stimulated by asking good questions and building on each other’s ideas.
[11:08] Generating new ideas by imagining what if resources weren’t an issue.
[11:57] An innovation use case taking a completely different perspective.
[13:40] Mike is captivated by the potential of AI particularly because he cannot code.
[14:39] Mike recognizes the magical possibilities of AI and becomes obsessed!
[16:28] Using the GPS example to try and project what AI might generate in future.
[18:49] Mike shares his mother’s ER experience to illustrate how we might integrate AI support.
[22:06] The early predictions that AI would automate away radiologists were totally wrong!
[24:01] The history of illusion and the perception gap humans have.
[24:57] We find significant personal improvement hard to imagine (as necessary or possible!).
[25:52] We may not know, but we need to explore, the possibilities of AI tools.
[27:56] The AI apps Mike uses daily.
[29:22] Exploring new application versions and having AI running your life!
[30:32] How AI can augment your daily personal, professional, and family habits.
[32:56] Practical advice for how leaders can stimulate essential AI exploration.
[34:22] The challenge of (too much) choice—never mind, just get involved!
[35:36] Mike plans his daughter’s birthday party using ChatGPT.
[37:37] Where and how AI is beneficially used in work processes.
[38:18] What AI is good at, better at, and not so much!
[39:58] What happens if AI does interns’ work?
[40:30] Mike’s hopes for the possible fundamental impact of AI.
[43:56] How should schools be integrating AI?
[45:43] What some teachers are doing with AI in class.
[47:19] Ideas to change college curriculums to incorporate AI.
[48:47] The rising value of ‘taste’—‘what is ‘good?’ matters since AI offers average results.
[51:50] The Steph Curry effect–we care about what humans do (and how to make viral videos).
[54:13] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Get in front of the AI change as much as you can in your workplaces with your teams. Set up a channel to share, post and cold call on team members to spur ideas and activity.
RESOURCES
Michael (Mike) Todasco on LinkedIn
Mike’s AIdeas podcast
QUOTES
"Even just asking the right type of question is a way to just really force people to take a step back."
“By definition, AI is almost always going to be average right now. Ultimately, taste will matter more in the future, to know ‘what is good’?”
“We are becoming directors of this new future where being able to recognize quality, being able to understand what makes something good, what makes something bad, are going to matter much more than being able to put words on a blank white page.”
“People need to know how to use AI and embrace it and understand it. You could teach both the fundamentals without it and then teach them how to do even more with it.”
Henrik Jarleskog, Head of Future of Work at Sodexo, shares his multinational perspective transforming workplace strategies, services, and experiences to enhance employee and business performance. Henrik explains the shift from building-centric to human-centric approaches. He describes facilitating implementation of wide-ranging future workplace strategies and systems, adapting for changing business, workforce, and cultural needs, for Sodexo’s more than 400,000 employees worldwide. Henrik recognizes the critical flexible, social, and strategic imperatives of modern, distributed work, and models essential experimentation with AI promoting adoption and integration.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:12] Henrik studies mechanical engineering for its creativity, design, and business focus.
[03:29] The benefits of creativity in business for transformation and solving complex challenges.
[04:00] Henrik’s early career focuses on data-driven decisions and performance improvement.
[05:26] 20 years ago, workplace strategies were building-centric.
[06:11] The integrated facilities management trend resulted in more strategic higher-level deals.
[08:04] Workplace solutions and experiences are tailored for cultural and regulatory differences.
[09:44] Outsourced facilities management contracts taught leadership and management running significant P&Ls.
[11:58] Henrik gains great experience becoming a consultant to learn the skillset and tool box.
[12:50] Vested partnerships focus on buying outcomes instead of transactions from a supplier.
[13:42] The collaborative benefits of a relational contract which is transparent.
[14:45] A Nordic airline achieves a vested transformation throughout the supply chain.
[17:00] Transformation requires vision clarity and aligned incentives, communication, and actions.
[18:12] In transparent strategic partnerships, agree critical business metrics together.
[20:45] Henrik works with Sodexo, then his new family encourages him to take their job offer.
[22:17] How management consulting roles involve substantial solutions selling.
[23:20] Henrik works hybrid, while holding three roles, transforming the Nordic businesses.
[24:29] When the pandemic strikes, Henrik builds a fully digital region of 16 countries.
[26:00] Providing sustainable food solutions with broader services as workplace experiences to corporations.
[28:05] Sodexo recognizes the pandemic’s disruption, choosing to emerge as a thought leader.
[30:22] In employee surveys, preferences showed a huge shift in people’s expectations.
[31:10] How Activity Based Working changed workplace dynamics in Europe 20 years ago.
[33:56] New work norms and generational preferences such as flexibility and choice.
[35:45] Henrik supports companies spanning models ranging full-time in office to fully flexible.
[36:35] Providing knowledge and data for Future of Work and workplace systems and strategies.
[38:15] Clients need ‘magnetic offices’ supporting recruitment with great office-based experiences.
[39:31] Considering manufacturing site working experiences and the effect of monitoring.
[41:20] Building relationships and connection with social hubs to support collaboration.
[42:46] Two major structural changes: doing more with less and distributed work is here to stay.
[45:45] How do Fortune 500 companies’ hybrid/flexible models affect their performance?
[46:55] Nostalgia rather than data mostly drive five-days-a-week RTO mandates.
[47:35] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To move your company forward effectively. One, your honor, people-centric, flexible journey. So ask your teams what's working for us and not. Two, ensure your work model aligns with the corporate mission. Three, design flexible, fantastic workplace experiences. Four, ensure everything is as sustainable as possible.
[50:13] How Henrik views AI, experimentation and AI Agents.
[54:10] Being a leading role model in using AI.
[52:10] The future of work requires empathy and human-centric focus.
RESOURCES
Henrik Jarleskog on LinkedIn
Sodexo.com
QUOTES
“Distributed work is here to stay… it’s not being hybrid, it's distributed work. And that trend is so strong that everything else about two or three days a week, being flexible or not is just a big distraction compared to that.”
“Zero of these Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. are full time in office. If you look at the same in Europe for the top 10, they are 100% hybrid…Is there a correlation between how flexible you are as an operating model and your business performance? This is becoming more and more focused on now over the last quarter.”
“I haven't still met one company who has decided to bring their people back to the office five days a week that transparently can show me the data that is building that decision. Mostly, these type of decisions are based on nostalgia and not data.”
“Leaders of this world are in different degrees ready for leading hybrid, for leading remote, or in different versions of whatever it can be, because this is a difficult thing. But data indicates that we are on a flexible journey.”
“If you look at the performance of the best and largest companies of this world…they have a people centric approach. They are asking their teams, their organizations, “What is working for us? How do you think we should be formalizing our next generation operating model?”
Stephan Meier is Professor of Business Strategy at Columbia Business School and author of The Employee Advantage: How Putting Workers First Helps Business Thrive. Stephan describes how behavioral economics examine social dynamics and decision-making. He describes the importance of intrinsic motivation and fairness at work and the effect on behavior of monetary and non-monetary incentives. Stephan explains how fast-evolving business conditions require trusting leadership and empowered employees. He shares insights about flexibility and relatedness as key motivators which affect hybrid/remote working models.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:27] Stephan was fascinated by history but studied economics to understand the world better.
[03:19] Traditional economic models, though predictive, lack alignment with human behavior.
[04:09] Stephan explores behavioral economics to study non-rational behaviors and model deviations.
[06:03] For his PhD, Stephan researches intrinsic motivations and non-selfish human interactions.
[08:08] Early management models assumed people are lazy therefore control and incentives were essential.
[09:01] Lack of training to support employee-centric versus control, incentive mechanisms.
[11:06] Stephan’s thesis emphasizes intrinsic motivations and the joy achieved by helping others.
[12:01] Fairness and social norms are important to foster collaboration and group motivation.
[13:00] How monetary incentives can undermine social relationships.
[14:21] The dynamics of social and intrinsic motivation compared with financial motivation.
[17:13] Stephan’s Federal Reserve work focused on behavioral economics and improving financial decision-making.
[19:31] How people revert to status quo choices when tired and lacking nourishment.
[22:00] Money affects work-related decisions for people who are distracted by financial stressors.
[23:33] How behavioral science and economic rational competition determine our behaviors which need to be balanced.
[24:50] We overestimate our own decision-making abilities, not conscious of influential factors.
[25:35] How managers, as humans, are affected by layoffs and unemployment benefits.
[28:32] Thinking about employees like customers and improving their experiences.
[29:11] Competition and transparency are two key reasons for the new employee emphasis.
[30:27] A third reason is having more data and tools to personalize work experiences.
[32:35] Employee centricity: fixing pain points and finding moments that matter along the Employee Journey.
[33:21] The need for constant feedback and innovation to improve employees’ experiences.
[35:07] What really motivates people and using technology to enhance not destroy this.
[35:52] At the current pace of change, the importance of trusting relationships and autonomy.
[36:35] Especially in AI-integrated, flatter companies, we need to empower employees.
[37:20] Upskilling employees by matching them with opportunities just as Netflix matches viewers with their preferences.
[40:00] Flexibility and relatedness are important motivators to consider when optimizing hybrid and remote work models
[40:16] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To achieve a more employee centric approach, tap into two motivators: flexibility, giving people autonomy about how, when, where to work; and relatedness having social interactions which include in person.
[41:45] Leaders need to embrace behavioral insights to adapt for new working environments.
[43:16] Being intentional about workplace culture and coordinating office-based working.
[45:30] Treating employees well is a win-win.
[46:30] We must understand what motivates employees and use technology to enhance these motivators.
RESOURCES
Stephan Meier on LinkedIn
Stephan’s website
Stephan’s book “The Employee Advantage: How Putting Workers First Helps Business Thrive”
QUOTES
“If we think people are lazy and we want to control, technology gives us the amazing tools to control to the level that we never could before. But that will be exactly destroying everything about the trusting relationship.”
"If you integrate more AI, normally the hierarchies become flatter. Now you actually need teams who work more autonomously. You empower them and it's a very different way of managing because you now have to trust them as well.”
“The same trends that led to customer centricity lead to employees centricity. We actually have a lot of tools about customers that we can now apply to employees. We can figure out what are the pain points, what are the moments that matter or whatever you want to call those for our employees to actually delight them.”
“We do have to empower employees more. Top down works really well when it's relatively stable and not changing in working when it's moving fast, you have to change.”
“Most leaders are not trained in understanding what motivates people beyond monetary control mechanisms.”
Heather E. McGowan is a keynote speaker and author of The Empathy Advantage and The Adaptation Advantage with deep experience in the Future of Work field. She describes the importance of empathy with AI's growing influence and fostering a connected, resilient, and adaptable workforce. Heather discusses how AI can transform cognitive work and why leaders must shift from relying on their own expertise to harnessing collective intelligence. She explains how the promise and tacit agreement of work has changed, leading to younger generations’ focus on mission, impact, and mentorship.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:35] Interested in human behavior and art, Heather goes to RISD to study industrial design.
[04:00] Heather learns to ask the right question – is the process, not the product, that matters.
[04:54] Observing people helps Heather identify unarticulated needs, as seen with the Swiffer.
[06:21] Heather designs various products then does an MBA to bridge design and business.
[07:36] Her mentor’s influence directs her towards ESG-focused private equity work.
[09:49] Integrating design and business, Heather works in academia for several years.
[10:50] Heather starts defining how work is changing for her academic and corporate clients as the Future of Work emerges.
[12:24] Challenging the concept of having to take single discipline courses before collaborative studies.
[13:00] The importance of having a common mindset around problem solving.
[13:31] Using basic systems thinking to understand the impact of solutions.
[14:33] Interesting reactions to mixed-year participation in courses.
[15:25] How people responded to integrated design-thinking projects.
[16:15] Heather gets delayed positive feedback to their innovative approach.
[16:39] Insights from Heather’s experiences in education such as getting people to think propositionally.
[17:00] The genesis of the Adaptation Advantage book.
[17:45] The impact of set occupational identity and the rigid 'education-career-retire' model.
[18:26] Lifelong learning with learning and careers overlapping not sequential stages.
[18:55] Retirement is not good for us, now that life expectancy has increased.
[19:30] The AARP starts to focus on people’s ‘next’ or ‘encore’ chapter rather than ‘retirement’.
[20:46] Heather’s research and writing focuses on Future of Work tacit vs explicit knowledge.
[21:17] Explicit knowledge can be automated, while tacit knowledge needs human interaction.
[22:15] AI as a “third lens” for understanding human cognition and expanding our capabilities.
[23:39] Heather warns that over-reliance on automation risks atrophying our skills.
[24:59] The benefit of enhancing cognitive capabilities, not just reducing costs.
[26:16] The long broken agreement about work between employers and employees.
[27:38] Gen Z seeks mission, meaningful work, and mentorship since there is no job security.
[28:04] Empathy is necessary to connect with employees and understand their mentoring needs.
[28:55] Leaders must not rely on individual intelligence but shift to collective intelligence.
[30:34] Heather predicts AI will disrupt cognitive work much like electrification disrupted labor.
[31:28] Heather connects rising polarization with declines in socialization and greater loneliness.
[32:08] How our brains are shaped for agitation because of our solitude.
[33:00] Workplaces serving as essential social trust-building spaces.
[34:32] Leaders must build trust through authenticity, logic, and empathy.
[35:30] The compelling letter Airbnb’s CEO wrote to employees being laid off.
[37:36] Being transparent about the challenges of fast-changing circumstances.
[38:16] Human-centered policies which optimize for thriving employees improve retention and financial performance.
[40:45] When leaders reach a very senior level in organizations their empathy decreases.
[42:47] Heather encourages reweaving the social fabric to foster collaborative exploration.
[44:16] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Talk with coworkers about shared values. Ask how they're doing, if they're getting enough sleep, if they're working on a project that is meaningful to them. Share experiences where you've been able to bounce forward, not back. Your job is to help your team adapt to change and become the next best version of themselves.
RESOURCES
Heather McGowan on LinkedIn
Heather’s website
Leading the Day After article
Sven Hansen and the Reliance Institute
Letter from Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, to employees
Frances Frei, HBS Professor
QUOTES
“We need to start taking longer strides and putting greater visions out there and say it's going to be hard, but it's going to be worth it."
"Trust comes down to three things. Authenticity, logic, and empathy. So authenticity is do people experience the real you? Do they feel like you're giving them the honest approach when you're delivering things to you, or are you putting on a Persona? Logic is, do you have a sound theory of what you're asking people to do? Ability to communicate, a division of where the organization is trying to go? And then do you demonstrate that you care what that work means to the individual?"
“Now, most leaders are leading teams of people who have skills and knowledge they do not have at least some of them, and it may not even be within their group. So you can't lead with Individual intelligence, you have to lead with collective intelligence. You cannot get collective intelligence without empathy. So that's the first piece of how we need to lead differently.”
“If we only use technology to replace what humans currently do, it's a race to the bottom. If we only let humans get lazy by using ChatGPT, we will lose. What we need to do is ‘Where is the ability to enhance? Where can I become better? Where can I make my organizational capacity stronger, greater, more resilient?”
“The promise and the agreement on work, the tacit agreement we've had for work has changed. It really became the last promise for the Boomers was ‘I trade my loyalty to an organization for the security of employment’. That promise has been broken for many decades, But the organizations that are still expecting that loyalty, that be it not providing that promise of security, have to realize they have to provide something else.”
“I think what Gen Z is pushing for, which I think a lot of folks are on board with, is instead, I know I'm not going to get security. So I want three things. I want mission. I want to be part an organization that's trying to do something big and hard and meaningful. I want to be part of something bigger than myself essentially. I want meaningful work.”
Luis Velasquez Ph.D. is the author of Ordinary Resilience, an executive leadership coach, and former research scientist. He describes his journey after a brain tumor forced him to leave academia and reinvent himself, using endurance sports goals during recovery. Luis explains how resilience means defining who you are, accepting your circumstances, and adapting to change, not toughness. He emphasizes intentional reframing, focusing on what you can control, and building relationships to foster social resilience and weather challenges. Luis shares insights and mental models for leaders managing teams as we navigate change at work and beyond.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:27] Instead of becoming a farmer, Luis loves science and does a Ph.D. in molecular biology.
[02:59] Luis returns to Guatemala after a scholarship to college in the US, as he had committed to.
[03:38] Luis takes the hardest class—plant pathology—wanting to improve resistance to disease.
[04:49] Becoming a professor of fungal genetics, Luis wants to protect plants.
[05:40] Suddenly, Luis gets a brain tumor and his full life stops.
[06:50] Luis describes growing up amidst poverty and political violence in Guatemala.
[07:24] Surviving the tumor, Luis's ‘recovery’ goal is to run a marathon which takes him a year.
[07:57] Luis has to reinvent himself and recognizes ‘what I do is not who I am’.
[09:18] Luis gives his tumor a funny name and begins his second journey.
[10:00] Exploring the various ways Luis can use the same tools; he chooses Human Resources.
[12:21] With reflection and research, Luis realizes everyone has resilience within that they can access.
[14:07] Overwhelming amounts of information now at work put us in a phase of beginners.
[15:02] In flatter organizations, how can we learn what we need to know?
[15:53] We must be intentional about connections, not optimizing meetings only for efficiency.
[17:32] How trusting relationships change interpersonal dynamics.
[18:45] The power of social resilience, including allowing us to mimic solutions.
[20:07] The most important question is ‘what is the problem you are trying to solve?’
[21:48] Resilience is not changing, but adapting, who we are.
[22:44] Luis’s niche is helping people who are difficult at work, often misunderstood.
[23:31] When intention is not aligned with action, and how to motivate alignment.
[24:43] What small adjustment can be made to fulfill your intention and be perceived differently?
[26:34] How entrepreneurs perceive failure if they attach their identity to their product.
[27:55] The mental model that separates outcomes and outputs.
[29:46] The power of reframing – such as the difference between a position and an option.
[32:13] Younger employees are afraid of making mistakes and losing face.
[32:58] The three types of failure and the issue of not clarifying when failure happens.
[33:58] Resilience: taking a small risk, being able to make a mistake, adapt, and improve.
[35:25] Luis's mental model ANT: an Annoying Negative Thought!
[36:08] How to dispel swirling negative thoughts.
[37:05] Everyone has what it takes to be resilient - a commitment and a decision to move forward.
[38:11] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To be more resilient to change, describe yourself—who are you? Then give yourself permission to move forward in the direction you want. Make a choice. Make a decision as the first step.
RESOURCES
Luis Velasquez on LinkedIn
Luis’s company VelasCoaching.com
Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath
QUOTES edited
“I realized that who I am is not what I do or even what I have.”
“I learned over the years that the world doesn't belong to the people that know the most but to the people that learn the fastest.”
“We all are in a phase of beginners because we cannot know everything…Right now, a lot of the things that we are trying to work on, we don't even know how to start. Everybody's doing something new.”
“Whatever problem you are having, whether it is a work or in life, somebody already went through that. All we need to do is ask…If you are socially resilient, you will find people who are going to solve your problem.”
“The entrepreneurial spirit is not tied to the product…Separate the identity of these individuals [entrepreneurs] with what they're trying to accomplish. Those are two completely different things.”
“When you take a position, it's very hard to defend. And it's also very hard to see other options available. But if you shift it and say this is an option – how else can we do it?”
“Younger employees are afraid of making mistakes. Losing face is a big issue. I think that that fear comes from the inflexibility of organizations to accept mistakes and failures.”
“Resilience is taking the first step and moving forward.”
“I think that the biggest gift that life has given us is the ability to make a choice. You can, I can, everybody can say, I am going to do something different. I am going to stop doing X. Just making that decision will take you a long way. It's making the decision as the first step.”
Vidya Krishnan, Chief Learning Officer at Ericsson, combines her engineering experience, systems thinking, and love of learning to connect core upskilling with corporate strategy. For Vidya, learning at the speed of technology development requires a learning mindset and future-focused dynamic approach to jobs and skills. Vidya explains how a project marketplace enables internal talent mobility: redesigning work with a skills-focus; facilitating evolution to ‘resource fluidity’; and allowing organic shifts into emerging areas as employees gravitate towards where work is flowing. Vidya recommends stability management with change management.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:06] Vidya studies electrical engineering influenced by her family’s engineering legacy.
[03:16] Deeply admiring engineering and loving learning, Vidya admits she had ‘will before skill’.
[04:14] Vidya promotes internships: good summertime feedback boosts her while some college studies challenge.
[05:07] For personal reasons Vidya leaves AT&T joining Nortel (acquired by Ericsson) in Dallas.
[06:19] Always an engineer, now focused on people’s experiences in L&D, Vidya loves teaching.
[08:24] Learning is as the heart of every transformation for Vidya’s team and workplace.
[09:19] Learning even more from failure, by addressing both shame and ignorance after mistakes.
[11:11] Technology and people are inherently upgradable—ongoing learning at a tech company.
[12:34] How engineers need "power skills" like storytelling and managing stakeholders.
[14:05] Looking creatively to other industries, like aviation, to solve engineering challenges.
[16:49] Vidya has a double life for three years learning and networking at learning conferences.
[18:54] Managers want her to advance in engineering, but Vidya is determined to change field.
[19:45] Vidya overcomes self-doubt and family concerns while transitioning her career.
[21:15] After three years, Vidya transitions horizontally into technical training for customers.
[22:56] Becoming a studio offering digital learning using multimedia and experiential techniques.
[23:41] How to create capabilities that customers will pay for and employees value.
[27:00] Systems thinking to describe work’s three dimensions: digital ecosystem, business system, and culture system.
[30:14] A systems vs programmatic approach to work is strategic and natural at a tech company.
[31:20] Skills development is vital and therefore must be connected to company strategy.
[33:21] Constructing a framework where skills are derivative of corporate strategy.
[34:20] Starting with the one skill that is most consequential to the strategy—less is more.
[36:20] Two sets of skills—global critical skills (top down) and job role skills (bottom up).
[37:30] Digitalizing a job architecture starts development of a skills taxonomy.
[38:23] Getting on the skills games board through credentialing and contribution.
[39:13] To be future focused, skills and job roles are digitalized into a relational database.
[40:40] Skills’ journey phases: initialize, mobilize, and capitalize advancing with winnable games.
[43:10] "Resource fluidity" is where employees’ skills are not confined to their job role—reskill and constantly redeploy.
[44:45] A talent marketplace that is a project marketplace redesigns work to put skills to work.
[47:43] Disaggregating work into projects enables work packages doable outside of people’s day jobs—a third space—to develop new skills.
[50:30] Enabling employees to gravitate towards emerging areas from eroding areas.
[51:35] The hypothesis that progressive career reinvention at scale will pay for itself.
[52:25] A project marketplace creates capability and expands capacity.
[54:50] Partnership is the new leadership, and co-creation and co-ownership are key to execution.
[56:10] Stability management needs to accompany change management.
[57:16] How business cross-functionality can allow varied thinking and ‘wicked’ problem solving.
[58:13] Project marketplace decouples work from many traditional boundaries.
[01:00:21] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Start now. Start small with one critical skill. Connect it to strategy, which is done systematically.
RESOURCES
Vidya Krishnan on LinkedIn
Ericsson.com
Books mentioned:
Range by David Epstein
The Problem with Change by Ashley Goodall
Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Lalou
QUOTES (edited)
“If we give people the opportunity to put their skills to work, this is actually very healthy for the company because we are organically self-shaping away from eroding areas into emerging areas …people naturally gravitating to where the work is flowing.”
“You have a dynamic platform that's digitalized for jobs and skills to stay in lockstep with industry evolution: what's emerging, what's eroding, and for that stuff to easily automatically flow through every other system in the company where people are making decisions about who to hire, how to evolve their career, how to specify the requirements for this requisition, what job roles need to go out the window, what new job roles need to be introduced.”
“How do you put learning in the flow of work and work in the flow of learning so that it's happening to people experientially?”
“Work has three dimensions: there's an ecosystem, a business system and a culture system.”
“The logic was that if things that are vital should be systematic rather than programmatic so that they happen no matter what, because that's what vital things should do. And then you fundamentally believe that skills are vital, as I do, because they are what connect strategy to execution. So if you believe that, then it follows you must take a systematic approach.”
“Strategy without skills is a daydream. Skills and execution without strategy is a nightmare.”
“Capabilities are what create execution of the strategy.” “It's a means to an end. What's the end? It's to execute strategy. Therefore, it has to be systematically connected to strategy.”
“Partnership is a new leadership and co creation and co ownership is actually the key to execution, which is not clean and it may be a little bit messy.”
Mark Ma, a research professor at the University of Pittsburgh, studies social and economic issues including Return To Office (RTO) mandates, AI, and tax evasion. A working parent during the pandemic, Mark describes how personal and community experiences initially generated his interest in researching remote work options and hybrid policies. He shares his discoveries that stock market declines generated RTO mandates but not improved corporate results. Mark discusses the dynamics of executives’ control, power, and distrust affecting work policies. He advocates for workplace flexibility—giving employees and teams choices.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:23] While Mark’s parents advised him to study accounting, he found it fascinating.
[03:01] For his PhD, Mark explores financial analysis, and his tax avoidance research is cited.
[03:45] Passionate about research, Mark pursues academia, also appreciating the flexible lifestyle.
[05:09] Parental challenges during the pandemic fuels Mark’s interest in remote work options.
[05:50] Noticing neighbors’ complaints about returning to the office, Mark attends a conference and hears about working from home research.
[06:41] Mark gets tenure and explores risky research projects that help improve people’s lives.
[08:25] In late 2022, Mark starts collecting data on companies’ return-to-office mandates.
[09:25] Leaders say remote workers aren’t working hard, while employees keep performing.
[11:06] Return-To-Office mandates often happen after a stock price crash—but why?
[12:00] How remote work gets blamed—without evidence—for poor performance.
[14:36] RTO mandates also result from executives’ loss of control and not trusting employees.
[15:40] Companies may also use RTO policies to easily/cheaply lay off employees.
[18:16] Male and powerful CEOs—with higher relative salaries—issue more RTO mandates to assert control.
[21:38] Employee and team choice is recommended combined with intentional office time.
[22:32] Mark needs data from companies offering employee choice to confirm the best approach.
[24:58] Amazon’s shifts to 3-days/wk then 5-days/week RTO has caused employee dissatisfaction and departures.
[25:50] One example of Nvidia’s flexible policy enables it to benefit from Amazon’s rigid one.
[26:59] Mark finds no evidence that RTO mandates help firms’ performance or stock price.
[27:43] Should productivity be measured appropriately and over what time period?
[29:12] States level data shows structured hybrid work reduces depression and suicide risks.
[32:00] Fully remote workers often self-select which fits their lifestyle and social setup.
[32:50] Companies going fully remote need regular off-site engagements to mitigate isolation.
[34:18] New research explores RTO mandates’ affect turnover, especially in finance and tech.
[35:20] Initial findings show higher turnover, especially among women, follows RTO mandates.
[36:48] After RTOs announcements, turnover increases quickly as some people can’t go back to the office.
[39:06] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: “First, allow flexibility so employees have choice. Second, promote flexible team leaders to signal that people working from home will not be penalized. Third, for new graduate hires who want to work at the office, ensure mentors are present to support them.
RESOURCES
Mark Ma on LinkedIn
Is Workplace Flexibility Good for the Environment?
Research on Return To Office Mandates
Mental Health Benefits of Workplace Flexibility
QUOTES
“The more powerful CEOs and the male CEOs are more likely to impose return-to-office mandates.”
“You should allow team choice plus employee choice. That means teams decide when they want to come to office together. And on those in office days, those meetings should be intentional.”
“We clearly do not find any evidence that Return To Office mandates help firms’ performance or stock price.”
“Five-day in-office work is not necessarily good for your mental health.”
“A lot of top executives, when they do not see the employees in the office, they do not trust the employees. They feel they have lost control of the employees.”
"Firms are telling their employees, you can work from home, but you will not be promoted. That's not a good strategy because your good employees will leave."
"By promoting flexible team leaders, you will send a signal to those people who want to stay remote or hybrid that there is a clear career path for them."
Mika Cross is a Workplace Transformation Strategist at Strategy@Work. She discusses her military career and years federal government agency experience including talent management, workplace flexibility, and wellness. Mika shares her approach to distributed teams, performance management, and work-life balance. She describes how flexible private sector workforce management policies, informed by public sector successes, foster engagement, retain talent, and meet the diverse needs of the modern, distributed workforce. Mika describes how remote work options allow us to reimagine veterans’ and civilians’ working lives and communities.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:39] MIka works wants to be a journalist then has to take a break in her studies.
[03:17] A mentor suggests military service so Mika can complete her education and serve nobly.
[04:26] Mika has some job options from Uncle Sam after finishing top three in her officer training class.
[05:35] Mika is attracted by inclusive workplaces that support the whole soldier and family.
[06:32] Working for a rapidly deployable unit, Mika must support distributed teams holistically.
[07:33] The military is facing shortages, how can retention be improved using flexibility?
[09:15] How to share knowledge across agencies while dealing with confidential information.
[10:31] What does employee experience look like in the federal government?
[11:49] The power of communication to enable effective policy implementation.
[13:41] Managers want discretion and information to make the right decisions for their teams.
[16:11] With deep knowledge of federal regulations, Mika takes an integrated systems approach.
[17:44] What are the blocks to effective equal opportunity?
[18:37] Mika finds some workplace flexibility policy options blocked by supervisors.
[19:50] Mindsets can prevent advancements or enable cultural transformation.
[21:26] How to measure the impact of policies including cost savings.
[23:04] Taking a multi-pronged approach with broad buy in and incentivized training.
[24:25] Celebrating wins, measuring engagement, and saving on leases.
[25:34] The benefits of getting multiple share stakeholders on board.
[26:36] The USDA gets recognition and rewards as one of America's best workplaces.
[27:25] Achieving savings of $8 million per year through telecommuting.
[31:00] Negotiating work policies with 92 unions!
[36:34] Enabling veterans’ smooth transitions into civilian jobs requires many types of flexibility.
[38:20] Mika explores upskilling, reskilling and benefits.
[40:14] Veterans often returning to Hometown USA find few jobs after years of rural brain drain.
[41:20] Three ways to provide thriving healthy supportive workplaces to veterans.
[42:43] Military spouses need remote work options as they support transitioning veterans.
[45:01] The wild opportunity to reimagine the nation, rebuilding Hometown USA.
[46:58] The importance of soft skills -- or success skills as Mike calls them.
[48:18] Mika believes in career readiness skills so workers learn how to work.
[49:14] Moving to a skills-based talent economy.
[50:27] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you don’t include flexibility in your work policies and turnover increases, recognize the burden on employees who stay and the loss of skills and organizational knowledge. Instead, extend a little trust and autonomy first, hold people accountable second, and teach flexible open mindsets.
RESOURCES
Mika Cross on LinkedIn
Mika’s website MikaCross.com
QUOTES
“I ended up seeing the power of inclusive workplaces, supportive workplaces, policies, procedures and programs that supported the whole soldier in order to get the best out of our troops, especially when they are deploying into conflict and being separated from their families and having to support the other half of that equation, which is their spouse, their families, their children, their loved ones.”
“It really helped me to inform, regardless of what my work was or what projects I was working on, how are people interpreting even the wording in these policies to be able to implement them successfully the way we intended.”
“The Secretary of Agriculture had included telework work life and wellness as a component of his vision for cultural transformation and had monthly metrics to which he reviewed and held his sub cabinet committee accountable for each and every month.”
“If you have jobs that are suitable to be done in a remote capacity, could you be leveraging those remote jobs for the purpose of attracting and hiring an amazing skillset of talent from either military spouses or transitioning veterans?”
“We're looking at wild opportunity for our nation to rebuild and put emphasis in areas of the country that sort of have been left behind in the past.”
“When you consider older workers staying longer, trying to continue working, this can really create opportunity not just for employers, but for those communities where they live. If they're able to continue contributing their tax base, to the infrastructure, and re-imagining what our Hometown USAs can look like all around the country.”
“What we used to call soft skills; I like to call them success skills—skills that any worker needs in any industry and occupation. These are what can set you apart from someone else. Things like critical thinking, autonomous work ethic, conflict resolution skills, interpersonal, and intergenerational skills.”
Paul J. Zak is a Professor and Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University. Paul is the Founder of Immersion Neuroscience a company that enables measurement of immersion in experiences in real-time. He has authored books including Immersion and The Trust Factor. Paul emphasizes customer lifetime value and the effect of creating extraordinary experiences for customers and employees. He discusses the neuroscience linking trust, psychological safety, and employee engagement to improved business outcomes. Paul highlights emotional fitness and how leaders creating empathetic, trust-based cultures enable employees to flourish, boosting their satisfaction and well-being.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:43] Paul studies mathematics, biology, and neuroscience to understand human behavior.
[03:21] ‘Why are we nice to each other?’ has been a core area of study in Paul’s lab.
[04:00] Humans are naturally group-oriented and thrive when working collaboratively.
[05:35] Creating extraordinary employee experiences is key to engagement and performance.
[06:52] Paul focuses on Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) supported by strong employee engagement.
[07:40] Improved customer service helps customers and can boost employee satisfaction too.
[10:12] Businesses must focus on retaining talent by fostering employee growth and satisfaction.
[11:15] Paul advocates for a coaching model of leadership that encourages autonomy.
[12:06] Trust with psychological safety allows employees to be comfortable and burn less neurologic energy.
[13:46] Leaders must create environments for people to flourish, not expecting consistency.
[14:39] The "Whole Person Review" is forward-looking focusing on professional, personal, and spiritual growth.
[16:56] With empathy and trust closely related, leaders best recognize employees as humans with emotions and personal lives.
[18:12] Paul enjoys daily huddles fostering team connection and alignment at work.
[19:04] Leaders benefit from in-person interactions to build and sustain relationships.
[22:04] What experiences do people value? Offer the office as a social emotional hub.
[24:24] Six peak immersion moments per day lasting three minutes build emotional fitness.
[24:56] Adding a social layer to any experience increases neurologic immersion and satisfaction.
[25:32] Video conference interactions achieve 50- 80% of the value of in-person interactions.
[28:35] Leaders need to understand brain responses to nurture psychological safety.
[29:20] Teams of 15-20 perform better because individuals can maintain strong connections.
[30:09] Creating an environment where people can flourish and be fully engaged at work and outside work.
[32:18] Eight factors generate peak immersion moments so employees can adjust assignments with their supervisor.
[33:09] A Google employee finds she loves coaching and moves to Facebook to mentor developers.
[34:38] Crafting jobs that challenge people—to do what is hard to master but achievable.
[35:40] Conversations about investing in professional development—a key trust factor.
[37:50] Train extensively then delegate generously to give people control over their work lives.
[38:41] Autonomy and job satisfaction improved when hospital nurses had more decision-making power in patient care.
[41:12] Leaders should model behaviors they want to see.
[43:52] Stress is not bad—manageable challenges can stimulate engagement and bonding.
[44:42] Paul’s skydiving experiences and his oxytocin and stress levels inverted over time.
[46:05] Challenges at work enable employees to perform at their best and achieve satisfaction.
[47:02] Create environments where employees can flourish, be safe, have immersion moments, and connect with each other.
[49:14] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: For a longer happier life, invest time in things that excite and engage you to build up emotional fitness and resilience. Emotional fitness motivates people to exercise more, eat and sleep better which improves health and extends life span.
RESOURCES
Paul J. Zak Ph.D. on LinkedIn
Paul’s company Immersion’s website
Paul’s books “Immersion”, “The Trust Factor”, “The Moral Molecule”
QUOTES (edited)
“If employees do not love what they're doing, they're just not going to perform as well. So how do I create this environment where employees can really flourish and share that with customers?”
“You have this kind of inverted pyramid where leadership is at service of the individual--employees who are creating value. Then you see this great connection with the company's purpose.”
“If we can create an environment where employees have this real sense of mission, they're connected to the purpose of the organization, they're working in an environment where they really can flourish professionally, then when they come home, they actually are more satisfied with their lives outside of work.”
“If I understand an employee as a leader—you're not human capital, you're a human being—you have emotions, you have a personal life. Hopefully, you love what you do here, you feel like you're fairly compensated and you're excited about how we improve our customers' lives. If I recognize all of that, then I'm going to be much more of a guide or a coach and less of a top-down micromanager.”
“I have to have this empathy of intolerance for the kind of weirdness of human beings!”
“Am I creating this environment of psychological safety where people are sufficiently comfortable, so they have the brain bandwidth to be fully in on the tasks they're doing?”
“From a psychological perspective, when people have control over their work lives, they have greater job satisfaction. They don't get burned out as often. And when an employee is trained, then they need some discretion on how they execute their job.”
Kelly Monahan, Ph.D., is Managing Director of Upwork’s Research Institute, with research published in applied and academic journals. Kelly is the author of “How Behavioral Economics Influences Management Decision-making: A New Paradigm.” She shares insights from studies of strategic leadership and organizational behavior. Kelly urges executives and managers to rethink their approach to work and leading a distributed, blended, and AI-augmented workforce. She emphasizes accessing versus acquiring skilled talent enabling businesses to be agile and compete.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:21] Kelly misses a human element in her business degree so gets into strategic leadership.
[03:10] Kelly aligns with Edward Deming’s thinking that systems are the issue, not the people.
[03:57] Leadership feels broken. As part of her Ph.D., Kelly researches how people learn.
[04:55] Kelly discovers business philosophy is founded on the assumption that people are lazy.
[05:50] Kelly focuses on how leaders can appeal to people’s intrinsic motivations.
[06:31] Early in her career, Kelly works as a media planner during the financial crisis.
[08:55] In 2015, CEOs 3 big worries: more distributed work, blended workforces, AI taking jobs.
[12:05] Leaders struggle to manage distributed and cross-functional teams.
[12:35] Leading through influence, not hierarchy, requires the new power skill, empathy.
[13:13] Most leadership theories derive from the military and don’t translate well for business.
[14:37] Kelly finds more emphasis on empathy in the military than business leadership.
[00:15:19] At Accenture, the pandemic lockdown stops Kelly from announcing a new people-first approach.
[00:17:27] During the crisis, Kelly stress-tests the framework and sees employees’ needs evolve.
[00:19:40] Kelly joins Meta, excited about the possibilities of VR/AR in shaping the future of work.
[00:20:28] Tech companies have location-centric cultures so what is distributed work going to look like?
[21:20] Hands-on, Kelly tries to understand how leadership norms and careers will evolve.
[22:00] Relying on local talent will not be sufficient as engineer must be hired further afield.
[22:50] How Ready Player One expresses some of Kelly’s technology-related fears.
[23:28] Meta focuses on bringing social presence and connections into digital environments.
[24:53] Kelly is bullish about personal connections and realistic human presence in virtual space.
[26:05] Virtual environments could democratize access to learning, but there are trade-offs.
[26:45] Kelly goes to Upwork seeing the urgent need for companies to access skilled external talent.
[28:58] Over 2-3 years, Kelly predicts companies have a more blended talent mix to be more agile.
[31:16] Freelancers tend to stay competitively upskilled compared to full-time employees.
[32:14] GenAI is disrupting tasks, causing leaders to rethink how work is done and by whom.
[35:05] HR strategies do not align with Gen Zers’ desire for diversified work to have financial stability.
[37:05] Kelly advocates more dynamic “talent access” rather than “talent acquisition.”
[39:00] Using an abundant mindset rather than a scarcity ‘war for talent’-type mindset.
[41:00] Kelly highlights NASA which successfully uses external talent to solve big problems.
[42:56] Kelly believes connecting business performance with new ways of working is key for businesses survival.
[45:15] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Rather than thinking of a job when analyzing work, consider ‘what’s the problem I’m trying to solve for?’ Then what are the skills you need to achieve the project and how can AI and skilled freelancers be incorporated as part of the solution?
RESOURCES
Kelly Monahan on LinkedIn
Upwork
Upwork’s Research Institute
Care to do better Research
QUOTES (edited)
“The true power skill today of how people lead—it's not through formal structure, it is through their ability to empathize and move people to move in a direction they otherwise wouldn't.”
“Whether it's transformational leadership or servant leadership or authentic leadership, all these different theories, they really didn't translate well into the business world because so much of it was actually still from a transactional, top down driven approach.”
“Today's need, urgent need, is to help leaders begin to realize that there's really skilled outside talented, that they need to learn how to capture and create the processes and leadership styles and environment to actually bring in this talent in order to continue to navigate the turbulent times we were in.”
“I think the next wave of innovation is going to come from a much more disciplined approach of how companies are organizing their talent, in particular, and beginning to really right size the mix that they need. Skills change too quickly to continue to keep really large, full-time core up to date. It's nearly an impossible task.”
“Freelancers tend to be at the bleeding edge of their skilling. When your livelihood depends on it, you make the time to upskill and learn. We're seeing that with generative AI as being the most recent use case—freelancers are much more ahead of this technology curve.”
“How much is this [Generative AI] actually disrupting work at the task level itself, which is going to cause leaders to rethink ‘How do I actually really need to get this work done? Is it a full time employee or is it a combination of a freelancer and AI working together to get this work delivered?’”
“Leadership and talent in HR strategies have not kept pace with the way that the social contract has changed. When you ask the majority of Gen Z'ers today in particular, ‘Where do you find the more stability? Is it that one to one relationship or is it the one to many?’ The majority of Gen Z are telling us it's the one to many is where they actually feel more stable and they feel more in control of their career.”
“The majority of executives have been taught 'I'm in a war for talent'. When you have that mindset, it's very much a scarcity mindset. Because we're dealing with people and human beings, I encourage much more of a collaborative ecosystem, an abundant mindset as opposed to a scarcity mindset.”
John Hopkins PhD is Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management at Swinburne University of Technology. He is also Founder of WorkFLEX which helps people transition to new ways of working. John discusses how his academic involvement in supply chain dynamics and traffic congestion led him to investigate flexible working. He highlights the long-term sustainability of hybrid work, emphasizing its potential to reduce supply chain bottlenecks and improve work-life balance. John discusses Australia's new “Right to Disconnect” law and other countries introducing healthy work boundaries. He predicts work time reduction is the next big work topic.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:08] John starts his working career with a mechanical engineering apprenticeship.
[02:37] John studies mechanical engineering with management, focusing on supply chains.
[03:15] Learning about global business flow working at a car parts supplier.
[04:10] John’s PhD on e-commerce explores emerging virtual marketplaces.
[05:35] A UK defense project John works on uses technology to support fast decision-making.
[06:34] Researching traffic flow, supply chain challenges relate to office-centric work culture.
[07:30] John questions why people are commuting each day to the office.
[08:55] Employees’ tools are no longer city based.
[09:50] John and his partner travel around the world, love Australia and pledge to go back.
[11:40] John’s interest in technologies enabling supply chain communication and collaboration.
[12:20] John wins an innovation fellowship and uses his research on flexible working to launch WorkFLEX.
[13:30] The pandemic hits and John develops online course content to help people adapt.
[15:20] #1: Companies wanted flexible working and reacted quickly given enough motivation.
[16:23] #2: Attitudes and behaviors adapted rapidly as well.
[17:20] #3: 2024 has been a seminal year as hybrid is firmly embedded in Australian work practices.
[18:24] John finds the hybrid compromise to be a win-win.
[19:57] Most companies are not implementing hybrid well, not customizing the model.
[22:00] We need to discuss with employees what work they are doing and where = how.
[24:50] How the pandemic shone a light on the supply chain.
[25:30] John was Mr. Toilet Paper for a while in 2020!
[27:40] Research that combines supply chains and flexible working.
[30:32] Lack of effective risk management in supply chains was highlighted during the crisis.
[32:35] Cities were designed based on people flow—e.g. where water processing is needed.
[33:40] Some of the return to office push is related to investment in city infrastructure.
[36:19] Scale is the biggest issue with supply chains.
[37:10] Technologically sophisticated supply chains are patchworks of thousands of moving parts.
[38:22] We take for granted the relationships that enable us to have easy access to so much.
[39:25] Trust is essential to make the supply chain work.
[41:28] The new “Right to Disconnect” law in Australia comes into effect in August 2024.
[42:25] Before 2009, we actively needed to “connect” to access work outside office hours.
[44:44] The norm of being connected was never specified, so the law is a first healthy boundary on work practices.
[47:40] France’s similar law in 2017 did not reduce productivity and emergencies are excluded.
[48:22] Giving workers confidence to not respond and reverse unhealthy behavioral norms.
[50:04] Governments may not need to create more mandates; flexible work is already in process.
[50:38] The Right to Request Flexibility laws in Singapore and the UK.
[51:25] Next step may be the Four Day Workweek, now ‘work’ is being discussed broadly.
[52:50] The intensification of work combined with longer working hours.
[54:04] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Keep it simple. Go to the basics. Make decisions based on ‘would the customer care’?
RESOURCES
John Hopkins PhD on LinkedIn
WorkFLEX Australia
John Hopkins PhD press on the “Right to Disconnect”
QUOTES (edited)
“We need to start thinking about what the work is that the people are doing and how often they should come together based on that, not based on anything else.”
“I feel that one thing the pandemic has done is that it's allowed us to have discussions about anything to do with work.”
“Trust is a really big thing. So in terms of supply chain, you need to be able to trust that you are going to get from a supplier what you need when you need it, in the quantity that you need, and the quality that you need.”
“We've got this intensification of work because we have all these tools that do things quicker and quicker for us. We're working more hours and doing more per hour.”
“Let's not have these mandates that just say two days or three days or whatever, with no further thinking or justification behind that. That's going to upset everybody.”
“Looking at flexible and remote work and flexible work arrangements and how that can impact and benefit supply chains. Let's remember that almost every organization has a supply chain. So everybody's got some support in a supply chain somewhere along the line.”
“My big prediction in terms of what will happen next in this whole kind of field is more about work time reduction.“
“It was never written into a policy that I'm aware of where we would say, you will be available to do this, you will be available to do that. It’s a societal norm that has evolved.”
“What this law is doing, or it's certainly taking the first step towards achieving, is putting a boundary around work time and rest time.”
#fourdayworkweek #timereduction #supplychain #hybridmodel #righttodisconnect #australia #bottlenecks #flexibility #flexibleworking #congestion #trafficflow #worklifebalance
Dan Smolen is the host and executive producer of the "What's Your Work Fit?" podcast and a veteran executive recruiter. He explores how talent dynamics are evolving in the modern workplace as recruiters shift to focus on candidates' ability to adapt, learn continuously, and work collaboratively. Dan shares his insights on early talent’s new definitions of success, their emphasis on work/life balance, and preferences for flexible working. Dan describes how these changes are reshaping recruitment strategies and the critical role of empathy in modern hiring practices.Top of FormBottom of Form
TAKEAWAYS
[02:03] Dan chooses his college based on his interest in broadcasting.
[03:02] The Watergate scandal stimulates Dan’s passion for journalism at high school.
[03:44] Dan's goal was to become a news producer as he loves the news!
[04:53] An internship at Qube during college helps Dan realize broadcasting isn’t a good fit.
[06:16] Mentored by a legend in advertising, Dans focuses on marketing.
[07:31] During his early career, Dan works long hours and deals with difficult creative talent.
[09:04] Dan soon manages significant revenue for a top ad agency.
[10:56] While achieving early success, Dan’s workload impacts his well-being.
[11:57] Offered an interesting and lucrative opportunity, Dan transitions to recruiting and loves it.
[15:51] Recruitment requires deep understanding of both client needs and candidate fit.
[17:15] As clients recover from 9/11, Dan adopts a more human-centric approach to recruiting.
[19:50] LinkedIn's launch in 2003 fosters Dan's consultative recruiting approach.
[23:26] Dan goes deeper into clients' organizational issues and achieves more success.
[25:34] Situational interview techniques better match candidates with new job realities.
[27:28] Fast-paced marketplace changes require recruiting adaptable, lifelong learners.
[29:11] Companies shift from seeking specialized skills to valuing generalists willing to learn.
[32:26] Dan notices the benefits of proactive recruitment, engaging talent before roles open up.
[34:52] Early engagement with prospects helps companies build better, longer-lasting teams.
[37:17] Dan uses a "rent to own" model for testing candidate-company fit when necessary.
[39:53] Dan predicts more entrepreneurship as young people seek flexible work arrangements.
[42:54] Traditional office-based arrangements roles are less appealing to younger generations.
[43:50] Dan decides to end his recruiting career and pursue his passion for podcasting.
[46:22] Dan's relationships with talent were a key driver for his recruiting success.
[47:42] "What's Your Work Fit?" podcast explores what makes work meaningful for individuals.
[49:34] Each guest is asked, "What makes work a wonderful part of your day?"
[51:24] Dan believes people are increasingly seeking meaningful work that balances with life.
[54:03] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Your success is what you make of it. You don’t know where you’re headed. Don’t worry. Put on a good pair of shoes, strap on your backpack and enjoy the journey. Even savor the screw-ups, the mess ups and the learning opportunities!
[55:32] Dan emphasizes the importance of hobbies and diverse experiences for a fulfilling life.
[56:04] Engaging with people and creating serendipity are key to living a balanced, inspired life.
RESOURCES
Dan Smolen on LinkedIn
“What’s Your Work Fit?” podcast
Dan Smolen’s website
QUOTES
“The opportunity that we have before us is to impart to workplace entrants like our children's ages, is to say to them that your success is what you make of it. Don't let others define what it means to be successful".
"You don't know where you're headed. You don't know where it's going to lead you. You don't know the milestones along the way. Don't worry. Put on a good pair of shoes, strap on your backpack, and enjoy the journey“.
“Savor the screw ups and the mess ups and the learning opportunities, because without those, you're not going to end up in a beautiful place. You've got to have the learning that comes from pain and disappointment and longing in your career so that you grow as a person."
“They look at that and say, that's not a life. I want to have a day where I'm doing work, I'm doing things that I really enjoy, but I may want to do blended things.”
“For the first time that I can recognize, talent look at the day where work is a beautiful part of it.”
"If you don't know how to work on a team now, if you don't know how to be part of something bigger than yourself, I think it's going to be very difficult ongoing.”
Annie Dean is Vice President and Global Head of Team Anywhere at Atlassian. She oversees their Real Estate and Workplace Experience teams and Team Anywhere Lab—dedicated behavioral scientists focused on designing and validating evidence-based ways of working. Annie is responsible for Atlassian’s shift to a distributed first company. She highlights core elements of their ongoing research-driven, vetted transition supported by strong cultural values. Annie shares Atlassian’s new culture of work practices including rationalizing meetings, pursuing core work, hospitality-focused office operations, and redesigning teams, all facilitated by asynchronous methods and AI.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:43] Annie attributes her diverse interests to her liberal arts family upbringing.
[03:30] Annie is interested in what society values, how it expresses itself, and how people change it.
[04:00] At law school, Annie realizes she doesn’t want to be a lawyer while appreciating the educational benefits.
[05:05] A busy lawyer and new mother, Annie’s set up is not working for her.
[06:40] Does the system need to change or Annie? She decides it is the system.
[07:15] A seminal article questions assumptions about women not reaching leadership positions.
[08:01] Co-founding Werk, Annie helps companies assess non-traditional work opportunities.
[08:32] Pre-pandemic there is significant demand for flexible working.
[10:26] Annie finds strong interest in disrupting norms to resolve known work-related issues.
[11:05] Data is crucial to try and convince CEOs to align with and adopt new ways of working.
[12:39] From 2016 to 2020, office culture peaks, with limited progress on workplace flexibility.
[13:25] Research identifies common pain points including commuting, care-giving, and wellness.
[14:20] Access to flexibility can address widespread pain felt by ambitious high-performers.
[15:32] Pre-pandemic, technology disrupts consumer not working behaviors—resulting in insufficient will to change work practices.
[16:16] Annie cowrites an article positing that a pandemic would force adoption of remote work.
[20:05] The ease of transitioning to remote work during the pandemic proves the potential of existing technologies.
[20:35] Employees are not surprised they could work well remotely—it’s a more human way to work.
[21:10] Atlassian’s shift to distributed-first aligns with its business and the co-founders’ long-term expectations about work.
[22:04] The modern culture of work at Atlassian focuses on reducing meetings, prioritizing core work, facilitated by asynchronous methods and AI-driven norms.
[24:07] Atlassian's values are the backbone of how the company runs and inform how people treat each other.
[25:50] Sharing research and vetted practices, Atlassian helps others update their culture of work.
[27:22] Key shifts include new ways to connect, operate offices, design teams, and organize work.
[28:35] Atlassian emphasizes intentional togetherness and a hospitality approach to office use.
[29:00] Designing teams by time zones and capturing organic changes in daily work habits.
[30:28] Modern culture of work practices emphasize effective meetings and prioritize core work.
[30:50] Asynchronous methods and AI tools enable meeting rationalization and effective working.
[32:04] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Create conversations that prompt experimentation new ways of working are addictive. They feel good. People will adopt quickly because once they try, they get it.
[33:54] Clear and effective business writing is vital in a distributed work environment.
[35:35] The transition to tech-driven, distributed work is inevitable.
[36:35] Resistance to using steel in construction mirrors current resistance to work changes.
[38:22] Annie notices a technology gap for taking full advantage of modern work opportunities which easy-to-use AI can now fill.
[39:40] Annie is optimistic about technology enabling more efficient and flexible working.
RESOURCES
Annie Dean on LinkedIn
Atlassian’s website
Lessons Learned: 1000 days of distributed at Atlassian
Smart Brevity by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwarz
QUOTES
"Data is the only thing that will convince a CEO that a change needs to happen."
“From 2012 to 2020, it was clear that technology was disrupting all our consumer behavior, and yet it wasn't disrupting our working behaviors. It was very clear to me that this different future was possible. It just didn't seem like there was enough will in the executive teams that I was working with to really make the holistic change.”
"Because the pandemic was so overwhelming and distracting in many ways, these strategic questions of what a new culture of work should look like were left behind. We are now in 2024 and able to start answering those questions.”
“We've adapted a really unique set of practices that helps us manage across time zones and manage in a distributed environment. It's those practices and our products that really carry us forward as a distributed company.”
"The office is not required to get work done though they will continue to be great community spaces to work from."
"We realize that the modern culture of work is that we replace most meetings, we know what work really matters, and we organize ourselves to pursue core work, not work about work, and each of those things is facilitated by asynchronous behaviors and AI driven norms."
"Using new practices, I think we unlock the power of technology and the Internet and AI to build a new culture of work."
"Once people try these new ways of working, they adopt them very quickly because they are addictive in that they feel really good."
Daan van Rossum is Founder and CEO of FlexOS where they are building a 21st Century work experience that enables people to learn, grow, connect, and thrive at work. He also hosts and runs the “Lead with AI” podcast, course, and community. Daan shares his tech-driven early education and jobs that underpin his emphasis on AI and integrating AI teammates and advisors effectively. He explains his proactive career steps working internationally, developing cultural understanding and tapping into ‘What If’ creative energy to achieve more fulfilling work experiences. Daan describes his learning journey and how we can all intentionally engage in meaningful work and achieve greater happiness.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:28] At 15 years old, Daan decides he prefers working to being at school.
[03:17] Daan persuades his parents and the government and gets an exception to leave school.
[04:22] Daan begins his career at an ISP help desk then an early online food delivery business.
[05:59] After producing a family ‘newspaper’, Daan’s online help page gets attention and lands him a digital media job.
[09:13] The transition to Ogilvy is motivated by a desire to land a ‘real job’!
[09:54] After moving to New York, Daan wins an internal talent competition asking ‘What If?’
[12:36] Daan makes proactive internal moves at Ogilvy to Chicago, then Singapore.
[14:00] Using his strategist skills, Daan transitions internationally learning about local cultures.
[15:15] Daan is entranced by Vietnam’s young society and optimistic, high energy.
[16:20] How Singapore developed fast integrating behavioral psychology nudges.
[16:53] Daan moves to Vietnam and discovers the two-world experiences of young employees.
[19:17] Co-founding a venture, Daan focuses on workplace happiness, fulfillment, and wellbeing through storytelling and courses.
[22:13] Daan studies wide-ranging topics relating to happiness, psychology, leadership, and more.
[23:13] The happiness-related content business is not viable in a developing market.
[23:55] The monetizable model integrating well-being content into coworking spaces.
[25:54] Key learnings about happiness to incorporate into DreamPlex's workplace offerings.
[31:16] Ensuring services align with what Gen Zers want in Vietnam.
[33:00] A 4-month pandemic lockdown in Vietnam affects Dream Plex and how they got through it.
[34:55] The challenges of hybrid working models in Vietnam compared to Singapore which was highly-digitized before 2020.
[38:35] Transitioning from agricultural to professional work settings and trust issues at work.
[42:10] The opportunity to align personal goals with organizational needs.
[43:15] The importance of intentionality in career and life decisions, especially now.
[45:30] Creating happier, productive workplaces by listening to employees and optimizing workflows.
[48:15] Self-awareness surfaces personal work preferences allowing alignment with job roles.
[52:20] Understanding how companies work reduces misunderstandings and misplaced entitlements.
[53:45] Optimizing time at work and using AI to not waste valuable hours.
[55:40] AI as your senior advisor, especially when no one else is around!
[56:15] How/what kids are learning differently now and AI’s potential future role/integration.
[58:12] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To improve work experiences, go back to the core. What you are doing and why. Are you doing it well? Do you believe what you are doing is meaningful? Practically, empathize and listen to your team members discovering the joy and toil in their workflows to map out and solve issues together.
RESOURCES
Daan van Rossum on LinkedIn
FlexOS.work
Lead with AI podcast, course, and community
Laurie Santos
Martin Seligman books
QUOTES
"Could we ask 'What If' more? Instead of trying to focus on all these new channels trying to be innovative. Could we make this even better? So it was really more about the core of creativity and about curiosity."
"You have to find your happiness in the here and now. If you slow down and look around, all your conditions for happiness are already here…Happiness is very makeable. It's not something that either happens to you or you're born with it. It's something you determine almost 100% yourself."
"If two years from today someone makes a movie about your life, what would it be called? What would it be about? What would they showcase as your journey and what you've achieved?"
"There’s this concept called the hedonic treadmill... once you have [achieved a goal], there may be a temporary moment where you feel good. But the deeper sense of happiness has to come from something bigger."
"See AI as a coworker that first and foremost can take over all the parts of your job that you don't like doing and are not getting you closer to your goal."
"AI can start to be a senior advisor. It can be someone that co-creates with you, especially in those moments where you're on your own and need guidance or a second opinion."
Corinne Murray is Chief Strategist and Founder of Agate, an organizational transformation and workplace strategy consultancy. Corinne brings her formative experiences in commercial real estate, workplace strategy, and pre-pandemic implementations of remote and hybrid work models. She shares the benefits of empathizing with employees’ and executives’ different work experiences and explains how experiences inform culture. Corinne advocates for incremental, measurable steps to reduce workplace friction, improve performance, shift mindsets, and build momentum to effect change.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:18] Corinne studies religious studies and philosophy learning about different cultures.
[03:31] Leaving college at the end of the Great Recession, Corinne starts in real estate.
[03:53] Corinne focuses on market research and repositioning older buildings at CBRE.
[05:22] It’s déjà vu with real estate trends!
[05:34] Moving to American Express, Corinne shifts to workplace strategy and culture change.
[06:37] Amex facilitates workplace flexibility and remote working in 2013-2014.
[08:14] Corinne help employees transition to remote work addressing home setup challenges.
[10:22] The Blue Work program aims to create consistent brand experiences in all Amex offices.
[12:09] Post 2008, real estate strategy focuses on efficiency and densification.
[13:32] Workplace design and environments are adapted to different teams’ needs.
[14:10] Desk booking capabilities are implemented to reduce friction and improve flexibility.
[15:12] Reinstituting Blue Work with user-friendly changes and active listening.
[16:16] Desk booking is eliminated having caused—rather than eliminated—friction.
[17:39] Neighborhood seating naturally supports teams and flexible desk usage.
[19:15] Corinne join Gensler to explore the external advisory role.
[20:48] How UX/UI is applicable to workplace strategy.
[21:31] Joining WeWork, Corinne helps prepare the company for the Future of Work.
[24:16] The holistic employee experience extends beyond the physical space.
[25:07] The importance of good employee experiences to increase productivity.
[26:32] Frameworks for improving workplace environments through UX principles.
[28:23] Ensured basic workplace needs are met to reduce mental load and enhance productivity.
[29:58] Joining RXR Realty in February 2020, the pandemic impacts Corinne’s intended work.
[31:42] How Activity-Based Working supports different work activities.
[33:06] Corinne’s understanding of city dynamics changes her view of Central Business Districts’ viability.
[36:24] How reduced foot traffic affects commercial real estate.
[38:02] Corinne recognizes the shift in employee sentiments and work-life balance priorities.
[41:55] Executives different work experiences lead to their challenges with hybrid models.
[45:06] Millennials are driving change because of where they are in their careers and need for balance.
[52:02] Executive resistance to hybrid work can be reduced emphasizing data and gradual change.
[55:36] Corinne encourages an incremental approach to effect organizational change.
[56:20] “Hybrid work is broken” — what does Corinne mean by that?
[58:03] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Consider the dynamics of hybrid work and why it happens rather than just where it happens. Sequence and shuffle the puzzle pieces to figure out what needs to be decided first.
RESOURCES
Corinne Murray on LinkedIn
Corinne’s company Agate’s website
QUOTES (edited)
"We can't decide what a culture is. We can decide what an experience is and what that collective experience amounts to is the culture."
"We are getting stuck focusing on where things happen, not why they happen, or how they can be done better."
"Executives lived experience is so radically different than everyone else in their organization, and yet they're the ones who are dictating how everyone else should be behaving."
"If we just assume that everyone wants to be productive, even if everyone's definition of it is different, how do we get stuff out of the way so people can do more of it."
"Hybrid is broken....Our application of it is what's broken. And why it's broken is because we have been almost exclusively focused on where hybrid happens rather than what are the dynamics of hybrid work."
Tim Oldman is the CEO of Leesman and Founder of the Leesman Index - the world leader in measuring and analyzing the experiences of employees in their places of work. Tim is an expert in user experience of the built environment. He explains why we need to be considering whether work environments are supporting employees’ activities, needs, and satisfaction. Tim brings his wealth of knowledge to explore and reveal how workplaces—wherever people work—are tools for organizational performance and how we can measure that.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:25] Having always enjoyed building things, Tim studies interior design at college.
[02:51 Tim opts for a shorter course in interior design admitting he is impatient!
[03:22] Tim would love to study at university now with rapid prototyping and other advances.
[04:00] Encouraged by his uncle and tutor, Tim secures his first design job at 16.
[05:36] Tim first works in transport design, realizing the impact of design on bus stations and airports.
[07:06] The attention and detailed science in every aspect of airport design, including signage legibility.
[08:08] Tim wants to apply more and more rigor and science as his career develops.
[09:33] Tim discovers retail design is more numerically driven that he had understood earlier.
[11:27] The shift in retail emphasizing the shopper's brand experience.
[13:26] Tim's time at Vitra exposes him to extraordinary design history and expertise.
[14:20] It was a mind-boggling experience to work on the campus every day for five years!
[15:10] The user-centric design of a new distribution center makes Tim energized and very curious.
[17:22] Using transport examples to illustrate the importance of employee-centric office design.
[18:48] Developing the Leesman Index, Tim encounters naysayers to begin with.
[19:46] Initially provocative, “space is a tool in organizational performance” sticks.
[20:59] How space is a tool in organizational performance.
[21:48] Contrary to expectations, the design community initially resists the Leesman Index.
[23:07] A friend’s referral leads to the first successful deployment of the Index.
[23:36] The index reveals engineers’ preference for compressed, energetic workspaces.
[24:41] The facilities management industry becomes a key user.
[25:02] Executive leadership teams appreciate data-driven insights.
[26:43] Tim describes the Index's methodology and its impact on workplace design.
[27:50] The Leesman index measures employee activities and their satisfaction with workplace features.
[29:41] ‘Sentiment Superdrivers’ are crucial to accommodate to achieve workplace satisfaction.
[32:54] The importance of supporting individual focused work.
[33:29] The pandemic highlights the inadequacies of traditional office designs.
[35:52] Many organizations are now seeking to improve their offices to better support employee needs.
[36:44] The rise of video conferencing underscores the need for better acoustic and visual privacy.
[38:12] Organizations increasingly seek to create offices that employees genuinely want to visit.
[39:45] Tim’s new venture aims to help clients improve both remote and office-based work environments.
[42:31] Commute satisfaction correlates with the quality of the office environment.
[45:28] The shift towards higher-quality, more amenity-rich office spaces.
[47:40] Standard Chartered Bank exemplifies successful office space reduction while enhancing quality.
[49:24] Tim advocates for clearly articulating the purpose of office spaces.
[52:15] How Facilities Management can create more technologically advanced, smarter buildings.
[54:09] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Use evidence and be real, conversational, human. Find out what impacts the human experience as the human dynamic is motivational guidance. Live a day in the life of a frontline employee, experience it yourself.
RESOURCES
Tim Oldman on LinkedIn
Leesman’s website
QUOTES
"Whether it's an exhibition stand that you're building that's only up for five days, or it's a retail environment, or it's a bus station, or as we now are looking at the impact of office design on the organizational performance of the companies that we're working with.”
"I would leave work in a day feeling more energized than I arrived there in the morning. And I wanted to know why, fundamentally, I couldn't work it out. And that was really where the ideas behind Leesman and the idea of a measurement protocol started to seep through."
“It's all economics driven. Whether it's an exhibition stand that you're building that's only up for five days, or it's a retail environment, or it's a bus station, or as we now are looking at the impact of office design on the organizational performance.”
"Having thought about your day at work in the way that you have, can you tell us what you think about the following things in relation to your workplace? So, does it enable you to work productively? Are you proud of it? Do you enjoy it? Do you think it supports your organization's environmental sustainability standpoint?”
I think the bigger a workplace gets, the harder it is to satisfy everybody, because the more people are in it, the more variability there is in the work that they do and their personalities and their size and their demeanor and all the other things that make us different than individual human beings."
George Bradt is the Founder and Chair of PrimeGenesis, an executive onboarding and transition acceleration consultancy. He has authored many books including “The New Leader’s 100-day Action Plan.” George brings his international senior management experience, including witnessing and welcoming new leaders and team members into many large multinational corporations. He shares his experiences highlighting the importance of corporate cultural assimilation and relationship building for new hires. George explains when and how onboarding optimally starts and ends and how to update the process for a distributed workforce.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:30] After studying economics, George starts in sales working for an industry leader.
[04:02] George brings a successful, different approach to selling.
[04:54] George moves to Procter and Gamble, the academy company for marketing at the time.
[06:36] The success of a multi-step process for his sales team at Unilever starts George realizing what onboarding means.
[08:39] At Procter and Gamble, it was all purposeful, disciplined onboarding.
[07:05] How ongoing support and alignment are crucial for the success of new hires beyond the initial onboarding period.
[09:10] He challenges the traditional notion of onboarding being limited to the first day, week, or month.
[10:30] Deliberate efforts are necessary to build relationships and company culture in distributed work environments.
[14:00] George's Forbes article gets much feedback about corporate cultures with distributed workforces.
[17:02] Onboarding new hires effectively is essential for productivity and retention.
[20:30] Coca Cola does not have a copy strategy while George is there.
[21:50] George explains his shift towards focusing on onboarding after realizing an unmet need in the industry.
[23:11] The four main ideas of effective onboarding.
[24:35] Why a structured onboarding plan before Day One matters.
[26:00] Consider an onboarding scenario, highlighting the different sentiments and expectations.
[27:20] Building relationships before starting a new job to set a positive initial dynamic.
[28:45] How leaders can onboard new team members, aligning and accomodating them.
[30:10] He suggests companies allow new hires to conduct due diligence before officially accepting a job offer.
[32:00] Transparency and providing necessary resources are crucial from Day One.
[33:25] George shares his experience with Procter and Gamble's rigorous and specific onboarding process, including the one-page memo format.
[34:50] After six years at Procter and Gamble, George contemplates staying forever.
[38:00] George explains experiences at Coca Cola that led him to focus on onboarding.
[39:40] He notes that despite Coca Cola's history, they had a flawed onboarding process for new hires.
[41:10] The importance of understanding and co-creating the ideal future culture with your team.
[42:30] He suggests that leaders should pay more attention to onboarding and actively create personal onboarding plans for new employees.
[44:00] To support onboardin cultural rituals are important to understand.
[45:15] He emphasizes aligning new hires with the current culture before co-creating an ideal future culture.
[46:30] George points out the lack of attention to onboarding by leaders and the need for their involvement in the process.
[47:50] He concludes by highlighting the importance of focusing on culture and relationships in a hybrid work environment.
IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: As soon as possible after someone accepts their new position, before Day One on the job, get their manager to sit down with them to co-create the person’s own personal onboarding plan, particularly emphasizing culture and building relationships.
RESOURCES
George Bradt on LinkedIn
Prime Genesis website
George’s book “The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan”
QUOTES
"The one most important idea is you have to converge into an organization or a team before you try to evolve it. You have to become part of the team and evolve it from the inside."
“If you're onboarding somebody who's working remotely, you've got to be incredibly deliberate and invest so much time in building the relationships."
"Give them the time, give them clarity of direction, give them the resources, and then eventually give them the authority they needed to do what they needed to do."
"All that matters is relationships. Any question, any meeting, you know, the answer to any question is you're caring about building relationships."
"Acquire them in the way that's going to work going forward, accommodate them so that they can do work, assimilate them so they can work with others, and then stick with it and help them accelerate."
"Ultimately, culture is the way people behave, the way they relate, their attitudes, their values, the environment. What's different with remote work is how deliberate you have to be about relationships."
Allison Vendt is Senior Director, People Operations (Virtual First, People PMO, People Analytics) at Dropbox. She shares key reasons and research behind Dropbox’s transformation to ‘Virtual First’ starting with an office-centric culture. Allison discusses insights since the initial design phase and implementation including the change management required. She explains the ongoing evolution of the company’s virtual first approach to the Future of Work as they continue to pilot, learn, and iterate. Allison describes how they create high impact employees’ experiences with emphasis on culture, connections, and community.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:38] Allison quickly discovers law school is not for her and finds American studies fascinating.
[04:00] Allison wants to do something creative and starts working in media planning.
[04:55] Wanting more daily impact on people, Allison does a graduate degree in education.
[05:16] Allison was a student athlete herself – a swimmer.
[06:20] As an academic advisor, Allison runs orientation, tutoring, and development programs as well as coaching and counseling.
[06:48] Intrigued by Silicon Valley, while at Stanford, Allison runs a technology-integrated program for entrepreneurs.
[08:46] Parallels between high-achieving student athletes and Allison's current coworkers.
[10:19] Starting her first job in tech, Allison feels at home at once thanks to Dropbox's culture.
[11:24] While the L&D group transitions, Allison is open to experimenting and shifts role.
[13:18] Exploring how employees can own their careers through personal growth plans.
[14:08] More current focus on mentorship and skills.
[15:30] Pandemic shifts give Allison ‘Virtual First’ as her first strategy and operations project.
[16:40] Before 2020, Dropbox explores remote work while having an office-centric culture.
[18:02] The company's mission is relevant as they become intentional about reinventing what modern work looks like.
[20:44] Mindset shifts for virtual first, prioritizing human connection and adopting asynchronous by default
[22:22] Research on effective distributed work principles focused on an asynchronous by default mindset and upskilling everyone.
[23:48] Needing to reinvent everything, one work stream is dedicated to culture and community.
[24:57] Investing in cultural tethers and touchpoints that connect people and drive belonging include a neighborhood program with local relevant events.
[26:53] A mentoring program helps build weak ties, reinventing core elements for Virtual First.
[27:54] The empowering essence and elements of Dropbox’s self-serve mindset and strategy.
[29:48] Investing in training managers who play a critical role in distributed work effectiveness.
[30:52] Iterative ongoing piloting and learning with an open source Virtual First toolkit.
[32:19] Research drives the decision not to choose hybrid to avoid creating two employee experiences.
[34:06] Being transparent about choices and principles, Virtual First still wasn't for everyone, but some have returned.
[34:46] Virtual First is executed with a learning mindset, just like Dropbox builds products.
[35:26] Change management is critical for the organizational transformation.
[36:30] Onboarding is overhauled and refined—identifying synchronous and self-paced aspects.
[37:29] What are the frameworks for success? How to make Virtual First work for you.
[39:14] The potential for AI to reduce friction at work starting with AI training.
[40:40] Potential AI opportunities as behaviors and tools must go hand in hand to get more focus time and flow time.
[42:35] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Consider virtual first over hybrid. Whatever the size of your organization, you can adapt the core framework appropriately. Try a virtual first approach with one unit of your company to see if it could work. The benefits of happy productive employees outweigh the challenges.
RESOURCES
Allison Vendt on LinkedIn
Dropbox on LinkedIn
Dropbox on Instagram
Dropbox on X
QUOTES edited
“It felt like we really had to take this opportunity to really reinvent what modern work looked like.”
“We really wanted to do our due diligence. We came up with a set of guiding principles that four years later continue to guide the work. It was really important for us to be intentional about what we were doing to have a really solid design to kick us off.”
“Virtual First means we work remotely, that's our primary orientation of work. But we do prioritize human connection. We really believe there's just no replacement for that face-to-face in-person connection.”
“We had to reinvent how we work. All the research that we had done on effective distributed work principles was leading with an asynchronous by default mindset that we had to get really good at.”
“We try to think about meetings being for debate, decision making, and discussion, not about status updates, for example, which you can easily do asynchronously.”
“We were very clear we need to reinvent everything, including looking at our culture.”
"We've done a lot of transformation around the knowledge management piece. So much about Virtual First is about empowerment -- individual empowerment."
“The role of the manager is so critical in any workplace, but certainly in a distributed environment. So we've invested a lot in manager training, making sure that all of our Virtual First principles, research that we're learning and insights that we have are getting are embedded into our manager training.”
"We deliberately elected not to adopt a hybrid model that was based on the research that we had done. Ultimately, we felt like leveraging a hybrid model was going to create two really different experiences for employees."
Ryan Anderson is Vice President of Global Research and Insights at MillerKnoll leading research and providing workplace strategy and application design advisory services. He also hosts MillerKnoll’s “About Place” podcast. With much experience at the intersection of workplace research, innovation, and technology, Ryan discusses evolving working needs un/tethered by technology. He explains how urban landscaping concepts support human-centric office-based design. Ryan recommends incremental office improvements to match evolving work needs and change management to support any facility update.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:19] A random decision to study marketing, however Ryan finds he loves the audience focus.
[03:55] In furniture product development, Ryan finds the commercialization process tough, but learns a lot.
[04:24] Ryan is drawn to the conceptual phases, empathizing to understand unmet needs.
[06:07] How West Michigan has a concentration of workplace design companies.
[06:54] Ryan grew up thinking furniture was boring but learns how much more there is to it.
[08:35] In Chicago, Ryan meets his wife and studies purpose-driven business and ethics-based leadership.
[10:27] Ryan transitions to a corporate/design role as technology integration changes work settings.
[11:19] Commercial interior design and Ryan respond to employees’ new technology setups.
[13:14] A history lover, Ryan describes key design people and an office landscape movement.
[13:37] The fascinating use of urban planning principles for office landscaping.
[14:30] Desk-based workers’ needs drive workspace planning and fuel industry growth.
[15:00] The original goal of the cubicle—to provide workplace variety!
[16:08] Workspaces need to evolve to keep in tempo with work.
[17:07] Tech trends dictated earlier workplace constraints and are now releasing us from them.
[18:36] Understanding evergreen needs while envisioning and maturing ideas through experimentation.
[20:00] Ryan moves company to align with designing for the tech user not the technology.
[21:42] Mid-2010’s, The Living Office anticipates and amplifies the consumerization of technology.
[22:52] Partnering with big tech companies to revisit office landscaping for the modern era.
[23:40] Exploring ‘prop tech’ – the technological evolution of the building – smart buildings.
[24:30] Sensors and other tech enhancements start to personalize office experiences.
[25:00] The SaaS business model interest Ryan who joins a fast-growing prop tech venture.
[26:18] Ryan shifts focus to changing digitized work experiences rather than tech integration.
[26:59] The workplace ‘product’ must support diverse teams’ evolving digitalized work needs.
[31:08] Douglas McGregor’s framework of Theory X and Theory Y management.
[32:45] With distributed work, designing spaces to supervise work is unrealistic.
[33:58] Community building and urban planning are enabling an ecosystem of people.
[34:51] Optimizing for office-based work activities, such as for longer form collaboration.
[35:53] What do offices best provide – structured collaboration and focused concentration?
[37:03] Understand teams operating in a facility to address their changing activities and needs.
[38:25] Not many organizations are supporting their employees’ home working settings yet.
[39:51] The prospect of major projects and expensive capital are stalling renovation plans.
[42:03] Service As A Space concepts also involve investing in space that evolves over time.
[43:55] AI has the potential to create safer, healthier, smarter buildings.
[44:56] The possibilities of AI tools to augment the design process.
[48:28] Work is best determined by a social contract that’s beneficial not location-based or too restrictive.
[49:52] Ryan shares how his team updates their team working agreement protocols.
[50:49] Rewind assumptions to consider old and new ideas to support teams’ needs.
[51:10] Neighborhood-based planning allows connectedness, attachment, and scalability.
[54:18] New office landscaping uses neighborhoods similarly to 15-minute cities.
[55:00] Why strong and weak ties matter.
[50:49] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Real estate strategies follow talent—so develop incremental office improvements that purposefully encourage connection and interaction. Create in-office neighborhoods to support teams’ sense of community and belonging with flexibility for regular updates responding to evolving work needs.
RESOURCES
Ryan Anderson on LinkedIn
MillerKnoll’s website
MillerKnoll on Instagram
HermanMiller on Instagram
Knoll on Instagram
HMInsightGroup on X
MillerKnoll on X
Douglas McGregor’s framework of Theory X and Theory Y
QUOTES (edited)
“We're all looking at what is the post desktop, post cubicle era of working looks like.”
“You design for the technology user, not the technology. You have to understand the patterns of behavior, even though the tool sets evolve.”
“Recognizing that our work experiences are increasingly becoming digitized and virtual, the work is becoming digital, but that we're physical beings and physical spaces. We need to figure out how to allow people to exist in these physical spaces and use those tech tools in a really healthy, fun, productive way.”
“Facility managers and corporate real estate leaders are product owners that own the product—the workplace. The focus is on helping them better understand their teams, the diverse nature of those teams, the evolving nature of the work, and trying to conceptualize a space that gets better over time.”
“Regardless of your inherent perspectives on management, the thought of using a space to supervise work in an era of digitized distributed work is extremely unrealistic.”
“What can this space do to help our employees to collaborate in new ways, offer them experiences they can't have at home. That is a healthy and better approach. It's just complicated. It's more complicated than saying, well line 'em up in rows so that I can watch them effectively.”
“It’s urban planning. We’re taking these principles, we’re bringing them inside the building. We’re enabling an ecosystem of people.”
“Any facilities project is a change management project, and any real estate strategy has to follow talent.”
Jenny He is the Founder, CEO, and licensed contractor at Ergeon, a construction company making home renovation easier for consumers and contractors. Jenny combines her strong engineering, technology, and consulting background to convert and facilitate contractors’ construction projects as well as to manage Ergeon’s fully distributed workforce. She applies a consistent, rigorous approach to contracted project progress and outcomes as well as to evaluating individual employees’ task and teamwork results. Jenny shares her thoughtful analysis of how productivity can be assessed and tracked appropriately for specific disciplines, teams, and individuals.
TAKEAWAYS
[03:15] Jenny is born in China to parents who are both engineers.
[03:53] Jenny moves to the UK at 10 years old as her father pursues research and his PhD.
[04:48] The family moves to Canada and Jenny studies electrical engineering at college.
[05:24] Enjoying solving hard problems, Jenny's PhD optimizes Internet routing protocols.
[07:23] A random situation results in Jenny becoming a consultant and joining McKinsey.
[08:37] Learning leadership and soft skills, Jenny follows good managers, not projects.
[09:34] The hardest part is not solving the problem but defining the right problem to solve.
[11:42] Jenny discovers insufficient technology is built to support skills tradespeople.
[13:00] Jenny proposes a useful solution for a skilled field tech—how else can she help?
[13:59] EZ Home’s app gamifies workflow for gardening service providers.
[15:28] The CTO/Founder of EZ Home also co-founded Odesk and has great relevant experience.
[16:22] Tackling physical work projects is even harder than Odesk’s business.
[16:48] Why the technology needs to be more mature for the new venture.
[19:29] Jenny wants to empower high skilled trade entrepreneurs.
[20:50] Renovating her home, Jenny plans and uses technology and has a positive experience!
[23:02] The name Ergeon captures the vision of the company.
[25:07] Measuring customers’ experiences is a key productivity metric.
[28:12] Jenny takes project complexity into account and assesses contributions to set prices.
[29:09] How Jenny's business takes care of most front- and back-office construction coordination.
[36:06] Creating a scalable, full distributed factory with an iterative communication process.
[31:02] Scalable groups perform tasks with construction knowledge embedded into the technology.
[32:28] They identify specific skills to hire for and teach the rest.
[33:25] Is the unit of productivity the team or the individual?
[34:55] To measure productivity, there often need to be sufficient similar jobs to compare.
[36:44] Onboarding is very deliberate since Ergeon hires many people with no experience.
[37:32] In the first few days, new hires are trained about processes and best practices.
[38:44] Role-playing in initial weeks’ boot camps increase knowledge and confidence.
[40:25] Onboarding timeframes and programs depend on the type and complexity of the role.
[42:30] Distributed working issue #1: Building trust is hard.
[43:15] Transparency is important to avoid a tiered system of senior execs and everyone else.
[44:12] Distributed work issue #2: Mitigating time zones using async methods and alignment.
[45:13] Distributed work issue #3: Interpersonal connections need purposeful nurturing.
[47:03] How to evaluate individuals whose productivity is measured at a team level.
[50:34] Technology progress leads to reskilling, evolving roles, and supported outplacement.
[53:27] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To measure productivity, start with performance and assess variation between identical roles. Address systematic challenges hindering goal achievement including employees’ access to suitable tools before identifying productivity measures and ensure people have the training and support to focus their efforts.
[54:48] Jenny is revising for multiple exams so Ergeon can operate in many more U.S. states.
RESOURCES
Jenny He on LinkedIn
Ergeon’s website
Ergeon on Instagram
Ergeon on X
Ergeon on Facebook
QUOTES (edited)
“Often the hardest part isn't solving the problem, but defining what is the right problem to solve.”
“We also have other teams in the company like supply ops because it's a small team. we're looking at the team level targets and productivity versus the individual. Because I do believe, unless you have say five plus people doing exactly the same job, they can't be having some different variants of the job.”
“Building trust is hard, and it is harder in a distributed environment.”
“We are trying to create a scaleable factory where no one’s co-located.”
“We do a lot of async communications and make to make [work] sustainable for people. We're generally thoughtful about hiring for specific roles where async work is easier.”
On connection, “It's not even just about distributed or not, it's if everyone is co-located, it happens somewhat naturally. When you can't not see other people and have casual conversations, it has to be then very purposeful to create that environment. To give people that opportunity to connect.”
“Start with performance, before you think about productivity. Understand how much variation you have within the exact same roles. If the delta is huge, what is causing the delta—are there systematic challenges that make it difficult for people to achieve their goals?”
Dart Lindsley is Strategic Advisor, People Experience at Google. He is also a writer, speaker, and host of the Work for Humans podcast – on a mission to humanize work. Dart share insights about his realization that businesses are multisided marketplaces where employees are (overlooked) customers of work and work is a product. To better design the work product, Dart recognizes teams’ agency and ability to allocate their attention among themselves to complete tasks effectively. He discusses a flipped org chart with managers in supportive, rather than authoritative, roles. Dart advocates for more leadership closest to the customer.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:05] Dart is an undergraduate for seven years partly because his brother told him never to graduate!
[03:47] Dart explores unpopular forms of writing which makes earning a living hard.
[04:37] Being a criminal defense investigator rearranges Dart’s soul.
[06:45] After a master’s degree, Dart becomes a recruiter to earn more as he starts a family.
[08:34] Dart’s family are scientists, so his career transitioned to analytical work after a recruiting downturn.
[09:49] Dart inserts himself into the team doing strategic work designing the new staffing system.
[10:52] Finding a home in analytical disciplines which are less burdensome and emotional.
[12:26] Dart explores tooling, UX, change management and Six Sigma, ending up with organizational design.
[13:36] Facilitating business architecture resonates with Dart who is very interested in how large systems create experiences.
[15:03] Companies are ‘n’ dimensional: humans cannot observe them or handle more than 3 dimensions.
[15:49] Human Resources had not been analyzed from a business architecture point of view before.
[17:03] Business architecture is only needed for companies going through significant transformation to discover new operational capabilities needs and how they interrelate.
[18:08] Translating strategic capability requirements into tech systems and architecture is not easy.
[20:48] Business architecture change derives from either market changes or new tech capabilities—as now.
[21:20] The pace layer of technology is usually the slowest thing. Not now, so much experimentation is needed.
[22:35] Dart initially subscribes to the traditional model of HR where employees are the inputs of production.
[23:48] Employee has happiness has not been a concern—only productivity which Dart finds ethically flawed.
[25:10] Dart notices ‘employees’ show up in two places—inside (production inputs) and outside (customers).
[25:59] Working on a patent for Cisco, Dart explores multi-sided businesses and realizes employees are also (forgotten) customers.
[28:25] If employees are customers, what are we selling them? We need to design work better.
[29:03] Do people want only autonomy, mastery and purpose? Dart finds 35+ more answers!
[30:15] People usually want 8 things from work. Only 4 likely overlap, so how to optimize individually?
[31:05] Lack of autonomy is a cost of a job, like social anxiety and threats to health and safety.
[32:33] Managers are key to a design-centered solution.
[33:28] Design is about empathy, understanding employees’ needs, scaling with managers below on the org chart.
[34:10] Managers are brokers between demand for the team’s labor and the market for work—the work people want to do.
[37:10] A team can act as a smart organism allocating its attention to work and delivering value.
[38:32] Color coding how rewarding work is—green, yellow, and red. What happens when colors change.
[39:41] The range of issues and solutions affecting the cost side of work.
[42:14] How do we design our lives so as not to be ‘inputs of production’?
[43:31] How a team agrees on what business value is and the core mission.
[44:25] Is the manager winning the work the team wants to do? And the type of client the team wants?
[47:10] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To enable a dexterous organization, let the edges closest to the customers lead. Giving more agency to the agents will facilitate guided emergence, while anchoring your organization with values, purpose, and focus.
RESOURCES
Dart Lindsley on LinkedIn
Dart’s website
Dart’s Work for Humans podcast
Bill Burnet’s book “Designing Your Life”
QUOTES (edited)
“if you're an input to production and my main objective is to make you productive, then if I can make you productive by being happy, great. But, if I can make you productive and you're miserable, great. It's not a concern.”
“The only reason I'm going to care about a human is because of what they give me as a company? It just struck me as like ethically flawed.”
“For the first 10 years of working in HR, I subscribed to the traditional model of HR which is that employees are inputs of production who must be acquired.”
“If employees are customers, what are we selling them? We’re selling them work. If work’s a product, then it’s a design problem and we can design it better.”
“Managers are designers, even ‘product’ managers. [They act] as a broker between two markets. One market is the demand for the labor of the team—so the value that flows towards the traditional customer. The other is the market for work and the work that people want to do.”
Melissa Puls is the Chief Marketing Officer and SVP of Customer Success at Ivanti which provides software solutions that elevate and secure EverywhereWork. Melissa brings deep experience building and leading decentralized teams. She shares her critical learnings that have enabled effective teamwork and successful outcomes. Melissa discusses key principles when implementing flexibility, the importance of change management, and how to identify non-performing remote team members. Melissa describes the holistic support distributed employees need, especially including IT and security.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:27] Melissa studies communications and psychology not realizing their connection with marketing.
[03:40] Melissa’s mother is head of marketing at a tech company teaching Melissa women can do anything.
[04:17] Her entrepreneur father becomes mayor wanting to do good things for their country city.
[04:50] Her parents partner well, managing to prioritize Melissa and her sister, and demonstrating the importance of workplace flexibility.
[07:15] As her mother exits Kronos, Melissa feels purposeful in her starting role as a fulfillment coordinator.
[08:55] Melissa’s mother put the human element first in building teams, embracing different points of view.
[09:35] After setting up the fulfillment center, Melissa’s time is freed up. Should she relax or solve new problems?!
[10:15] Melissa pitches a promotion to help out the stressed-out marketing managers—her boss says yes!
[12:05] Wanting to live and raise a family by the ocean, and tired of commuting, Melissa leaves Kronos and moves to the Cape.
[13:16] Melissa lands a lead marketing role at a local tech company which then rolls up into a billion-dollar global organization.
[13:55] Maintaining her boundaries, Melissa stays remote, managing her teams based everywhere.
[15:26] At times, Melissa commutes in part of the week when certain leaders didn’t share her mindset.
[16:56] The first, critical principal is to give people the benefit of the doubt that they will do the right thing.
[17:10] Put people in an environment where they can do their best work and respect their boundaries.
[17:51] Many leaders don’t trust people to do the right thing. How to identify the few employees who don’t?
[18:57] Every employee must understand their purpose, how it relates to the bigger picture, and have clear metrics and expectations.
[19:40] What people say and how they react if there isn’t a good fit.
[21:28] Melissa learned from her father that some choose to set their boundary at doing the minimum work.
[22:42] Melissa joins Iron Mountain for an integrated growth marketing role.
[23:25] Highly corporate centric when she joins, Iron Mountain decides to move and shrink their office space.
[24:39] Employees get two choices: all in-office with a dedicated desk or flexibility with a shared desk.
[26:30] Motivated by costs, Iron Mountrain creates great new space and supports others’ change to work flexibly.
[28:16] Engagement goes up, people are more productive opting for the environment they can work best in.
[29:41] Iron Mountain is set up for success with a strong culture, purpose, and good performance management principles and protocols.
[30:17] Not everyone is on board with the change—which is natural.
[31:19] Ask, not assume, if people can meet your needs.
[32:21] Impressions can be misleading. Set your boundary and have the tough conversation.
[34:36] Melissa's current company is paving the way for flexible work everywhere—internally and for customers.
[35:44] Leaders support flexible work, but are IT and security professionals set up to support them?
[35:15] In new work situations, what new risks are employees under that need to be addressed?
[37:56] Silos between security and IT are decreasing their effectiveness.
[40:32] Frontline managers need to buy in fully to the value of flexible working, not be ‘told’.
[42:09] Deploying flexible work principles: holding people accountable and respecting their independence.
[42:58] Every industry, company, and job is different, so flexibility differs.
[44:23] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Put people in an environment where they can do their best work being clear about purpose, roles, responsibilities, outcomes, and deliverables, and ensure there is alignment between IT and security teams so they can provide and support the right tools for flexible work. Then trust that employees will do the right thing.
RESOURCES
Melissa Puls on LinkedIn
Melissa on X
Ivanti’s website
Ivanti on X
Ivanti on Instagram
Ivanti’s 2024 Everywhere Work Report
QUOTES (edited)
“We understand flexibility is not only about what the company needs, but also what the individual needs.”
“It takes time and effort and energy and focus for an organization to bring along the right frontline managers so that they understand the purpose of what they're doing and making sure they deploy those principles of flexible work.”
“Hire the best people for the best job it really doesn't matter where they're located.”
“Most important is to give people the benefit of the doubt that they're going to do the right thing.”
“Every single person in your organization needs to understand what their purpose is and how it relates to the bigger picture, vision, and mission of the company and what they can do to contribute to that.”
“Only upside for the company financially—they were in a better spot, less space, more flexible. And the people that opted for that were in an environment where they felt that they could do great work.”
"The importance of having alignment between IT and security, where they have real insights into how the business is operating so they can provide the right tools and really maximize flexible work."
Juliette Powell is Founder and Managing Partner of Kleiner Powell International, a consultancy working at the intersection of responsible technology and business. She is co-author of “The AI Dilemma: 7 Principles for Responsible Technology.” Juliette brings rich technology research and innovation experience to evaluate our evolving landscape as we anticipate AI integration. She explains her core concerns—what we need to pay attention and lean into. She discusses the importance of personal data ownership, creative friction, digital trust, and logic. Juliette explains how diverse contributions diminish divergent, asymmetric trajectories, so we all need to be actively involved.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:30] Monopoly is Juliette’s favorite game as a kid, showing how you can change your circumstances.
[02:50] Juliette studies finance and international business to understand global interconnectedness.
[03:15] At university, Juliette develops a TV career focusing on the business side of media.
[04:32] Interviewing Janet Jackson and Nelson Mandela reveals juxtaposed insecurity and confidence.
[07:30] Juliette’s first book results from her involvement with TED’s original founder producing the conference and meeting visionary thinkers.
[08:10] Transitioning from TV, Juliette explores technologies and the rise of social media.
[10:25] Citizen journalism and political messaging delivered using digital channels fascinates Juliette.
[12:10] Juliette tries to lead as her whole self, seeing people disconnecting their work/non-work lives.
[13:20] Where engineers can experience misalignment making decisions in their AI-related work.
[14:20] Juliette highlights those who live holistically as fully integrated people in her first book.
[15:00] Integrated work/life experienced early on meeting a couple working remotely in Thailand.
[16:50] Early career motivation to find work thinking about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
[18:58] How the internet extended possibilities beyond someone’s local geography.
[19:50] Ecosystem pressures raise mental health issues and people trying to survive not thrive.
[20:50] Navigating uncertainty—personally and professionally—requires having Plan A, B, C, and D.
[21:44] Juliette founded the Gathering to ensure diversity and avoid past mistakes in tech development.
[24:41] At TED, there is no separation between the expertise on stage and the audience.
[26:04] Turing AI and WeTheData.org focus on the personal data ecosystem, ownership, and ethical use.
[27:48] Research reveals four grand challenges include digital trust and digital infrastructure/access.
[29:30] An ‘eBay for data’ to aggregate and monetize personal data as Finns do.
[31:31] Research on Americans’ and Europeans’ different attitudes to their personal data.
[35:26] Most of Juliette’s NYU students are terrified of the potential impact of AI on their skills.
[36:25] Students’ potential questions ‘Will I have meaning? Can I contribute anything?’
[37:40] Juliette teaches students research methods to reduce fear and build confidence.
[41:30] The importance of creative friction to reconnect across seamless technology divides.
[42:45] Taking a moment to rise above the sand, things have changed a lot, probably within yourself.
[43:40] Diverse teams earn the most as they take the longest time to deliberate.
[44:45] With diverse debate, deliberating longer, with ongoing feedback, we can create better AI systems.
[45:53] Bias is part of human nature, so how we can reduce asymmetry of power?
[49:00] If we wake up to the power we have and give away, what we can do with that power.
[50:08] Juliette is excited to be alive right now when we are shaping the future such as digital infrastructure, digital literacy, and digital trust.
[50:40] Historically, curators of knowledge have been our sources of truth.
[53:05] We must be able to manage all this uncertainty on the individual level as a community.
[53:45] The Four Logics framework: government, corporate, engineering, and social justice logic.
[54:35] Increasing awareness of misalignment between employees’ morals and employer brands.
[55:47] Checking on personal values, culture, and vision that enable fulfillment.
[56:33] How reducing human biases with AI leads to other biases.
[57:27] Encourage employee experimentation with AI and launch internal challenges.
RESOURCES
Juliette Powell on LinkedIn
Juliette Powell’s website
Kliener Powell International’s website
The AI Dilemma: 7 Principles for Responsible Technology" co-authored by Juliette
Juliette’s first book. “33 Million People in the Room: How to Create, Influence, and Run a Successful Business with Social Networking” Juliette’s co-authored book “The AI Dilemma: 7 Principles for Responsible Technology.”
QUOTES (edited)
"I've always been of the perspective that I'm a whole person. There are many different parts to my whole person, but nonetheless, I try to think of myself holistically as I navigate the world."
"Creative friction can only come from deep diversity. The more diverse, the more they produce questions, the longer it takes to deliberate, but the better the outcomes."
"We need to take responsibility and intentionally co-create with AI to ensure diverse perspectives are debated, increasing initial friction to reduce asymmetries and improve capabilities and relevance."
"Digital trust is kind of key. If we want data, personal data, to work for everyone on the planet, and not just the usual suspects, we need to address digital trust and infrastructure."
"If you feel that your personal morals are being confronted by what you're being asked to do at work, now is the time to recognize that disalignment and seek a place where you can be fulfilled and work on meaningful things."
"I'm excited about shaping AI's future because we are the generations that get to shape it. The decisions we make now will determine where digital trust will be in the next hundred years."
“There is expertise in the everyday person. We don't necessarily reward financially or recognize that, but that tacit knowledge is invaluable.”
“If we take longer to deliberate around our AI systems in their specific use cases and context, bring in the various communities that will be affected before we start building them, and deploy them constantly incorporating that feedback, we'd have much better systems that would work for far more people.”
“If we all woke up a little bit more to the kind of power that we give away, then we could also realize the kind of power that we actually have if we decide to do something about it.”
“We have to be able to manage all this uncertainty on the individual level as a community.”
"If you feel that your personal morals are being confronted by what you're being asked to do at work, now is the time to recognize that disalignment and seek a place where you can be fulfilled and work on meaningful things."
"I'm excited about shaping AI's future because we are the generations that get to shape it. The decisions we make now will determine where digital trust will be in the next hundred years."
“There is expertise in the everyday person. We don't necessarily reward financially or recognize that, but that tacit knowledge is invaluable.”
David Abrams is the co-founder and CEO of HILO, a platform that is digitizing customer experience to create connected communities of people in buildings. David is also host of the TEN, the Tenant Experience Network podcast. David brings his entrepreneurial and marketing background and context to explore commercial real estate landlords’, owners’, and occupiers’ evolving circumstances. He explains why they need to be collaborating to create hospitality-driven, new tech-enhanced environments and programmed experiences for tenants—for each individually and together as a community.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:29] David takes a while to sort out what he wants to study at college ending up focusing on marketing and accounting.
[03:01] David enjoys the ability accounting gives him to explore how businesses operate.
[03:49] As a first entrepreneurial opportunity, David gets involved in repositioning a struggling agency.
[04:58] Early agency clients span commercial real estate and nonprofit, the latter which David finds especially satisfying.
[05:45] Raw Society is launched to focus on critical strategic work before the creative process begins.
[07:15] The ESG movement makes building operators start to think about environmental impact.
[07:52] What is the effect of the densification of people living and working in central business districts?
[09:13] New thinking is first driven by occupants, relating to basic ESG initiatives like recycling.
[10:14] Operators go paperless, initiating digital communications their tenants’ employees.
[11:32] David loves the opportunity to start creating environments that people enjoyed being in.
[12:16] The smartest operators recognized they could develop better relationships and community by connecting their tenants.
[12:55] The ultimate goal is to improve tenant retention through better customer service and experiences.
[14:09] Every building has constant turnover—both tenants and tenants’ employees.
[14:51] David launches his new company in 2019, gets financing and is in full growth mode when the pandemic hits.
[15:37] As an entrepreneur, David recognizes his two choices - give up or dig in.
[17:38] With little clarity about the future, they tried to be pragmatic about future technology needs.
[21:30] New realizations emerge after a difficult period that extended operators’ boundaries.
[23:09] Operators realize their responsibility to be involved in spaces beyond their buildings.
[24:24] Extra costs can be covered by charging premium rent or sharing new community spaces.
[26:20] Connectivity is a huge driver of experience when it is pervasive and consistent.
[27:18] Investments go into programming, content, services and staff to offer white glove experiences.
[28:51] Office and multifamily categories are all hiring people from the hospitality industry.
[29:37] Programming, services, and staffing are becoming integral and significant to buildings’ offerings.
[31:00] The key factor is not the size of the building, but the commitment of its ownership.
[31:49] Across building classes, technology can be an equalizer to provide higher levels of service.
[34:05] Technology delivers better experiences and reduces friction when people choose to enter the built world.
[35:27] How can we put the power of personalization into the hands of the individual?
[36:29] David imagines we are between first and second base in the evolution of office buildings.
[37:15] People need to congregate for the right reasons in the right environments to do the right kind of work.
[39:49] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Occupiers and landlords need to think beyond the work that needs to get done in an office and co-create experiences that support good work. Consider all the various touchpoints for each person across technology, programming, content, services and staffing.
RESOURCES
David Abrams on LinkedIn
David’s company HILO’s website
HILO on Instagram
TEN – The Tenant Experience Network
QUOTES
“Buildings are not silos. They're part of a neighborhood, they're part of a city and they create community.”
“It's a conversation around where should I work on any given day where can great work happen?”
“How can we put the power of personalization into the hands of the individual. How can they use technology to better connect and engage with all the various spaces and places in their lives and have it not be top down driven.”
“People need to come together for the right reasons in the right environments with the right people to do the right kind of work.”
“The occupier and the landlord need to be open minded. They need to think beyond just the work that needs to get done and start to think about creating an experience that will support great work.”
Dr Zofia Bajorek is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Employment Studies (UK). She was HR Magazine’s Most Influential Thinker in 2022 and 2023. Zofia’s recent work has focused on the quality of work to improve workforce health and wellbeing. She describes why giving employees good quality work improves results, why good work matters, and what it comprises. Zofia explains how good management contributes significantly to employee retention and well-being.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:33] Zofia studied psychology to understand how people think, as well as behavior change, why and how we do things.
[04:17] Zofia’s Master’s focuses on the Future of Work and occupational stress/health at work.
[05:03] Zofia is curious about temporary work arrangements after her own—voluntary—experience.
[06:18] Temporary workers’ different agency and autonomy affects their experiences and health.
[08:01] Zofia’s PhD analyzes temporary staff management and patient care in NHS emergency departments.
[08:47] Possible safety/quality effects when emergency dept. employees get temporary assignments.
[09:42] NHS ‘bank’ and agency staff differences highlight many important talent management nuances.
[11:56] A systems approach to analyzing the UK’s ‘Speedy Summary Justice” – the promise.
[12:45] The effect of disconnects in a system that is overworked, underpaid, and understaffed.
[13:50] The practical reality of human messiness and how organizations and people work.
[15:02] Evidence shows workers’ health and wellbeing affects their productivity and retention.
[16:00] Q: What interventions make the biggest difference to employees’ health and well-being?
[16:50] A: Good management and good employment relationships are the most impactful.
[18:05] In 2006, two researchers discover “Work IS good for your health IF it’s good quality work.”
[18:26] People don’t really know what good quality work is.
[19:27] Good work includes: varied tasks that match interests and skills, co-collaboration, having a voice, autonomy and a fair work environment, with growth opportunities and strong work relationships.
[22:50] “Secure work” depends on the contractual arrangement—imposed or two-way.
[24:24] To achieve a healthy workplace with engaged employees, good quality work is essential.
[25:42] An important factor is someone’s choice about the work they have and can do.
[26:27] Zero-hour contracts are detrimental when managed badly with no communication or flexibility.
[27:28] Freelancers can have good choices: clients, autonomy, relationships, and interesting work.
[28:48] Empathizing is important to discover what encourages people to work, their values, what they bring to the workplace.
[30:26] Companies with embedded focus on wellbeing and good work pre-pandemic were able to transition well through and beyond the crisis.
[31:36] Good management practices including consistent communication, listening, and workplace policies.
[32:15] Zofia shares some examples of data points companies can colligate to increase understanding of their employees’ well-being.
[37:32] The challenges facing organizations are numerous, but a lot of the change can be addressed with good management practices.
[43:55] Young and old want the same thing from the workplace, but demographic pressures are changing the face of retirement.
[47:46] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Good work requires good managers. Ensure those promoted to managerial positions have people management skills and technical excellence. They need training, coaching support, and feedback to help them continue to improve.
RESOURCES
Dr. Zofia Bajorek on Linkedin
Follow Dr. Bajorek on X @DrZofia
Website for employment-studies.co.uk
The Institute for Employment Studies
Interesting articles by Dr. Bajorek:
‘People leave managers, not companies’ - but is the manager really at fault?
Are we ‘pulling more sickies’ or do organisations need to focus more on ‘good work’?
Health and wellbeing at work: where we are and where we want to be
It’s time to stop squeezing the ‘squeezed middle’, for everyone’s benefit
Will management ‘productivity paranoia’ be the undoing of hybrid work?
The line management conundrum – let’s hug and not squeeze our line managers
QUOTES (edited)
“If we don't look after people's health and well-being in the workplace it can have an impact on both retention and productivity levels.”
“Work is good for your health, but there is a strong caveat that it has to be good quality work. And that is where we are still struggling because people don't know what good quality work is.”
“Every human has fluctuating mental health. But what's important for the workplace is that work doesn't make it worse.”
“If you want good work and good health, you have to have good management.”
Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is the CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts, a consulting, coaching, and training firm. Gleb is a behavioral scientist and best-selling author of seven books, including “Never Go With Your Gut” and “Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams”. He shares his interest in human behaviors focused on decision-making and cognitive biases. Gleb explains his passion to help people make good decisions, discussing the role of emotions, and why to try to prove yourself wrong. He emphasizes how to optimize work-related decisions to improve working environments, experiences, policies, and outcomes.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:59] Interested in human behaviors, Gleb studies history--people in their historical contexts.
[03:53] Gleb narrows his research to behavioral science decision-making in historical and contemporary contexts.
[04:53] Gleb’s interest focuses on motivations and historical archives reveal what people were saying behind the scenes.
[05:39] We’re not very good at making decisions. We often follow our intuition or go with our gut.
[06:32] How a client’s early experiences affect how he handles conflict as a business leader.
[07:41] How do individuals and groups make decisions? What motivations cause what effects?
[08:12] How to have healthy conflicts with people.
[09:32] How do you make good decisions, proofing yourself against future disruptions?
[10:50] Decision hygiene—identify biases including not what you don’t do, that's a decision too!
[13:55] How you can misperceive yourself, your skills.
[15:04] Blind spots and how humans are full of contradictions.
[16:42] Gleb’s early books about different aspects of decision making.
[17:29] Before making a decision ask: Q1 - What information haven't I fully understood yet?
[19:28] Q2: What judgment errors haven't I fully considered?
[20:30] The need to be introspective about our emotions so they don't dictate our decisions.
[21:50] Gleb starts his own company, Disaster Avoidance Experts, in 2018.
[22:30] Gleb’s targets people whose possible bad decisions could have disastrous consequences.
[23:35] Paying attention to leading indicators to make informed decisions early in the pandemic.
[24:49] The challenges belief bias and confirmation bias can cause.
[26:30] What comparable data is relevant to ensure you are making good decisions?
[29:40] Looking at the data and challenging the motivation to be back in the office—for what?
[31:10] Managers weren't comfortable that they could control their teams working remotely.
[31:56] Combining training and techniques to not manage by walking around the office.
[33:04] Switching to weekly performance evaluations with three to five goals per week.
[35:27] Coaching style leadership was gaining ground long before the pandemic.
[38:32] College educated males choose to work fewer hours, valuing well-being and leisure more than before the pandemic.
[40:02] Research and resignations show willingness to take a 10% pay cut to keep flexibility.
[40:38] The impact of not being empathetic about your employees.
[42:37] What is best for knowledge workers? Not sitting in factory style offices.
[43:22] For knowledge work: creativity and collaboration of the human mind determine any company’s value add.
[44:33] The four principles of knowledge work to set up workplaces of the future.
[45:44] To establish trust, new systems and processes are needed including regular performance evaluations.
[47:20] Don't let one bad apple spoil it for others.
[49:35] Finding truth through content curation versus creation in an AI-powered world.
[51:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To adapt to modern work, survey employees about they feel about hybrid work, best practices, problems, and opportunities for improvement. Focus conversations on trust, autonomy, support, and collaboration.
RESOURCES
Dr Gleb Tsipursky on LinkedIn
Gleb Tsipursky on X
Dr Gleb Tsipursky on Instagram
Facebook at DrGlebTsipursky
Dr. Gleb Tsipursky speaker video
Dr. Gleb Tsipursky’s books include:
The Truth-Seeker’s Handbook: A Science-Based Guide.
Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters
Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams: A Manual on Benchmarking to Best Practices for Competitive Advantage
QUOTES
“People often don't know what their own motivations are. They don't know how they interact, and they don't understand why they make the decisions they do. We're not very good at making decisions. We often just follow our intuition; we go with our gut.”
“There was research showing that in order to have healthy conflicts with people, you should follow a 5:1 ratio. For each one conflictual thing you do at least five equivalently positive things.”
“Taking all the social intelligence, emotional intelligence, and cognitive biases. If you can identify those in yourself right now, you can really set up set yourself up for a lot of success down the line.”
“We are human beings, we are full of contradictions.”
“Seeing the truth is very important to make a good decision, but that's not the same thing as making a good decision.”
“If you actually want to make a good decision what you want to do is try to prove yourself wrong. Try to prove that your decision is incorrect. Try to disconfirm your decision.”
“One issue is the empathy gap. We might underestimate the emotions that other people are experiencing. One of the biggest challenges in business decision making is failure to think sufficiently about emotions, our own emotions and other people's emotions. We don't realize how important emotions are.”
“Not being empathetic and understanding emotions matters. The emotions of your employees matter. How they feel matters. And they're actually taking steps based on their feelings around retention, engagement, productivity, morale.”
“Knowledge workers function best as a combination of providing them with trust, trusting them to work in the way that they know how; providing with autonomy, having control over their time and location of work; providing them with necessary and appropriate support, giving them knowledge, information, tools: and facilitating their collaboration with others.”
Amina Moreau is the CEO and co-Founder of Radious, an online marketplace offering companies flexible work locations to give their employees commute-free, homestyle, collaborative workspaces. She is a serial entrepreneur, multiple Emmy-winning filmmaker, and photographer. Amina explains why employers need to create a framework and processes that enable workplace flexibility and support employees’ autonomy, incorporating comfortable and convenient work environments. Amina shares insights about empathetic leadership and upskilled managers to improve employees’ experiences and performance. She describes critical environmental and social components of new workplace solutions.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:38] Amina changes majors five times exploring what she wants to be when she grows up!
[03:35] Amina loves photography but also thinks learning how the brain works is handy.
[4:40] Storytelling means understanding who people are and how they think and see their future.
[05:49] Amina’s first business initially emphasizes innovative technology and equipment.
[07:04] Taking wedding storytelling to the next level – what has shaped who these people are?
[07:44] Tomatoes are a metaphor for one couple’s relationship.
[09:22] How relationships evolve on film and with clients.
[10:46] Entrepreneurship is Amina’s path—starting in her dorm room.
[11:47] A talent for seeing gaps in the market spawns multiple new ventures.
[12;15] Amina develops opportunities related to her core passion.
[14:30] Pandemic-related issues are the genesis for non-profit Float Small Business.
[15:43] Creative ground support for local businesses keeps Amina busy during a tough period.
[17:34] A new venture to suit flexible workstyles emerges from their Airbnb host business.
[19:22] Eliminating the overnight component increases safety and solves other hosting pain points.
[21:25] New adaptations as employers integrate remote policies for the long term.
[23:30] A compelling combination: no commuting, collaboration space, and the comforts of home.
[24:28] Who pays for the space? Shifting to a B2B model.
[26:24] Current RTO headlines don’t match the majority of companies’ work policies.
[27:50] Amina believes most companies are trying hybrid as they are stuck with office leases.
[28:38] The benefits of flexible, on-demand office spaces and who is likely to benefit most.
[32:12] Have leaders who proclaim remote work isn’t sustainable been trained to manage in remote/hybrid environments?
[34:20] Terminology needs to evolve to reflect the variety of remote work options and benefits.
[35:58] Empathetic leadership leads to better team outcome for which leaders need upskilling.
[36:58] Team level agreements need setting about expectations and communication styles.
[38:35] How much autonomy is optimal to drive motivation and outcomes?
[39:27] Companies signing up for flexible workspaces need a framework and process to ensure their employees use it.
[40:22] Working with companies to understand their context and help them choose relevant workspaces.
[41:29] Amina’s sense of purpose that energizes her and the team—we’re here to help bring fulfillment and work/life balance.
[43:35] Radious’s core environmental and social solutions are significant motivators for Amina.
[44:40] Local workspaces also support community relationships and business.
[46:04] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: It doesn’t have to be a two-sided equation — either working at the office or from home. There are many other options to consider to support your employees, which don’t have the costs or commute of an office, yet offer camaraderie and community.
RESOURCES
Amina Moreau on LinkedIn
Radious.pro
Radious on X @RadiousPro
Radious on Instagram @Radious.Pro
QUOTES (edited)
“One of the best things that you can study is how people think because in any profession, understanding how the brain works is kind of handy.”
“It turns out that having a psychology background is really valuable in storytelling.”
“There are some companies that from the beginning of the pandemic were hell-bent on getting people back to the office. Come hell or high water, those companies still exist. Thankfully, they are in the minority.”
“The headlines we see about RTO are usually made by the biggest companies on the planet which have the largest PR megaphones … and the largest real estate holdings.”
“A lot of people equate remote work with working from home, but remote work is now an umbrella term that encompasses a wide variety of ways, and places to work from. And it doesn't have to be in isolation.”
Tom Hunt is the Founder and CEO of Fame which builds profitable podcasts. Tom is also host of the podcast “Confessions of a B2B Marketer”. He leads a fast-growing fully-remote company and shares his journey intentionally learning effective leadership styles, management methods, and organizational practices. Tom discusses what he looks for in successful leaders and how he purposefully develops and upskills inexperienced employees.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:01] Why Tom goes from studying chemistry to consulting.
[04:11] A pivotal role working on outsourcing projects happens by chance.
[05:19] Tom realizes being employed is not his thing and focuses on selling online.
[06:32] Tom's first venture leverages his experiences outsourcing for large companies.
[07:33] Tom focuses on what he enjoys doing and is good at.
[08:41] The ability to fail and keep going is one of the best predictors of success.
[09:53] The genesis of Fame and how they landed their first client.
[11:19] Tom shares the multifaceted benefits of being transparent about Fame’s earnings.
[13:36] Empathy is a crucial skill for leaders which takes more effort in distributed settings.
[16:14] The benefit of paying attention to signals in asynchronous communications.
[16:50] Continuing to explore how best to nurture distributed culture and connection.
[17:56] Building culture through values awards.
[18:29] Impactful for remote cultures: client-focused operational excellence and engaging elements in team meetings.
[20:51] Employees are trained in interviews to assess for specific work history criteria.
[23:19] Office space has been considered and Tom explains what issues it would create.
[25:00] Fame's business is output-driven and well-defined effectively supported by strong, positive performance management.
[26:59] intentional training and management engages and retains employees and adds value to less experienced hires.
[27:45] Multi-touchpoint, frequent check-ins—with superiors and peers—help account managers grow.
[28:35] The intentional approach to help supervising managers improve too.
[30:45] The onboarding process is a key value add driver for Fame, continually evolving and being improved.
[31:34] One employee's career development and why upskilling people builds strong cultures.
[33:03] Tom promotes employees’ proactive and self-determined progression.
[33:57] Study of leadership focuses Tom on creating cohesion, communicating with clarity, and reinforcing the clarity.
[36:24] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: For leaders of fully distributed teams, use live interaction time with team members wisely to collect and convey information to improve people’s work lives. Don’t take those meetings for granted. You have to do your best work as a remote leader.
RESOURCES
Tom Hunt on LinkedIn
X @TomHuntio
Instagram @TomHuntio
Fame.so
Confessions of a B2B Marketer podcast
Top Grading by Brad and Geoff Smart
High Output Management by Andy Grove
The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni
QUOTES (edited)
"The thing that I was looking for most with angel investing was founder resilience. Had this founder failed before and kept going? The ability to pivot, tweak things, and then go forward is probably the most important at that very early stage."
"Empathy for each individual is one of the crucial aspects of leading. If you understand how each person is feeling, you can tailor your approach to working with them to maximize the output for both them personally and their group."
"We decided that if a team member meets another team member in person, whether they’re doing work or not, they get an allowance for that meeting to be spent on anything. It’s a decentralized campaign that promotes in-person interaction, which benefits the company and the individual."
"It’s not a process in which we try to fire somebody. It’s a process in which we’re looking to support someone to perform better."
“The monthly chat with managers is the review of: ‘What’s gone well this month? What’s not gone so well? What do you want to more of?’ and we’ve added in ‘How can I be a better manager for you?’”
"If you have something that you want to learn or do and there’s a business need for that thing and you’ve mastered your current role, then you can do it. You just have to find the person who’s going to replace you."
Debbie Lovich is Managing Director and Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). She leads BCG’s thinking on making work work. Debbie describes Harvard research conducted at BCG on work/life balance. She shares insights as to why lasting solutions must be co-created, continuously improved, and include teams having open discussions about team norms. Debbie explains why her focus on joy (and productivity) is an economic one especially as Gen AI forces everyone to rethink work. Debbie portrays the Generative Leader and explains how their intent for improvement and team approach enables transformation projects to succeed.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:28] Debbie loves business from an early age so she studies economics.
[02:56] Companies move too slowly! Debbie discovers quickly that consulting is the right fit for her!
[04:12] A random connection introduces Harvard professor Leslie Perlow about a research study on work/life balance.
[05:01] Debbie has no work/life balance but wonders what Leslie might come up with.
[06:30] Detailed data reveals consultants expect long hours but the lack of predictability is a huge issue.
[07:30] Leslie wants to conduct an experiment with one team testing a more predictable schedule.
[08:52] Looking for a team for the experiment, Debbie hears “Great idea, but why not your team?!”
[09:57] How the lack of predictability is experienced by BCG consultants.
[11:02] Debbie asks her important local client to support doing the HBS research with her team.
[12:10] The experiment is successful and the model is scaled to the rest of BCG.
[13:17] Debbie temporarily leaves BCG to commercialize the research results with Leslie.
[14:34] Scaling a model is very different than managing one controlled experiment.
[15:50] Data on client value delivery is key to convince others as the model is expanded.
[16:56] Everyone has to design the change—at the start and evolving improvements over time.
[18:40] Agreeing team norms is essential so different people and projects determine parameters.
[22:01] With new tools, ubiquitous work is possible with zero boundaries and much waste.
[23:35] When you constrain work, people have to prioritize and innovate.
[24:10] In today’s labor market, work/life balance is an important reason to rethink work.
[27:44] Debbie believes that work is fundamentally broken.
[28:38] In a VUCA world, employers are giving workers more to do with fewer resources.
[29:27] - The ‘unbroken state’ is when we are all in this together.
[30:32] Debbie focuses on joy for economic reasons.
[32:51] Trader Joe's employee-centric positive results.
[34:56] Why organizations should think of employees like customers—including emotional benefits.
[36:12] Gabby Novacek's work reveals everyone is motivated differently. Programs focusing only on few segments won't succeed.
[38:24] Who Generative Leaders are.
[39:18] Debbie explains the head, heart, and hands of generative leadership.
[40:54] The most important things employees want from leaders and where leaders spend their time.
RESOURCES
Debbie Lovich on LinkedIn
BCG.com
QUOTES (edited)
“If you want to make change stick, there has to be something in it for all parties.“
“Everyone has to design the change…15 years later, thousands think that they invented it, because they did.”
“If you tell people they can’t work 24/7, you have to think about what’s the most important work to do. Are there different ways to get it done? And that leads to better work.”
“We need to solve the needs of the work and the needs of the team in how we rethink work.”
“When you constrain the work, you force people to prioritize. You force teams to talk about what’s going to get in the way of everyone getting their time off and making it work. So it forces innovation of new approaches.”
“How do we make work more productive and more enjoyable at the same time?”
“Gen AI is coming and is forcing everyone to rethink work.”
“My focus on joy is an economic one.”
“Employees are customers too. They choose to work with you. They choose to expend their energy at work every day as opposed to just punch the clock.”
“You need to think about not just the functional needs of pay and benefits and hours, but the emotional needs of feeling supported, enjoying your work, feeling respected.”
Denise Brouder, Founder and Head of Data and Insights at SWAY Workplace. As a flexible work skills expert, researcher, and consultant—with a Wall St background in financial oversight and controls—Denise discusses a risk-adjusted systems approach to implement flexibility and optimize performance. She explains why AI is a key factor driving us from fixed hybrid to flexible models as the only viable long-term solution. Denise explains the critical importance of empathy-based trust to effect flexibility at scale and fuel high-performing teams and that to work differently, we need to start by thinking differently.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:39] From rural Ireland, Denise writes to Wall St. banks asking for an internship and gets one!
[03:55] Denise is systems-oriented, finding banks’ capital, economics, and operations fascinating.
[04:37] Denise compares Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs as organizations and employers.
[05:17] As a young mother, Denise leaves Wall Street to join a tech startup and get more flexibility.
[06:00] Denise finds she loves the process of starting with a problem and building something.
[06:48] Working in a large company becomes transactional while at a startup to see how your everyday effort contributes to progress.
[07:41] At a fast-paced startup, Denise learns to hustle, figuring things out as they build the business.
[08:22] Denise finds building and scaling with limited resources a very interesting challenge.
[09:02] Denise follows a colleague to LugTrack, launching with five people and a patent.
[10:19] Persistence, creativity, and grit are critical for success as a startup—which are emotional skills.
[11:06] Lithium-ion batteries catching fire on planes meant LugTrack’s business runway ran out.
[11:49] After a course on the Future of Work, Denise takes a big leap of faith and founds a company.
[12:30] Denise recognizes the work change ahead and wants to productize how to work flexibly.
[14:29] Denise wants to yell “AI is coming! AI is coming!” from the hilltop!
[14:45] Denise feels strongly about mastering flexible work at scale to propel everyone forward.
[16:10] Denise thinks that flexibility at scale levels the playing field for women.
[17:10] The first iteration of SWAY is a technology play using apps to convene the conversation digitally around new ways of working.
[18:15] The advancement of women will happen by changing the system from the inside out, making flexibility a gender neutral issue.
[19:38] Denise discovers she is a systems thinker and we have a systems problem.
[20:32] The Science of Flexibility helps de-risk flexibility as an operational strategy for a large company.
[21:17] If flexibility is demonstrated, measured, and communicated like a risk-adjusted talent model, senior leaders can get people on the same page.
[22:49] In SWAY’s work, EQ and empathy demonstrate the intelligence that is in flexibility that we’re going to need in an AI-influenced world.
[23:42] High-performing flexible teams are fueled by empathy-based trust.
[25:32] Emotions are fundamental to our human design, but we only just starting to understand them.
[27:47] Traditional working norms evolved around visual-based trust.
[28:26] In hybrid models, trust levels feel low and are questioned—these are growing pains.
[29:16] Flexibility at scale requires empathy-based trust.
[32:03] The social contract used to provide stability. Now, what is the system? Do we trust it?
[32:49] Reimagining the social contract may be an even bigger shift to prepare for in the future of work.
[33:40] Denise is concerned that some employees are not fighting RTO mandates anymore.
[36:05] In-office mandates are not long-term models, but the current situation is still malleable.
[36:45] In face of AI disruption, Denise’s goal is to articulate that flexibility is not a fad or a perk but an intelligent model for the modern era
[38:33] Mindset is first—to facilitate adaptability and resiliency.
[40:08] If we want to work differently, we have to think differently.
[41:20] Cultural differences about work and historical religious underpinnings.
[43:00] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: First, the Future of Work is a journey, not a destination. Take the pressure off “completing” the transition as it is an evolution. Second, we learn and communicate new ways of working through documentation rather than observation. Third, lead by outcomes and create social space to learn team members’ work styles.
RESOURCES
Denise Brouder on LinkedIn
@SWAYworkplace on X
@SWAYworkplace on Instagram
swayworkplace.com
QUOTES (edited)
“Our original social mission was to level the playing field for women at work, using flexibility at scale.”
“The Science of Flexibility is my way of communicating with senior leaders who are accountable for performance within a flexible model. We have to demonstrate how it works, why it’s better than before, how we measure the impact, and how we deploy it.”
“It’s a risk-adjusted talent model. We explain it in a condensed, easy-to-consume setting under the umbrella term “the Science of Flexibility” specifically for senior leaders.”
“In an AI-influenced world, where a lot of our work is going to be transformed, we are left with the work of being human to one another.”
“We evolved our working norms around visual-based trust. When we were all shifted home for fully remote work, it was a very uncomfortable period. A lot of leaders found themselves on Teams wondering if we trust each other.”
“An in-office model of work is not suitable for where we need to grow economically, regardless of where your industry is. It just isn’t.”
“If we want to work differently, we have to think differently, and if we want to think differently, we start with resiliency.”
“Gen X has always associated a hard day’s work with a sense of decency, patriotism, and honor, and when they look at the younger ones looking to reach those outcomes differently, they have a hard time associating value with that style of work.”
Phil Kirschner, Senior Expert and Associate Partner, Real Estate & People and Organizational Performance at McKinsey where he advises executive teams on the future of work, employee experience, organizational health, and workplace strategies. Phil discusses systemic changes, expected rebounds in cities’ commercial real estate, and organizational health. He shares insights about workplace utilization, the critical emphasis on ‘how’ we work and change management to evolve behaviors, and the new retail-oriented perception of work.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:25] Phil calls himself an accidental work strategist, starting out in banking.
[03:37] Phil starts in the efficiency management group looking to save money in real estate.
[04:40] How workplace innovation by Google and Microsoft caught public attention.
[05:23] Competition for talent from other industries drives investment to improve work ‘place’.
[06:30] Balancing not having your own desk with other amenities to improve the experience.
[08:06] Trying to reduce office-based friction with shared environments.
[09:00] Most managers absorbed a bit more pain to give team members a better experience.
[10:00] The loss factor and importance of change management to establish new behaviors.
[11:32] Where managers set the example carefully, the highest satisfaction is reported.
[14:02] These are not real estate projects, but culture projects—requiring a cultural shift.
[16:21] Ten years ago, productivity at the bank was measured through self-attestation and surveys.
[17:00] Team dynamics, people’s ability to focus, and overall engagement all increased significantly.
[19:57] McKinsey’s Organizational Health Framework and Index helps analyze work practices and how these tie to performance.
[21:04] Studying fully remote companies to isolate specific variables, Phil finds them to be top decile performers.
[23:20] Organizational practice surveys show if you give someone flexibility, they are much more likely to report positive outcomes for the organization.
[25:25] You have to teach people how to use new environments and tools differently.
[27:15] The four ways companies are showing up in the world nowadays.
[28:35] Building facilities for very specific purposes rather than trying to solve all needs all the time.
[30:10] Clearly defining the purposes of a workspace unlocks better outcomes.
[32:37] Progressive companies with flexible hybrid policies are working hard to figure out how to adapt fully to all the new ways of working.
[36:45] Most companies need to be focusing on ways of working and responsive spaces.
[40:27] Technology is undoubtedly driving the change in how we work, Phil touches on how AI may change this further.
[44:22] Phil explains the increasing retail nature of our work choices and some of the implications of this when it comes to competition.
[46:56] The HR/IT/Real Estate stool now needs a seat to bridge the gap in employee and customer experience.
[51:10] RTO is not sustainable; Phil explains why and what RTO focused companies can expect.
[55:47] Phil breaks down what commercial real estate issues and positive trends to watch for in the coming years.
[59:05] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Stop thinking about inputs, the days in the office, or “what’s the right hybrid?” Focus on outputs and the impact on organizational health. Study work practices and outcomes across your organization based on how people work and collaborate to figure out the secret sauce, then pilot, test, learn, and scale those behaviors, and keep evolving.
RESOURCES
Phil Kirschner on LinkedIn
McKinsey.com
QUOTES (edited)
"Those work environments with the bean bags, the beautiful amenities, and the campus also have a desk for each employee. We didn’t have the means for that, so to give you a better experience, you had to make a trade with us: give up your assigned seat."
"We found that where you had the managers who were willing to be sitting in the open having calls or conversations in the open, those zones by far were the ones where people would report the highest satisfaction."
"These are not real estate projects, they are change projects. They are culture projects that happen to manifest in space."
"When you’ve created a culture where lots of work can happen in the open, it eases demand for the formal spaces."
"Fully remote companies that have never had an office, who were born remote and not forcibly remote are top quartile, if not top decile performers against McKinsey’s 20-year experience of measuring Organizational Health."
"If you give someone a choice in where they work, either in the office or home or when they’re working their hours, we find that they’re about one and a half times as likely to report positive outcomes for the organization."
"I am fully a believer that the ways of working are far more powerful as a tool for organizational performance and experience than where we happen to be working. And I wish I knew that 10 years ago."
"For a city like New York, we have to make it compelling and affordable for people to want to live here, even if they’re not working for someone who is here."
"I will go back for experiences that I enjoy, back to the same restaurant, same bar, same shows. We like that our customers are repeat customers. We can be repeat workers, and that’s going to be a huge unlock in the coming years."
"Changing the way we work is hard, no matter the best tools in the world. It's still hand-to-hand combat group by group, culture by culture, process by process. It’s hard, so instead of doing the hard thing, we do the easy thing and there is a call to all go back to the office."
Michelle Coulson is Founder and Chief Remote Rebel at Remote Rebellion whose mission is to enable people to live the life that they choose. Michelle shares her journey working around the world finding opportunities in response to economic, pandemic, and workplace changes. She explains how the COVID19 crisis gave everyone time to reflect about their life, work, and happiness. Michelle discusses reactions to being told to go back to the office--and finds meaning in launching her own venture. She questions what people settle with but could ask for and explains how to explore and navigate new remote working possibilities.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:02] Michelle early love of travel guides her studies.
[04:06] 2009 is a bad year to graduate, so Michelle makes her way to Thailand via Australia.
[05:50] Michelle finds comfort and a better version of herself in Southeast Asia.
[07:15] Working as a tour guide takes its toll on Michelle’s health and she turns to digital marketing.
[08:27] Planning to cycle the globe motivates Michelle to find more lucrative opportunities, she stumbles into recruitment, and a relationship.
[11:27] Catalyzed by a breakup and the pandemic, Michelle leaves London for Bali.
[12:22] A forced return to the office prompts Michelle to quit and explore what career will let her work from anywhere.
[14:14] Michelle explains the birth of Remote Rebellion.
[17:19] Recognizing “there is more to life than work,” Michelle explores what makes her happy and builds a remote community.
[20:43] After reflecting during the pandemic, many people still feel guilty to ask for more for their lives.
[21:49] Michelle dives into Remote Rebellion’s mission vision and purpose.
[23:56] Remote Rebellion’s clients are diverse and yet all enjoy choosing where they work.
[26:09] Jack is one client who went from fitting kitchens to SEO work!
[28:53] Building confidence is a significant part of the journey.
[30:45] What Michelle misses and hopes for the future of Remote Rebellion.
[32:46] Remote work is here to stay while growth has slowed, for now.
[34:15] Michelle is wary of some companies’ reasons and parameters for their hybrid model.
[36:21] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you want a remote job, first check why you want it. If you aren’t happy with your life, what would enrich your life and how can you achieve that? Remote working may not be the solution, but if you think it is, also investigate the downsides. Then experiment to see if you like it.
RESOURCES
Michelle Coulson on LinkedIn
@RemoteRebellion on X
Remote Rebellion on Instagram
remoterebellion.com
The 4 C'S Formula: Commitment Courage Capability and Confidence, by Dan Sullivan
QUOTES (edited)
“I changed and I became quite materialistic, which I hadn’t been before. I bought a designer handbag, and I don't even like this stuff. What am I doing?”
“And when the call back to the office came, I was literally holding onto the post… I don’t want to do this. I said, if you won’t let me work remotely from here like I have been for the past year and a half, then I quit.”
“I felt like it was a rebellion because I was angry that we were being forced back into the office when we didn’t need to be. We were working great. A lot of people work better when they’re able to have the freedom to choose where they work from.”
“I’m not anti-hybrid. I'm anti being told and being forced when you go into the office. And a lot of hybrid companies do do that. I just think there’s a lack of trust.”
“Do you not get lonely if you work remotely? If your only source of social interaction is in the office or the people you work with, maybe you need to be questioning that.”
Nick Bloom, Professor of Economics at Stanford University and co-Founder of wfhresearch.com and wfhmap.com, has studied remote work for over two decades. Nick discusses fundamental data issues, sources, and collection as well as understanding macro and firm level productivity. He talks about the demise of RTO (Return To Office) efforts and the stabilization of hybrid models. Nick describes the changing attitudes and demographics of people working from home. He also shares insights about HR’s rising strategic importance as talent management increases in complexity.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:02] Born and educated in the UK, Nick starts off consulting and working at HM Treasury.
[03:35] On a speaking engagement in California, Nick is offered a job and returns to live long-term.
[04:42] Nick was interested in management practices early on and, as a child, experienced both parents working from home.
[05:22] One of Nick’s students is a travel agent. Their randomized WFH trial generates much interest.
[04:42] Focused on daily commuting, early WFH data only tracked fully remote or fully in the office.
[06:50] Nick begins bridging the gap and finding multiple sources as government data collection lags.
[07:35] Nick finds ways to collect reliable and more frequent data from many businesses.
[09:41] Productivity is easy enough to measure at the macro level, critical for setting interest rates.
[10:31] At the firm level, productivity is very hard to measure for many disciplines and jobs.
[11:34] Initially surprised at the pandemic’s duration and effect on WFH, Nick then visualizes the tombstone for Return To Office.
[12:35] Nick explains the inherent bias in Kastle’a data for trending upwards.
[14:01] The perception of working from home is much more positive than a decade ago.
[15:28] People working remotely are now more likely to be higher paid professionals.
[16:25] The leisure boom resulting from reduced commuting—why not play golf then?!
[17:57] With hybrid stabilizing, HR is more important to manage more complex talent dynamics.
[20:55] In-person outperforms virtual teaching for now, but Nick expects this to evolve.
[22:11] How important coordination is to improve in-office experiences and activities.
[23:34] MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) learning is likely to improve dramatically with technology advances (e.g. new headsets).
[25:58] Why CEOs tend to have the most negative opinions about remote working.
[26:49] At all levels, most people find no change to corporate culture caused by working from home.
[27:32] A reasonable cadence of in-person connection to build and maintain culture.
[28:49] Nick was amazed hybrid stabilized so quickly.
[29:33] Top human resources pay has risen steeply recently to support new work- and talent-related developments.
[31:10] How work arrangements are best tailored for the target audience, product/service, and talent.
[32:16] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Your priority should be getting your hybrid model to work. If compliance is low for four days a week in the office, try one or two days and make those a success so people feel it’s valuable time spent in the office (not on Zoom).
RESOURCES
Nick Bloom on LinkedIn
wfhresearch.com
wfhmap.com
QUOTES
“Hybrid’s going to get better in the sense of more coordination, better use of space.”
“At the end of 2022, there's a little tombstone somewhere that says “Return To Office, Rest In Peace.” And since then, work from home levels have been stable.”
“I could easily see a norm being two or three days a week in the office and two, three days. The thing for me is that coordination really matters.”
“Mid-managers tend to actually be relatively positive working from home because they have houses and kids.”
“Meeting up once a month for a day or once a week for one or two days, you can really get a big boost to culture building and there are diminishing returns which is why hybrid is so popular. You just don’t need to be in all five days.”
“There's been a leisure boost. The typical professional is working from home two and a half days a week. You typically save 70 minutes a day when you work from home. If you add it up, you're looking at two, maybe three hours. And you can easily sneak in a game of golf.”
“I think now we have stabilized in hybrid. I know you occasionally read scary headlines from Elon Musk or Jamie Diamond, but in the data I'm looking at, you just don't see that.”
Jeff Frick is the host of ‘Work 20XX’ and ‘Turn the Lens’ podcasts, a media entrepreneur—founder and principal of Menlo Creek Media, and a seasoned operator from the tech sector. Jeff shares his journey experiencing Silicon Valley’s technology evolution, starting with early hardware and emerging software ventures exploring internet commerce. Pivoting with the pandemic, Jeff uses technology to enable collaboration and create and elevate community. He shares his predictions for tech-driven changes as we learn, appreciate, and integrate new applications that facilitate and (re)shape our working lives.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:29] Studying economics, Jeff is inspired by the new perspectives of his psychology professor/pilot.
[03:46] Jeff’s lab rat encounter and observations as he learns the addictive nature of random payouts.
[05:43] Delving into cockpit design to explore the hierarchy of needs for human/machine interactions.
[07:37] Jeff double majors in economics and psychology to better understand humans’ emotional drivers.
[08:15] Working in sales elevates the importance of emotion and empathy and what makes people tick.
[10:00] Consumer electronics gets disrupted, so Jeff goes to business school, then starts a tech career.
[10:54] The clunky beginnings of Intel’s early chip, with its accompanying ecosystem and jargon.
[12:32] Jeff has the most retail experience as Intel/SAP try to launch one of the first B2C online malls.
[13:33] Offline supply chain basic logistics hamper early B2B internet commerce.
[14:40] Jeff rides the internet bubble as auction and software ventures get funded and bought or crater.
[16:24] Early learnings from online commerce backend issues and front end behaviors.
[18:12] His mother’s questions prompt Jeff to invest in himself and take an entrepreneurial route.
[19:00] The business of bug fixing and transitioning!
[20:11] Atlassian had a different (Australian!) attitude—share, be open, and build schools in Africa.
[22:40] The bugs drive Jeff into an out-of-body experience, out of Jira, and right into theCUBE.
[23:44] theCUBE’s format enabled people to tell their story in a professional setting.
[25:32] Jeff hosts over 2000 live interviews with many memorable tech sector CEOs.
[27:42] Technology’s rapid and often surprising evolution is a key reason Jeff loves the field.
[29:29] AI’s outputs are pretty generic now to Jeff, but he anticipates much change in a short period.
[31:50] The pandemic generates new media consumption habits—asynchronous and collaborative.
[33:40] Jeff experiences collaborations across overlapping communities and building new audiences.
[36:15] The Super 73 makers have nurtured an engaged and powerful community driving the brand.
[38:47] Developing a community to become a movement.
[40:10] Experiments with a new medium and audience are a driver for Jeff to launch his podcast.
[42:47] Jeff podcast is evolving with the world of work as new threads and issues emerge.
[44:16] The future of work in 2024 with a real estate reckoning and tight labor supply.
[46:37] Distributed teams have been around forever and work isn’t at the office it’s on your phone!
[48:47] There is no steady state to expect, Jeff emphasizes how fast things are moving today.
[51:25] Jeff shares his excitement about drones heralding how much more 2024 can bring.
RESOURCES
Jeff Frick on LinkedIn
Work20xx.com
turnthelenspodcast.com
QUOTES (edited)
“Most people never get the opportunity to tell their story in a professional setting. And most people have an interesting story to tell if you’re willing to dig a little.”
“Authenticity is the key and often that works well as a leader.”
“What’s interesting about technology is that it seems like we’re always in the first inning. We never get to the third inning! Suddenly there’s something new that’s big, and it just keeps accelerating. It just keeps going faster.”
“With AI, the other piece of the puzzle that’s not talked about enough is that it’s a new way for you or me to interface with a supercomputer on demand without writing code and that is really pretty amazing.”
“We misjudge time. Say it takes something 10 years, it isn’t that long from now.”
Cecelia Girr is the Strategy Director at TBWA\Worldwide and Director of Cultural Strategy at TBWABackslash. Cecelia’s career has been focused on researching, gathering, and distilling cultural intelligence to understand cultural changes, prevailing sentiments, core issues, and emerging trends. She shares insights from Backslash’s new Future of Employee Engagement report including employees’ desires and concerns, why flexibility and upskilling matter, and the importance of investing in employees’ experiences. Cecelia advocates for healthy employer/employee relationships with life stage-related and tailored benefits that help employees live better lives.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:52] A love of stories prompts Cecelia to study political science, having considered documentary filmmaking!
[04:12] Political science studies power that shapes the world, paying attention to nuance and ambiguity.
[05:43] Explaining cultural intelligence and solutions journalism—which focuses on learning from people trying to solve problems.
[06:51] Gathering intelligence and looking at the unintended consequences of actions and events.
[08:05] Before 2020, workplace culture was emphasized, but more as a ‘cult of work’ mentality.
[08:55] An earlier work revolution to make work sexy and coworkers pseudo family members.
[09:50] The pandemic caused us to recognize ‘toxic’ aspects and develop more healthy employer/employee relationships.
[12:05] Culture isn’t focused on ‘place’, but more on flexibility now and different aspects that are driving our relationship with work.
[13:38] The four big tensions comprising the employee experience today.
[15:20] Cecelia shares her key work-related issues—flexibility is top, then customizing benefits.
[16:37] Cecilia’s friends are focused on flexibility and always on upskilling, since college isn’t enough.
[17:28] How upskilling needs are affecting people of Cecelia’s parents’ age.
[18:44] Heat protection innovation is solving issues for outdoor workers facing hotter temperatures.
[22:00] As the speed of change increases, employees are needing to become educators.
[22:59] How employers are changing their attitude to investing in employees.
[24:25] Upskilling and internal marketplaces are not just for retention, they will be future recruitment tactics too.
[26:20] Companies are trying a variety of flexible options—not clear what the ‘right’ solution is—and employees will find their fit.
[28:31] Some companies are offering employees the chance to experience different countries.
[30:14] Artificial intelligence presents many positive opportunities as well as some concerning elements.
[31:57] Cecelia is excited about new employee benefits that can help people live better lives.
[33:35] Benefits that boost wellbeing—such as those supporting employees at family planning, life, and caregiving milestones.
[35:13] Compensation structures can now be customized to suit employees’ current priorities.
[36:33] Earned wage access—being paid at the end of the shift—enables workers to achieve more financial security.
[37:06] New emphasis on trying to find a wellness-oriented relationship with work.
[38:23] The possibilities of work helping you live a better life—from scheduling to adaptive pay and life-stage customized benefits.
[39:10] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: First, encourage transparency, listen to employees’ needs, and make long-lasting efforts to respond. Second, embrace flexibility, beginning by understanding employees’ lives and them as human beings. Third, invest in the employee experience, financially.
RESOURCES
Cecelia Girr on LinkedIn
Download The Future of Employee Experience Report at Backslash.com
Backslash on Instagram @tbwabackslash
QUOTES (edited)
“Culture in the workplace was not emphasized with an eye towards the health of employees or with the individual at heart.”
“Now when we hear the word culture being used by company leaders, I feel it’s more about showing new intention…and making sure there’s a healthy relationship there between employer and employees.”
“Flexibility and upskilling are front of mind for people. The rate of change in what skills are demanded and desired is so quick. University doesn't exactly set you up for the workplace of today like it used to.”
“An evolution that's happening Is employers putting investment into becoming educators and ‘always on upskilling’ for their employees.”
“’Always on upskilling’ is not just about retention. It will be the recruitment tactic of the future.”
“I think people will look to the companies that define the kind of workplace environment that they want.”
“It's about becoming more customized and tailored to the specific life and life stage of the employee—where you're at in your career, where you're at in your finances, what you actually need in terms of support—all of these things are just going to make work help you live a better life.”
Sophie Wade is a work futurist and strategist, workforce innovation specialist, keynote speaker, and host of this show. She is an author and authority on the Future of Work, and a course instructor with over 0.5 million LinkedIn Learning learners on Gen Z, empathy, and Future of Work skills. Sophie shares three key pathways for 2024 and decisions to make to move forward successfully. She describes the human-centric system of modern work, highlights the guiding work/LIFE principles, and recommends learning the fundamental practices.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:29] Sophie predicts what will significantly impact your company’s outcomes this year.
[02:19] You have noticed some of the new era’s defining characteristics—such as how customers are reacting and how tasks are changing.
[03:59] This year, figure out what works for your company, not wait to see what others do.
[04:41] High-performing companies that have embraced modern work are demonstrating the principles and fundamental practices.
[06:09] During turbulent conditions, emphasize cohesive principles of modern work internally—Learning, Intention, Flexibility, and Empathy.
[07:53] The meaning of work/L.I.F.E equilibrium.
[08:17] Is your company equipped for the new digital rules of engagement?
[09:10] Sophie predicts three roads ahead in 2024 and explains the choices and challenges.
[11:49] Using workplace policies to explain CEOs’ (lack of) commitment to modern work.
[13:39] The difference between conceding to a policy compared with committing to it.
[15:49] What strategic framework applies to modern work?
[16:28] Starting with target customers and their needs to ensure everyone understands them and is aligned.
[18:59] Discovering and assessing your Customer Journey and how to make meaningful improvements.
[20:12] The importance of the complementary Employee Journey.
[21:17] Evaluating and upgrading all stages of the Employee Journey.
[22:15] The long-term benefits of shared values and deeper connections throughout your business ecosystem.
[24:27] How does a human-centric system and an emphasis on talent change outcomes for your business?
[25:24] The fundamental practices of modern work.
[26:55] Survey data from workers providing important intelligence for decision-making and progress.
[28:13] Weighting historical and recent data in the current environment.
[29:19] Balancing old and new inputs, making measured decisions, using data, logic and reasoning.
[30:40] Which path will you to commit for 2024 keeping work/LIFE principles top of mind?
RESOURCES
Sophie Wade on LinkedIn
Sophie’s company website Flexcel Network
Sophie’s book “Empathy Works: The Key to Competitive Advantage in the New Era of Work”
Sophie’s book “Embracing Progress: Next Steps for the Future of Work”
QUOTES
“The essence of modern work can be captured in four core principles that are relevant for any ecosystem, organization, team and individual. These are: Learning, Intention, Flexibility, and Empathy.”
“The Employee Journey is the “yin” to the Customer Journey’s “yang””.
“The human-centric approach is applicable all along your supply chain as extensive ripple effects potentially impact everyone’s revenues and future growth possibilities.”
“Tech is a given. Talent is a gift.”
“Right now, recent data is often most relevant and reliable for projecting out the possible pathways.”
“Our habit as humans, our instinct, is to invent and innovate, to continue our evolutionary path forward, to learn from disruptions and gain from turbulent disconnection to make jumps and leaps forward—which aren’t necessarily comfortable at first. “
Josh Bottomley is CEO of Dunnhumby (UK), a global leader in customer data science. Josh has led digital transformation initiatives at media and finance businesses. After overseeing customer data-focused traditional print businesses, Josh gained invaluable strategic experience early in the digitalization of organizations’ income streams and operations. Josh shares his insights about how he aligned multiple internal groups as new tech-enabled opportunities cut across business units. He explains the importance of working frameworks and freedom for employees and how to view any roadblocks.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:46] From childhood, Josh was interested in what will eventually be called systems thinking.
[03:52] Joining the Financial Times during the internet’s early days, Josh’s job takes an unexpected turn.
[04:47] How the internet changes the way a newspaper needs to operate.
[05:51] Josh tries to recruit for jobs and titles that don’t exist yet.
[06:46] The importance of details in marketing.
[09:43] Digital transformation isn’t easy—how Josh succeeds by talking to customers.
[12:54] Using YouTube as a Trojan Horse to move parts of advertising budgets from TV to the Internet.
[15:45] How Josh finds an innovative way to create alignment in teams and mindsets.
[17:38] Digital integration is done cautiously across a company, working closely with customers.
[19:59] The perfect place to be is one step ahead of your customer, not three.
[21:58] What Josh took from Google to HSBC and every organization after.
[24:47] Why we now think more about systems and ecosystems to understand our world and business.
[27:02] What Dunnhumby has been doing for over 30 years.
[29:20] How “nudges” help people get what they want.
[31:40] How to strike the right balance relating to employees’ need for freedom and structure.
[35:05] Clarity about expectations and sustaining individual motivation are key to empower employees.
[37:54] Having a sense of purpose and nurturing it in others helps internal mobility, Josh explains.
[39:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Pick a theme, a sense of purpose. Leadership is a journey. You may or may not get to your destination. Rather than getting frustrated, be curious about the silly stuff that gets in the way — see them as roadblocks to overcome as you progress. Life is an obstacle course, not a sprint.
[42:21] Gen AI may be leveling blue and white-collar work--the impact has yet to be estimated.
RESOURCES
Josh Bottomley on LinkedIn
dunnhumby.com
QUOTES (edited)
“We would spend $200 million a year on direct marketing and get a response rate of 2%. If we could get the rate to 3%, we would be getting 50% more customers for our money because one person in a hundred is making a different decision. So the lesson was, I might operate in this business at a level of detail such that one person in a hundred makes a different decision.”
“The perfect place in the business is one step ahead of your customers, not three.”
“Get curious about what’s getting in the way. And once you know what’s getting in the way, you can usually find a way to fix it.”
“Shoppers are not totally rational. That’s why I love businesses where the data and the tech result in some form of human decision.”
“I'm so impressed by younger generations because I think life is much harder. The default career options aren’t there. I think it’s much harder coming into the workforce now than it was when I was at that stage.”
Rob Sadow is the CEO and Co-Founder of Scoop and Creator of the Flex Index. He is a LinkedIn Top Voice on Flexible Work and a Forbes Future of Work 50. Rob shares how his own commuting experiences generated the initial focus on flexible working which morphed during the pandemic as employee behaviors evolved. Rob explains the genesis of the Flex Report, which tracks employers’ workplace policies. He brings insights about employers’ and employees’ changing sentiments during 2023 and the challenges of measuring productivity and workplace policy compliance. Rob describes his expectations for flexible working in 2024 and Scoop’s emphasis on the core issue designing how to work effectively.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:45] Rob chooses consulting after college to learn by working with top companies and executives.
[03:58] After a transfer to San Francisco, Rob decides to launch a business with his brother.
[05:52] Scoop addresses commuting pain which Rob is familiar with from high school.
[07:51] When COVID end a significant portion of commutes, Scoop has to reinvent itself.
[09:56] Rob explains their bet in 2020 with the information they had at the time.
[11:19] Society does not adapt to rapid change easily.
[12:28] The two things COVID did to work as we knew it.
[14:27] Rob details the implications of a remote and hybrid operating system.
[17:00] The realization that all that is expected and promised may never come is a stark gift from COVID.
[19:05] How the Flex Index came about.
[22:45] What does scaling a fully remote company look like?
[24:21] The biggest problem facing a fully remote or even hybrid future according to Rob.
[26:13] Rob shares why compliance is complicated with examples of grey areas.
[29:25] What the most successful companies are doing since compliance is challenging to enforce.
[30:45] Rob offers data points reinforcing the broad benefits of offering workforce flexibility.
[32:36] Rob expects recognition of higher performance from employers with flexible working policies will shift sentiment further in 2024.
[34:50] Hybrid is the hardest. We must be intentional about “how” we work.
[37:23] How the Flex Report data is generated and how companies can use this tool to monitor competitors.
[39:16] The Flex Index’s expansion plan to include granular subpolicy information.
[41:09] Productivity is hard to measure and Rob proposes tracking aggregate employee outcomes instead.
[43:49] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To move forward productively in 2024, start with a good recurring cadence of getting feedback from employees on what’s working for them so you can make adjustments. Second, update leadership development to focus on managing outcomes, projects, and performance, checking in on people you don’t see daily. Third, design a better workflow supported by appropriate documentation and tools.
RESOURCES
Rob Sadow on LinkedIn
Scoopforwork.com
Scoop on X @scoopforwork
The Flex Report
QUOTES (edited)
“It is hard for society to adapt to rapid change. Most adoption cycles take decades.”
“We need people who have grown up in this experience. The executives of the future who grew up in a hybrid or remote capacity, and who will usher in a different set of best practices and understanding on what it means to build companies.”
“Hybrid and remote work fundamentally are not just policies, they are operating systems, and they require a different way of thinking about culture building and relationship development and synchronous versus asynchronous work.”
“The biggest problem for a lot of companies is that a lot of CEOs — in their heart of hearts — hope that hybrid work is a way-station on the way back to full-time in office. So, you have a lot of companies that have laid out a policy, but have done no more than that because they're hoping it's transient.”
“Compliance is somewhat meaningless in practice: You are relying on managers who are going to raise the flag on their employees who are not coming into the office, which is a really fast ticket to total loss of employee trust and bad relationships.”
“CEOs that are pushing hard on five days a week in office are almost deliberately not paying attention to the people who can't do that. And for whatever reason, that conversation still hasn't come really to the forefront.”
“I think the companies that are not requiring full-time in the office are going to outperform on recruitment, retention, engagement, satisfaction, and a bunch of different key employee outcomes that most people believe are leading indicators of performance.”
“The best fully remote organizations in the world are unbelievably intentional in terms of when they're online and offline and how they coordinate on those things, where they document things and how they get together in person.”
“Productivity is extremely difficult to measure because there's a different ‘best’ productivity metric for every different role type and it is variant by industry.”
Margaux Miller is the Global Director of Community at Toptal, a podcast host, emcee, and remote professional. She is focused on engaging Toptal’s fully remote worldwide network of freelance talent. Margaux has much experience building networks and leading community engagement—including her passionate involvement supporting women in tech. Margaux shares insights about the importance of community to create connection and belonging—across fully remote and hybrid teams and organizations. She explains how to build strong community engagement without competition and meet core human relationship needs.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:20] Margaux decides she wants to be a background actor and gets into voice acting very early.
[03:58] Margaux side hustles as the voice of a cartoon for two years while at university.
[05:17] Recording all your lines alone can be challenging!
[06:28] Margaux starts in experiential marketing, quickly leading large teams.
[07:39] Community is a group of people with mutual concern for one another’s welfare.
[09:13] Margaux describes the broad set of skills required for effective community building.
[10:49] Margaux finds her passion building a community for women in technology, combining multiple communities.
[14:04] Trust is a critical for a community to thrive together with clear identity and rewarded participation which all need continuous practice.
[16:43] Distributed communities get stronger during the pandemic as behaviors change.
[18:36] How to maintain a community at a completely remote company.
[20:13] Toptal’s values are discussed in interviews to assure a good mutual cultural match.
[22:03] A community needs a clear boundary or it’s a mob!
[23:26] How Margaux keeps a global community engaged to retain Toptal’s talent network.
[25:32] Connecting people with similar skill sets but in non-competitive ways yields beneficial results.
[27:56] Pulse surveys are one key tool for managing a 140+-multinational diverse community.
[31:24] Margaux advises how create a level playing field to bridge the potential divides of hybrid models.
[33:10] How equitable rule and tools establish new norms to engage fully remote and hybrid workers.
[34:45] Why protocols matter and need to be followed.
[36:34] The biggest benefit of regular in-person gatherings is to reinforce existing relationships.
[39:38] The importance of local connection and communities, which Toptal fosters actively for employees.
[43:08] Where does culture end and community begin?
[44:13] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To build and strengthen community and belonging, create occasions and environments that are open and accessible for everyone to get involved: design events and spaces where people are encouraged to have fun and build connections. Generate activity with multi-level stakeholders on board, joining in to show it’s safe to share, and reward participation.
[48:11] As a remote professional, Margaux feels the world is her oyster!
RESOURCES
Margaux Miller on LinkedIn
Margaux on X @MargauxAMiller
Margaux on Instagram
Margaux on YouTube
QUOTES (edited)
“For it to be truly a community, there has to be a mutual concern for one another's welfare. Or you could frame it another way to say, a community is a group of people who care about each other and feel they belong together.”
“It goes identity, trust, and participation. When you get people to trust you they're going to come and do the thing: come to the mixer or the event or whatever, be part of the online chat. And then you need to reward them for that behavior.”
“I think that people would be surprised by how much humans want to connect with one another in non-competitive ways. People do truly want human connection, even introverts.”
“People stay with companies so often because of their managers or because of the team that they're on, not necessarily the company, but it's often that group that they're within, that micro-community.”
“Everyone has to be equal at the official event. If you cannot have a level playing field, don't do it. I've seen bosses of small companies take people out for a big dinner and just give everyone a gift card if they can't come. It's not equivalent, you've created a hierarchy now of how people can connect with you as the boss.”
Paul Wolfe is Author of “Human Beings First - Practices for Empathetic, Expressive Leadership” and a Human First Leadership advocate. Paul was the long-term CHRO of Indeed with a seasoned career in HR leadership. Paul shares how he transferred skills from Customer Service to Human Resources and built his expertise across different cultures and industries. He explains the value of transparency during periods of transformation and offers new career paths options as we transition from career ladders. Paul describes why flexibility is important for every employee and the difference human first leadership makes.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:35] Paul goes to college with a full scholarship but doesn’t like it which displeases his mother, a teacher.
[03:45] Paul leaves college, starts working, then joins American Express and finishes his degree in parallel.
[05:47] CitiSearch.com’s CEO and Founder ask Paul to move from Customer Service to Human Resources.
[06:30] Paul agrees to try the HR role for six months, transfers his skills and enjoys the new role.
[07:50] CitySearch and other companies go under Ticketmaster’s umbrella and Paul takes on an international role.
[09:54] Working three months in each country opens Paul’s eyes about work and other cultural differences.
[11:10] Paul’s philosophy as a CHRO: People get their work done well and clients are taken care of. Timing and surf/walk breaks are not a concern.
[12:03] Recognizing the realities of people working in other countries challenges our assumptions.
[12:50] Paul moves to Match.com initially to run both HR and Customer Service!
[14:05] Moving again within IAC, Paul helps Cornerstone build up an engineering group and go digital.
[16:10] Transparency is key during periods of change to explain what’s happening and why.
[18:04] During the pandemic, with almost no data to inform decisions, Paul increases transparency and discusses what information supports the latest direction.
[20:29] Organizations are living, growing beings with a culture generated by the environment that is everyone’s responsibility.
[22:09] At Conde Nast, Paul explores a non-tech industry and checks he is good at his job!
[24:39] As a storied, family-based corporation, Conde Nast gives Paul new insights about culture.
[26:35] Paul is offered the top HR job at Indeed, but he turns it down. He doesn’t want to move again.
[27:36] Six months later, Indeed still wants Paul to head up HR, agreeing he can stay in NYC.
[29:41] Indeed only uses Indeed to recruit, experiencing what its customers go through.
[30:36] Paul finds everyone focused on protecting Indeed’s culture.
[31:18] Growth is strong, the workforce expands from 1000 to 12,000 and attrition stays low.
[31:41] Paul’s first epiphany about human first leadership happens during a Zoom call in 2020.
[33:44] We are all the same before we become different.
[34:08] Paul does a “Dig” and discovers “Better” is the word driving his personal operating system.
[35:08] To make the world better, Paul leaves Indeed to write a book and spread the message.
[36:42] Employee flexibility is key. Paul believes in treating people like adults.
[37:48] If executives believe hybrid working is negatively impacting collaboration, how were they measuring collaboration effectiveness before?
[38:31] Why not be transparent: describe metrics, trial a plan, and review the data in six months?
[39:02] What about asking employees to discover the range of situations they are dealing with and using that information to develop policies?
[40:52] How much (better) were people really working when in the office at their desk?!
[41:31] Flexibility for employees who have to work onsite—giving them equitable options.
[42:18] Managers are not great at performance reviews, so making remote working a reward for performance is complicated.
[44:30] How leaders can help employees deal with ongoing changes, especially with many unknowns.
[45:38] Transparency about AI and its potential impact supports change management.
[46:35] Individual contributor career paths present new options for those who don’t like or aren’t good at managing, which has been developed in engineering but not other areas.
[48:52] Let’s create two different career paths—a leadership track and an individual contributor track.
[51:51] Engagement, upskilling, career development, and performance should be ongoing discussions.
[56:20] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: We are all human beings first. We are all dealing with a lot and self-care for leaders and everybody is important. What’s more, no one has all the answers. It’s okay—as a leader--to say I don’t know. It’s ok to be vulnerable. IF you have curated a good team, they are going to rally. The better solution comes from collective thoughts from different perspectives.
RESOURCES
Paul Wolfe on LinkedIn
Paul Wolfe on X
Paul’s book “Human Beings First - Practices for Empathetic, Expressive Leadership”
Paul’s website
QUOTES (edited)
“I would always hope that I'm open enough that my perspective on something, my truth on something, can be changed by experiencing something or talking to somebody or hearing a different idea.”
“I think leaders in general, not just HR leaders, need to get more in the mindset of every organization is this kind of living and growing being. It needs nurturing, it needs care taking. You can call it culture. You can call it whatever you want to. But that's not HR leader's responsibility. It's everyone's responsibility.”
“The more that you create this transparency, you start to set the stage for psychological safety within an organization and generate ongoing two-way communication—employees to leaders, leaders to employees, employees to employees. And you end up with better ideas, better solutions to problems, and a more kind of engaged and informed group of people. “
“I've always run my HR organizations with this simple philosophy, treat people like adults more often, not they will act like adults. And the two to 5% that will never act like adults you deal with separately.”
“We all have different needs. So the idea of one size fits all is not right anymore. It's one size breaks all.”
“Let's figure out where your skill gaps are. We'll agree on those. Some of the stuff you're going to have to go get on your own and I'll point you in the right direction. I'll make sure that I give you interesting projects that love that start to tap into those areas that you don't have expertise in. And I'll block and tackle for you because a leader's job is to block and tackle most of the time.”
“My hope with performance, career, and engagement, it just becomes this ongoing conversation that happens.”
Rekha Magon is the co-founder and Head of Education at Boundless Life and an ed-tech entrepreneur. Rekha shares her journey from accounting to combining homeschooling and entrepreneurship before and during the pandemic, incorporating mindfulness as a key component. She describes the genesis of Boundless Life and explains their transformative approach to combine education, work, and community. Rekha shares the accelerating expansion of the lifestyle network as hundreds of families join Boundless to experience the multiple destinations—enabled for remote work, cultural immersion, and a forward-thinking education system for children.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:43] With a love of math and interest in people, Rekha studies accounting and HR together.
[04:09] Rekha’s parents took her on meditation and mindfulness retreats from a young age which become integral to her life.
[05:19] Pregnant with her first child, Rekha has five months of bedrest to reflect on what fulfills her.
[07:56] In Thailand when the tsunami hit, Rekha found life full of purpose helping Thai people.
[09:25] Mindfulness is important for kids as well as adults and Rekha wants all children to benefit.
[11:06] Rekha’s son is not showing his usual curiosity and creativity in the traditional school system.
[12:08] With a fresh approach after much research, Rekha starts homeschooling her son.
[13:30] On bedrest, pregnant with her daughter, Rekha develops her company the Mindful Scholar.
[14:36] When the pandemic hits, Rekha joins a new learning venture using MIT’s creative pedagogy.
[16:44] The student led orientation and empowered education environment was hard to leave.
[18:37] Boundless Life begins with locations in Portugal, then Greece, Italy, and now Bali.
[19:06] Rekha explains the genesis of Boundless Life and the solution it offers for families.
[20:28] The founder offers Rekha an empty canvas to develop and run the education program.
[21:09] Rekha finds her children always grow and evolve significantly whenever they travel.
[22:38] Boundless Life’s creates an education system with the world at the forefront so children learn about other people as themselves.
[24:26] Boundless Life launches quickly during the pandemic—the time is ripe with parents working from home.
[25:23] For many people, it is a pivotal moment as they consider returning to a prescriptive life/lifestyle.
[28:04] Community becomes one of the biggest value propositions which was a surprise for the team.
[29:14] How does Boundless Life work? What do the different programs offer?
[31:16] Who are Boundless parents? How are they able to join the programs?
[32:44] New offerings for older kids and a travelling school!
[35:07] Rekha shares what happens to kids going back to “normal lives” after Boundless.
[36:54] Parents’ reactions when they get back home after their Boundless experience.
[38:35] Embracing the lifestyle, 40% of families join the longer term cohort—6, 9, and 12 months.
[41:14] Visas currently limit long-term stays, but Boundless enables families to try out a new country.
[42:20] The demand for programs for older kids implies a desire for a long-term lifestyle offering.
[43:00] Despite growing through word of mouth, hundreds of families have already participated in Boundless programs.
[44:03] Mostly US and Canadian to start, now more European families—including Italian, Greek and Polish—are signing up.
[44:45] Rekha explains Boundless offers the Nordic Baccalaureate curriculum.
[46:45] Breaking the older fear-based apprehensions about education is part of the process.
RESOURCES
Rekha Magon on LinkedIn
Boundless.Life
QUOTES (edited)
“At this point, mindfulness wasn't a thing. Calm didn't exist. Headspace wasn’t doing anything specifically for kids. I just knew it was what I needed to teach my kids, but why should it only be my kids?.”
“Why can't families be able to travel and educate their kids at the same time?”
“I saw how my kids grew and evolved to the next levels whenever we were traveling. So to me, that was the most appealing part of this, facilitating more parents to be able to give this lifestyle to their children.”
“We need more kids to see each other and other people around the world as themselves and not as opposing enemies. The best way to do that is to take them to countries they've never been to and to get them to learn about the culture and feel like they're part of it.”
“Boundless puts older kids in more of a leadership role, and the younger ones have these mentors in their area. So I think there's a lot of growth when it comes from these social skills and communication skills and having the autonomy and responsibility to tackle real-world problems.”
“I think what we do experience is that some parents want something independent and alternative in terms of education, but they're still very much fear-based and still very indoctrinated that education needs to look like the way we were educated as kids.”
Barry O’Reilly is the author of the best-seller “Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results”. He also co-authored best-seller “Lean Enterprise” — part of the Eric Ries series. Barry is also Co-Founder and Chief Incubation Officer at venture studio, Nobody Studios, and faculty at Singularity University. Barry brings insights from his career at the intersection of business model innovation, product development, organizational design, and culture transformation. He describes how we can learn but not make progress and how some discomfort enables breakthroughs. He explains what questions can help you identify where you get in your own way, and what small iterative changes can do for you.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:22] Barry was interested in business but a new university tech course takes him by surprise.
[04:49] Barry moves to San Francisco to work for CitySearch.com which almost merges with Elon Musk’s first venture, Zip2.
[05:39] The power of technology in business becomes clear to Barry.
[06:28] When Barry finishes his degree his pre-signed job with an economic downturn.
[08:24] Barry moves to Edinburgh and starts building games for Sony, Sega, and Disney.
[09:20] Barry and team find out they have no idea how to scale when the business takes off.
[10:12] A 6-month sabbatical after 3 years working is Barry’s preferred working rhythm.
[11:44] Australia offers Barry an interesting opportunity in e-learning and ‘game’ businesses.
[13:02] On to London, Barry joins pioneers in the agile movement and shares the genesis story.
[14:34] Working at ThoughtWorks is a mad experience and a huge accelerator for Barry.
[15:11] The company was contrarian. It had no-rules, but a strong culture, setting the bar for how people showed up.
[16:12] Barry was inspired by Ricardo Semler, the young CEO of a Brazilian manufacturing company.
[18:17] Why have people report to you if they know what they’re doing?
[19:29] ThoughtWorks was 30% female engineers—publishing this data openly which supported diversity.
[21:16] Barry co-authors Lean Enterprise his first book.
[24:03] Barry’s ‘unlearning’ Aha! And Eureka moments in a Sichuan restaurant in San Francisco.
[25:40] Diagnosing limiting beliefs, ‘Unlearn’ as a system of experimentation.
[27:00] Asking the questions to find out where you’re stuck, what you’re afraid of doing.
[28:04] Barry offers piercing diagnostic questions--what 3-4 ideas do these questions raise for you?
[28:42] Barry’s personal example of using the Unlearn method.
[29:18] Figuring out what the outcome is you actually want.
[30:42] After defining the goal, experimentation starts with small uncomfortable shifts in behavior.
[33:48] Leaning into discomfort is one way to find breakthroughs.
[35:01] A senior bank executive used unlearning to stop making any decisions!
[38:10] Barry trains with BJ Fogg an innovators of behavior design, author of Tiny Habits.
[39:24] Defining your vision and future is key to finding focus and moving forward.
[43:22] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: You don’t just have one shot, you actually have many. If something didn’t go how you would like, that wasn’t IT. It was just a moment. Take the lessons from it—look for some hard lessons rather than to other folks as to why it didn’t work. Then dust yourself down and prepare for the next opportunity because it WILL arrive.
RESOURCES
Barry O’Reilly on LinkedIn
Barry O’Reilly on X @barryoreilly
BarryOReilly.com
Barry’s books:
Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results
Lean Enterprise: How High-Performance Organizations Innovate at Scale.
QUOTES (edited)
“Every single person that walked through that door was bright, talented, and capable. Culture has a huge impact on the way people feel comfortable and how it can also cause an adverse reaction.”
“I strive not to have anyone to report to me. I want them to own their work. I want people to be engaged and focused on their work. I'll be there to provide feedback, guidance, mentorship, whatever it is. That's my responsibility.”
“If you don't make diversity visible people will not know it's a place that they can be. They need to see people like them in leadership roles.”
“A lot of Unlearn is a system of experimentation. You are diagnosing limiting behaviors or beliefs and reframing them as outcomes that you want, and then experimenting to drive those outcomes.”
“The trick is doing uncomfortable things but making them smaller.”
“You never learn stuff, if you don't create the space for it to happen.”
“What can hinder us from creating an exciting future for ourselves, each one of us is the habits of the past.”
Danielle Farage is a Gen Z, digital native and nomad, and a work futurist. Danielle helps seasoned senior executives attract and better understand their young workers as well as giving advice to fellow early career talent so they can find employers who will support their growth and mental health. Danielle explains how vulnerable approaches help connect us with others’ experiences. She shares insights about what resonates with Gen Z, from culture, values, and leadership, to onboarding and career progression, especially for those entering the workforce for the first time.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:46] Danielle's interests have always been closely connected with people, leading her to major in psychology.
[04:49] Danielle notices her older siblings did not love their jobs.
[05:17] Danielle asks herself why do companies not treat their employees like human beings?
[07:26] Focusing on leadership, Danielle discovers the best leaders have good human skills including empathy and active listening.
[08:18] Danielle’s first job is an internship turned full-time, turned remote by the pandemic, and deteriorates.
[10:45] Danielle has an exemplary leader as her next boss.
[12:23] Valuing a tough initial experience, Danielle is pushed further and develops a broad array of new skills
[13:49] Onboarding was a meaningful experience, firstly, highlighting diversity and inclusion and their steps to eliminate bias.
[15:39] Secondly, the Head of Sales breaks down Danielle’s goals showing they are interested in her growth.
[17:02] Why a three-month contract to start is such a win for Danielle.
[21:04] Producing different events, Danielle notices conversations about the Next Generation do not include inputs from Gen Zers.
[22:28] Danielle starts sharing her voice moderating ideas about mental health, culture, and leadership.
[24:25] Mixing a diversity of people and of ages is key to building generational bridges.
[25:15] Danielle's audiences on LinkedIn are mostly older decision makers and on Instagram are Gen Zers.
[26:39] Danielle finds being curious and open-minded, she is able to start changing people's minds.
[27:15] Danielle shares a recent situation explaining her point of view about leadership vulnerability.
[30:17] how people's experiences affect their perspectives about loyalty.
[31:11] What the right culture looks like to Danielle.
[35:23] Gen Zs didn't start ‘job-hopping’ or ‘quiet quitting’, they illuminate existing problems.
[37:08] Fear, uncertainty, expectations, and choices make career exploration challenging for Gen Z.
[40:35] Startup experience—wearing multiple hats—and rotational programs are helpful for early career talent to experience.
[41:10] To recruit and retain people, invest in them.
[42:29] Students coming out of college still don’t feel prepared for the workforce.
[45:00] Danielle asks friendtorship workshop attendees three questions to help them discover what they want to learn.
[46:50] Discovering people's knowledge bases, skills and interests to leverage people for the job they were hired into AND the job they might want to explore.
[48:48] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Inspire younger employees in ways that will benefit them as well as being vulnerable — such as sharing daily stressors as points of connection to empathize, and mutual support and accountability.
[53:24] Gen Z is motivated to make change but disheartened by how inauthentic Corporate America is.
[54:53] Danielle shares succinct advice for people whose career launch was impacted by the pandemic.
RESOURCES
Danielle Farage on LinkedIn
QUOTES (edited)
“Why does it seem like companies are treating people like cogs in a wheel rather than human beings with lives and aspirations and goals and children?... The problem must be that people in these organizations don't really understand what people want.”
“It was a three-month contract, which I really appreciated: it’s a full-time job but if it’s not the right fit, it’s not the end of the world. And you haven’t invested so much into them to the point of an average employee, which can be a higher cost.”
“I would want my leader to talk about some of the vulnerabilities that they struggle with so that I could feel safe enough to come to tell them what I have to deal with.”
“You're looking at an entry-level job that requires you to have two to five years of experience, no guaranteed training, and there’s no pension, there’s no lifelong employment. You’re an at-will employee, which means you can literally be fired any time. Would you commit to staying 25 years with that?”
“The ideal is those rotational programs where you get to really experience different things. I think that’s the best investment a company can make in early career talent. I think it’s a great way to recruit and retain people.”
Sophie Wade is a work futurist and strategist, author and authority on the Future of Work, instructor on Gen Z, empathy, and Future of Work skills, and host of this show. Sophie discusses modern work—what it is, why and how it is different and human-centric. She explains how to adapt to be prepared for the ongoing changes around and ahead of us, accelerated by AI. Sophie sets the landscape, describes enterprise needs, and why employees are the focus for the future. She shares the core principles of modern work and why practicing empathy is key.
TAKEAWAYS
[00:45] Sophie wants to take stock of where we are and what’s ahead that we need to prepare for.
[01:27] Our environment is highly-digitalized and interconnected, generating fast-paced change.
[03:30] Artificial intelligence has become a top strategic priority for most businesses.
[04:19] Driven by technology, is your customer base changing, how you serve them, or how quickly you have to upgrade your products?
[04:49] To respond to marketplace demands, operations become more flexible and the nature of work evolves.
[05:52] The pandemic catalyzed us along a path we were already on.
[06:12] The impact of technology updates on employees needing frequently to upskill and reskill.
[07:07] Why enterprises need to create a skills inventory and be mapping every employee’s skills.
[07:28] Hierarchies have flattened for businesses to be more nimble.
[08:10] Non-linear careers must be planned and managed even when skills and roles are evolving.
[08:50] Internal talent marketplaces and cross organization relationships facilitate non-vertical career development.
[09:41] Why younger employees quit if they can’t easily move internally with their current employer.
[10:43] Jobs with high and low automation potential can be compared for skills matching to assess possible future transfers.
[11:53] How BCG consultants used GPT4 and completed more tasks faster and better!
[13:11] Why the Future of Work is tech-driven and talent-focused.
[13:54] Empathy is essential in modern work to ensure the emphasis is on people.
[14:38] Each business is different so there are principles of modern work to adapt appropriately.
[15:10] The core principles of modern work are: Learning, Intention, Flexibility, and Empathy.
[16:25] Why workers need to be creators.
[17:04] Thinking outside the box is critical and what the box symbolizes—before and now.
[17:45] A strong culture is essential, grounded by empathy and other timeless values.
[18:50] AI is likely to net out creating more jobs, but much will shift during the transition.
[19:10] What is the broader impact of encouraging your team to use of AI?
[20:11] Empathy can help us focus on progress rather than more debates about work locations.
[20:52] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To start the transition to modern work, be curious and open-minded. Ask coworkers for ideas and recommendations and explore new possibilities. Curiosity primes you for learning, being flexible, and empathy about other’s viewpoints.
[21:27] Modern work IS different—adjusting for our new environment as well as enterprise and employee needs.
[22:17] The process of transformation is messy, but there are great benefits all round when we create and co-create together.
RESOURCES
Sophie Wade on LinkedIn
Sophie’s personal/speaker website
Sophie company Flexcel Network’s website
QUOTES
“These change that are upon us has been building in momentum for years already and causing strain within our fixed internal structures.”
“We have been transitioning for years already to modern work which is about flexibility—accommodating activities that are less linear, less routine, with more collaborative and cross disciplinary.”
“Numerous rigid layers of hierarchy have intentionally been reduced significantly in many cases to enable businesses to be more nimble and responsive.”
“Stronger relationships are critical to develop deliberately across organizations to permit non vertical career development, so that managers are willing to share one of their rising stars to another team or division.”
“For now, it is easier for employees to quit to advance their careers than move within their own organization.”
“The Future of Work is tech-driven and talent focused.”
“Empathy is essential in modern work—giving us each ability to understand other’s perspectives and connect with their experiences.”
“Everyone providing value to your business across your entire workforce needs to be a “creator”.”
Joe O’Connor is the Director and Co-founder of the world's first Center of Excellence in Work Time Reduction. Joe brings his previous experience as CEO and global pilot program manager of 4 Day Week Global, where he led the design and implementation of four-day week trials all over the world. Joe explains the intention and process of reduced-hour, productivity-focused new work routines and shares data, insights, and predictions having supported over 200 employers and 10,000 employees make the transition.
TAKEAWAYS
[03:00] After studying accounting, Joe does a master’s in strategy and innovation management.
[03:57] Leading a work-related research project within the Irish Public Service, Joe makes a surprising discovery that working parents can achieve the same results in less time.
[05:16] Applying Parkinson’s law in reverse, what might be possible? Joe wonders.
[06:57] Competitiveness, productivity, and hours worked—how the US and Europe actually compare!
[07:27] The short workweek is public sector driven in Europe and by private sector experimentation in the US and Canada.
[08:33] The private sector catches up where the initial impetus comes from government, eg Iceland.
[09:08] Technology advances previously reduced worktime, but that hasn’t happened recently in the US and the UK.
[10:00] What the 4-day week really means in Iceland and elsewhere.
[11:27] The central premise of the 4-day week and associated commitment.
[12:14] The different variations that companies adapt for their specific business and workforce.
[13:11] Worldwide, companies’ interest in experimenting with reduced work time skyrockets with the start of the pandemic.
[14:46] Infrastructure needs to be developed to support the number and variety of organizations trialing the 4-day week.
[16:20] Why we should focus on the process of HOW to adhere to the 4-day week.
[17:08] How participants’ habits change and what potential is unlocked.
[18:03] Inefficiency and optimization lie in “off system” tasks that aren’t designed or documented.
[18:56] Why operational excellence must be at the core of a trial project.
[21:01] The diagnostic phase answers: readiness, constraints and challenges, and optimal structure/model.
[22:17] The corporate culture—and related mindset—affects a pilot project’s progress.
[23:27] Companies most likely to succeed have cultures that elevate trust, autonomy, and experimentation.
[25:49] Key hurdles to overcome: resetting boundaries and expectation and aligned resource management.
[27:22] Clients are part of projects too—benefiting from transparent communication.
[28:53] Three implementation variations relate to (a) pre-work, (b) a graduated rollout, (c) client interaction.
[30:21] Recognizing and adjusting for interdependencies is critical—requiring flexibility for employees.
[31:23] Understanding trade-offs and hand-offs.
[32:19] The 4-day week is not about eliminating discretionary effort or flexibility.
[33:04] Framing the intention: redesign and bite-size rather than intensify and speed up.
[33:50] The essence is to eliminate wasted efficiency and unlock potential, incentivizing psychological behavioral benefits.
[35:25] Some leaders ‘just do it’ and—rather chaotically—make it work!
[36:10] The high success rate results from organizations self-selecting.
[36:41] A few companies dropped out usually caused by some other unexpected significant change.
[37:20] Most organizations can make the 4-day week work with clear benefits for attraction and retention.
[38:18] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To propose a four-day week trial at your company, pitch a feasibility study to build the business case, recognizing the conditionality of a trial based on hitting targets and offering nascent thinking about what could be done differently.
RESOURCES
Joe O’Connor on LinkedIn
Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence on LinkedIn
Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence website
QUOTES
“There is not a linear relationship between hours worked and productivity.”
“The idea that advances in productivity and technology can be shared in the form of reduced work time has been an age-old reality.”
“On one side there's a commitment to a genuine reduction in hours for the same salary, and on the other side there's a commitment to maintaining output which in itself assumes some form of increase in terms of hourly productivity.”
“I think part of the reason why some leaders and some organizations are resistant to this idea is because of how it gets interpreted in the media. It's very outcome driven rather than process driven. It's focused on the results rather than how organizations did it.”
“I think one other misunderstanding about the shorter work week is that it is a very rigid model. Actually this is not about eliminating flexibility. This is not about eliminating discretionary effort.”
“If you've got a top down command and control style leadership this is probably not going to work. It relies on a very bottom up approach where there's a partnership between employees, managers, and leaders.”
Francis “Fran” Saele is Managing Principal at Mortevita which provides specialty consulting on the new knowledge workplace and corporate real estate. Fran has deep experience in the corporate real estate sector. He shares his insights and views about the history, dynamics, and future of office infrastructure and the evolving impact on Central Business Districts. Fran is passionate about new ways of working and the workplace transformation that supports it—developing the infrastructure of distributed work. He discusses workplace flexibility and the timing for making decisions and moving forward.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:27] Fran starts studying psychiatry but moves to psychology after challenging lab sessions!
[05:03] Fran is tasked with finding a purpose for a newly built building with a lot of empty space and catches the development bug.
[06:37] The difference aspects of real estate and development work.
[08:11] Speculative development requires incorporating flexibility to allow adjustments for prospective landlords' and tenants' needs.
[09:56] Market needs differ, but similarities remain regarding office spaces.
[11:00] In the decade before the pandemic, large businesses' trend to centralize operations generated Central Business District (CBD) clusters.
[12:40] To compete for talent, Fran had already developed remote working capabilities for his team before 2020.
[15:00] The mechanisms that enabled quick adaptations to remote work.
[17:44] Why there are 'Return To Office' mandates and why the push is a mistake.
[20:30] How organizations are thinking about mitigating reduced office usage.
[25:11] Can the shock to the corporate real estate sector trigger a recession?
[27:11] How can we reuse of office spaces: Condos? Vertical farming?
[30:21] Smucker’s workplace flexibility model developed after discussion with employees.
[33:44] Hybrid isn’t meant as a permanent solution. Working out compromises will require “Smucker’s” type moments.
[36:10] The tension surrounding 'Return To Office' mandates have yet to result in mass action by employers.
[40:14] The role the public sector has to play in reinventing business areas.
[42:41] Fran explains the future of the office within the community, including the evolution of malls.
[46:30] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To discover the right work model for your company, do a meaningful diagnostic to find out what your company needs to be and wants to be in the future and how best to get there. Identify management bias first, then talk to employees and understand what makes sense from their perspective. Then decide how best to redesign to achieve more progressive workplace operations, which drive real estate decisions.
RESOURCES
Fran Saele on LinkedIn
fran.saele@mortevita.com
QUOTES (edited)
“There's a natural instinct in everyone to return to a homeostatic state—a state that worked well for you. Hence the ‘Return To Office’.”
“If you talk to anybody in a real estate organization: service providers, brokers, owners, or lenders, they recognized that any material change to how work was done was going to be a threat to their investments, their loans, and their economic future.”
“There are billions of dollars of existing financing on thousands of buildings across the country that will come up for refinancing. How much is that going to affect the non-real estate sector, and does it have the potential to drive the economy into a very deep recession?”
“Hybrid was never really intended to be a final solution. It was a compromise solution that allowed employees to have some time away and management to have people back in the office.”
“I think organizations need to be careful about being too pushy on ‘Return To Office’. A matter like this is likely to lead to some type of labor action, some attempts to move in the direction of unions.”
“They’ve got to figure out what to do with the buildings. If they don't, if there is no mission at all — and this will be true for a lot of B, C, and D quality buildings around the country — they’re going to at some point demolish them because there will be no uses that make any sense.”
“The infrastructure of distributed work is going to happen, it’s just going to take time. Getting rid of the large investment in CBD office is going to take time.”
Paula Allen, Global Leader and SVP of Research and Client Insights at Telus Health, brings her career-long expertise spanning health and productivity management, workplace and mental health, and total well-being strategies for the workplace. Paula shares her insights about how increased uncertainty and overwhelm in a fast-changing world affect workers. She explains why investing in a strong culture and relationships at work, and well-being initiatives which focus on empathy and recovery, are key to achieving and sustaining a healthy workforce and business outcomes.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:03] Images of stress-related structural brain changes cause Paula to study neuropsychology.
[06:00] Paula is appalled witnessing how adults with mental health issues are treated in the workplace.
[06:32] The CEO asks if Paula wants to change the situation—she says “Yes!”.
[07:17] Paula boldly calls a prior CEO at her company after hearing him talk about providers’ failings.
[08:14] They had the opportunity to redesign the system from the beginning so people struggling would get what they needed.
[09:30] With an empathy-based approach for physical health, they achieve better outcomes.
[10:30] With access to research, Paula hones in on the drivers behind different workplace behaviors.
[12:27] Focusing on and sharing expectations of recovery are beneficial all round.
[13:30] They discover a correlation between the decrease in middle management and increase in mental illness.
[14:30] Most supervisors know something is “off” early on, but they just don’t know what to do.
[16:45] A manager’s core job is to ensure teams are productive but that only happens when people are feel safe and get training.
[18:20] We have had a reset relating to mental health since the pandemic.
[18:58] Because people derive part of their identity from their work, fostering a healthy environment is critical.
[20:35] A few reasons why employees in need are not using their employer’s benefits.
[22:32] Stigma comes from lack of knowledge; Paula shares an interesting way to reframe how we treat people who are struggling.
[24:36] Occupational health is also mental health. Paula notes her predictions with the coming change of pace with AI.
[28:17] Paula talks about the recent organization-led innovations in the mental health space and shares some interesting demographic data.
[31:12] The very real increase in stress younger generations is having to live with and how to face it.
[33:08] Paula touches on the increasing pace of change and its negative impacts on human mental health — and what to do about it.
[36:23] Paula shares an interesting research parallel between the management of dementia and overwhelm.
[38:18] The Stockdale paradox.
[40:30] Paula discusses the types of support benefits that exist today and the ones that would be ideal for flexible, distributed workforces.
[44:41] The solution to mental health in the workplace is multi-layered.
[46:26] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Our best source of resilience is our relationships with other people. Social support is the core of everything to feel a sense of belonging in some group. So if you are feeling off, reach out and talk to someone — you don’t have to talk about what the issue is. Just be connected. On the other side let people in your life understand that they’re important and keep connected to them.
RESOURCES
Paula Allen on LinkedIn
Telus.com
Telus’ Mental Health Index
Telus Mental Health Index July 2023
QUOTES (edited)
“Giving people what they need allows the clinical work to come to fruition.”
“When you look at drivers of productivity, of absence, of turnover, of innovation, of collaboration, of really strong workplace culture, you end up coming back to mental health and well-being.”
“A manager’s job is to help make sure that their teams are productive. People are not going to be productive if they don’t feel safe. We’re not training managers to be counselors, clinicians, or psychologists! We’re training them to create healthy workplaces that are productive.”
“If your people aren’t in a good place, you’re not going to be in a good place as an organization. The pandemic made this pretty clear.”
“Make sure that people do not feel alone, that they feel connected to your workplace. Have team meetings that are small enough that people can’t be on a screen with the camera off. If your employee is feeling isolated in your workplace relationship, you are going to pay for it and they are going to suffer.”
Dan Mapes is the Founder and President of Verses.AI, an advanced artificial general intelligence and spatial web company, and Founder and Director of the Spatial Web Foundation enabling the 3D Internet. He also co-authored the best-selling book, The Spatial Web. Dan explains what globally networked artificial general intelligence can do now, what will become possible soon—especially with AI-run operations—and his vision of our AI-empowered planet in 2100. Dan discusses augmented working capacities, our ongoing caterpiller-like metamorphosis, and how we can all benefit by learning about and leaning into our growing capabilities.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:37] Working on his PhD in AI at Berkeley, Dan clearly sees the ultimate goal of creating software that rewrites itself.
[03:36] ChatGPT is a machine rather than a self-evolving system which can learn from its mistakes.
[05:02] The ultimate software interface would be a 3-dimensional environment.
[06:04] Dan creates a lab to do R&D and work across sectors to solve intractable computer problems.
[07:14] The role of game theory in our lives and when developing artificial intelligence.
[08:23] Dan’s lab develops: databases that handle game objects, early capabilities to move images over a network, digital humans.
[10:18] How biological design using an action perception modeling cycle is a game changer in a co-evolutionary process.
[14:16] There are two classes of AI now—(1) content creation (neural nets) and (2) operations.
[16:28] We are at a new inflection point—leaving the industrial age and entering an intelligent globally networked age.
[17:40] Dan shares a practical use case—his company won an EU contract to manage drones in flight.
[20:40] The new AI enabled a universal language of AI – Hyper Space Modeling Language HSML.
[22:46] Dan describes what sharing a co-evolutionary brain worldwide means with collective intelligence rising.
[27:13] How the internet developed into the World Wide Web.
[29:12] The internet was always going to evolve into the Spatial Web once bandwidth increased enough.
[30:43] What the Internet of Everything will look and feel like as the 3D Spatial Web.
[33:25] The worldwide web’s three big flaws are being fixed by identity, security, and location layers.
[37:04] How everyone having self-sovereign identity improves privacy with zero knowledge proofs.
[39:16] The data exchange built into the Spatial Web allows each person to trade their personal data, if desired.
[40:12] Shopping will be a very different experience with AI-enabled mass personalization.
[41:43] The worldwide web aas a prototype—a useful 25-year experiment preparing us for what’s next.
[43:24] Dan anticipates a shift of similar magnitude to when we transitioned to the Industrial Age.
[45:24] When the network IS the economy, workers are location independent nodes on the network.
[46:43] We are transitioning to a planetary civilization, thinking about key problems at a planet level.
[48:50] Transforming education outcomes when AI can assess capabilities and personalize learning.
[51:34] The caterpillar, the butterfly, and the metamorphosis we are currently cocooning through.
[56:20 Dan’s vision of abundance moving beyond the Industrial Age and cooperating at global scale.
[57:09] Understanding the historical and potential trajectory of planetary wealth.
[58:59] What might be possible combining AI and quantum computing?!
[1:00:44] Evolutionary force is driving new developments—such as creating a digital neocortex to augment the human neocortex.
[1:03:57] Earth is an evolutionary planet.
[1:05:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To prepare and start adapting for an AI-powered future — learn more, educate more — read whitepapers, watch relevant videos and interviews — and come from a fundamental position of trust; trust with care. Feel positive about what we are evolving toward while paying attention to possible misuses.
RESOURCES
Dan Mapes on LinkedIn
Verses.ai
spatialwebfoundation.org
QUOTES (edited)
“We want what humans are — we don’t download better brains. We learn every day, evolving an interior model of reality. A baby has a small model, a child has a larger model, and an adult has a sophisticated model, so they can make better decisions — so the same thing with software. That’s been the dream of AI for a long time.”
“We are on the cusp of a new civilization that can do things we couldn’t do during the industrial age. It looks like another inflection point: we left the Ag Age and entered the Industrial Age. Now we're leaving the Industrial Age and entering an Intelligent Global Network Age. And we’re the only company in the world doing this.”
“The whole era from 1970 to today is 5% of what the Spatial Web is going to do. Instead of connecting every machine or every document to each other, it's going to connect every building in the world, every car, every boat, every train, every plane, everything. It’s the internet of everything.”
“Spatial Web knows exactly where everything is, and the AI functions as its own immune system. It knows where things are, if there’s a bad actor, people report it. And the ISP takes it down.”
“I’m a free person and I don’t have to report who I am to everybody. Having self-sovereign identity unlocks a really interesting concept called zero-knowledge proofs.”
“You own your data in the Spatial Web, you have an identity. You’re not being surveilled and sold, so you can sell your data. We built data exchange into the spatial web, and we’ll buy from you and sell it for you to the advertisers. But you can choose.”
“The last time we went through such a major shift was when we left the farm and moved to the cities and people had to quit farming. It used to take 80 people to run a farm, and once you had mechanization of the farm, it was eight people. And so we go like “Oh my God! We’re losing our jobs!” No, no, no. You move to the city and learn to make tractors.”
“We’re moving toward a planetary civilization. Our climate problems are planet-level, our weapons proliferation problems are planet-level, we think at planet-level. We’re waking up.”
“The average person today, just an average working person at median level income lives better than the King of England did 100, 200 hundred years ago. The king would trade immediately! If you get sick 200 years ago, you’re probably dead. That means that the average person in 2100 may be wealthier than the wealthiest person is today.”
“The caterpillar butterfly model is such a valid model because you could never predict the butterfly from the caterpillar. It’s a little fat worm crawling around on a stick, and then this thing comes out flying for 5,000 miles and has some kind of intrinsic knowledge of where it’s going. So we probably have intrinsic knowledge of where we’re going. The DNA of what we’re about to become is already within us.”
“A turtle will lay eggs on the beach and the little baby turtles will crawl to the water when they hatch, and then they’ll swim for two years in the open ocean, come back to the exact beach where they were born, and lay their eggs. I mean, that is machine intelligence, maximum.”
Chase Warrington is Head of Remote at Doist, a LinkedIn Top Voice on Remote Work, Global Top 20 Future of Work Influencer, Future of Work advisor, and host of the About Abroad podcast. Chase discusses his more than 15 years of remote team leadership. He shares insights, strategies, and tactics to elevate culture and connection—with a strong in-person strategy—across a fully distributed company. Chase explains how they select and onboard people effectively and teach employees how to work well asynchronously with a foundation of a culture of documentation.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:40] Chase has moved to Crete for a few months for a new work/life environment and experience.
[03:27] At college, Chase’s international studies pair him with students in Shanghai to work on a project.
[04:34] Chase enjoys an internship experience working in media in China.
[05:10] Learning a different language, with different expectations around work, and a foreign culture.
[07:14] How Chase figured out working in a cubicle was not for him.
[07:56] How Chase’s mother turned her nursing career into a remote job working 4 days a week in 1999!
[09:02] Chase starts looking for jobs that will allow him not to be office-based.
[10:14] Negotiating with a prospective employer to be on the one team that works remotely.
[11:34] Learning early how to work asynchronously.
[12:42] Experiencing firsthand, the disadvantage of being remote from a great office culture.
[14:54] Chase takes a gap year with his wife, traveling and working.
[16:16] Missing being part of a team, Chase looks for a rare fully-remote non-engineer job.
[17:52] Chase joins Doist heading up their international marketing team.
[18:58] How to make Doist a company synonymous with remote work—part of the wave of the future.
[19:59] After the pandemic hits, how can they stay at the forefront of the remote evolution to help build the Future of Work?
[22:30] Doist finds most people in N. America and Europe work in similar ways, resulting in an inward focus developing new products.
[24:51] Chase focuses on culture and connection to improve Doist’s already high remote working standards.
[26:01] Chase does internal and external research to figure out how to build more meaningful connections.
[27:28] With a culture of strong documentation, they rethink their central source of truth approach.
[29:32] Chase restructures and formalizes the focus on culture and connection—their IRL Strategy.
[31:19] How Doist employees work hyper asynchronously!
[32:25] How to connect people socially who work very asynchronously.
[33:47] The purposeful way Doist handles onboarding—in-person and online.
[34:40] New hires are assigned a mentor for six months.
[35:58] Doist tries to schedule two synchronous activities a month and two whole company trips a year.
[37:38] The people that come to asynchronous companies, and those who leave them.
[39:38] The role of local communities in supporting remote working employees.
[42:41] Changing the way we work is not easy, Chase encourages leaders to think about if they are building for yesterday, today, or tomorrow.
[44:42] A strong in-person strategy—including offsites and retreats—is key to building strong remote companies.
[46:58] On About Abroad, Chase’s podcast.
[49:05] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: The ultimate goal is for asynchronous work to be the default. Put a stake in the sand for what percentage of asynchronous work you are committing to. Then start optimizing the way your company works. Question every single work-related activity to see if it fits the async or synchronous model better. Create a culture of documentation and meetings become the last resort, not the first.
RESOURCES
Chase Warrington on LinkedIn
Doist.com
About Abroad Podcast aboutabroad.com
QUOTES (edited)
“This proximity bias is something that just happens even in the best, well-intentioned companies.”
“There’s plenty of data to back up the fact that while all these CEOs are worried about remote workers not working, they should probably be more worried about burnout and overwork than they should people not showing up to work.”
“Nobody reports having, on average, more than five hours of meetings per week!”
“We urge people to get out to disconnect from work. You don’t get rewarded for working long hours or being the first or the last one online. We want people to show up fully and disconnect completely.”
“We fund people! If you need a co-working space, it’s covered. Gym membership? Covered. Activities outside? Learning and education and social groups? Covered.”
“There’s plenty of research out there from unbiased resources that show that while we’re seeing a dip in work-from-home days compared to in the middle of the pandemic, we’re still five, six, seven times where we were pre-pandemic.”
“There’s this whole mentality that remote first means remote only, but everybody that has been in this space for a while believes that not to be the case.”
“Incorporating a really strong in-person strategy is becoming a core element of doing remote really well.”
Lata Hamilton is a change leadership expert, change management consultant, and creator of the "Leading Successful Change" program. Lata has worked with some of Australia’s largest companies on operating model changes, global cultural transformations, and digital transformations. She shares her insights about leading people to achieve long-lasting change, especially paying attention to offline process elements. She discusses learnings from pandemic pivots, change leaders’ examples, and a winning top-down/bottom-up combined approach. Lata describes the emphasis shifting from tasks and roles to skills and expertise contributing value to deliver results.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:12] Lata starts her career in advertising to explore her creative side.
[05:35] Lata assesses the career model looking for balance—fulfilling work and being well-compensated.
[06:52] A graduate program offers many growth opportunities.
[07:52] Lata is ambitious, wants variety, and to make an impact.
[08:35] How pay should match professional growth and upskilling.
[09:48] Lata moves sector using her transferable skills.
[10:37] Process work becomes Lata’s focus.
[11:32] Lata leaves a graduate role having documented all the team processes.
[12:27] In financial services, Lata develops compliance and process skills and discovers project management.
[14:14] A colleague suggests change management after reviewing Lata’s range of skills and experience.
[16:00] What hadn’t Lata mentioned that is critical for change management work?
[17:48] The employee experience drives a great customer experience.
[18:39] How they pivoted at a major retailer when the pandemic hit.
[21:33] The deep caring Lata observed from people working on the frontline.
[22:34] How the change team led by example to demonstrate new ways of working.
[23:46] Affecting change, the critical work is off the system—offline process elements such as culture.
[25:33] During the pandemic, having had no preparation there was much remediation and helping to transition and cope after the fact.
[28:30] Change can be painful, taking much commitment and energy.
[29:16] Lata shares what can go wrong for companies not preparing for the future.
[31:08] Lata sees an explosion of AI automation and workforce transformation.
[31:22] Many organizations are recognizing they have low change management capabilities.
[32:58] Lata’s prediction that people’s roles will matter less than who they are, their skills and expertise used to deliver value and results rapidly.
[33:57] How “Business As Usual” roles and job descriptions need to be rethought and employees empowered.
[35:52] Lata questions leaders’ productivity baseline and metrics used to support Return To Office mandates.
[37:15] How should we be measuring success?
[38:54] Leading indicators for profit are a reflection of the employee experience.
[40:18] Why track sentiment and how confidence—determining how people show up—can bridge gaps.
[42:22] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To affect lasting change, lead from the top and model the change, and also open it up, co-create, and co-design with your teams. Invite them to provide feedback, give them tools, and teach them how to think critically and flexibly, building their capabilities to accept change in their personal and professional lives.
[45:30] – How a hackathon co-creates a new operating model and gets people committed to the future state.
[47:00] The multiple benefits of tapping into people’s desire to pass on their skills and knowledge.
RESOURCES
Lata Hamilton on LinkedIn
Visit: www.latahamilton.com
Leading Successful Change course
QUOTES (edited)
“Change management is really a focus on people in order to reach a result.”
“It’s not fluffy. We help people move from doing things in one way to doing things in a new way. We do it through communications, training, and business readiness. We do it to realize business benefit that is actually successful, sustained, and embedded into the future.”
“There is this big trend to build change capability. There’s also a trend around right-sizing teams and looking at how are we operating: ‘What do we need for the future?’ We are going is going require workforces that are more empowered.”
“From a workplace relations and employment relations perspective, we’re still stuck in the industrial era.”
“When people feel like they get communicated to, they are confident in what they are doing or the change that’s coming down the line.”
“If I am feeling really confident then I’m willing to be flexible and to adjust my approach.”
“I know I’m gonna be leaving a role, so I’ve always just wanted to come in, share as much as I can, and deliver as much value as I can. I want to leave the team better than what I started with. And I want to leave them with skills, tools, and capabilities to carry on this great work after I’ve gone.”
“When you co-create job descriptions you’re suddenly doing two things. You’re getting people committed to the future state. But what you’re also doing is you’re helping people to write themselves into roles.”
Gary A. Bolles is Chair for the Future of Work at Singularity University, co-founder of eParachute.com, and Author of “The Next Rules of Work: The Mindset, Skillset and Toolset to Lead Your Organization through Uncertainty”. After a first interview in April 2020, Gary returns to the show to report on how he sees the Future of Work progressing and our ongoing adjustments for it. He shares insights about important work trends, mindsets, behaviors, and balance. Gary describes how concurrent waves of old work rules, transitional models, and the next rules of work are impacting leaders and our multigenerational workforce with its shifting weighting of employees and non-employees.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:20] Revisiting our first podcast discussion at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Gary recalls his article about the Great Reset.
[03:54] The helpful visual of multiple waves to understand the evolution of work.
[05:10] Some leaders have bungeed back to old rules of work while others have embraced new rules and operating systems.
[07:02] The effect of perceived incentives and disincentives on changing habits and rules.
[08:05] How to benefit from pandemic learnings and accept the messiness of adapting new practices.
[10:50] Zooming out to shift your mindset about how to solve problems across your ecosystem.
[11:36] Imagining leading without ego and with trust in order to alter leaders’ approaches.
[14:53] How media’s mischaracterizations don’t help as three waves of work try to co-exist.
[15:32] The inevitable trend of continuous co-creation which young people especially seem to embrace.
[16:30] The power dynamic had tilted towards employers which flexible work is rebalancing to some degree.
[18:29] Picture ourselves as icebergs. We employ entire people, not just the tip of the iceberg which we recruit.
[19:32] In the new era of work, leaders are responsible for workers, their lives, and communities.
[21:43] Sophie anticipates smaller core employee groups and more non-employee workers in future.
[22:50] Future employee “agency” achieved through a “worknet” - a flexible flow of talent with varying degrees of organization membership.
[24:05] How to help increase degrees of membership in your company, enable people to feel connected, co-create effectively, and be rewarded.
[25:00] Cybersecurity provides a similar framework for the worknet model.
[27:00] Using words and concepts that reflect people’s sentiments and realities helps us reach balanced understanding and outcomes.
[29:10] Aren’t young employees manifesting the Future of Work rather than disrupting work norms?
[30:15] How young people are responding to new market signals as new work practices endure.
[32:09] Why older leaders are bereft at Gen Z’s behaviors and miss the opportunity of co-creation.
[33:23] Why aren’t younger employees’ deciding their careers now, and other related outcomes?
[34:45] How the precarity of the world is driving youth to hedge their bets with a portfolio strategy.
[35:32] Looking at the three stages of life horizontally not vertically (sequentially) as proposed by Gary’s father who wrote “What Color is Your Parachute?”
[36:47] Parents ask “Why won’t my kid get a real job?” It’s a hedge strategy. It’s ensuring optionality.
[39:00] How culture can be a journey, defined by a mindset and behaviors that are reinforced.
[41:30] What is the process and ongoing actions that empower agency and co-creation?
[43:46] Gary defines empathy as lived experiences. He focuses on caring for coworkers.
[47:19] The sea change ahead as more capable tools come online.
[48:08] Work involving synthesis is greatly enhanced by AI-boosted tools.
[49:46] Leaders need to focus on helping workers be upskilled and utilize the tools to solve current problems.
[51:18] Starting with a growth (vs fixed) mindset and focusing on flex (or soft) skills for today’s business needs.
[52:15] Companies must invest in training employees as education systems are still biased towards teaching bodies of knowledge, not flexible skills that augment interactions and social situations.
[55:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Reframe managers and supervisors as team guides. Rethink the process, what their role is, and how you can help them to guide teams throughout your organization, “un-boss” meetings, and be there to remove roadblocks so team members can co-create solutions.
RESOURCES
Gary Bolles on LinkedIn
Gary Bolles on Twitter @gbolles
Gary’s book “The Next Rules of Work: The Mindset, Skillset and Toolset to Lead Your Organization through Uncertainty”
Gary’s website eparachute.com
Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential
QUOTES (edited)
“We’re pattern recognizers, we’re general-purpose problem-solving machines.”
“I think that’s actually a failure on our part, wasting a perfectly good pandemic. We showed that we can trust. We showed that we can imbue teams with the power to be able to decide when and where and with whom and how they work. And then we took it away from them.”
“We’re going to find that once you’ve given people agency and some level of autonomy, they don’t want to give it back. And I think that’s a perfectly reasonable request.”
“Along comes a pandemic, and suddenly you and I are looking into each other’s homes on Zoom calls. And we realize: that’s a whole person and if I’m an employer I have to be responsible for their physical health, their mental health, their emotional health, the whole person. And that’s not what I signed up for in the old rules of work!”
“I don’t hear a lot of workers complain to me that they’re not engaged. That’s not the way that a worker would say it. A worker would typically say ‘I want to feel motivated by my work’, ‘I want to feel like I have meaning in my work’, ‘I want to feel well compensated’, ‘I want to feel recognized.’”
“Gen Z was born around 9/11. They were children through the global recession and young adults in a global pandemic, on a planet on fire. There aren’t a lot of other generations that have had that sequence of precarity.”
“In a world of almost complete uncertainty, there are no safe jobs.”
“Why are you waiting to enjoy life until retirement? Does that make any sense in a world on fire? No. We’re going to do it now.”
“We keep thinking “Just shove more bodies of knowledge into those little heads”. And that’s not the way the world is working. The shelf life of that information, of those skills, is decaying so rapidly. We have to explicitly teach these much more flexible skills and then employers have to demand them.”
Dave Cairns, SVP Office Leasing for CBRE, focuses on working with high growth companies in the tech sector. Dave is a futurist relating to the office market. He shares his views about commercial real estate trends including current realities, core issues, lease restructuring ahead, and future possibilities such as shifting to offer “Space As A Service” going forward. Dave describes the benefits of new richer community demographics as urban dwellers move out. He also sees great potential of virtual worlds to offer more options and richer experiences.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:40] Dave intentionally created a happy place.
[04:06] He gets a university degree although he hones other skills.
[05:10] Flexible studying allows Dave to develop his talents at poker.
[05:36] Competitive poker playing success gives Dave a cushion during the 2008 Great Recession.
[06:55] Trying to improve his game, Dave accidentally becomes a poker instructor.
[09:04] Dave loves playing live poker but the risk:reward ratio is much better online.
[10:00] Playing 8-15 hours a day takes its toll, but motivation and autonomy matter.
[11:55] The dynamics of poker—responding to your opponent.
[13:00] What Dave learned about reading people virtually.
[13:24] “Thin slicing” a person—making decisions based on a narrowly focused initial read.
[15:12] Exogenous events cause Dave to change direction—it seemed timely too.
[16:28] Exploring potentially viable work environments, Dave interviews with brokerages.
[17:12] Insurances brokerages hesitate over Dave’s poker history, but commercial real estate likes it.
[18:12] Dave uses his natural interpersonal and analytical skills.
[18:40] The work situation is not desirable, but Dave believes he will be able to improve it over time.
[19:23] When the pandemic hits, Dave quickly recognizes work will be structured differently in future.
[20:14] The pandemic expands Dave’s interests to include corporate culture, HR, and social justice.
[22:14] Pre-pandemic, WeWork’s consumer facing brand threatens the commercial real estate sector despite their limited footprint.
[23:42] Customers seek more flexibility, exposing issues with valuations and long leases.
[25:01] Dave describes the current and likely vacancy situation of Toronto’s tech submarkets.
[28:06] Circumstances are complex with dependencies on existing long-term leases.
[29:29] What new strategies are possible including conversions to residential?
[31:27] “Space As A Service” is a useful approach, especially to offer shorter team arrangements.
[32:34] More ad hoc arrangements or restructuring leases would provide more utility.
[33:27] Why many landlords are not trying to activate buildings differently.
[35:14] Dave benefits from knowing how to build relationships “remote first” as a poker player.
[35:57] The benefit of a multidimensional global perspective with a hyper-localized business.
[36:34] Dave explores different opportunities including remote work to help SaaS companies.
[38:34] Dave is passionate about helping reshape some of the industry sector’s problems.
[39:37] Is Dave gaslighting his wife about moving?!
[40:59] How richer communities are developing and socioeconomic divides decreasing thanks to distributed working.
[43:19] The Metaverse is not yet here, but Dave is convinced virtual worlds present much opportunity in the Future of Work.
[44:43] Earning people’s attention in virtual space by creating friction—having to develop an avatar.
[45:05] How can diversity and inclusion be supported in virtual worlds.
[46:00] Discovering they are embodying mission critical innovation/collaboration activities virtually.
[46:43] Media-generated perspectives and stereotypes about people who work outside the office.
[47:10] Dave anticipates many future use cases, different needs and possibilities convening in virtual worlds.
[49:26] Video game-based guild members’ interactions provide strong use cases for online collaboration.
[50:43] Not judging people who participate in virtual worlds.
[52:19] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you are starting a new company, test out collaborating in virtual environments before considering physical real estate — from a cost and risk mitigation perspective. People come first and foremost so the key is activating collaboration and the intention you put behind it.
RESOURCES
Dave Cairns on LinkedIn
Dave Cairns on Twitter
QUOTES (edited)
“The most important thing that you're trying to do in poker, whether it's in person or not, is pick up on pattern recognition.”
“WeWork exposed the fact that office buildings have more risk in them than we all thought because the tenant — the customer in the conventional sense — is seeking far more least flexibility and service than they ever got. The employee wants hospitality, great technology, and network of spaces that they can use on a global scale.”
“The office environments in these tech hubs are ghost towns because all of the tech companies have embraced remote work. Either they're totally set up to work distributed or they're doing it from a talent and retention perspective: they can't afford to call people back to the office or they're gonna lose people. So you've got the restaurants in these areas, you've got condos that people are living in, and you've got office that nobody's using.”
“Talent attraction and retention needs to be a global thing out of necessity. It's not like a nice to have thing.”
“So much of the work that we do is “remote work”. You're just choosing to do it from an office and power to you if that's where you want to do it! But don't deny the fact that a lot of the work that we're doing in real estate is location independent work.”
“I'm far more interconnected with the fabric of my society than I ever was in the large city I lived in my whole life. And we're forging relationships with people all over that are both economic and social, and it's incredible. And more of it needs to happen.”
“A lot of the perception is you're either are all in on the metaverse and you want to live in a virtual world in your basement in pajamas and be a total degenerate, or you're going to go back to the office and be a normal contributing member of society. That's the juxtaposition and of course it's not that at all.”
Joanna Parsons is the Founder and Director of The Curious Route and one of the leading experts in internal communication across the UK and Ireland. Joanna’s experience spans non-profit, government (the police force), and corporate domains. She brings new thinking and approaches to key employee events and environments to stimulate curiosity, develop connections, and nurture shared understanding of culture across disparate and distributed employee groups. Joanna shares the benefits of “unlearning” especially to collaborate effectively as we establish new ways of working.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:39] Joanna is very curious about people, culture, social norms, and human behavior.
[03:35] At 12 years old, Joanna starts reaching out through communications.
[04:23] Joanna starts in internal communications for an NGO in India but changes sector to satisfy her ambitious nature.
[05:42] Getting to know her audience, Joanna draws on storytelling to create compelling messages.
[06:55] Changing company cultures can be jarring, but Joanna acclimates easily in financial services.
[07:54] Communication challenges across sectors are similar—eg relating to jargon and leadership communications.
[08:34] A poor personal experience of corporate induction, Joanna boldly gamifies the process.
[10:49] A speed dating approach builds relationships between new recruits and employees and executives.
[13:52] Joanna shares how the new onboarding process energized long-time employees as well.
[15:00] Having real conversations matters for building ties with new employees.
[16:05] The Irish police force recruits Joanna into a recommended new Head of Internal Comms role.
[16:45] Joanna walks into a divided “us vs them” culture—she loves a good challenge!
[18:05] After a great time in the interview, Joanna thinks they will never pick her.
[19:26] Joanna spends the first three months visiting people, listening, and watching.
[20:15] Understanding an organization’s information flow takes time, patience, and observation.
[21:47] Building relationships in personal ways and showing respect are critical for developing trust.
[23:42] After demonstrating she listened and is offering relevant solutions, leaders invite her to help them.
[24:43] During an early lockdown, the Swiss police reach out to the Irish police with a dance challenge!
[26:33] Once posted, the video goes viral and other groups start sending in their own versions.
[27:53] The dance challenge and great empathy demonstrated by the police during the pandemic changed public perception and improved trust in the Irish police.
[30:40] Internal communications is centered on shared understanding across all employees emphasizing the organization’s vision, mission, and values.
[32:42] “Unlearning” previous habits can be a helpful approach for adapting to new ways of working.
[34:21] The Curious Route describes Joanna’s approach to work and her newsletter.
[36:16] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: First—when creating a communication, think about the audience, not yourself, and connect it to them. Second—when you are writing something, get to the point. Say what you want to say, say it quickly, and stop.
RESOURCES
Joanna Parsons on LinkedIn
Joanna’s website TheCuriousRoute
Joanna’s newsletter The Curious Route
An Garda Síochána Dance Challenge
Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less
QUOTES (edited)
“It is really all about understanding the people before you start trying to create a message.”
“Even though you can switch industries—I was in the charity sector then financial services, then policing, and now in tech—all the communication challenges are actually more similar than different.”
“The first three months, it probably just looked like I was drinking coffee. This is where all my sociology training came in because I just listened and observed and ask questions.”
“The trick for anyone that is Head of Communications is to build really strong relationships across the organization.”
“The core of a really good internal communications function is to create a shared understanding across all the employees.”
Brian Elliott is a veteran executive leader, advisor, speaker, and best-selling co-author of “How the Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to the Best Work of Their Lives”. After several years in leadership at Slack, he co-founded and was the Executive Leader of the Future-of-Work think tank Future Forum. Brian shares wide-ranging insights including: executive/employee trust issues, how executives feel disconnected if not engaging in the (virtual) spaces where their teams are, how productivity can be gamed, the disease of meetings(!), building for the future based on where we are now, and the need to create constraints to channel new ways of working.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:38] Brian explores his desire to be a professor doing research and analytics as a case writer at HBS.
[05:02] Brian likes to put himself in situations where he has to learn and grow.
[05:41] Brian gets great feedback which helps him evolve and improve as a manager.
[07:25] Survival depended on culturally aligning people from different disciplines and backgrounds, sharing understanding of problems and solving them.
[08:35] Being transparent about the P&L was critical and treating people like adults.
[09:10] Getting to know each other was essential, regularly breaking bread together.
[10:33] Brian's resume redemption move—transitioning to Google doing product development.
[12:10] The first issue to address was mending culture—dysfunction across a diverse team.
[13:40] Establishing (early) protocols, enabling distributed teams to have effective meetings.
[14:50] Brian moves to Slack to help integrate a variety of partners.
[15:42] The origin story of Slack as a communications backbone.
[16:27] The impact of Brian’s team being 9 to 5 office-based but not co-located at HQ.
[17:49] Three things came together during the pandemic to create Future Forum.
[19:49] Brian repeatedly builds teams/departments and then moves on to something smaller.
[20:52] Brian leans into his experiences in external facing communications.
[23:15] Henry Ford experimented with five, six, seven, and even four day work weeks!
[24:17] We haven’t revisited our inherited systems of work, when offices initially did “factory” work.
[25:21] Why do we perpetuate past habits thinking they continue to be the “recipe for success”?
[26:40] Trust is the core issue, which wasn't questioned when we had to get through the pandemic.
[27:45] Trust is being questioned as executives to return to empty offices and they aren't where the conversations are happening.
[30:26] Disconnected communications across spaces are resulting in pushes to return to the office.
[33:35] Disparity in perceptions about transparency lead to discord, while planning without employees’ inputs.
[34:09] A consensus driven approach to decision making and anecdotal storytelling driving policy.
[34:40] Gen Z's are looking for a balanced approach—not all in the office or at home.
[36:07] If we get frustrated, we can't go backwards.
[36:37] Intentional design—who does the current office design actually work for?
[39:09] Feedback and the mediocre management problem.
[40:00] Productivity is easy to game.
[42:40] What date are we building from for our futures? Are we redesigning forward?
[43:54] Why returning to the office full-time is illogical and counterproductive.
[46:10] How to develop guardrails and prevent extremes.
[48:16] The “disease” called meetings which hinders offering flexible hours.
[49:22] Top reasons behind having too many meetings—including obligation and FOMO.
[50:54] Brian describes the need to put constraints in place to create new work habits.
[53:35] What worked for Brian at Future Forum for optimal teamwork.
[54:43] Brian’s hope for his children as we move further into the Future of Work.
[56:54] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Figure out what problem you are trying to solve, engage directly with a trusted group of your employee population, and listen to them.
RESOURCES
Brian Elliott on LinkedIn
Brian’s book “How The Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to the Best Work of Their Lives”
QUOTES (edited)
“If there's a through line throughout my entire career, it's continuous learning and putting myself in situations where I am going to be a little—if not a lot—uncomfortable, but learn, grow, and develop.”
“The only way that we survived was figuring out how we got people from different disciplines and backgrounds aligned in moving together. Having a shared understanding of the problems we were trying to solve, and transparency about what was working and what wasn't in the business.”
“You hire adults, don't treat them like children.”
“It was about getting people who were more experienced to occasionally sit on their hands and listen to people who are more junior, who may have had a different idea of how to do things and giving them the space to bring those ideas forward.”
“We spent decades not questioning that even while technology changed really fundamentally, even while demographics changed fundamentally, even while the nature of the work itself became a lot less rote, and we still found ourselves in that rut.”
“As a leader, I experienced things as I was growing up that led to my success in the 1980s and the 1990s, and I believe that that's the recipe for success and therefore I think that the rest of you should follow my example.”
“I've had these conversations with a lot of people and the question often comes back to a couple things: What are you doing to measure outcomes in the business? What are you doing to see how the business is performing, how your teams are performing? What are you doing to train your managers to do that? But the other part is how involved are the executives themselves in where the work is happening?”
“The challenge is those executives aren't where the conversations are happening. They're happening in Slack and they're happening in Teams. The executives are not where the team is.”
“If an executive says to their employees ‘I'm worried about productivity, so the answer is I need you back in the office three days a week.’ Everybody looks at them and says ‘what you're saying is you don't trust me.’ If an executive says ‘I think we have a problem with productivity and I think we have too many meetings.’ You know what happens? Everybody cheers because executives agree with this and so do their employees.”
Oscar Trimboli is a marketing and technology industry veteran who consults to multinationals with a quest to create 100 million Deep Listeners. Over 28,000 people have contributed to his research about listening. Oscar describes how he learned to listen deeply and consequently improve organizational performance including shortening meetings. He shares useful insights and questioning techniques, demonstrated as he prompts Sophie to hone her own skills. Oscar is the author of “How to Listen”, and host of award-winning podcast “Deep Listening.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:01] To avoid drawing attention to himself, Oscar starts to ask people questions and be very curious.
[04:10] Oscar learned to watch and listen for signs playing cards with international students at school.
[06:58] Following his father’s advice, Oscar becomes an accountant, but his boss steers him to coding.
[09:17] “Which customers have you listened to?” Oscar asks engineers when developing new products.
[11:40] If people want to join Oscar’s team they are tasked to bring back a new insight about customers.
[14:11] Before becoming CEO, Satya Nadella was in a Microsoft division which was customer-focused.
[14:54] A concerning interaction with Oscar’s VP ends up with him being asked to code how to listen.
[16:45] Oscar audits a meeting starting to encode his observations and build his research database—now at 27,000--and listening materials.
[18:29] Researching non-therapeutic listening, Oscar discovers no commonality of approach.
[19:13] Observing interactions, Oscar starts counting the number of questions, types, and length.
[20:37] Good meeting hosts have empathetic curiosity to understand other people’s perspectives.
[22:48] Deliberate listening and questioning techniques can shorten meetings by several hours a week.
[23:55] Assessing appropriate use of open-ended questions and biased questions.
[26:00] Oscar believes many leaders operate from a place of unconscious bias vs dialogue and outcome.
[26:55] Oscar notes that Sophie’s question is long and complex and advises her to break it down to improve understanding.
[28:44] Oscar answers Sophie’s reworded question, explaining the five levels of listening.
[30:10] People only voice 14% of their thoughts, so the most important elements may be left unsaid.
[32:02] The importance of silence—appreciated more in indigenous cultures and Asian countries.
[33:45] The Bias Assessment: Oscar says 3 is half of 8 and shows he is correct!
[35:16] Using the Harvard Association Bias Assessment to help combat our assumption filter.
[37:40] Interrupting skillfully and elegantly—but not cutting someone off—can be a powerful listening technique.
[39:19] The question to ask at the beginning of a conversation to create common direction and shorten the meeting.
[43:15] How referring periodically to the question acts as a compass and tracks progress.
[44:08] How this listening compass gives permission for adjustments and shortens meetings.
[45:14] Oscar wonders if Sophie could shorten her question to one sentence.
[46:01] Sophie’s second question is short and direct, possibly too direct?
[47:03] Oscar shares the 1:25:900 rule, Sophie incorporates context, revising the question a third time.
[48:34] How leaders can hone their question skills, recognizing different orientation and perspectives.
[51:57] We have a listening battery with finite capacity. Ensure you recharge it or postpone the next meeting.
[53:29] The importance of carving out time between and before virtual meetings.
[55:05] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Before you go into a virtual meeting, use three minutes to charge your listening battery by listening to music. The music tempo should match the outcome you want. At the same time, get out of your chair, go for a walk.
RESOURCES
Oscar Trimboli on LinkedIn
Oscar’s website
Oscar’s book “How to Listen: Discover the Hidden Key to Better Communication”
To explore your listening barriers www.listeningquiz.com
QUOTES (edited)
“Which customers have you listened to to form your opinion?”
“When you are the speaker, quite often what you say and what the listener hears is at the intersection of what's going through their mind. What you said and what you say may not be heard by them because they're processing this in a completely different way.”
“A good host will get everybody to listen to them. A great host will get everybody to listen to each other.”
“It's about empathetic curiosity to go “Can I seek to understand their perspective just a little longer?” because when I do, I may see horizons, I may see opportunities, I may see perspectives that I've never envisaged before and this only happens when you explore through questions.”
“If you ask questions with more than eight words, typically it is going to be a biased question. If you ask questions with less than eight words, typically it is going to be more open-ended.”
“So the five levels of listening: first is listen to yourself, next, listen to the content, what they say, what you sense, and what you hear.”
“So typically someone will speak in a range of 125 to 150 words per minute, but they can think nearly nine times faster. They can think of 900 words per minute. So the very first things they say is 14% of what they think and what they mean. So it means that most conversations have 86% of the conversation not said.”
“In high context cultures….silence is a sign of wisdom, respect, and authority. Silence is a magnet that draws out what's missing in the conversation.”
“If we're conscious of silence, we can draw out more of what's unsaid, because silence is that great universal cross cultural magnet that helps all of us listen.”
“What would make this a great conversation?”
“Hanging on every word doesn't make a good listening. Interrupting skillfully, professionally elegantly can be as powerful a listening technique. Most people confuse listening with therapy, where you have to be silent the whole time.”
“Managers get results when they're present. Leaders get results when they're absent.”
John Lee is the CEO and Founder of Work From Anywhere and a serial entrepreneur. John describes his experiences living and working in multiple countries and the complexities of intercultural communication across large multinational organizations. He discusses the opportunities and issues for employers who seek to offer employees options to work remotely internationally and increase their international hiring, which his company helps with. John shares his expectations about the Future of Work and the advantages for employers of accessing a broader talent pool.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:48] John studies accountancy — the “language of business” — to support his desire to become an entrepreneur.
[03:50] John was inspired to create something bigger than himself and leave an imprint for the better.
[05:00] John develops his natural language gift.
[05:45] John explains how learning other languages enables deeper human connection.
[6:10] John picks his worst skill to work on in college which propels him internationally at Deloitte.
[07:10] How John's language skills are useful working on performance improvement initiatives around Europe.
[07:35] Plant managers share many more issues when communicated with in their own language.
[08:20] John built strong relationships and learned much about the international businesses thanks to his communications and cultural sensibilities.
[08:55] A transition moment to leave the corporate world, catalyzed by John's mentor.
[09:18] John's wife, Dee, conceives of the first business concept focused on intercultural training.
[10:12] They launch a travel well-being community to foster and share travel related soft skills.
[11:20] John and his wife noticed their Lonely Planet guide didn't share information about countries’ cultures and people.
[12:14] Intercultural research was a core resource integrated to offer culturally-focused local videos and information.
[13:12] CultureMee wins a prestigious award for best business travel technology product.
[14:36] Dutch and Irish cultural differences had interesting repercussions when John worked at CRH.
[16:28] A yes/no Bulgarian example of communication differences!
[17:18] John has a deep curiosity about people, their cultural and other identities.
[18:20] The shift from studying national differences to encompass diversity, inclusion, and more.
[19:14] Pivoting to a business travel API, they have major growth opportunities in the US.
[20:00] The pandemic hits at the worst moment—John takes time off to regroup.
[21:55] What is the No 1 obstacle preventing internationally distributed working for millions of people?
[22:50] What is the right solution for your next international remote hire?
[23:51] Companies are exploring distributed work: temporarily working in different countries and structurally hire people in different jurisdictions.
[25:00] Key reasons include accessing a deeper talent pool or getting closer to customers.
[26:45] Cities are assessing the visitors they attract—from cruise passengers to digital nomads.
[29:45] Digital nomad visas—which had gaps initially—are accelerating the future of international remote work.
[30:39] Local economies benefit by encouraging new visitor types.
[31:16] The second accelerating factor is the “employer of record” arrangement.
[32:00] How businesses can expand internationally easily using new options.
[33:43] John on the recent partnership with Mercer.
[34:38] Some companies are adjusting better than others to new working options. John feels we are still working it out.
[36:25] John’s own preferences, perceived benefits, and balance.
[38:31] What are the implications for income tax?
[39:24] What will the impact be on traditional education systems?
[40:00] John is intrigued by Plumia, a venture trying to create a country on the Internet!
[42:02] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If your company is interested in offering international remote working options, review useful white papers for benchmarks about global mobility, chat with a tax or immigration provider, and a good employment lawyer about new international working models.
RESOURCES
John Lee on LinkedIn
Work From Anywhere
SIETAR Europa
Running Remote
QUOTES (edited)
“A lot of the talks I’d been to from entrepreneurs, those that didn’t have a finance background said they felt it held them back. They kind of described accountancy as the language of business.”
“I loved the fact that when you speak in somebody’s language, you connect with them on a much deeper level.”
“I was at the 10-year-point in my career and I still had a burning desire to be an entrepreneur. My mentor at the time said to me, ‘John, you have a great career here, but if you do want to become an entrepreneur, do it now. You can always come back but if you stay here for another five or 10 years, you’re gonna become institutionalized. It’ll be much harder.’”
“The Dutch tended to discuss things democratically but were very direct in their communication. Whereas, Irish people tended to decide hierarchically, but were indirect in how they communicated. And what ended up happening was there was a lot of intercultural friction because you’d have some misinterpretation.”
“And so that’s what we've built with Work From Anywhere, a platform that automates the ‘how.’ It tells you what the risks are. It tells you if you can or cannot do remote.”
“In Barbados, a year after they launched digital nomad visas, they had over a hundred million generators for the local economy. You can imagine they had a huge drop off in cruise passengers because of COVID-19. So obviously, launching this helped mitigate the shortfall from cruise passengers.”
Nina Bhatia is the Executive Director, Strategy and Commercial Development at the John Lewis Partnership (JLP). Nina discusses the business shifts that she and the rest of the JLP executive team are navigating during this period of economic and technology-driven change. She explains the characteristics and strengths of their employee ownership model including the power of transparency in cultivating an internal democracy and a culture of sharing and trust. Nina describes their approach to evolving work arrangements and their emphasis on diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:39] Nina starts out as a consultant rather than a lawyer by chance.
[03:10] Nina gets a great range of experiences as at McKinsey.
[04:05] Nina finds herself drawn to integrative problems that don’t have easy solutions.
[05:01] Consulting was a new sector and the apprenticeship model shaped Nina’s experience and training.
[06:50] Nina learned to be resilient as she developed more understanding about her strengths.
[07:53] After years advising companies, Nina really wants to run a business with scale.
[08:35] Nina explores a wide range of opportunities as she chooses to transition to an operating role.
[10:01] It was initially hard for Nina to transition to a gritty business fixing plumbing and appliances.
[11:20] Nina accompanies the engineers and learns how to diagnose her own washing machine.
[11:42] The strategy work that led to building a tech-led business with a customer acquisition advantage.
[12:30] Transitioning to Hive was a steep learning curve, finding ways to make decisions quickly.
[13:22] By focusing on the functions that matter most, Nina can meet customers’ needs—even with limited resources.
[15:06] Nina joins the John Lewis Partnership in Feb 2020—very new in her role as the pandemic starts.
[15:59] Nina’s context when the business and its customers are going through significant changes.
[17:08] Difficult strategy work is involved when changing the modes of selling, delivery, and customer interaction all at once.
[17:40] Nina was challenged and inspired, experiencing the essence of JLP’s DNA.
[19:01] JLP's employees own the business, so it's personal and change initiatives require care.
[19:30] “Love” and “trust” are words frequently associated with John Lewis and Waitrose brands.
[21:04] Employee co-ownership has three important dimensions: knowledge, power, and profit.
[21:34] Partners’ right to transparency has a powerful effect on the organization in many ways.
[24:13] Founded in 1864, the Partnership has a surprising purpose that encompasses partners’ happiness.
[25:08] The purpose was recently expanded to include customers and communities with 12,000 partners actively contributing to the internal democratic process.
[26:26] Social mobility was very important to the Founder, John Stephen Lewis.
[27:06] How talent mobility works at JLP enabling partners to develop breadth in their careers.
[27:36] Considering the challenges facing the retail sector globally and exploring greater diversification for a well-trusted brand.
[28:42] Diversification to ensure continued quality earnings leads to exploring the JLP’s large asset base while the UK is experiencing housing shortages.
[30:45] JLP’s two existing successful retail businesses must be sustained while creating options for the future.
[31:31] The development of a cohesive employee ownership culture during and post pandemic.
[32:20] JLP’s general approach to workplace flexibility.
[33:36] JLP has no return to the office mandate, respecting teams’ different needs and letting them figure out what works.
[34:08] Nina observes experimentation and tensions during this transition as people change their lifestyles and work habits.
[36:05] Nina wonders if their least experienced employees can learn well in hybrid configurations.
[38:20] John Lewis’ purpose must be considered when developing strategies and making decisions.
[39:07] John Lewis spent $56 million pounds on UK farmers in the last year as a purpose-driven decision.
[40:03] The housing business being developed is also purpose driven, creating community for residents.
[40:30] Other initiatives also reflect that the driving force is not simply to maximize profit.
[40:59] Customers don’t just want to buy products from businesses, they want to know what a company stands for.
[42:00] With a distinctive standpoint, diversity at John Lewis sends a signal about what is possible.
[42:54] ‘It’s Not Okay’ partner-created film highlights the conversation about greater diversity and inclusion.
[43:45] Nina feels strongly about inclusion, growing up in the UK during the ‘70’s and experiencing ‘otherness’.
[45:06] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Transparency—the sharing of information and access to senior leaders—is very powerful, using an internal democracy to improve what you choose to do and how you do it.
RESOURCES
Nina Bhatia on LinkedIn
The John Lewis Partnership
It’s Not Okay
QUOTES (edited)
“We're not just sharing the proceeds, we're actually sharing knowledge and information about the business and the ability to influence it.”
“There's a balance between happier people, happier business, and happier world. We've got to hold all of those in balance in making decisions.”
“I feel very strongly that we're able to do these things because we've put purpose at the center of what we're doing. And then, in terms of decisions we're able to make, we're not driven simply to make maximum profit.”
“Customers don't just want to buy products from businesses. They want to know what you stand for. And I think what we stand for is very motivating for customers.”
“When we deploy our internal democracy well, we can absolutely improve the quality of what we choose to do and how we choose to do it.”
Alicia Serrani is a rising Millennial leader and serial entrepreneur. Alicia started at RBS and Morgan Stanley and got a law degree while launching several new ventures—spanning art, politics, artificial intelligence, and fashion. Alicia explains why her first boss had such an impact on her approach to leadership and business, why she deliberately chose the entrepreneurial route as a woman, and how working remotely supercharged her ability to innovate. She shares how she guides and mentors her employees while also trying to remedy some of Gen Z’s detrimental pandemic experiences.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:22] Alicia goes for political science as a means to enact practical philosophy.
[02:52] Being in NYC allowed Alicia to explore a wide range of early internship experiences.
[04:01] Fashion is Alicia’s family business.
[04:38] Banking was a fluke development at the start of Alicia’s career.
[06:10] Alicia discovers her banking colleagues lead rich personal lives.
[08:20] A hit and run causes brain trauma and it takes the first six weeks at Alicia’s new job to recover.
[09:23] Physically incapacitated, Alicia pioneers a remote finance career in 2014 doing data remediation.
[11:33] The contrasting office environments of RBS and Morgan Stanley.
[12:10] Alicia learns about good and bad bosses from her first boss.
[13:44] Contemplating the next career move—potentially venture capital.
[14:30] Alicia moves into a startup role after meeting her founding partner at a party.
[15:10] What New Hive is and how digital art, blockchain, and NFTs evolved.
[17:11] Alicia and Zach develop “survivable disagreement” to collaborate with parties that are at odds.
[20:01] Law school becomes Alicia’s pathway to enhance her business credibility.
[22:24] In the midst of her law degree, Alicia and Zach launch a second startup, Guardians.ai, and why the model wasn’t sustainable.
[23:17] They start tracking misinformation and narrative influence regarding voter fraud in 2016.
[24:41] The strange dynamics of a misinformation operation, and uncovering it.
[27:27] Third Web – Alicia and her business partner’s brain trust.
[28:03] Alicia’s philosophy on work—using a graduating lawyer as an example.
[29:34] Some of Alicia’s classmates from law school are already taking less traditional routes.
[31:08] Alicia shares her plan for her law degree.
[31:55] How Alicia thinks technology will elevate the importance of industry level expertise.
[33:09] Alicia discusses entrepreneurship as a way to embody your values and stimulate change.
[34:36] In entrepreneurial overdrive during the pandemic, Alicia speaks of her approach for developing new projects and ventures.
[36:50] How hard fashion businesses are which “hoodwinked” Alicia into actively running T.W.I.N..
[38:56] A boss of many Gen Z’s, Alicia explains her approach to onboarding after the pandemic.
[40:10] Isolation during the pandemic impacted aspects of Gen Z’s social comfort and professionalism.
[42:06] How Alicia sets clear expectations, identifies goals, and fosters ideas.
[43:42] Mentoring is a mutual investment for Alicia and extends beyond her companies.
[45:24] Diversity and inclusion requires keeping yourself in check.
[46:10] Alicia counsels young employees to recognize the difference between working in a small company and expectations in a large corporate environment.
[48:04] Building diverse and inclusive organizations has been a recurring conversation for Alicia.
[48:55] How organizational structures can evolve to support effective decision-making, engagement, and creativity.
[50:00] Alicia wants to balance and benefit from both physical presence and remote work.
[51:00] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you’re on the entrepreneurial path, don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good. Sketch it out, try it out, don’t spend a lot of money doing it. Don’t get in your own way. Be intentional about getting it started and sharing it with people.
[52:23] Alicia shares how she has been able to fund and grow T.W.I.N..
RESOURCES
Alicia Serrani on LinkedIn
Alicia on Instagram
Alicia and her twin sister’s shop T.W.I.N.
IWR
QUOTES (edited)
“And when they offered me the amount of money they offered me, I responded with ‘you know, I don't know what I'm doing, right!?’ And they were like ‘Yeah, nobody does!’.”
“And I realized at that point you don't have to be your job.”
“A shaved head at an investment bank at 22 was a look.”
“Having someone who's totally different like a middle-aged man with kids just sit with me and teach me and talk to me like I’m an equal was so pivotal for me.”
“That's when I learned that I didn't want to be the smart person all the time. When you're working at as a consultant you have to be the smart person every single time. When you are the product the wear and tear is very intense.”
“I think the traditional idea that you are going to grow up, go to university, go to law school, become a lawyer, be a lawyer, and become a partner at a firm is just not the reality anymore. It's not my reality.”
“I think I saw that the way forward for myself as a woman, as someone who values collaboration, as someone who values partnership, as someone who values diversity and inclusion, that running your own business is the only way to create that.”
“The pandemic allowed all of my instincts around entrepreneurship and distributed work to absolutely go crazy, because it meant that I could be in one place and be intellectually or professionally everywhere.”
“I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad about being young, but if there's a lack of professionalism and performance, if I see somebody not doing something that's of a professional ethic or standard, I will say, for the record ‘If you did that somewhere else where there was more hierarchy and oversight, it would be questionable.’”
Elias Baltassis is a Partner and Senior Director at the Boston Consulting Group. He has deep expertise in AI- and data-enabled strategy, data operating models, data governance, responsible artificial intelligence and ethics, and new data-driven business development. Elias is passionate about data and analytics and the transformative impact of artificial Intelligence on business and society. He shares his insights about generative AI and LLMs, their potential effect on business, productivity, and relationships, including our necessary attention to ethics and far-reaching implications of AI in the workplace and on the Future of Work.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:42] Elias starts trading bonds after studying math, econometrics, and computer science.
[04:17] From notation calculators to basic spreadsheets to nascent AI, Elias sees patterns in tool evolution.
[05:17] Elias moves to consulting, always involved in quantitative fields.
[06:20] The significant AI break throughs since 2016-17.
[07:12[ Why self-supervised learning was one critical advance.
[07:50] New architectures--enabling much larger models—were a second step, leading to generative artificial (GenAI) models.
[08:55] What the “language” of Large Language Models (LLMs) covers.
[10:00] After training ChatGPT by absorbing the internet, “hallucinations” need to be eliminated.
[11:06] “Red teaming” to eliminate hallucinations.
[12:11] The next refinement step is “reinforcement learning from human feedback”.
[13:00] The issue of “jail-breaking” models to circumvent “blocked” answers.
[14:32] Data embedding or fine-tuning: using private data to train GPT.
[16:02] Why did ChatGPT stop data accretion in 2021?
[16:30] The considerable cost of topology, training, and refining AI models.
[17:43] User input in ChatGPT serves to refine the model more so than to teach it.
[19:37] The Future of Jobs: Will generative AI lead to mass job losses? If so, when?
[21:37] Why the impact of GenAI will be delayed in some areas.
[23:00] GenAI is impacting certain areas faster—such as coding and customer service—generally enabling significant productivity gains.
[24:35] Career progression must adjust as corporate pyramids’ bases shrink.
[26:00] Knowledge management will change appreciably, with new jobs created and new tools and processes invented.
[29:14] Different professions and companies try to codify their “secret sauce”—what can GenAI take care of?
[30:30] What will remain? How people show empathy, interact, and give emotional support.
[32:05] Many existing articles about GenAI contain factual inaccuracies.
[33:19] Training to understand applied technologies is becoming much more important.
[34:40] In a time of exponential curves, doom predictions are imprudent and never verified.
[35:18] What Elias is most excited about—especially leveling up the playing field.
[36:30] Likely effects: huge productivity improvements depending on the country’s social contract and a reduction in work time.
[37:40] Elias explains why timelines relating to GenAI are difficult to circumscribe and more than five years is now considered “long-term”.
[38:50] How Elias anticipates the dynamics of change over time due to GenAI.
[39:39] Why the “truth function” matters.
[40:26] AI may be capable of a kind of informed creativity, as humans do.
[40:44] The beneficial mix of technology, regulation, and internal company rules and the emerging need for a Chief AI Ethics Officer role.
[44:01] Misinformation is a major concern for Elias.
[45:22] The possible negative impact of generative AI on kids.
[47:02] We need a definition of what it means to be “human” and “intelligent”—remembering the movie “Her”.
[48:06] Comments on the open letter written by Musk, Wozniak, Harari, and others.
[49:47] What Geoff Hinton has achieved and what he has to say about GenAI.
[51:33] Fellow Turing Award winner Yann LeCun has a very different opinion about the potential impact of GenAI.
[52:25] Discussion on GenAI is something that will change at a fast pace: Elias will be back!
[54:04] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Leaders must drive the change—identifying what impact gen AI will have at their company and articulating the vision of what the changes will look like--for change processes, teams, and more. Leaders must make it real with a roadmap and commitment to new behaviors, new skills and making them stick.
[55:08] As at other critical juncture points when so much is changing, many companies will need to rethink what they are doing and how they are doing it.
RESOURCES
Elias Baltassis on LinkedIn
Boston Consulting Group’s website
Boston Consulting Group newsletters including the one specifically on AI
Geoffrey Hinton
Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter
“HER” the movie
QUOTES (edited)
“People are often confused by the word language. They think only speech or text, but actually everything is language—code is language, music is language under certain constraints, an image is language.”
“If you’re talking about scientific questions, under the assumption that science is “true”, it’s very easy to say “Yes, this is true”. But when you arrive at political or, tomorrow, ethical questions, who determines what is true?
“What will remain, especially for client-facing professions, at the highest intellectual level or a lower intellectual level, will be how you interact with your client, with your customer. How do you show empathy and real interest, and how do you offer him or her emotional support?
“We live in an era of exponential curves. Everything evolves so rapidly that it's very difficult to predict when, how, and what the time horizons are. I’ve read some things about what AI will do in the next five years that I’m ready to bet will not happen.”
“If you ask an AI something about Galileo you can check in books if the answer is correct. But if you try to do prospective science, if you try to say “Build me a molecule that has these characteristics” and it comes out with a molecule, you will need to test if this is a real molecule.”
“Now, it’s another of those occasions. So many companies will need to rethink “What are we really doing? How are we doing it?”
Minter Dial and the podcast’s host, Sophie, discuss empathy at work in the new technology-driven era of business and work. They both draw from their books—Minter’s rerelease of Heartificial Empathy: Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence and Sophie’s second book Empathy Works: The Key to Competitive Advantage in the New Era of Work. They explore and debate how to integrate empathy effectively as well as bring a human-centric approach to the AI-infused business and working landscape. Minter shares his insights about the importance of companies’ having an ethical framework that incorporates empathy as they integrate more AI.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:48] Minter’s journey into empathy was by the “back door”.
[05:45] Recognizing the benefits of teaching empathy to sales people, l’Oréal initiates a program for those contracted to sell their products.
[06:30] Minter finds the approach ironic and reflects on authentic leadership.
[07:05] Assessing yourself for empathy skills and how to connect with somebody else's experience.
[09:22] Why haven't we been working with more empathy?
[11:20] Other factors elevating the need for empathy at work—now.
[12:56] Has our empathy—and deeper understanding of each other—generated during pandemic times all evaporated?
[14:35] What is behind the high levels of unhappiness and unfulfillment at work?
[15:10] The significant shift in the US in people’s views about their working lives.
[16:12] What drives empathy that isn’t intentional and authentic.
[18:30] How does empathy and flexibility improve business results?
[20:15] The pros and cons of having choices.
[21:00] Can you engage people individually in a traditional company that has 10,000 employees?
[22:02] Focusing on the needs of individuals within a unit.
[22:40] How the pandemic helped us understand different approaches and methods.
[23:45] Aligning empathy with the business objectives and all the players across the ecosystem.
[23:45] The “why” of any company is central to making the organization work.
[24:22] Minter believes empathy is a pre-condition for an ethical framework.
[25:29] AI is something to bring your humanity to. Minter shares examples of how AI can be used.
[27:22] Are we thinking sufficiently about why and how we are introducing generative AI?
[29:19] Bettering people’s lives at Redken—connecting people along the value chain with purpose.
[32:20] How gen AI search results reflect our collective consciousness—good and bad—elevating the need for an ethical framework.
[35:15] Minter gives permission to be imperfect, pushing out and trying.
[37:25] Empathy doesn’t mean always being nice—but making tough decisions.
[38:18] What standard are we holding ourselves to? How well do we understand ourselves?
[39:15] Minter calls for more self-awareness, especially to understand our reasoning and flaws.
[40:49] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Do something for others and reconnect with the ordinary things in life.
RESOURCES
Minter Dial on LinkedIn
Minter on Twitter
Follow Minter’s Substack DIALOGOS — Fostering Meaningful Conversations
Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch
QUOTES (edited)
“I do feel that the level of unhappiness and unfulfillment at work is about as high as it gets. And perhaps the lingering element is ‘What is this all about? what, what are we doing, Sophie, on this earth? What is my life for?’”
“I feel that empathy is a precondition for your ethics, but it doesn't mean you’re good. At the end of the day, what are you trying to achieve? Who are you? If you use empathy with manipulation, you’re going to have manipulative ethics.”
“If we want to call AI a step change like the printing press, I think it’s possibly the right call. But I would wish that we would be more focused on the meaningfulness of our business as opposed to the technology that’s going to drive the numbers.”
“This notion of having a purpose that resonates inside and out is really key. Being customer-centric is lovely — It’s probably a sine qua non. However, make sure that it’s congruent with what you’re trying to live as an employee in the organization.”
“The permission I give with AI is to push out and try stuff. And if you accept that you are flawed, then it becomes easier to understand the imperfection that comes out, because that’s what we’re trying to do. The intention is right.”
Kate Lister, President of Global Workplace Analytic and seasoned expert on distributed work, returns for Part 2 of her interview about hybrid and remote working. In this episode, Kate describes how to deploy remote options successfully—how we need to update management and work practices. She explains what claims and complaints about remote working research confirms and counters, what we need to be productive and to innovate, why surveillance is not managing, and how important remote options are for supporting sustainability.
TAKEAWAYS
[03:59] Prior to the pandemic preparations for new work practice deployment took months.
[05:08] Even with preparation, establishing new practices as routines takes time and attention.
[08:00] New tools, asynchronous communication, and documentation are improving work experiences and effectiveness.
[08:41] Who can manage to break through hybrid meetings and how?
[09:42] Making better decisions about the practices and processes of meetings.
[10:41] Managing remote workers requires a shift in approach—to coach.
[11:28] The growing issues of surveillance, work breaks, and stress.
[13:20] Monitoring is babysitting not managing—why not manage by results instead?
[13:53] The four things remote working is supposed to be negatively affecting.
[15:09] How to nurture culture intentionally.
[16:32] Telework doesn't create management problems it reveals them—such as low trust, weak culture.
[18:05] How Capital One communicates layoffs transparently—very differently from other companies.
[19:08] Survey design is critical when trying to find out how employees are (really) doing.
[20:47] Deciding the key (new) norms of effective work.
[23:10] After agreeing norms, trust and empathy can build, reducing potential conflict.
[25:52] How can middle managers build trust, stuck between return-to-office and work-from-home tensions.
[27:05] Innovation’s two components: (1) creativity—best done alone; (2) vetting—best done in a group.
[28:21] Addressing the decrease of weak ties which are important for innovation and growth.
[30:15] Goals should cascade down internally to connect employees with purpose.
[33:04] Onboarding was not working before the pandemic, how can we redesign it?
[33:58] Mentoring, training, skills, and access combined with appropriate tools and equipment are critical for success.
[34:45] Dealing with the “sludge of work” to improve results.
[36:46] The importance of transparently sharing the managerial “why”.
[38:07] Sustainability is a key benefit of reducing traffic to the office through use of remote work options.
[40:46] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To modernize your workplace and ways of working, listen to your people. Listen to your customers and suppliers. Listen to the investment community. Don’t make assumptions. Also lift your foot off the gas sometimes or people will get burned out and leave.
RESOURCES
Kate Lister on LinkedIn
Kate on Twitter
Kate’s company website GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com
QUOTES (edited)
“Working remotely is something that's gonna take a lot of practice, and you're gonna have to keep each other honest on it.”
“Culture is about people, and we were using an office as kind of a proxy for culture when it wasn’t.”
“Is there anybody that doubts that if somebody is happy and feeling good, they’re going to perform better? And yet what do we do to help them with that?”
“The research shows that people who are brainstorming face-to-face feel more productive. They’re not! They come up with more ideas, but fewer commercially viable ideas.”
“When it comes to onboarding, 50% of people quit in the first six months, this is before the pandemic! How was that onboarding going before? I don’t think that’s one of those things that we want to replicate! This is about practices and processes.”
Kate Lister is President of Global Workplace Analytics and a veteran advocate of remote working—or teleworking as it was previously called. Kate brings almost two decades of experience making data-based business cases to employers to convince them of the financial merits of offering remote working options. She discusses the catalyzing effect of the pandemic which substantially increased the awareness and acceptance of new work arrangements. Kate highlights the long history of employees’ desire for flexibility over their work location and schedule. She also warns of significant downsides for corporations if they do not integrate hybrid or remote work models.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:34] Kate starts as a banker, becomes an entrepreneur, and is about to retire when the Great Recession hits.
[04:14] With her husband, Kate builds and runs a vintage airplane ride business for 16 years!
[05:10] They sell the business—which they had run from home—and research their next home-based venture.
[06:40] Kate’s daughter gets scammed by home-based work, so Kate and her husband write their third book revealing the “naked truth” about making money from home.
[07:56] Researching for the book, Kate notices no one has made the business case for “teleworking”—trying to quantify the benefits.
[08:40] “Show me the money!” The financial benefits are clear—saving 52 mins of commuting time and 3 hours of distracted time at the office every day.
[09:07] Kate has built up a database of over 6,000 research documents studying workplaces and quantifying telecommuting/remote working effects and benefits.
[09:32] Making the fact-based business case to the C-suite, quantifying why productivity and or retention would increase. A calculator is available online.
[10:20] Benefiting people, planet, and profit. Employees also saved money—employees’ desire to work remotely or not is not considered (pre-pandemic).
[11:02] A champion typically brings Kate in to persuade the (rest of the) C-suite depending on the pain point(s) for the particular company—such as saving money, talent or office space.
[13:59] Contingent labor typically goes up and down signaling the start and end of a recession, but that does not happen at the end of the Great Recession—and reasons change.
[14:54] Reported remote workdays grow 10% a year pre-pandemic, but from a small base.
[15:41] Census data (questions) is not capturing accurate data about remote workdays.
[16:57] Kate is surprised by how quickly people adapted to working remotely during the pandemic.
[18:31] Remote work becomes more humanized and egalitarian, people feel more trusted.
[20:59] 2021 is Kate’s busiest and most polarized consulting year to date as employers and employees had conflicting desires about returning to the office.
[21:59] Time-shifting work is even more popular with employees than remote working options, but meets more resistance from employers.
[23:12] If people working from home get their work done, why do you care what else they do?
[23:37] The percentage of people wanting to work fully-remote and hybrid is increasing.
[24:02] 18 years ago, 90% of people already wanted to work part of the week from home.
[26:26] Kate shows CEOs and CFOs the business costs if they were to force people back to the office.
[27:13] The business case often involves reducing real estate costs, also recognizing workplace issues.
[28:27] Research shows people want the ability to have privacy at the office.
[29:00] Activity Based Working was building prior to the pandemic to provide better office workspaces.
[30:18] Kate shares the likely stable office- and home-based working percentages going forward.
[31:35] Remote working is one choice in a palette of flexibility to give people autonomy.
[33:52] Trust hindered telework taking off in 1973—leaders are babysitting, not managing by results.
[34:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To hire the best and the brightest, the work has got to be where they are, as well as to achieve levels of engagement necessary to be successful and to attain the kind of trust that will support innovation. So double down on integrating remote to benefit.
RESOURCES
Kate Lister on LinkedIn
Kate on Twitter @FutureWorkforce
Kate’s company website GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com
Hybrid and remote work costs and benefits
Workplace ROI and breakeven calculators
Undress for Success: The Naked Truth about Making Money at Home by Kate Lister and Tom Harnish
QUOTES (edited)
“The C-suite talks in numbers. ‘Show me the money!’ and it just seemed easy to me to look at.”
“At the end of the day, we showed that you could save $11,000 per halftime remote worker per year.”
“They could offset the cost of the entire office space with an increase of productivity of less than one minute a day.”
“I know a big part of the reason, from the data I've collected, that people didn't want to come back to the office is because we've made them so awful.”
“We're also starting to see that it's just one choice in a palette of flexibility. We wouldn't just be doing a telework program or remote work program. It would be a suite of programs so that everybody had a chance to participate.”
“Nobody's telling you how to do it or when to do it. We’ve known since the fifties that it's the best way to manage people anyway. And we just ignored the science.”
“Managers didn't trust their people, it’s why telework didn’t take off in the 70’s.”
Jeffrey Shaw has never had a traditional job. He started his entrepreneurial journey as a teen, grew a successful business for 25 years, then became a coach for those who want to be or are self-employed. Jeffrey founded the Self-Employed Business Institute and authored “The Self-Employed Life” and “Lingo”. He discusses the fundamentals and key rules of engagement for entrepreneurs that he learned along the way and how he helps people transition to self-employment and build their own businesses. From recognizing your value to finding your customers, and “deprogramming” your corporate mindset Jeffrey shares his insights for the swelling ranks of the self-employed.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:15] Jeffrey has never had a traditional job.
[03:35] Started his entrepreneurial journey at 14 years old, Jeffrey wants to be independent.
[04:18] Jeffrey's father's words were pivotal.
[06:17] After receiving multiple awards for his photographs, Jeffrey decided to become a photographer.
[06:49] Jeffrey focuses on buildings then falls in love with portrait photography on location.
[07:33] At 20, Jeffrey has to make it work to support his wife and life.
[08:34] Jeffrey realizes his value/offering and target audience do not match.
[10:15] Jeffrey works out who his audience should be and where they are.
[10:40] Three months should be all he needs to figure it out!
[11:34] How to learn critical intelligence about your target audience.
[12:55] A saleswoman at Bergdorf Goodman shares critical nuances about customer behavior.
[14:05] Jeffrey's book “Lingo” is about his clientele’s secret language.
[14:42] The power of asking questions and seeing things in others that we don't see in ourselves.
[15:40] Achieving success in his business, Jeffrey decides he wants to do more.
[16:25] Jeffrey discusses self-doubt and starts to pursue the idea of coaching.
[18:22] Why did Jeffrey hire his first business coach at the peak of his success?
[19:30] Why had the business plateaued?
[20:25] After 9/11, Jeffrey thought everything was at stake.
[21:33] With every major struggle that business owners go through, there is a shift in values.
[24:15] Crises speed up the process of change.
[25:15] Jeffrey's older clients want to transition quickly to have more freedom through self-employment.
[27:29] To gather useful insights from prior experiences, Jeffrey asks what compliments people have repeatedly received throughout their life.
[28:44] Most people want to set up a business to optimize what they have been doing--there's a catch.
[29:38] How does Jeffrey help people shift from the corporate mindset?
[30:31] The self-employment ecosystem has three components.
[32:35] How Gen Z’s can pursue the self-employment.
[33:34] What Jeffrey thinks the Future of Work looks like. Jeffrey encourages employees to push corporate America to offer a better way to work.
[34:10] What percentage of people are solopreneurs who Jeffrey works with?
[36:10] Is the cycle of contracting, over-hiring, layoffs, and re-contracting changing at last?
[39:10] We shouldn't overlook the fresh perspectives and creativity that come with hiring self-employed specialists.
[39:50] Jeffrey learned how to employ and questions the effort many companies put into hiring.
[41:10] What it means to be self-employed, from real-estate agents to sales associates.
[43:30] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To speed up a typical 12-month transition to self-employment from a corporate job, identify your passion first and build a side gig to test it. You want to know if you have enough passion for what you want to create that’s going to keep you going and get you through the frustrations.
RESOURCES
Jeffrey Shaw on LinkedIn
Twitter @JeffreyShaw1
Jeffrey’s websites www.jeffreyshaw.com
SelfEmployedBusinessInstitute.com
Jeffrey’s book “The Self-Employed Life”
Jeffrey’s book “Lingo”
Jeffrey’s podcast “The Self-Employed Life”
QUOTES (edited)
“I used to say, I never had a real job. And then anybody else that was self-employed would look at me and say, you need to stop saying that because there's nothing more real than running your own business.”
“I think you can change everything in life in three months.”
“I didn't know if I could handle having a traditional job because I would live in fear of the rug being pulled out from underneath me. And I always felt like the advantage of being self-employed is that it would at least get slow painful death, but it wouldn’t be sudden.”
“You get to a point in life where you want to get to where you want to go quicker. We all felt like we had all the time in the world in our twenties and maybe even our thirties. You get in your forties, fifties, and sixties, and you're like: ‘Give me the goods so I can get to where I want to go because I don't wanna figure this all out on my own!’”
“I think everybody wants the agency of self-employment, but not everybody wants the burden of responsibility that comes with business ownership. Therefore, let's also make it feel that way in traditional jobs.”
Eric Ng, Senior VP of Marketing at Two Chairs, has an agile mindset which has enabled him to keep adapting to the significant changes brought about by technology developments in the marketing discipline—including many new channels, formats, and granular measurement tools. Eric shares insights about screening for a flexible mindset when building teams, and how trust, empowerment, and co-creation are key for nurturing growth. Eric explains how his flexible attitude has allowed him to adapt to new hybrid/remote working arrangements.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:58] Seeing the Apple 1984 commercial in grade school, Eric knew he wanted to do marketing.
[03:30] At college, Eric co-founds Student.com with friends which goes well, he learns a lot when his second start-up fails completely.
[05:01] Eric joins Apple’s advertising agency Chiat/Day which was a dream job for him.
[06:27] Marketing is about resource allocation or figuring out how to make (increasingly informed) bets.
[07:24] Flexibility is essential in an ever-changing industry—mixing testing and iterating with renewed use of broad-based ideas to drive fame.
[10:02] Eric reflects on his experience building teams, and how screening for mindset is paramount.
[11:27] Eric’s methodology to consolidate his team’s learning is that they must teach others in turn.
[13:02] Working for a mission-oriented organization makes motivation, branding and recruiting easier.
[15:30] Two Chairs offers a diverse group of therapists to serve market requirements as people’s needs and relationship with therapy evolve.
[16:37] If connection with your therapist—the therapeutic alliance—is the best predictor of success, having a diverse therapist offering increases potential matches and outcomes.
[19:02] The pandemic reduced mental health-related stigma along with willingness to be vulnerable.
[20:12] Eric never worked remotely prior to the pandemic, but his perspective has shifted significantly.
[21:05] Rethinking many aspects of work in hybrid situations, including how to recognize people’s successes.
[22:18] The dial tone, a remote version of the high-five!
[24:24] Meetings are important, they just need to be well thought out.
[26:09] Shifting your mindset to manage distributed teams starting with trust and empowerment.
[27:20] Empathy is essential to understand who each person is, what they are doing, what their needs are.
[29:00] Cultivating trust requires a safe space, time to adjust, and guardrails to avoid the worst.
[30:24] People do best when they can discover on their own and co-create.
[32:30] Eric sees potential of simplification in the future, especially in healthcare which can be overcomplicated and confusing.
[35:00] Eric asks Sophie what excites her—understanding better how we each work, how we can come together effectively as a team, and what we learned by about what we are capable of under pressure.
[36:55] Technological and societal changes are bringing additional layers of diversity we can address in different ways.
[40:16] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If adapting with an agile mindset becomes overwhelming, take one small step that you haven’t taken before and explore the new experience.
RESOURCES
Eric Ng on LinkedIn
Two Chairs website
QUOTES (edited)
“I think that's one of the things when you're growing where everything seems to be going well if you don't hit a roadblock, you don't grow.”
“I'm hoping that the team members who are learning are also going to teach others. It gives them that opportunity to solidify the things that they're thinking about and really learn. There's nothing like teaching something in order to learn it!”
“That connection with your therapist — this idea of a therapeutic alliance — is perhaps the best predictor of having successful outcomes for mental health. So if you match really well, you end up having a great outcome. I'm obviously interested in user experience as a marketer, but in this case, the actual outcomes for a patient or a client really, really matter.”
Winston Peters is the Program Director of the Entrepreneurs@MC program and the new Entrepreneur Center at Manhattan College in New York. He is a co-founder of WÜLF University and a Principal at MyÜberLife Consulting Group. Winston explains how he purposefully connects and builds trust with his Gen Z students starting with the first homework assignment. He teaches students the skills they want and need for entering the labor market including those not on the syllabus. Winston shares what drives and concerns Gen Z’s leaving college. He suggests how we can build bridges across generations and help each other find fulfillment at work.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:15] Winston quickly bores of building high-rises using his civil engineering degree and delves into the New York cultural scene.
[03:54] Winston applies his skills differently to analyze and solve problems, wanting to make an impact.
[05:00] Winston found many creatives don’t fully understand the mechanics of their business.
[07:00] An engineer’s approach separates the fluff and breaks things down.
[08:08] WULF university was launched to provide critical learning that students don’t typically get in the classroom to help them in their careers.
[08:58] Empathy skills are needed to complement students’ competitive academic orientation so they can collaborate well in the workplace.
[10:45] How does Winston shift students’ mindsets?
[11:22] Looking through different lenses to develop understanding and build trust.
[12:51] How Winston shows up to develop trust, engage on a personal level, and make education collaborative.
[15:24] The importance of checking in and understanding how each student is (really) doing.
[17:02] Setting the tone at the beginning by understanding where people’s energy is.
[17:54] Human beings are judging machines based on pattern matching, and authenticity can be modeled to build a safe space.
[19:15] Winston leads by example.
[20:13] Winston’s compelling first homework assignment.
[20:56] Asking people how they learn develops understanding and context.
[23:12] The four +1 types of entrepreneurship students Winston teaches at Manhattan College.
[25:08] The importance of being anti-fragile and having multiple revenue streams.
[26:44] Some want corporate jobs to learn about corporate structure (for their own future venture).
[27:27] Two areas Gen Z’s believe are going to be key to their future success: understanding financials and creating contacts.
[29:25] Leaving college in debt, many students only explore the highest-paying jobs, not what will be fulfilling or give them security.
[31:05] Many Gen Z’s are entering the workforce taking jobs to survive.
[32:00] Why Winston doesn’t give extra credits in his class.
[33:54] The fundamental teaching orientation for Winston is human-centric—how to solve humans’ problems and sell to them.
[35:37] Winston is excited to work with students on a competition for a Blue Economy project—to convert water into reusable electricity.
[36:44] How Winston effectively enforces his “no phones in class” policy!
[38:24] Winston asks what students want to learn beyond the syllabus for their preferred career.
[40:02] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you are older, have more empathy for Gen Z: the world they are growing up in is very different; they are under a lot of pressure. Ask Gen Zers deeper questions about fulfillment. There’s no job security, so how can you help each other find fulfillment and what does that look like?
RESOURCES
Winston Peters on LinkedIn
Twitter @WinceP_ofMUL
Instagram @Professor.p_ofMUL
Entrepreneurs@MC at Manhattan College
News about the Entrepreneur Center at Manhattan College
MyÜberLife Consulting Group’s website
QUOTES (edited)
“The basic premise of being an engineer is being a problem solver and able to break things down into empirical forms.”
“There’s no difference between hard and soft skills. Soft skills are just more human skills that aren’t taught in the classroom that everyone needs.”
“In your professional career, you will most likely be collaborating with people. And so the sooner you learn the skills of collaboration the better off you'll be, “How can we win together? Instead of how can I beat you?’’”
“Trust is the most important thing. I don’t care how smart you are, but if you don’t have the trust of a young person, good luck trying to convince them that what you’re saying is true.”
“Gen Zers want to be more entrepreneurial. They’re looking for financial freedom and financial stability, as well as fulfillment.”
“I have a three-strike no-phone policy in my classroom. If by the third strike, I see someone with their phone, I don’t take away that person's phone, I take away everyone else’s phone….Now everyone’s working as a team. Everyone is accountable.”
David Stillman is a generational expert, researcher, consultant, and author of three best-selling books on generations. David explains how the major events and prevailing technologies of our early lives shape us and our thinking, producing generational characteristics. He describes the effect of parenting trends on generations’ offspring and how these translate into workplace behaviors. David shares insights on issues causing friction and concern between and among generations including “entitlement”, quiet quitting, side hustles, and mental health.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:29] Starting as a journalist, David is asked to study Generation Xers.
[03:40] How generations’ size in the labor market matters as well as inflow and outflow.
[04:40] The ghost of the Traditionalists’ culture still lingers in many workplaces.
[05:20] David believes companies will be haunted by lack of knowledge transfer as Boomers retire.
[06:57] How Boomers disseminate knowledge could be improved and be better received.
[07:19] David sees good healthcare plans as a competitive advantage.
[08:55] Boomers raised Millennials and are more familiar with them—so why the complaints?!
[09:33] 80 million strong, Baby Boomers faced much competition as well as structure, rules, and policies to manage them.
[10:38] Boomers parented their Millennial children to be collaborative—even rule-breakers at home.
[13:20] How technology enhanced Millennials’ group orientation.
[14:50] As a smaller generation, Gen Xers didn’t have to follow policies and procedures, were enabled by technology, and raised independent Gen Z kids.
[16:05] Gen Zs are more competitive and results-focused than Millennials.
[18:42] Employee behavior that many people call “entitled”, David sees as “engaged”.
[22:10] “Quiet quitting” began with Gen Xers and relates to (a lack of) job security.
[23:42] Why would someone go “above and beyond” without any guarantee—just the possibility of burning out?
[24:57] David observes older generations measuring loyalty in tenure rather than engagement and performance which are harder to measure.
[26:59] David discusses the relationship between engagement, performance, and side hustles.
[28:51] How side hustles can support mental health, work-life balance, and skills acquisition.
[31:37] Millennials were smart, changing the tenure paradigm, saying “If I’ve mastered these skills promote me.”
[32:07] Gen Zs are showing interest in pursuing more than one career at one company at the same time.
[33:37] All generations have had work stress, but it could be left at the workplace in the past.
[34:34] New approaches and ideas support mental health at work.
[36:11] Encouraging judgment-free dialogue about mental health.
[38:15] It’s not about who is right or wrong, better or worse—the generations are different.
[38:08] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: First, sit down with people from different generations and ask them about a major event that has shaped who they are today. The next step is to ensure there is generational diversity at work especially when targeting any particular generation.
RESOURCES
David Stillman on LinkedIn
David’s website www.genguru.com
QUOTES (edited)
“Everyone's talking about Gen Z right now, and I'd say you need to look at the top of your chart because you're going to have a mass exodus of Baby Boomers and close to half the labor pool to fill those leadership positions.”
“One of the biggest things I think that’s going to haunt organizations is this lack of knowledge transfer.”
“You will not find a generation more collaborative than Millennials.”
“A lot of Baby Boomers did really struggle with the notion of going from competitive rules and procedures to ‘let’s reinvent them’.”
“For every time someone is trying to use the word ‘entitled’, I ask them instead to exchange it with the word ‘engaged’.”
“The side hustle is not only here to stay, but I would say everyone should be embracing it.”
“The first quiet quitters were actually Gen Xers. And anyone sitting in a Gen Z’s or Millennial’s chair would do the exact same thing.”
“Work is no longer a place and time. I do not believe in Monday to Friday, nine to five. We will never have a four-day work week. It's going to be a seven-day work week and a seven-day live week.”
Will Ridgway is a Cloud Solutions Architect at Microsoft, an extreme athlete, and a Guinness World Record holder. Graduating from his Masters in Aerospace Engineering just as the pandemic hit, Will launched his work career remotely. Supported by his employer, Will found that extreme sports goals forced him to develop effective training and working patterns. He discovered ways to hold himself accountable and micro steer his activities to optimize all outcomes as well as achieve life/life balance.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:24] Right out of university, Will starts trying to optimize his working life.
[04:29] Will and his friends wonder if their pre-pandemic job offers are secure.
[05:21] Feeling disconnected from his university, Will is skeptical about virtual on-boarding.
[07:00] When the second lockdown happens in the UK in November 2020, Will and his friends gather a large group to go work remotely in the Canary Islands.
[08:07] Will finds it hard to balance on-boarding with learning how to work effectively entirely virtually.
[09:48] Before serious work starts, Will wants to benefit from a less intense schedule and surf more.
[11:51] Will decides to set himself a sports related challenge to force him to improve his work pattern.
[13:24] Preparing for an Iron Man race requires 2 to 3 hours of training a day.
[14:12] To improve productivity, Will starts alternating periods of high intensity work and training.
[15:21] The culture of Will’s employer supports open conversation about mental well-being and how to achieve high outputs.
[16:04] His company backs the fundraising that Will connects with each race.
[17:15] Will gets more responsibilities and starts to focus on how to maximize outcomes.
[18:25] Sports training models help Will figure out optimization patterns for his work.
[19:30] WIll develops two ways to stay accountable and on track—a mentor and fundraising goals.
[20:30] A big hairy audacious goal is always the starting point!
[21:22] Will applies the same approach to commitment to his work goals.
[21:49] Setting a Guinness World Record as a new goal!
[23:35] Will and his friend tell everyone about the new goal so they can’t back out.
[24:10] They break the Guinness World Record and raise over £20,000 pounds for charity!
[25:27] Guilt about his non-traditional work routine was key for Will to manage.
[26:37] Work has a daily flow which Will “micro steers”, recalibrating often.
[27:25] The fine-tuning model was developed together with his boss—through experimentation and ongoing conversations.
[29:00] Will and friends are contemplating a new audacious goal!
[31:03] The difference between “willpower” and “way power”
[31:30] Removing layers helps maintain a baseline as well as motivation.
[32:42] Will wants to inspire people by what he has discovered through experimentation in sports as well as committing to something and finding external accountability.
[34:38] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Discover what drives your energy patterns. Work out how to hold yourself accountable. Then map the way to remove steps or hinderances to achieving your goals.
RESOURCES
Will Ridgway on LinkedIn
Instagram @will_ridgway
Built to Last by Jim Collins (source of “big hairy audacious goals”)
QUOTES (edited)
“As long as I would give the output that was required, I could free myself to experience more surfing.”
“I would work intensively for 90 minutes, focus only, everything off, phone away and be very productive. And then I would allow myself to completely disconnect and have a 90-minute recovery from brain activity by doing exercise and physical activity. And then, switch back.”
“Aim big and you will figure a way to do it. You're not too busy. Aim to do a big fundraising, this will hold you accountable to your race because you've raised that much money.”
“Every time I complete one of those crazy extreme challenges, when I cross the line, I tell myself: never again, this was really suffering from A to Z.”
Zoë Routh is a leadership futurist and multiple award-winning Author. Zoë discovered and developed her own leadership skills in the wildernesses of Canada and Australia, learning from and then running Outward Bound training. She shares insights from her ongoing work with leaders and teams exploring what’s ahead and what that means for leadership of the future. Zoë discusses aspects of her fourth leadership book, “People Stuff - Beyond Personality Problems: An Advanced Handbook for Leadership”, how to move through difficult transitions, and the meta-skills required for the world of tomorrow.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:33] Zoë’s leadership initially manifests with her volunteering to carry a moose “rack”!
[04:33] The different ways leaders show up.
[6:09] Why it made sense for Zoë to be carrying the canoe, but not others.
[06:57] Zoë rethinks what is fair and equitable.
[08:14] Zoë leaves Canada and starts nine years with Outward Bound in Australia.
[08:50] HR for wilderness expeditions is far more complex and nuanced than for “office” jobs.
[10:06] How staff have to manage the emotional duress of being part of a group.
[12:04] People joining Outward Bound as staff have a human-centered value set which guides them.
[13:06] Staff go through a challenge course to learn from and be able to relate to lived experiences.
[14:00] Zoë learns the commonalities of Outward Bound and corporate experiences.
[15:03] The sources of most dysfunction and conflict at work.
[15:58] Zoë learns more about leadership theory at the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.
[17:59] How archetypes are practical—rather than theoretical—to embody and act upon.
[19:34] Leaders need to understand the context of any situation before deciding how to act.
[20:18] Flexibility and adaptability are essential for good leadership.
[21:25] An exercise in self-awareness—especially understanding shadow sides of archetypes.
[23:15] Technology is driving many shifts and challenges us to do things differently—which Zoë finds exciting.
[25:03] Leaders need to be authentic, genuine, and ethical—transparency is key.
[25:50] ESG principles are not “nice to have” but need to be integrated aspects of operations.
[28:27] First new theme for leaders: Negotiation as employees bargain more.
[29:27] Second theme: Increased responsibility for managing employees’ well-being, using empathy.
[31:16] Zoë sees three major shifts for leaders: maximizing energy, reducing friction, and amplifying ability.
[32:51] Why people are struggling with the shift to delegating, coaching, and training.
[33:46] Leaders need to think about their system-wide “sphere of impact” which is a massive maturity shift.
[36:01] Transition generates grief, growing pains, and a sense of failure, getting comfortable with discomfort is a new necessary meta skill for leaders.
[38:50] How younger employees are reacting to being stuck in the conventional system—radical change is (mostly) not evident to Zoë.
[41:02] Zoë believes the rising tide of ESG will wash through everything and start to change the entire ecosystem.
[41:22] Zoê’s views on the Future of Leadership and the three meta skills to embrace: exploring, mapping, and adapting.
[43:09] Adaptation goes beyond resilience.
[43:48] Major trends: transparency, collaboration, cand o-creation, as well as collective decision-making through DAOs.
[45:08] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Consume—being selective and intentional about what you’re reading and listening to. Question—sit back and ask “what does this mean?”. And then Connect—give your brain rest time that allows your subconscious to make the connections between the threads.
RESOURCES
Zoë Routh on LinkedIn
Zoë on Twitter @zoerouth
Zoë on Instagram @zoerouth
Zoë on Facebook @Zoe.Routh
Zoë on Youtube
Zoë’s website ZoeRouth.com
Outward Bound
Australian Rural Leadership Foundation
GenTech by Dr. Rick Chromey
Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
QUOTES (edited)
“Everybody contributes to the group to the best of their individual ability. It's not a question of sharing all the jobs equally. That's not equitable and that's not fair.”
“The risk management for the wilderness is easier than managing the emotional duress of being part of a group in difficult circumstances. That's probably the more nuanced and challenging aspect of the role.”
“The idea that leaders need to have mental health first aid as part of their role and be caretakers is absolutely a big shift.”
“It’s more about my sphere of impact. It’s not just about my little pool of work. It’s the whole ecosystem.”
“There are leaders who are individually resourced and emotionally intelligent enough to want to poke the bear, prod the edges, and start to make some systemic change.”
“Caring for each other and realizing that people's mental health and personal well-being is on the table as part of being able to deliver the work.”
“The rising tide of ESG, I think, is going to be the thing that will wash through everything and start to changes things across the entire ecosystem.”
“From an individual point of view, to explore, map, and adapt are the three key areas that leaders will need to cement and embed into their leadership habits and rituals as they go forward.”
John Riordan, the so-called “Godfather of Remote” and Chairman of Grow Remote, an Irish-based social enterprise organization, has led fully remote teams and divisions for over 20 years including for multiple airlines, Apple, and Shopify in the US and internationally. John’s remote working division’s expertise enabled the office-based 60% of Shopify employees to transition quickly to fully remote in March 2020. John shares transferrable insights from his experiences leading remote, hybrid, and on-site empathetic customer services teams—emphasizing community.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:07] John Riordan starts in investment banking but quickly pivots to sales and marketing.
[03:49] John moves to the US loving the accent of positivity of personal marketing.
[04:55] The sheer size of American companies and amplification of scale quickly teaches John to be more structured and rigorous in his thinking and execution.
[07:14] John steps up to join Virgin Atlantic as VP of Sales and Marketing leading a much larger than at US Airways, spread across nine US cities.
[09:17] John is challenged to deliver on Marketing’s promises and transition to be VP Customer Service.
[10:40] John spends valuable time in the call centers and airports learning to empathize with customers.
[12:40] Humility as a leader comes with recognizing reliance on the team and the importance of choosing team members well.
[13:57] John learns from the staff what real empathy is.
[14:25] A seismic shift in outsourcing customer service happens post 9/11.
[15:53] In 2006, Apple calls researching how to create a remote-based customer service operations for the first iPhone launch.
[17:48] Why a remote-only call center was Apple’s sustainable option.
[18:55] The challenges of the very beginnings of remote work: teleworking or telecommuting.
Remote working was a small percentage of workdays in 2006.
[20:35] John starts selling remote services and finds a general lack of acceptance.
[21:33] The fully-remote services company originally started to serve underemployed and under-resourced workers.
[22:46] Fully-remote-served customer service was an important niche market.
[23:36] Key points of resistance to fully-remote services—especially “I don’t think I could do it myself”.
[24:30] Mavericks made the leap, but John sees the inflection point as happening in March 2020.
[25:09] The next move, with Apple, is fully on-site—a tough transition for John.
[22:55] The points of resistance from companies are easily managed, except for one.
[25:08] From consulting for remote work with Apple to working for Apple back home in Ireland, but in a traditional brick-and-mortar call center.
[26:22] Without knowing John’s a remote pioneer, Shopify calls about a fully remote leadership role.
[27:38] Ecommerce requires 24/7 support, but local coverage leads to constant churn out of the night shift.
[28:48] Shopify becomes 40% remote (customer service) and 60% office-based pre-pandemic.
[30:44] Learnings from a major office move helped prepare Shopify to go remote in 2020.
[32:40] John has to readjust to remote working—eg self-discipline. He tunes into team members who excel at remote working.
[34:12] Painful personal experiences teach John what does NOT work in hybrid meetings.
[35:30] Pre-pandemic, office-based leaders start staying at home to participate equitably in meetings.
[37:44] 24/7 coverage teaches asynchronous, well-documented hand-offs and timing adjustments to wait for local contributions.
[39:55] John leads the company-wide initiative to remote in March 2020, as decentralized communication is humanized and normalized.
[42:50] The three most important areas to focus on that ensured emergency remote working success.
[44:55] The HR department had already compiled a “how to” book of the customer service department’s remote work experiences which became very useful for the whole company.
[45:31] The biggest challenge Shopify faced was for people to embrace their own vulnerability.
[47:10] John’s seemingly ageist concern about the irrelevance of using a 2015 approach to solve a 2023 problem.
[49:09] The future is about communities, not companies, especially to reduce the isolation that often accompanies remote working.
[51:12] How remote workers need to proactively design their work weeks, including nurturing non-work activities and setting boundaries.
[51:35] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To reduce feelings of isolation, encourage remote working employees to connect with people regularly—virtually and in person in their local area—supporting humans’ need for community.
[53:25] How John identifies people who have good work-life balance—he uncovers their passion!
RESOURCES
John Riordan on LinkedIn
Grow Remote
Boundless
Otonomee
Habitus Health
QUOTES
“The last -- and toughest -- objection to telework from companies: I don’t think I could do it therefore I don’t think somebody else could do it.”
“The number one thing -- absolutely paramount -- was to embrace your vulnerability.”
“You may well go back to an office, but you're not going back just because you had one, there has to be a reason.”
“What are you doing to make your business stronger in ‘25, ‘27, ‘29? You can’t go back 5, 7, 8, 10 years and tell me what it used to be like because those conditions don't exist anymore.”
Allison Allen, worked at Twitter as Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition, through December 2022. She starts a new job at an as-yet-unnamed company in February. Allison’s expertise spans HR roles including Organizational Development, Diversity & Inclusion, and Talent Acquisition, mostly involving change management. Her experiences equip her well to recognize and adapt for ongoing workplace transformations—for leadership, HR, and managers at all levels. Allison discusses performance management, how leaders can foster employee engagement, who is responsible for retention, how Talent Acquisition can hire people internally, ways Human Resources can benefit from integrating silos, and much more.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:22] Allison starts her career in risk management but decides she prefers a more “human” focus.
[02:55] Allison joins McKinsey during a period of change and is fascinated by people’s reactions.
[05:35] Next, she overhauls Cushman & Wakefield’s performance management process.
[06:05] After Deutsche Bank, Allison moves to Bloomberg focusing on organizational development during a strong growth phase at the company.
[07:03] Allison considers her interest in helping companies in the midst of change.
[07:28] What people need to deal with change: communication, strategy, understanding, and time.
[09:28] Drawing on her range of experiences, Allison thinks holistically how to help each person succeed.
[11:24] What are the learnings from each role to take away and grow as a leader?
[12:44] Performance management started to protect organizations, but it should be about employees and supervisors being on the same page.
[14:12] It is a leader’s role to connect with their team members individually.
[15:00] Feedback is not a gift—what is it?
[17:16] Allison sees a huge opportunity in Talent Acquisition stepping back and reframing perspectives and approaches.
[18:20] Instead of hiring new people, a first consideration can be reassigning existing employees.
[18:49] Talent Acquisition can also be responsible for retaining people and helping their career development.
[21:56] What drives people and what do they need? Organizational Development exists to provide the answers.
[22:31}Talent Acquisition can be responsible for helping ensure an organization can attract and satisfy people.
[24:01] The multifaceted nature of Gen Zs.
[26:15] What Allison would say to a leader who is concerned about younger employees’ side hustles and how to achieve their discretionary effort.
[28:10] McKinsey was a formative experience for Allison when she was assessed on her ability to deliver results.
[29:13] We should get over ourselves and move on from traditional ideas of tenure (and more).
[31:30] “This is going to end badly” was Allison’s reaction when observing earlier mass hiring in tech.
[33:39] Firing new employees before they started work was a negative new trend Allison witnessed.
[34:02] Leaders—especially in the people team—need to be bolder about asking (strategic and operational) questions about the business.
[37:00] Allison is excited about her new job—wherever that may be!
[38:02] Aspects that attracted Allison to her new employer: leadership, operational agility, accountability, responsibility, and integration (rather than silos).
[39:59] Allison believes the world needs more leaders who have and lead with empathy.
[42:50] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Within your people team, look for ways to break down the silos and integrate everything so objectives are not isolated by function. For example, it should be important to the Talent Acquisition leader to retain—as well as hire—people.
RESOURCES
Allison Allen on LinkedIn
Allison on Twitter
Allison on Instagram
QUOTES
“How do we get people more comfortable with the notion that things will change, that they are not going to stay the same?”
“My role is actually to figure out how all these pieces come together so that we can impact people in the best way and we can actually impact the business in the best way.”
“I'm excited about it now because I think there's a huge opportunity at this moment for TA [Talent Acquisition] organizations to step back and reframe.”
“I actually don’t think we should worry about side hustles as managers: if you let your employees do what they want to do, you’ll get discretionary effort.”
“Just because my job is to hire people it doesn’t mean that my job isn’t also to challenge numbers.”
“I think we have to help people recognize that empathy doesn’t correlate to “soft” and weakness.“
Liam Martin, who co-founded and runs Timedoctor and Staff.com, is an avid proponent of remote work and co-organizer of the Running Remote conference. Liam draws on much personal experience learning the asynchronous mindset and optimizing designing processes to enable “deep work” by distributed teams. For the new book he co-authored, Running Remote, Liam researched how remote pioneers built their businesses. He shares high level and granular advice, including useful tools and practices for organizations interested in improving their hybrid models or going fully remote.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:30] Liam left home at fifteen to compete internationally for Canada in ice dance.
[04:39] Liam suffers a career-ending shattered kneecap which forced him to refocus his life at 19.
[07:28] Growing up in international training centers left Liam with no High-School diploma.
[08:45] The discipline required to compete at the highest level of sports can be useful in other fields, such as business.
[09:40] Liam starts teaching as a lecturer at McGill but discovers entrepreneurship is a better fit.
[12:10] 6 For those interested in entrepreneurship but thinking about college after high school, Liam shares his opinion based on his own experience.
[13:29] Liam discusses what he worked out about the mechanics of business.
[14:23] Key learnings as Liam was forced into a remote business early on.
[16:07] The tutoring business hit an issue tracking work which Liam and his new business partner, Rob Rawson, created a new venture to solve.
[17:20] They launch the Running Remote conference in 2018 to support people wanting to build and scale fully remote companies.
[18:16] In 2018, there were only seven companies with over 1000 people that were fully-remote.
[19:07] In his book, Running Remote, Liam explains how remote pioneers have a different methodology to running their businesses.
[20:17] The Future of Work is trending to be mostly hybrid, but distance bias must be overcome.
[21:20] Leaders are choosing to work remotely certain days to mitigate distance bias.
[22:34] Asynchronous management is the key methodology remote pioneers implemented - the ability to be able to communicate without directly interacting with someone synchronously.
[23:47] To deploy a hybrid work model successfully, Tenet 1: Deliberate over-communication.
[25:06] Liam starts interacting with “on-premise” organizations and is very surprised at the lack of documentation for everything.
[27:03] Tenet 2 - Democratized workflows – the ability to have information available to everyone.
[27:37] Relinquishing control of information is difficult, but it enables better decision-making.
[28:54] Tenet 3 – Really detailed metrics – the most difficult part.
[29:23] If process documentation feels overwhelming, Liam advises starting with an asynchronous week.
[30:41] More than 95% of process documents are never accessed. Is this an opportunity for ChatGPT?
[32:23] The number one reason companies failed to become fully (90%) asynchronous.
[33:40] The system needs to become the manager then managers can focus on people.
[34:34] Weekly iterations are ideal, biweekly at the most.
[36:08] Liam’s book “Running Remote” is “Deep Work” (by Cal Newport) for organizations—emphasizing people working independently.
[38:17] Most asynchronous—remote first—organizations Liam spoke with for the book target ~10% of synchronous communication per day.
[39:12] Synchronous communication for fully-remote and hybrid organizations is currently probably around 40-50%, which is too high to be effective.
[40:32] Liam believes that synchronous may allow better communication and development of ideas in the startup phase, but asynchronous management is much more effective to scale a company.
[42:19] 13% of all remote workers are customer support reps. From onboarding to training asynchronous can do it better and faster.
[44:06] Liam’s goal is to reduce meetings and give people back hours of work time.
[45:29] Their rule about being able to walk out if a meeting isn’t valuable—Liam finds it effective.
[46:50] Liam is unclear where we are going post-COVID since 14% of the US economy involves corporate real estate.
[51:28] Liam shares the tools he uses to manage projects, record, document, and collect information.
[55:28] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Optimize for work rather than meetings. Use effective asynchronous enabling tools including a project management system to be able to document information, and others to establish new processes that reduce live interactions.
RESOURCES
Liam Martin on LinkedIn
Instagram @liamremote
Twitter @liamremote
Liam’s book Running Remote
The Running Remote conference on Youtube
Future Forum by Slack
Deep Work by Cal Newport.
Tools mentioned:
Loom
Asana
Trainual
Fellow
QUOTES
“Education wasn’t the goal for me, it was entrepreneurship.”
“The mechanics of running a business is just bureaucracy, unfortunately. The reality is that you can actually cheat your way up until the Dunbar number, which is about 150 people.”
“Distance bias posits that as you get closer to a manager or a decision maker, you then have better access to decision making.”
“The CEO of the company has all of this information in their head, and that's usually the person that ends up making these very serious decisions. Inside an autonomous meritocracy, you empower everyone to make their best decisions and be as autonomous as humanly possible, they need as much information as they can consume. Well, when you give everyone else that same amount of information, magically the CEO isn’t a genius anymore.”
“I would define synchronous as a lazy form of communication, which lacks documentation and produces an environment where 10 years down the road, you've got all of these people that are doing things but have no idea what they're doing or what goal they're serving.”
“Inside remote organizations, there is a digital paper trail for everything, because you're forced to actually produce that.”
Steven Miller is a Senior Growth Manager on Uber’s product team, co-Founder of startup ChatSight, and an angel investor in early stage technology ventures. Steven wants his work efforts to have impact as so many young employees do—he is a “Zillennial” on the cusp of Millennial and Gen Z generations. Steven offers his and his friends’ views and learnings from experiences at multiple startups and large corporations about emerging realities and preferences—the new what, why, where, when, and how of work—sought by younger cohorts of workers.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:10] Steven’s own early approach to learning.
[03:44] Studying finance, software engineering, and social entrepreneurship, Steven was also interested in having impact.
[04:14] Steven focused on outcomes and productivity not work for the sake of it.
[05:12] Consulting and banking sounded like “busy work” without impact, so Steven started his own company based on artificial intelligence.
[05:42] Steven found it very rewarding to work on a high impact venture even if a moonshot idea.
[06:50] Friends on the entrepreneurship path tended to be happier and more fulfilled than those on the corporate path who were generally burned out.
[07:27] Impressions that corporate work is how you look like you are working rather than the impact you are achieving.
[08:33] Young employees in large corporations often feel disconnected from the impact they want to have.
[10:11] Steven has seen promotions given to leaders with larger teams resulting in unnecessary team expansion.
[11:25] Larger tech companies ballooned leading to lower profit margins and current layoffs.
[12:09] Startup dynamics contrast with few people, more ownership, and investment in efforts to collaborate and create impact.
[13:15] Side hustles are Millennials and Gen Zs safety net after growing up seeing their parents’ laid off, to improve their financial stability.
[14:08] Hardship catalyzed side hustle growth which also fulfills people’s desire to invest in themself.
[15:26] During the pandemic, the experiment of all remote work allowed interesting development of side hustles.
[16:30] The 40-hour work week is so old!
[17:08] Why outcomes are more important than hours in an output and knowledge driven world.
[18:39] It doesn’t make sense to timebox creativity.
[20:27] Reason 1 Young workers move jobs: I don’t want constraints when I can be productive WFH.
[20:49] Reason 2 Young workers move jobs: “Lifers” were shaken up with the recent boom to bust.
[21:54] The growth of the creator economy, gig work, and new classifications of employment.
[23:03] Steven’s views on the new type of struggle between labor and owners.
[23:43] Individuals have more voice and empowered to be more creative and not be forced into traditional occupations.
[25:35] Steven started at Instacart during the pandemic—fully remote (messy) onboarding!
[26:49] Learning to deal with ambiguity and chaos!
[27:22} How to be productive when working fully-remote - #1 Communicating well, especially in writing.
[27:39] How to be productive when working fully-remote - #2 Being organized.
[28:54] Remote/hybrid is a new game and you need to learn the rules to reduce friction.
[30:33] Steven shares experiences in startups and big tech companies, including rebuilding the Uber rides business.
[31:58] Mixed reviews for the back to the office moves, Steven recognizes that people do enjoy seeing their colleagues occasionally.
[33:05] Steven gives Uber empathy credits as they transition in 50 countries, hiccups are inevitable.
[34:32] Governments should rethink the idea of “an employee”.
[35:52] What DO workers want (looking at balanced and nuanced viewpoints)?
[38:10] AI GPTChat essays are not very creative yet – perhaps C minus graded papers!
[39:50] Focusing on skills for the future—starting in early education—to develop specializations across many critical needs such as climate change, food insecurity, and energy insecurity.
[44:14] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Feed your curiosity engine and understand how the world works. Consider how your 9 to 5 job can give you a level of security and income while you explore other opportunities—a bifurcated approach can be valuable preparing yourself for an uncertain world.
RESOURCES
You can follow Steven on LinkedIn
Twitter @realstevenmiler
Chatsight
Uber
QUOTES
“I do think that a lot of fundamental components of the education system are not well suited for this new world.”
“I'm not interested in doing work for the sake of doing work. I'm interested in outcomes and impact for the inputs and effort that I put in.”
“For a lot of corporations it tends to be more about how you look like you're doing work versus the actual impact that you have.”
“All humans want to know that their time is worthwhile in whatever situation or context that they're in.”
“The actual value that you bring to the world is your creativity and by nature creativity is a process you can’t really timebox.”
Sophie Wade, work futurist, Workforce Innovation Specialist, and host of this podcast, reflects on the past year and all that we have experienced and been adjusting to as we emerged from pandemic conditions. Sophie considers the wide-reaching effects of increased digitalization, changing customer behaviors, and evolving talent management dynamics and needs. She invites you to review your successes, sharing context and a framework for understanding what worked and why. She also encourages analyzing areas for improvement, identifying reasons and what aspects to focus on so as to have the necessary data and priorities to move forward with clarity and confidence in 2023.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[00:44] Sophie prompts listeners to learn from your actions, reactions, and results in 2022.
[01:29] A recent history recap gives important context for reviewing the year and orientation for 2023.
[01:48] Extensive recent digitalization has changed the trajectory of our businesses for the long-term.
[02:55] Conditions have “normalized”, but our personal lives are more digitally facilitated.
[03:55] Pandemic-related technology integration forced beneficial and overdue modernizations in the business realm too.
[04:43] More adjustments or further redesign may be needed or worthwhile to take full advantage of digitally-based advances.
[05:36] To assess 2022, it is essential to recognize our current context and what is necessary to stay competitive.
[06:09] Who are your target customers now--how have their behaviors been changing over the past year?
[07:13] Sales – understanding achievements, issues, and overall alignment during 2022.
[08:19] Checking business fundamentals during a period of flux to confirm or make adjustments to operating practices.
[08:53] Most countries are now managing COVID19, but restrictions or issues continue elsewhere.
[09:50] What epiphanies did you have during the year eg relating to technology or supply chain management?
[10:56] Have employees been able to engage and perform well despite uncertain conditions?
[11:18] How has the Great Resignation affected your company, division, or team?
[12:36] Why Gen Zs’ and Millennials’ departures are useful to understand.
[14:03] Many people are questioning the role and meaning of work, and it’s not a bad thing.
[14:40] How many days a week different age groups want on average each week.
[15:36] The benefit of talking to team members considering or on the point of leaving.
[16:04] How any layoffs were handled in 2022 will likely affect workforce dynamics in 2023.
[16:36] Who on your team is engaged and how did you foster and support that?
[17:24] Whatever your results, how were they achieved and what learnings are relevant for 2023?
[18:12] Getting personal about business—respecting people’s experiences and reactions.
[20:02] Sharing our vulnerabilities can help us support each other beyond the pandemic.
[20:49] The importance of recognizing our new circumstances to prepare for the year ahead.
[21:57] Listening to other episodes during the break to gain wide-ranging useful insights.
QUOTES (edited)
“The Digital Genie is not going back in his lamp.”
“If your business is to stay competitive—with your customers and employees—it means recognizing the attributes of the current operational landscape and seeing your company on the new growth trajectory.”
“Do you feel that working conditions were healthy and encouraging employees to go above and beyond?”
“Business got personal in March 2020 and that human connection isn’t going away.”
“We have discovered what is possible and how we can and, yes, must work differently.”
Dr. Meghan Grace leads Gen Z research at the Institute of Generational Research and Education and leads research and data strategies at learning and development consultancy Plaid. She sheds light on who the youngest workers in the labor market are—a group whom leaders and managers across all sectors are struggling to attract, engage, and retain. Meghan shares illuminating research findings about Gen Z’s college experiences. She explains their concerns and desires are as they enter the workforce and develop their careers as well as how they respond to our new work environments.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:12] Meghan’s Gen-Z-focused career began by accident at a staff retreat.
[04:48] Meghan and her research partner’s first study in 2014 was on Gen Zs then still in their teens.
[05:39] Understanding “peer personalities” in generational theory and differences between Millennials and Gen Z which begin before college.
[07:36] Gen Z’s world feels bigger and their collective reactions to society and the world shapes their peer personality.
[08:39] How multimedia consumption of information differs by generation.
[09:35] Meghan’s research was initially driven by the need to ensure colleges and universities are structured and supporting students effectively.
[11:41] Their studies have always been mindful of exploring Gen Z’s from several different angles.
[12:42] While themes haven’t changed, Gen Z’s have evolved over the seven years of studies.
[13:00] Gen Z’s major issues/concerns: stability (especially financial), healthcare, and homelessness.
[14:10] How Generation Z has been affected by watching the challenges older adults have been facing.
[15:14] Safety and security-related issues are also key issues relating to mass violence, sexual predators, climate and environment, and inclusion.
[18:52] Without shared values—such as integrity—Gen Z feels a trust gap with older generations.
[21:47] This young generation is maturing and developing agency—such as in politics.
[23:00] Collaboration between Millennials and Gen Zs could positively influence change at work.
[26:30] Meghan observed Generation Z dealing with very tough conditions during the pandemic with maturity and grace.
[29:20] Many of this generation missed an important year when young adults typically develop their world view through different social interactions and settings.
[32:19] Gen Zs were talking about work-related issues such as flexible work structures, financial stability, and meaningful work before the pandemic.
[33:02] Gen Z’s priorities are the same as most employees’.
[34:18] It is easy for the youngest generation to be the scapegoat, and they may be the loudest voices as a cohort, however, they aren’t creating the trend.
[36:04] Core values and characteristics to attract and keep Gen Z: meaningful work, transparent and empathetic leadership, and an opportunity to participate.
[37:57] Side hustles are integral to the concept of work for this multi-faceted generation—whether developing multiple income streams or monetizing a passion.
[39:20] The world of the “lifer” is over—time at any company can be viewed as a “productive layover” for both sides.
[41:05] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Gen Z’s don’t take themselves too seriously and are willing to share if you ask, with curiosity and care.
[43:13] How to approach questions—recognizing vulnerability in the conversation—by channeling Ted Lasso’s “That is fascinating”!
[46:05] The issue of “shared language” for different cultures, companies, and generations.
RESOURCES
Meghan Grace Ed. D. on LinkedIn
Meghan on Twitter
Meghan on Instagram
Meghan’s website
Institute for Generational Research and Education
For recent research visit Global Gen Z Study
Meghan’s podcast: #GenZ
QUOTES
“Gen Z’s world feels bigger because their access to the world is bigger.”
“Financial security is at the top of the Gen Z list of concerns.”
“Gen Z is losing patience with older generations.”
“They’re heavily responsible to the people they love.” [about Gen Z]
“While we’re all being very serious about Gen Z, they don’t take themselves too seriously.”
“We are living in the same world, but we are all living in very different worlds at the same time because we exist in different spaces and different mindsets.”
Rowena Hennigan is a university lecturer at TU Dublin, published academic author and researcher, remote work expert, and digital nomad. She lives her ethos “work is not a place” and transitioned from working remotely—starting in 2007—to establish a digital nomad life for herself and her family. Rowena explains how digital nomad options are expanding to encompass slow travel, nomad families and communities, and extended business travel. She shares her experiences and learnings that have helped her improve productivity and performance as a remote and traveling worker.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:52] Rowena’s journey starts with leaving Ireland for a drier climate as her daughter was sick.
[04:19] Moving to Spain improved her daughter’s health and changed their perspectives.
[05:02] During the pandemic, they wondered “why not travel all 4+ months of the school holidays?”
[07:38] The new possibilities and value of extra curricula activities for her daughter.
[08:52] Digital nomads emphasizing time without devices.
[10:47] Why any remote worker or digital nomad should master teaching skills.
[11:45] Establishing virtual learning agreements to create common ground.
[13:06] Understanding when/how you learn and the role of asynchronous interactions.
[14:27] Good educators are constant reflecting and ensuring they are accessible and understood by all.
[15:37] Setting up effective meeting norms.
[16:59] It is essential to manage expectations and dealing with the nuances of any human exchange.
[18:40] The importance of vulnerability and honesty to have productive conversations.
[20:18] The emergence of digital nomad hubs and communities—for families too.
[21:56] New nomad education options being offered that span more than one location.
[24:40] Discussing productivity for digital nomads and what’s sustainable for you personally.
[26:15] The benefits of slow travel—adding extra days away and working remotely effectively.
[28:53] The changing profile and lifestyle of digital nomads.
[30:31] The mentality of nomads who crave new experiences around where they work.
[33:21] Improving upon “helicoptering” in/out of places for meetings and events.
[34:15] The enriching experiences and leaning into curiosity and broad interests.
[36:20] Developing a habit of tourism—near and far.
[37:44] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: What new digital nomad experience might you explore considering the emerging and expanding options including work trip extensions, new tourist locations, and nurtured nomad communities.
RESOURCES
Rowena Hennigan on LinkedIn
Rowena on Twitter
RowenaHennigan.com
Rowena’s new LinkedIn Learning course: Staying productive when you remote work and travel
Rowena’s newsletter Remote Work Digest.
Digital Nomad Village Madeira Islands
Boundless Life website
Adventurely’s website (CEO Mita Cariman)
Selina’s website
QUOTES
“Work is not a place.”
“Any good educator will be constantly reflecting.”
“Can you travel slower? Can you extend your time? Can you take it easy on the way back rather than rushing to and from?
“We need to look at workload and make sure that with the act of travel I can do it as well within my performance and I’m managing everyone’s expectations because we can use remote work to supplement and complement that, but we have to do it with intention.”
“Increasingly, there’s a big slowmad, slow travel movement that’s emerged. It’s because of things like sustainability.”
J.R. Richards is a platinum selling American rock artist. He was the lead singer and songwriter for the band Dishwalla which achieved a major US No 1 hit, several music awards, and released five albums. J.R. now is an artist entrepreneur with four solo albums who continues to develop his 30+ year career. He shares the open-minded and entrepreneurial approach which allowed him to ride the technology wave that disrupted the music industry. What learnings can help us adapt through this current period of disruption?
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[01:28] How the music industry can offer us ideas having faced earlier major technology disruption.
[04:16] J.R. writes his first song at nine and then starts studying opera techniques at 18.
[04:58] The importance of protecting and managing content creation ability as an artist.
[07:40] J.R. enters the music industry at the tail end of its traditional operating model.
[08:19] Control was signed away to get essential physical distribution on finite shelves.
[09:32] Artists mostly kept revenues from touring but events also relied on labels’ power.
[10:32] The opaque economics as labels lent artists money to record, market, and distribute their albums.
[12:24] Technology disruption hits and the labels scramble to restructure as revenues drop.
[13:15] As digital music quality improves, distribution barriers disappear along with the need to be on a major label.
[14:30] Label consolidation took Dishwalla from A&M Records to Polygram to Universal to Interscope.
[16:24] A merger grounds release of Dishwalla’s second album prompting them to embrace technology developments to connect with fans directly and get more control at a smaller label.
[18:15] Who actually had the rockstar lifestyle—the label executives or the rockstars?!
[19:37] The industry is in upheaval exploring revenue models in licensing deals with multiple platforms.
[21:50] A dramatic murder causes the band’s label to fold and J.R. gets disillusioned.
[23:35] The band breaks up and J.R. goes solo just as digital distribution becomes mainstream.
[24:43] A massive Aha moment as J.R. gets his first ever accurate sales reports.
[26:31] How the pandemic forces JR to develop emerging opportunities as venues close.
[28:30] Why it is beneficial to check out and experiment with new options.
[29:40] J.R. pivots well creating innovative experiences for fans (helped by a talented marketer—his wife!).
[31:37] The vital importance of owning your core IP—the master of your album.
[34:35] New, tougher touring economics after many venues closed down.
[35:59] J.R. continues experimenting on YouTube, Spotify, and other platforms to engage new fans.
[36:58] A young singer has millions of views on TikTok of him singing a Dishwalla song J.R. wrote.
[37:25] J.R.’s equitable approach to collaborating with the singer.
[39:25] J.R. enjoys the collaboration process and finds more access and conversation helps.
[40:24] Inviting big fans into the song development process, J.R. agrees with one fan’s suggestion.
[41:37] How scary it was to show fans behind the curtain.
[43:19] The new balance of art and business as creators have to push themselves out in front of people.
[45:22] Using data to make educated decisions, control your career, and make a living.
[46:53] How ongoing learning allows you to develop your craft and create long-term value for yourself.
[48:35] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Be really open-minded and when change starts happening, instead of fighting against it, check it out and ideally embrace it because you may find it’s better now than it was in the past.
[53:02] J.R. Richards sings!
RESOURCES
J.R.Richards website
J.R.’s Shop
J.R. on Facebook
J.R. on TikTok
J.R. on Instagram
J.R. on Patreon
J.R.on YouTube
J.R.on Spotify
QUOTES
“It was the nineties, you had to sign a deal with a big label if you want to make it big.”
“It always felt like the executives running the label had more of the rockstar lifestyle and personality than the actual rock stars on the label!”
“It is terrifying because you are showing them [fans] behind the curtain. But you also realize how much people really appreciate that and it doesn’t diminish the way they look at you as an artist, it actually increases their appreciation for what you do.”
“I think the hardest thing is for the artist to put monetary value to what they do and push themselves out in front of people in hope that someone will buy what they’ve created.”
“You can get all that information and you can make some really educated decisions about where you focus your time and your energy and you can make a massive career out of it.”
Adam Tuckwell, Managing Director for Mobas, a brand transformation business in the UK, crafts, seeds, amplifies, and channels corporate messaging to affect change as social media and other communications platforms shift information power dynamics between leaders and their constituent audiences. Adam brings communications experience spanning video gaming, traditional publishing, and brand agencies to explain how customers’ and employees’ voices generate and facilitate transformation externally and internally.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:49] Adam imagined his career differently to how it turned out.
[03:36] People have helped Adam identify his skills and what they are best suited for.
[04:34] Adam recognizes the importance of communications.
[05:59] The challenge of engaging teens in the video game sector.
[06:52] The wonderful challenges of wide-ranging tasks involved during the company’s growth stage.
[09:07] Adam’s next employer couldn’t be more different!
[09:45] Updating how Cambridge University Press communicated with their audiences.
[10:16] Adapting to different pace and process challenges at his new job, Adam also launches a podcast.
[11:20] The role of empathy in interviews—stopping broadcasting and starting to listen.
[12:03] Being naturally inquisitive, the next move was to an agency to explore diagnosis and problem-solving.
[14:16] The Future of Work manifests differently for SMEs versus for large enterprises.
[15:10] The Future of Work is being driven by workers—not management—being empowered.
[16:03] Companies’ transformation involves exploring different ideas and ways of working, getting beyond blinkered views of their situations.
[17:30] How the Future of Work is entirely changing the way we work.
[20:35] Clients want to solve a particular problem and don’t initially recognize how the issue fits within their wider organizational structure.
[19:08] The ongoing journeys of change—some are iterative, some are fundamental.
[21:39] Helping future leaders identify where there are issues as iterations are ongoing.
[22:30] In the current environment, where everyone is strained and stretched, how to identify the opportunities.
[25:17] Customers now have choices and voices which mean companies need proactively to manage how they are viewed so issues don’t snowball.
[27:20] Adam gets excited about inward communications and the Employee Value Proposition, which is hard for some organizations to adapt to.
[30:30] The next generation of workers give Adam hope with their openness and different expectations of the workplace.
[31:52] As a child, Adam communicated visuals for his parents and appreciated the experiences of others and the relevance of tailoring messaging.
[33:40] The importance of trust and sensitivity to bring people along, combined with transparency and openness.
[34:20] Different types of leaders are rising now with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
[36:08] The future for leaders who can channel Gen Zs’ insights and appetite for change.
[39:12] The importance of investing in failure, experimenting for the future.
[40:52] Encouraging companies to focus 70% of their energies on today.
[43:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Don’t be alone as a leader. Ensure you have a friend or a group of friends with whom you can be vulnerable and who will be honest and critique what you do. Invest in relationships that ensure the decisions you make are the right ones for everybody.
RESOURCES
Adam Tuckwell on LinkedIn
Adam Tuckwell on Twitter@adamtuckwell
adam.tuckwell@mobas.com
Mobas website
QUOTES
“People have helped me along the way to identify what I’m good at and how my skills might best be used.”
“The future of work is already here, it’s just that some companies haven’t opened their eyes to it yet.”
“So what I really like about transformation within the organizations we work with is that there’s a real appetite to try different ideas and concepts and ways of working that they wouldn’t have done before.”
“I think so many organizations are purely built to be reactive and they have too many layers that stop issues from being dealt with when they’re small and instead they snowball into big issues.”
“We need to have an understanding of where our people are, what they're experiencing, whether they're up or they're down, whether they've got issues outside of work.”
“Gen Z is seen as being a bit more entitled or set in their ways which are very negative traits. But then on the positive side, they’re really passionate about the environment, they want to save the world — they really don’t like what we've done to it.”
Dr. Grin Lord is the founder and CEO of mpathic.ai, an AI-powered service bringing empathy to enterprises. Trained as a clinical psychologist, Grin describes critical discoveries while a research scientist and gaining expertise in conversational design. She shares insights about how AI and machine learning can augment human connection, improve therapy bots, and train leaders, managers, and employees to be more empathic.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:12] Dr. Grin Lord’s scientific background and early focus on empathy.
[04:15] The extraordinary benefits of listening and withholding judgments.
[07:28] The national rollout and financial impact of empathetic listening.
[08:12] Grin finds the 3-day training workshops are not successful for forming habits.
[09:43] Grin transitions to coaching modality to change behaviors.
[11:21] Specific intense training rules for providers optimize empathy, engagement, and trust.
[12:53] Unnatural learned techniques have undeniable power!
[13:41] Self-awareness is needed to adhere to the rules and be most effective.
[14:30] With phone-based coaching, Grin starts using machines to support the process of learning empathy.
[15:17] Research and ratings evaluate provider effectiveness and how computers were trained to do it.
[16:40] Grin explains synchronizing—people naturally adjusting their language style to others’.
[17:39] How synchronizing is a form of empathy.
[18:44] Grin is curious about other ways we can measure empathy.
[19:49] Dr. Lord’s realization: we need to get outside of the clinical space.
[20:00] Grin wants to use her learnings outside clinical and academic fields and moves into the startup space.
[21:48] When the pandemic starts, Grin is working on a therapy chatbot that uses artificial intelligence.
[22:56] People start preferring to talk to the chat bot as it “gets” them.
[23:56] During the crisis, Grin starts her own company while looking after her kids and both parents at home.
[25:36] Starting with a game Empathy Rocks, Grin teaches coaches and therapists how to listen with empathy.
[27:03] The next step was applying empathy in different business and work situations.
[27:24] The powerful effect of empathy—or lack of empathy—when handling insurance claims.
[30:00] How empathic suggestions help managers give feedback.
[31:56] The next feature will direct users responses over time to relevant skills training.
[33:54] The goal is to give objective, timely feedback at scale, not to replace human interaction.
[35:48] Grin explains how mpathic is currently being integrated in HR platforms to improve communications.
[38:05] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you want to be more empathetic, start with seeing if you can repeat back what you heard when you’re listening, before you ask a question or provide advice.
[39:02] Grin recommends starting to apply a couple of simple skills in your daily life.
RESOURCES
Dr. Grin Lord on LinkedIn
Dr. Grin Lord’s blog
Dr. Grin Lord on Twitter @drgrinlord
mpathic.ai
mpathic.ai on LinkedIn
QUOTES
“We found that the folks that got the empathy intervention had major drops in their drinking and those effects held for three years and led to a 46% reduction in readmissions.”
“Some of the key ingredients of listening interventions have to with approaching people with non-judgment, curiosity, and accurate listening.”
“Even if the person knows that you’re using those techniques — it’s undeniably powerful — they still work!”
“We even had users report that they would rather talk to the bot than a human because of how consistently non-judgmental it was.”
“A large percentage of customers will leave after a bad interaction.”
“The core starting place for improving your empathy over time is seeing if you can get accurate understanding before you jump in providing advice or assuming.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:50] Colin started his career in accounting and then retail banking.
[03:50] Colin discovers he enjoys seeing people win and developing their careers.
[04:35] When banks were fighting for survival, the focus was internal not on customers.
[05:54] Colin wanted to understand the business end to end and the role he and others played.
[06:54] Transitioning from a large to a small organization was a shock for Colin—a risk for both sides.
[07:34] The culture at Saffron was warm from Day One.
[08:41] Colin rose rapidly to CEO, despite having no plan to achieve the role at this time.
[09:52] Colin leads transformation of the organization‘s culture and ethos from having top down centralized control.
[11:02] The “how” of work changes, especially opening up communications.
[12:13] To affect a culture change, being candid is key, bringing people into the process and encouraging them to ask questions.
[13:34] Cultural transformation starts with trust and being relentlessly honest and open.
[15:30] Emphasizing career development meant showing people growing and winning.
[17:18] Culture needs to be aligned internally and externally, including customers too.
[18:02] To develop the business, people’s roles needed to change.
[19:05] Achieving the improvements employees had committed to build trust and gained commitment for the next, growth phase.
[20:32] When the pandemic struck, Saffron was able to adjust rapidly as employees were used to change and communicating effectively.
[21:54] The pre-crisis transformation laid a strong foundation for two of the company’s strongest trading years—during and since the pandemic.
[23:33] Saffron was able to respond flexibly to customers’ different situations.
[24:37] The human-centered approach recognizes and responds to changing customer needs.
[26:42] Coming out the pandemic, Colin senses a seismic shift in how the employee value proposition [EVP] needs to considered.
[27:22] Colin is certainly not asking employees to return to the office five days a week
[28:23] Saffron takes a ‘principles approach’—the most important principle is that a society comes first, the service of customers comes first.
[29:00] Colin observes that people know how to work best, they don’t need the rules and expectations that other companies are talking about.
[30:11] During times of heightened ambiguity, ongoing conversations and iterations are important.
[31:08] A ‘management manager’ people training program facilitating new ways of working.
[32:12] Colin believes you need to understand where the people you work with are coming from.
[32:43] Saffron’s top executive team, who are spread out across the UK, are intentional when interacting online and in person.
[34:29] How to encourage transparent dialogue and assimilate new habits.
[37:46] People are adjusting how they’re living their lives no longer bound by geography—it’s a work in progress.
[38:57] Customers’ and employees’ expectations are needing to adapt.
[40:56] Colin has an open and less conventional approach for attracting good talent.
[42:35] Colin helps employees grow in their roles and even out of the organization.
[44:17] Colin shares the story of a bus driver looking for a career change at Saffron.
[45:15] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To make whatever transformation your organization needs, start with the culture…then leadership, people, and processes….and stay the course — it will take at least twice as long as you think it will.
RESOURCES
Colin Field on LinkedIn
Colin on Twitter @ColinHField
Saffron Building Society on LinkedIn
Saffron on Twitter @SaffronBS
Saffron on Facebook @SaffronBS
For weekly video updates from Sophie and her Work In Progress newsletter and follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter @ASophieWade.
Sign up for the Work In Progress Report and Sophie’s blog on Sophiewade.com and flexcelnetwork.com
QUOTES
“I found the thing that made my heart sing! And the thing that made me smile was seeing people win, seeing people around you win, colleagues developing their careers and actually seeing and getting proud about something you were doing as a business.”
“Trust is the hardest thing to build in terms of culture.”
“Overnight we went from a business that was head office in two central buildings and eight branches, to all of a sudden we're in no buildings, and we're in studies, spare bedrooms, dining room tables.”
“Why would we want to start saying to people “you need to come back into the office again.” It's crazy! We've just proved over two years that we don't need to do that. That makes no sense.”
“I fell the secret is to swim with the tide here as a business, you go with it as much as you possibly can do and that’s the way to unlock the benefits.”
“Our customers set, a lot of them are 50+, and a number of them are 80 plus. And people would say to me “Colin, digital channels: you're wasting your time in that group. People will not want to use digital channels.” And now that's been completely debunked.”
Lou Diamond, growth consultant and CEO of Thrive, is the host of popular podcast Thrive Loud, a keynote speaker and author. Lou’s new book “Speak Easy” is a playbook to help people connect and communicate, especially addressing the most difficult and awkward conversations. Lou shares insights gathered working in retail, consulting, banking, and as an entrepreneur, learning how “soft” skills are the “super” skills of communicating effectively and improving outcomes.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:44] Lou comes in feeling more than spectacular, sharing how beekeeping and jewelry selling were a part of his academic path to studying economics at Cornell!
[03:35] Economics was originally taught in the Agricultural School at Cornell, so Lou also learned bee-keeping.
[04:17] Lou learned much from his entrepreneurial father working in the family’s stores from age 13.
[05:13] How does communicating in a very small space differ from communicating in larger spaces?
[06:15] How to transcend the transaction in a competitive environment.
[07:28] Lou minors in communications in business—a key aspect of who he is.
[08:15] Consulting is the first stop to explore different industries and roles.
[10:32] Lou gets the opportunity to transition to communications and marketing in financial services.
[13:44] In the 2008 market crash, the spotlight was on Lou covering government sponsored agencies.
[16:00] Despite being very busy, Lou wanted to share his experiences and insights more broadly.
[17:40] After a side hustle for a tech consultancy in Vegas, the entrepreneur’s urging resulted in Lou writing “Master the Art of Connecting”.
[20:15] It’s not about what you need to say, how you need to be. There are five ways starting with “Be curious”.
[22:50] Lou became a certified coach knowing coaching skills would help him become a better communicator and leader.
[24:27] The importance of sharpening question-asking muscles.
[26:22] Be fearless. Move through courage, owning and committing to what you say.
[28:27] We all have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
[30:50] How can we understand each other when our contexts are so different?
[32:00] To make a connection with someone, you have to let go a little bit which is the hardest thing for people to do.
[32:43] The three steps of moving through fear into courage.
[33:52] Being more fearless, we are more likeable, more connectable.
[35:06] Lou does a V.O.I.C.E. check-in to prepare before communicating: Visualize; Opportunity; Identity; Charisma and Energy level.
[37:20] “Soft” skills are actually “super” skills to Lou.
[39:08] The pandemic highlighted the importance of connections and conversations.
[39:59] The benefit of conversations at work to uncover and deal with problems—such as “why are people leaving?”.
[41:07] Lou shares a creative/risky exercise an executive tested to bring more empathy into work.
[43:02] “Speak Easy” us a guidebook and gift which explains how to prepare for different conversations using communication “cocktails”!
[46:26] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Lift the energy and be super--unleash your superpower. If you don’t know yet what your superpower is, ask yourself and others to help you figure it out and then incorporate that when describing who you are when you meet people.
RESOURCES
Lou Diamond on LinkedIn
Thrive LouD
Lou’s new book Speak Easy: Connect With Every Conversation
Lou on Twitter
Master the Art of Connecting, by Lou Diamond
Lou on Instagram
Lou on Facebook
QUOTES
“It’s not what you need to say, it’s how you need to be.”
“If you’re not telling and talking and you’re focused on asking and listening, by definition you’re curious.”
“By embracing curiosity, we are putting ourselves in a position to be open to the idea that we can grow, connect, and establish that relationship.”
“You have to move through your fears into courage in every conversation.”
“We’re afraid to engage and connect, we’re not embracing being fearless and being vulnerable in the way that we can actually be as a human being. We need to do that.”
“Be brief, be bright, be gone!”
Haddy Davies is the Global Procurement Leader and Black Employee Network Chair at Johnson Matthey, a British specialties chemicals and sustainable technologies company. Haddy shares how lockdown in March 2020 forced her to do her job very differently. She recognizes the business’s heavy reliance on machines as well as the critical importance of understanding and engaging employees. Post-pandemic, her company is rethinking and testing new options—approaches, processes, and work arrangements—while Haddy uses First Principles to evaluate responsible sourcing.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:00] Haddy shares why she choose a career in engineering.
[05:11] Transitioning to the UK from The Gambia was not so easy.
[06:54] Haddy does a gap year at Bible college to understand more about religion for many family-related reasons.
[09:40] The link between science and theology for Haddy is the appetite for knowledge.
[11:48] Haddy and her husband have multi-faceted connections.
[12:04] Choosing between studying engineering or continuing to study theology.
[13:03] An industrial placement year, starts Haddy’s career at DuPont in sustainable packaging which led to fuel cells using clean fuel.
{14:14] Haddy enjoys working on her company’s efforts to decarbonize the world and get to net zero.
[16:02] The power of problem solving during emergencies.
[17:46] Typical mitigating response from engineers did not anticipate pandemic.
[18:26] Crisis conditions shift investment to achieve more flexibility as resources are freed up to find viable solutions.
[19:36] Cybersecurity issues with remote working require some extra caution with linking up the plant.
[21:07] Innovation to augment machines to reduce onsite human accidents and errors.
[22:18] Haddy’s company is rethinking the design for the workplace to be “fit for purpose”.
[22:54] Flexibility allows tailoring to employee preferences and project needs.
[24:20] Streamlining operations is a continuing challenge, and we need to let go and let the machines do their work!
[25:31] Empathetic management is needed so workers don’t feel disenfranchised or unfairly treated.
[26:54] Haddy is upskilling to explore new roles and is currently working on responsible sourcing.
[28:10] Using a First Principles approach is helpful to reimagine and assess new possibilities.
[30:00] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: You need a courageous people plan—one that is for the people with inputs from the people—which incorporates a flexible in the approach.
[31:28] The importance of understanding and engaging workers—transparency ensuring no disparities and career rich opportunities to support retention.
[33:42] Haddy’s family is doing well!
[34:27] How the pandemic enabled Haddy and her husband to reimagine their family life.
RESOURCES
Haddy Davies on LinkedIn
Matthey.com
QUOTES
“Most of the great theologians were great thinkers; they were exploring the disjointedness of life, they always grappled with living in the now while understanding what had come before, and science is the same.”
“Things may seem impossible: ’You can’t possibly work from home if you’re an on-site person!’ We have not been forced to define the problems and bring solutions to the fore as a collective.”
“We are rethinking the design of the workplace to make sure that it is fit for purpose.”
“We need to train the machines to be on their own!”
“If anybody says to me ‘this is how we’ve been doing it!’ I will walk!”
“You have a workforce that is showing up for you. This means that they have considered all of the other options they could have gone to and they are staying. Never take that for granted.”
“Let the people plan the people plan!”
Trond Undheim, futurist, speaker, entrepreneur, venture partner, and the author of a new book, Augmented Lean in this second episode gets to the practical details of how flexibility can be achieved in manufacturing plants after a 50 year innovation hiatus. Trond draws on his industrial tech background, understanding of manufacturers’ realities, and recognition of frontline workers’ expertise to develop flexible, augmented environments. He recommends balancing inputs from both employees on the shop floor and management to “hack and govern” new solutions. Trond acknowledges these are long term paradigm shifts.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:57] Trond explains the deskless reality for factory workers results from forgetting to innovate for 50 years.
[05:00] Adding multiple screens gives employees the data they need and freedom to walk around.
[05:36] How no code technology now allows data to be widely available and accessible.
[06:26] Up to date information augments workers’ intelligence and real-time operational decisions.
[07:03] The first killer application is digital work instructions.
[07:52] Tech advances enable empathetic learning as feedback is immediate and uncontentious.
[09:44] Augmented lean approaches technology integration in a smarter way—top down and bottom up.
[10:54] Governance is an essential aspect of modern organizations.
[11:42] The problems arising with top down only technology integration.
[12:57] The benefit of bottom up analysis of bottlenecks and operating needs.
[13:51] The advantage of workers’ general understanding of operations and cross-training.
[14:38] In manufacturing, employees have to be learning on the job, on site.
[15:27] How can we expect an innovative workplace if the tools do not augment workers?
[16:32] Greenfields permit shortcuts so workers can add digital apps to legacy systems.
[17:44] What to do with legacy machines.
[18:39] Taking a First Principles approach to production based on value creation.
[19:10] Augmented lean is about context and flexibility.
[20:32] “Hack and Govern” – hacking is bottom up and governing is top down.
[23:58] Apps-based productivity in this digital revolution needs a certain amount of flexibility.
[24:56] Empowering and inspiring frontline workers to show their experience and improve ROI.
[26:15] How to get new workers interested in manufacturing jobs in the US.
[28:08] What is factory work like now? What do factories look and sound like?
[32:43] What does Trond think about Musk’s edict “return or resign”?
[34:25] Backlash or not, managers have a losing proposition trying to get everyone back to the office.
[35:44] This decade, Trond does not see factory work being done 100% on site.
[37:12] With significant advanced technologies, the shop floor has more pull than office environments.
[38:52] New fluid interfaces that interact with workers—the factory floor wasn’t ready at first.
[42:01] With cyber-physical systems, ‘prototype to product’ is not easy and can take time.
[43:42] The vision of “lean” in Trond’s new book.
[44:54] Did we take a wrong fork in the road away from cyber-physical systems in the 1970s?
[46:22] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Rinse and repeat! Use quick iterations to experiment your way through to positive change. Hack and Govern: the juxtaposition of bottom-up and top down approaches for a more balanced outcome.
RESOURCES
Trond Undheim on LinkedIn
Trond on Twitter
Futurized & Augmented podcasts
Augmented Lean: A Human-Centric Framework for Managing Front-Line Operations, by Trond Arne Undheim
Tulip.co
QUOTES
“If the tools that we are providing to the workforce don’t augment them, don’t make them feel meaningful, don’t give them dignity, and don’t give them knowledge, how can we expect to have an innovative workplace?”
“You have to govern technology … but on the other hand, the internet revolution is all about hacking, it is about bottom-up initiative, about enabling your smartest nerds — who nowadays can be someone who didn’t study computer science.”
“There are so many exciting factories right now … they have robots, they have digital interfaces, factories don’t look like you might imagine they do!”
“Tesla is today’s Ford — it is not a virtual organization of software programmers — Tesla produces something physical, they have factory floors, in fact, they have some of the world’s biggest factories that they just opened in Texas.”
“Software is easy, cyber-physical systems are hard.”
“Think in sprints, allow hacks, don’t forget to govern.”
“There is no management of workers that doesn’t include letting them experiment and try out new things, and there is no responsible management approach that lets everyone do their own thing.”
Trond Undheim, futurist, speaker, entrepreneur, venture partner, and author of a new book “Augmented Lean”. Trond draws on his technology-focused background across public, academic, and private sectors to discuss the need and solutions for workplace flexibility for frontline manufacturing workers. Acknowledging the paradigm shift to employ a human-centric approach, integrating employees’ inputs, Trond highlights sophisticated new software which improve frontline experiences and overall results. These solutions optimize processes and augment workers rather than emphasize machine automation.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:19] Trond’s path starts in a random manner when he notices a poster!
[04:55] How Trond canceled Christmas to write his Ph.D. proposal in two weeks.
[06:02] Norway’s phone company is exploring the nomadic workplace in 1998.
[07:44] Trond does fieldwork in Silicon Valley that is selling “placelessness”.
[09:18] Trond becomes sought after for technology policy decision-making, government thinktanks, energy policy, and eventually economics at the E.U..
[12:19] Standardization: Trond explains how fascinating and essential it is—eg the Apple charger.
[14:54] How interoperability and openness have been important new developments.
[16:19] Trond equates learning standards and standardization like foreign languages.
[19:22] Trond’s work at MIT on no-code language and the impact it can have on the workplace.
[20:42] Advanced efforts to transform the factory floor with productivity tools for frontline workers.
[22:08] The tech user interface is finally simple enough to get out of the way.
[22:49] Was the emphasis on automation was the wrong path to take—being technology deterministic?
[23:00] When it comes to manufacturing, why has the focus historically been on automation and efficiency?
[24:49] The question is NOT “Are the robots going to take over?” That has been a distraction.
[26:10] How can we think about the “how” of work differently to get on the right track? Trond offers a fundamental to ask question first.
[27:20] The role of business schools in producing leaders who think they know best!
[28:20] Changing the paradigm from a quest for lifelong specialization in one domain to multiple specializations over time with general systems knowledge.
[31:40] How a human-centric manufacturing approach gathers and benefits from front-line workers’ and middle managers’ years of expertise.
[34:17] Why “cobots” are an important reframing of machines as “robots” are defined as “dangerous”.
[36:52] Bridging the digital/physical divide through augmentation to transform frontline workers toward knowledge work—Trond explains why this is a good thing.
[40:45] How greater advances now can be made augmenting how frontline workers work rather than automating machines.
[42:30] The potential for renewed glory in manufacturing by augmenting the entire workforce. Tune in for Part 2 – the practical “how” to make it happen.
RESOURCES
Trond Undheim on LinkedIn
Trond on Twitter
Futurized & Augmented podcasts
Augmented Lean book by Trond Arne Undheim
Tulip.co
QUOTES
“It sounds extremely dry, but standardization is super interesting. It’s the driver of the economy: it builds markets.”
“Markets are built: they are very purposely constructed architectures of rules, regulations, and standards.”
“Multiple specialities consecutively throughout your career has to be the target.”
“In a true human centric vision of manufacturing, the humans are always at the center---the whole idea is manufacturing has always been about innovation.”
“The overall perspective that ‘management knows best’ is detrimental to a true understanding of human work.”
“To make progress, the smart thing is to augment your workforce more than you automate your machines.”
Jen Fox, Director of People Experience and Culture at Justworks, discovered her passion for training and developing people early on. She shares learnings from her experiences at Nordstrom and Starbucks as well as working independently as a coach. Jen continues her journey at Justworks supporting new individualized career pathways, navigating new work arrangements, and empowering employees to help figure it out.
KEY TAKEAWAYS [03:04] Jen starts out as an entrepreneur.
[04:12] The business reaches an inflection point and they have to make a decision.
[04:40] Jen joins Nordstrom and gets moved in Learning & Development.
[07:35] At Starbucks for five years, Jen benefits from many different experiences.
[08:57] Leadership’s commitment to the employee makes a difference—including transparency and openness.
[10:20] Jen hones her HR skills at Getty Images.
[11:30] Early understanding and observations about company culture.
[13:01] An impactful learning moment when having to lay people off after an acquisition.
[14:22] Jen’s lasting takeaway is the human-centric core.
[10:35] Despite not wanting to go, Jen moved to New York City to pursue her career.
[15:20] After having three kids, Jen transitions organically to freelancing, consulting, and coaching.
[17:42] Jen deliberately doubles down on her strengths.
[18:20] Why Jen wanted to go in-house at Justworks.
[20:20] The important focus on supporting small business.
[22:05] Jen delights about employees craving development resources.
[23:36] Driving the Wellness Program, Jen plans out through 2025.
[25:10] Being proactive, not just reactionary.
[25:58] Becoming more data driven and integrating DEIB.
[27:38] How Justworks pivoted in March 2020 as they were providing important support for their client companies.
[28:49] The core value is camaraderie.
[29:15] The tension about how best to build interpersonal relationships with new work arrangements.
[31:36] Being intentional about learning how to optimize remote working.
[32:31] Empowering teams to figure it out, working their way along their own journeys.
[34:59] How Jen tactically acts and reacts to support employees’ well-being.
[36:32] The four pillars of Justworks’ Well-being Program.
[37:03] Creating meeting boundaries.
[37:24] Financial well-being is a key focus.
[38:18] Now Jen purposefully shows her commute on her calendar.
[39:13] The importance of managers in creating a positive and productive team environment.
[40:17] Partnerships for resources help develop managers.
[41:18] New interest in role playing and learn new skills.
[42:51] New efforts to understand individual talent and create personalized career paths.
[43:48] Jen needs a pause button and intentionally to block time for herself.
[45:54] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Remember your why. In the hardest times, it’s a pause to remember why you are doing this work. It’s different for everybody. Get in touch with your why.
RESOURCES Jen Fox on LinkedIn
Justworks.com
Justworks on Twitter
JustWorks on Instagram
QUOTES “It’s a privilege being at a company where our employees are at the center of it all.”
“If you take care of the people and yes, there's a lot of process and logistics and paperwork. But if at the end of the day, these are just people. How can we help and support them?”
“What I realized more so for myself was that doubling down on my strengths gave me more fuel, more energy. The more I did it, the more confident I became. And then the more people wanted to hire me.”
“We were able to pivot and get our stuff together essentially so quickly because we had to. Because we, our customers, all those little companies were now looking to us to help them keep the lights on.”
Paul McKinlay, VP of Communications and Remote Working at Cimpress and Vista (prev. VistaPrint) had a series of transformative experiences working in management, L&D, and Communications, working for ASDA and Walmart in the UK and US which set him up to take the lead role in implementing the strategic “Remote First” initiative at Cimpress and Vista. Paul shares his insights about the importance of transparency and alignment with employees, as well as a mindset of ongoing feedback and co-creation.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03;15] At the start of his career, Paul ran large supermarkets in the UK.
[03:34] Managing teams of up to 1000 people, Paul learned fast and transitioned to L&D.
[04:27] The experience of a major transformation at ASDA.
[06:19] Paul has to adapt to a very different culture when Walmart acquired ASDA.
[07:11] Paul’s unusual experience the first time he visited Walmart’s headquarters.
[08:50] Walmart takes a different approach to Learning and Development.
[10:10] Paul is persuaded—unwillingly—to change role and discipline.
[10:40] Paul’s epiphany about his new position in communications.
[13:42] There was very little remote working prior to 2020.
[15:36] When the pandemic hit, the business was hit hard, but they noticed employees were executing well.
[18:14] Many people wanted to work remotely long-term.
[19:05] Paul asks to lead the remote work strategic initiative.
[20:02] CEO Robert Cain gives Paul a new lens for understanding his role and goals.
[20:48] “Remote First” is not “Remote Only” and what that means.
[21:16] Operating principles and “Remote First” practices using new Collaboration Centers.
[23:06] Paul stresses the importance of having a team dedicated to optimizing remote working.
[23:39] How on-boarding happens at Cimpress and Vista now.
[24:52] Paul’s intention is for working at Vista be a master class in remote working.
[25:38] Great success attracting talent by focusing on employees’ workplace taxability and work/life harmony.
[27:32] Looking at ways to improve fixed-site workers’ experiences.
[30:19] The importance of involving everyone when developing new solutions.
[32:02] How to deconstruct resistance to remote working—trust is at the core.
[33:07] Paul’s expectations that shareholders will also push for remote working.
[33:31] “Shybrid” – the undermining subterfuge. “Mybrid” - I choose to come to work wherever I want to work from.
[34:36] Paul describes the major initiative building remote working expertise and extensive resources.
[36:13] IMMEDIATE action tip: To be an effective remote leader, collaborate with your team by getting extensive feedback and input on a regular basis—making the team experience about co-creation and trusting team members to get on with their jobs. Ask team members for suggestions about how to establish norms that will make working remotely much more effective—such as having fewer meetings!
RESOURCES
Paul McKinlay on LinkedIn
Cimpress.com
Vista.com
Vista.io
Cimpress on Instagram
Vista on Instagram
QUOTES
“Comms [Communications] at a strategic level is about aligning people against the mission, helping them to execute against that, understanding the context of the decisions they make day today.”
“The role of Communications is to be the radar and compass of the organization and the drive.”
“The headwind that we were facing really energized the team and really brought the team together.”
“Giving people a real focus on flexibility and work/life how many is cited with our job applicants as a number one reason why they apply to us. It is because they are interested in the remote working, flexibility, work/life harmony. “
“We call what we do “mybrid” which is I choose when I come to work from wherever I want to.”
Robert Keane, Founder and CEO of Cimpress and Vista (formerly VistaPrint) built a multibillion-dollar business from scratch starting more than 20 years ago. He transformed the original analog operations through digitalization in order to scale rapidly. Robert explains how this strategic move also set them up to go “remote first” in August 2020—listening to employees’ preferences—with the intent of building and maintaining competitive advantage for the business.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:22] Robert identified the need and developed the business plan for Cimpress at INSEAD business school.
[03:38] Cutting edge (at the time) technology was essential to provide the services.
[04:45] The core customer proposition and need have not changed over 27 years.
[06:30] Pushing the early envelope for browser-based software.
[07:49] After raising venture capital money in ’99, the company turned profitable by 2003 and reached US$1 billion in revenues by 2011.
[10:30] End-to-end integrated digitalization allowed them to achieve significant growth.
[11:55] Robert’s purposeful approach for capturing competitive advantage through automation.
[13:53] To build the business, new recruits were selected who were intent to transform industries.
[14:45] Post the 2000 crash, the emphasis is “digital first”.
[15:20] Robert recognizes the digitization emphasis needs to be rebalanced with more customer focus.
[16:31] How Cimpress operated as a global distributed business pre-pandemic.
[18:57] Robert’s direct reports in China and Italy rang alarm leading to early contingency planning.
[20:00] The decision to go “remote first”.
[20:56] Management could compete for talent, and give certainty and guidance to employees.
[23:24] Employees were asked regularly about their interest in remote work which started shifting.
[23:53] Management respectfully addresses the minority of people who didn’t want to go fully remote
[25:36] People accept the fact that remote is not perfect.
[26:22] How has Robert’s changed his leadership style going fully remote?
[27:26] The importance of systemizing communication to inform, align, and connect people.
[29:35] Investment in asynchronous documentation is essential for “remote first” companies.
[31:09] Hiring people to lead Cimpress businesses who have entrepreneurial/founder mindsets.
[32:26] Robert is open to making mistakes and not believing there’s only one way forward.
[35:10] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To integrate remote working effectively, run a thought experiment. If you started a company today, how would you architect it and incorporate remote working? Whatever percentage of time employees would be onsite and remote at this company, they would need clarity and certainty. Putting theory into practice for your current organization cannot happen overnight, but listen to team members to make choices about the direction you need to go.
RESOURCES
Robert Keane on LinkedIn
Cimpress.com
Vista.com
Vista.io
QUOTES
“Our engagement scores, which we've tracked for years, are at all time high because people can combine their life and their work in ways that fits their personal needs.”
“People embrace the fact that remote is not perfect.”
“It’s important to constantly reiterate the importance of that nimbleness, that ability to take action and the willingness to fail, to fall down and get bruised and pick yourself up and pivot and move.”
“We started believing that the way we were doing things was the only way to do things. They just happened to be the right way to do things at a certain moment in time.”
Ali Azeem, the Global Head of Growth at Ipsos Strategy3, has always believed in making an impact through involvement across the three professional realms--corporate, government, and charity. He shares his career journey as he has developed greater insights into human behavior—from customers and constituents to business colleagues—leading to his increasing focus on and interest in creating organizations that are “human first”.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:40] Ali is raised by entrepreneurial parents.
[03:09] Ali’s early interest in business models through video games.
[04:37] Going through a turnaround after the credit crunch.
[06:45] Learning the importance of communication with colleagues, especially during times of stress.
[08:47] Ali believes in making a positive impact across three parallel streams – business, politics, and charity.
[10:18] How Ali found being involved in politics exciting.
[11:39] The human realities of government—good and bad.
[15:30] Working at an innovation agency, Ali began empathizing with customers to tap into their experiences.
[18:54] Recognizing cultural differences when exploring new ideas.
[22:09] Ali joins Ipsos which emphasizes human insights using a design-thinking approach.
[24:22] Discussion involving people and empathy converging into a new type of organization.
[26:50] Initiatives that must accompany diversity efforts to demonstrate inclusive leadership.
[30:20] The challenges measuring inclusion.
[31:38] How business leaders can shift their mindsets to be more inclusive.
[35:20] The importance of recognizing that employees bring very different backgrounds and cultural contexts and how to enable them to be successful.
[39:42] Ali’s insights after analyzing data on gender pay gaps.
[43:07] Insight 1 – The pay gap in the UK relates to mothers rather than women in general.
[44:21] Insight 2 – Women aren’t achieving as many of the higher paid senior positions.
[45:21] Career choices many women make in corporate roles don’t often have enough flexibility.
[47:24] What many men thing of as “the proper life’ and the consequences.
[49:05] How motherhood impacts women’s earning capacity.
[50:08] New positive UK legislation regarding parental leave.
[51:05] The mindset shift supported by the legislation.
[53:40] Ali recommends we create more prosperity by making better machines and focusing on a people-maximizing approach.
[55:58] Thinking about meaningful corporate purpose.
[58:10] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Start with the right mindset. The biggest unlock will come if you take ownership of making your life better, your customers’ lives better, and the lives of people impacted indirectly by your company.
RESOURCES
Ali Azeem on LinkedIn
Ali Azeem on Twitter
Ipsos.com
Game Over by David Sheff
Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R Sunstein
QUOTES
“Often companies are talking about diversity, focusing more on the diversity side, because it’s easier, it’s measurable.”
“Hiring these [diverse] people is quite an easy job relative to the much harder thing which is to make them feel included.”
“Let’s start building better machines.”
“We need to evolve from what we’ve been doing before and that means moving away from this profit-maximizing approach to a people-maximizing approach.”
Jenn DeWall is a leadership development strategist, workshop facilitator, and coach working mostly with and on behalf of her Millennial peers. She also hosts The Leadership Habit podcast. Focused on supporting rising Millennial leaders’ progress, Jenn shares her own experiences—successes and struggles—that have shaped her perspectives and approach to leadership development in the new era of work. She explains the goals, mindsets, and concerns of many Millennials and suggests productive, sustainable ways for us all to advance and grow.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:49] After college, Jenn’s initial enthusiasm about leadership soon wanes.
[03:30] Despite good results, Jenn gets an unexpected, negative review.
[04:34] Jenn is devastated. “Why didn’t somebody tell me?”
[06:21] Jenn loses confidence and gets conflicting direction about how to act at work.
[08:33] After some struggles, Jenn is asked to start training and mentoring her peers.
[10:20] Organizations need diversity across many dimensions, allowing people to show up as themselves.
[12:04] How Millennials were not prepared at college for the rules of work or to know their value.
[13:40] Jenn interviewed senior leaders to find out where Millennials are getting it wrong at work.
[14:55] Issue 1: Millennials want to have fun at work.
[15:42] Issue 2: Millennials yearn to develop and understand the big picture.
[16:49] Issue 3: Millennials desire for flexibility and work/life integration.
[18:46] Initial confidence about their potential and future is dulled for those not falling into line.
[20:12] As Millennials become leaders, how are they fulfilling their needs for external validation?
[22:01] Lacking conditioning for internal validation to know “I am enough” “I have the skills I need to succeed.”
[23:20] Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Our fundamental need to be connected.
[23:58] Millennials ask themselves “What is my life really worth?”
[25:02] The working environment has affected Millennials – such as 9/11 and the Great Recession.
[25:49] How technology has expanded Millennials’ worldview, footprint, and decisions.
[26:53] Jenn discusses how her peers think through “What do I want work to feel like?”
[28:42] Resignations often happen when employees assume/fear their employer will not be open to making accommodations.
[29:25] How the need for external validation affects workplace confidence and behaviors.
[31:59] Jenn shares Millennials’ confusion: Why can’t I have fun at work? And why can’t I also work hard?
[33:31] As such a large generation, Millennials are not afraid to stay and be the voice of change.
[34:52] How rising leaders benefit from being intentional about soft skills and behaviors they promote.
[38:25] Jenn advises leading with curiosity and empathy and assuming positive intent.
[41:20] You can’t hang your hat on stereotypes as everyone’s lived experience is different.
[42:46] Non-linear career paths are now the norm, requiring different consideration and allowing different possibilities.
[44:55] Reacting to “What is my life worth?” leads to disruption with new work configurations.
[47:12] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Find the common ground. We all carry an invisible suitcase that is the collective experience of our hopes, dreams, fears, and pains, and there is commonality within. Be intentional and find that commonality so we can work better together.
RESOURCES
Jenn DeWall on LinkedIn
Jenn DeWall on Twitter
JennDeWall.com
Jenndewallcoaching.com
Jenn DeWall on Instagram
QUOTES
“Through hardship comes great outcomes.”
“If we want a homogenous workforce where we are more alike, what does that do for innovation?”
“I never wanted millennials to feel less than, I just want them to feel empowered. You deserve to be recognized and seen for who you are.”
“This is where the helicopter parenting didn't set us up well because you need to have confidence at a foundational level to influence, to make a decision. And Millennials were very much conditioned for external validation.”
Dominic Price, Work Futurist at Atlassian, first explains unlearning. He discusses the excitement and challenges of his work ensuring his company keeps adapting to stay ahead of competitors as it grows rapidly year on year. Focused on anticipating, exploring, and improving ways of working, Dom offers suggestions to specific questions that we are all currently trying to answer such as about hybrid work models, burnout, transformation challenges, and more, sharing his lived experiences, experiments and refined solutions.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:10] Starting as a chartered accountant, Dom found a “job for life” wasn’t his vocation.
[03:54] Not wanting to fit into a box, Dom had to accept uncertainty and unlearn structure.
[05:34] How to be happy with career progress when “learning” is the key measurement.
[07:47] When Dom joined Atlassian it was one of the “best places to work”, but he hated it.
[08:31] Applying his skills very differently, Dom was confronted reframing his “firefighting” role.
[11:58] Dom’s boss challenges him to adapt and grow 40% each year to stay in his current role.
[14:10] We go back to old thinking because it was certain, not because it was valuable.
[15:22] Dom’s fascination with technology ends up with him focused on people.
[17:48] Question 1 – How to tackle the complexity of hybrid models?
[19:24] Underlying question – How do we become place agnostic?
[20:24] When we are place agnostic, how can we find effective ways of working?
[22:18] Question 2 – How does work “work” now?
[23;15] Underlying question – What more can we understand about what it is to be human?
[21:45] You can offer flexibility to your on-site workers. Dom explains how.
[24:23] The importance of psychological safety.
[26:14] Dom experiments and gives an asynchronous workshop.
[28:12] We have to experiment and explore our way forward in the Future of Work.
[29:11] Question 3 – How do you learn a growth mindset?
[30:14] Dom’s Five Ls exercise that he practices regularly.
[32:55] The importance of role modeling behavior as leaders now.
[36:03] Question 4 – How to embrace change and stop people resisting change?
[37:50] Breaking down transformation into “what’s one thing we can do today?”
[39:40] Celebrating “the good old days” in a positive way to be able to move forward.
[42:41] Question 5 – How to get rid of so many meetings?
[46:19] Questions 6 - How do we reduce burnout?
[47:15] Question 7 – Should I leave my employer?
[48:55] Be the change you seek. Feedback is a gift, but only if you give it!
[51:28] Question 8 & 9 – How can you help employees think through how to live their lives differently? How can their boss support this process?
[52:00] Why Dom thinks we are obsessed with perfection and we should focus on progress.
[52:45] Systems thinking—we can block progress if we only see the boundaries of the system.
[53:51] Learning organizations don’t exist, but learning loops do.
[55:42] Dom believes the organization chart is damaging—hindering progress in organizations.
[57:33] Leadership is based on competence, not level.
[59:37] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you’ve been taking mental or written notes listening to this episode, don’t sign up for more knowledge obesity, find ONE thing you are willing to try, and put a date on it.
RESOURCES
Dom Price on LinkedIn
Dom Price on Twitter
Domprice.me
Atlassian.com
Atlassian’s Team Playbook
QUOTES
“I need to unlearn all these things I got taught early on in my career, about “you must have a career plan”.”
“If you wanna be great, you're gonna have to evolve how you work, how your teams work, how you influence. You're gonna have to adapt to everything constantly.”
“How do we get those teams in a distributed fashion to work effectively together? Once we solve that everything else is done, right? Everything else is gravy.”
“How can we work human to human? How do we amplify that with technology? Technology isn’t the answer, it’s the amplifier.”
“How do I build a balanced life and where does work fit into that?”
“If you've got an hour, spend five minutes reminiscing on the good old days, spend the other 55 building better days tomorrow.”
“Leadership is based on competence, not level.”
Podcast host, Sophie Wade, checks in to discuss the current challenges, frustrations, and fatigue we are all dealing with as we emerge from the pandemic. From resisting or rolling out new work arrangements, to managing supply chain disruptions and rising costs, facilitating business and workforce transformation at the same time is not easy. Sophie explains how empathy works to enable the necessary shift to a human-centric orientation in technology-driven Future-of-Work environments leading to successful, sustainable progress and growth. She also reads short excerpts from her new book, Empathy Works: The Key to Competitive Advantage in the New Era of Work.
KEY TAKE AWAYS
[01:16] Acknowledging the challenges moments and issues we are all experiencing.
[03:08] The current discord between conventional power and progress.
[04:43] Why it’s necessary and practical to embrace the reimagining and redesigning of work.
[06:18] How the First Principles approach is useful, incorporating learnings from the last two years.
[07:10] The human-centric counterbalance to a technology-driven business world.
[08:02] The human-centric framework that elevates the Customer Journey and the Employee Journey.
[08:50] Sophie‘s new book Empathy Works is “An insightful and practical must-read for leaders focused on the future” -- Kirkus Reviews.
[09:32] Examples of how we experience empathy at work.
[10:32] Does everyone have empathy?
[11:31] What is soft about empathy as a skill?
[12:37] The neuroscience of empathy and its role at the core of human relationships.
[14:31] The connections between trust, oxytocin, social comfort, and the ability to read someone’s emotions.
[17:00] How to think through designing a suitable work model for your organization.
[19:30] Should your company have an office? If yes, what for?
[21:26] Workplace flexibility is a mindset first and a policy second.
[22:45] Why the effective mindset is open, inclusive, and empathetic.
[23:53] Leaders are transitioning from commanding to coaching and giving more autonomy to their team members.
[25:25] Why decentralizing decision-making is necessary now.
[27:46] PURPOSE: The importance of leaders articulating purpose.
[28:44] CULTURE: The role of leaders in modeling corporate values and how culture determines employees’ actions.
[30:29] TRUST: Trust is essential for workers to feel a sense of belonging and to increase their engagement.
[31:55] CONTROL: Empowering employees to support decentralized decision-making.
[33:30] WORKFLOW: The importance of understanding how work is accomplished and flows through your organization.
[35:21] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Buy Sophie’s book to understand more about how to infuse your company’s culture and mindset with empathy and get practical help to establish daily empathy habits.
RESOURCES
Sophie Wade on LinkedIn
Sophie Wade’s website
Sophie’s new book “Empathy Works: The Key to Competitive Advantage in the New Era of Work”
Sophie Wade’s company Flexcel Network
QUOTES
“We all have to make our way through the messiness of transformation.”
“We have the opportunity to get to a much better place.”
“This IS the moment to be making the necessary and powerful transformation to ensure your business can progress and succeed.”
“Empathy is closely associated with trust, respect, and inclusion which together can create a solid foundation for your company and culture.”
“Empathy is at the core of all human relationships.”
Pascal Dulex, Culture Coach and Creative Director at Freitag in Switzerland, has been one of the people instrumental in implementing holacracy—a “self-management practice for organizations”—within the company. Pascal discusses the essence of leadership, provides insights about the role of managers, and explains how work processes were affected as the company prepared for and adopted holacracy. He also describes their ongoing internal discussions as he facilitates and supports continuing integration. KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:19] Pascal’s core connections to the field of creativity.
[04:50] Pascal is less enamored with the traditional communications career.
[06:55] Stumbling upon a job description at Freitag that was different.
[08:28] Pascal finds one of the founder brothers very authentic when interviewed.
[10:54] The company is navigating a turbulent period when he joins.
[12:39] Pascal changes from communications to become Head of Innovation.
[13:37] A fundamental shift in the leadership role to becoming an enabler.
[14:48] The close link between product development and communications at Freitag.
[16:43] Working with “circle materials”.
[18:27] Over extension was a key trigger leading to holacracy’s implementation.
[19:15] The second trigger was reassessing leadership and decision-making.
[19:56] How hierarchy and conflict between departments was undermining outputs.
[21:29] The first step in the process was to “kill the management”!
[22:03] Organizing like a city at first—as senior leadership needed to make space for others.
[22:49] They develop a vision of their ideal organization.
[24:00] Discovering holacracy and getting expert help to explain it and support execution.
[25:55] How is leadership linked to hierarchy?
[27:07] Initial efforts were focused on understanding exactly what managers “do”.
[29:30] “Organizing away” managers’ roles.
[31:20] Clarifying roles and updating processes.
[33:13] Self-organizing companies need to communicate more.
[33:50] Decision-making driven by responsibility not consensus.
[35:27] Holacracy allows for continuous improvement.
[37:52] How do they explain the organization and management system when recruiting?
[40:29] Are there really no job titles?
[43:04] What holacracy does not address that Freitag has to work on.
[44:46] What does leadership mean? How do I want to be led? How do I want to lead myself?
[47:35] The struggles of self-organization.
[50:06] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Trust is fundamental in every organization in the way you approach others. Starting with trust, people feel better because they realize you believe in them—and their positive intentions—and that’s a good starting point wherever you work.
RESOURCES
Pascal Dulex on LinkedIn
Pascal on Instagram
Freitag’s website
QUOTES
“The first step we made was making space for others to unfold their potential that was by getting rid of management.”
“You should feel like investing your time for a purpose that you believe in.”
“It [holacracy] has a radically different way of approaching power or authority hierarchy.”
“Managing is a very unclear term, right? If I say I’m a manager, what does that mean?”
“One of the fundamental things in every organization is trust—the way you approach others.”
“I firmly believe that every person who shows up for work is actually here to do something good, to achieve something.”
Dr. Amanda Crowell, a university professor, cognitive psychologist, and coach, developed a time management system that helps people be productive without burning out after she experienced severe burnout herself. Amanda explains how to transform outcomes and avoid burnout by recognizing our own expertise, shifting focus, and discovering what key elements to do differently. When we reconfigure “how” we work, we can produce the results we want and feel more fulfilled without changing our lives. Amanda is the author of “Great Work” and podcast host of “Unleashing Your Great Work”.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:50] After a stormy start in life, Amanda had an intense academic career.
[04:32] Amanda realized that she wanted to make a difference and it would mean a different pathway.
[05:02] The surprise of finding how different (chaotic) work process is outside academia.
[05:55] Amanda starts to burn out working around the clock.
[07:39] The three key indicators of burnout.
[08:46] Amanda reaches a mental and physical breaking point.
[10:50] How Amanda decides she wants a very different life for herself.
[12:34] “How did I let it get this bad?” resulted from holding onto beliefs that were not true.
[13:45] Unpacking and understanding unhealthy and undermining beliefs.
[15:13] How “self expertise” awareness is essential for effective collaboration.
[17:31] Considering how to configure your life differently utilizing newly-acceptable options.
[19:06] Resetting expectations and the illusion of what is “non-negotiable”.
[20:11] Amanda explores what she could do with less intensity that nobody will notice.
[21:34] Changing the relationship dynamic when you respond differently.
[23:10] Amanda’s focus is improvement science or quality improvement to help people work more effectively.
[23:58] How workflow analysis can increase productivity and reduce burnout.
[24:30] Focusing on key small details can make a significant difference.
[26:40] Making all the pieces of your life fit your self expertise.
[27:09] Despite (deliberately) delayed responses from Amanda, her boss gives her a great evaluation.
[27:41] Optimizing focus and workflow results in more satisfied clients.
[29:40] How to set employees up for success so they can perform well.
[30:49] You cannot be in solid relationship with someone else if you don’t know what matters to you.
[33:10] We must develop skills as enterprises and employees to recognize better what work matters.
[34:54] Without leaving your job or getting a new manager, you can improve your work experience.
[38:24] The hierarchy of ideas can be reframed to help people feel satisfied today while also feeling connected to their big goals that they want to keep making progress towards.
[41:47] When we feel like we have agency and advancing something that matters the experience is very different.
[43:22] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Think back to when you felt angriest as you listened to my interview with Amanda. What triggered the biggest emotional reaction? Focus on that aspect of your work to start to address your burnout. Second, don’t forget self care, and, third, for a particular task you don’t want to do consider “what would it require for me to get rid of this task?”
RESOURCES
Amandacrowell.com
Dr. Amanda Crowell on LinkedIn
Amanda Crowell on Instagram
Amanda’s new book “Great Work”
Amanda’s podcast “Unleashing Your Great Work”
QUOTES
“Nobody loved the fact that I was being pulled away from the family like that. And nobody loved the Amanda who was left by behind living on those fumes.”
“I’m not going to miss my kids growing up. I’m not going to miss a good relationship with my husband. Like for what? For email?”
“You can’t be in a real relationship with another person if you don’t know what matters to you, and you must honor what matters to that person too.”
“If you hate your job so much, I would address your burnout.”
“I would just say ‘Open the door, just a crack’ that what I’m saying might actually be true.”
Deepa Purushothaman shares the experiences of many Women of Color, including herself, in the corporate world and their challenges to rise as leaders—including loneliness and not seeing themselves represented. Deepa talks about the importance of co-conspirators speaking up as well understanding they will make mistakes. Deepa is the author or “The First, The Few, The Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America” and co-founder of nFormation, a company that provides safe spaces for professional Women of Color.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:11] An overview of Deepa’s career at Deloitte.
[04:23] Deepa started by studying policy and politics.
[05:54] Ageism from clients was the discrimination Deepa felt most after being made partner early on.
[06:27] As the first Indian female partner, Deepa didn’t see herself represented in leadership positions and had questions about belonging.
[07:55] Deepa had support and sponsors and pulled from different leaders to see what worked for her.
[08:23] As a Woman of Color, Deepa had some challenges giving feedback to people older than her.
[09:32] Deepa had a particular data-driven approach that worked with clients.
[10:06] Without a role model, you are to need creative ways to find your voice.
[11:35] How the issue of confirming and performing—two to three times harder than others—came up repeatedly with the 500+ Women of Color Deepa interviewed.
[12:10] White male CEOs have been picking up Deepa’s book—not Women of Color—wanting to get smarter by asking questions.
[13:06] The extra burden Women of Color have educating others.
[13:43] There weren’t (many) conversations about race at work in the US until 2020.
[14:55] Deepa finds there aren’t safe spaces for Women of Color to tell their truth.
[16:31] Many Women of Color have ignored or been taught to ignore racism.
[16:55] How so many Women of Color have physical manifestations of the challenges—including trauma—they have been internalizing.
[18:30] Women of Color need people—allies/co-conspirators—to be involved, not bystanders.
[18:56] Co-conspirators need to realize and accept they will make mistakes.
[19:46] Most Women of Color Deepa interviewed did not talk about race at home.
[20:35] Women of Color and co-conspirators should be prepared and practice what to say when someone says something inappropriate.
[20:58] The shock and shame Women of Color have after something racist is said in the workplace.
[22:20] Deepa’s three recommended things to say to recognize that something inappropriate was said.
[23:32] Responses depend on the context and how well you know the people present.
[24:50] Deepa picks her battles and waits 10 minutes to see how she feels before saying anything.
[25:55] How Deepa got ill and took a sabbatical to heal.
[27:30] Now success is tied to health for Deepa.
[28:33] The genesis of Deepa’s book and company was a series of dinners with many Women of Color.
[29:42] The issue of loneliness for many Women of Color in senior positions.
[31:15] The shared experiences of Women of Color were shocking and freeing.
[32:05] The reaction of white male CEOs has been “we can’t deny this is happening [at my company].”
[33:58] nFormation focuses on Women of Color and holding spaces for conversation.
[35:09] Women of Color have been finding their voice and their power by just seeing each at nFormation.
[36:15] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: For co-conspirators - practice empathy--don’t assume, instead listen differently to understand others’ different experiences. Use your power in the moment to support others—amplifying, pausing for space, giving room, speaking up or about someone. For Women of Color – how do you want to show up? What do you want to say and how do you want to use your full voice?
RESOURCES
Deepapuru.com
N2formation.com
DeepaPurushothamanon LinkedIn
DeepaPurushothamanon Twitter
Deepa’s book “The First, the Few, the Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America”
QUOTES
“I was the first Indian female partner we made so there weren't a lot of examples or role models before me and, and it's a pretty large firm. To not see yourself represented, I had my own questions around belonging.”
“When you don’t see yourself in leadership positions, there’s a lot of narrative rewriting that you have to do in your head.”
“You don’t have to see it to be it.”
“When you don't see yourself or don't see an exact role model, that looks like you, what I really coach women on is to kind of try different things out.”
“It's hard to find your voice when you don't see yourself on television when you don't see yourself in the media when you don't have a teacher that looks like you, and then you go into an organization and there's hardly anybody that looks like you. Like, what is your voice?”
Minter Dial, a management consultant on leadership and transformation and author of several books, speaks about his latest book, You Lead: How Being Yourself Makes You a Better Leader.
Minter discusses what he learned when he ran a division at L’Oréal and what he needed to understand about himself—with the help of the Grateful Dead—along the way. He also shares why having a business purpose is a game-changer to help a company or brand differentiate itself from the competition.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:56] Minter’s career begins in banking then a start-up travel agency for musicians.
[5:05] He moves back Philadelphia and tries all kinds of jobs.
[06:28] The Grateful Dead is core to Minter’s existence.
[06:51] After business school, Minter applies to two companies: LVMH and L’Oreal.
[08:10] Minter climbs the corporate ladder as a cross-cultural leader.
[09:48] How power and proximity affect corporate culture
[11:16] Minter is focused on creating a differentiated culture for the Redken brand.
[12:24] How they decided what type of culture they wanted.
[13:32] They figured out how to develop purpose to drive the culture.
[14:54] The challenge of translating the external purpose message for the division internally.
[16:39] The financial results of a purpose-driven business.
[18:06] The folk tale that gave the Grateful Dead their name.
[19:40] The two important morals of the story that tying into self-awareness.
[21:12] How leadership is about letting go of your ego.
[22:55] We are never going to know fully who we are and we continue to evolve.
[23:52] The importance of understanding your emotions, including your triggers and how to be present.
[26:30] “You Lead” was supposed to be Minter’s first book and how he recognizes his need to be more self-aware.
[29:20] Minter wanted to help people who weren’t empathetic to delegate their empathy.
[31:22] The importance of self-awareness in leadership.
[34:02] Minter’s book “Futureproof” is focused on mindset.
[34:30] Trust is the critical component of leadership and requires authenticity.
[35:50] The notion of gaining trust as a leader needs to be intentional.
[38:00] The purpose of Minter’s next book is helping people heal and harder conversations need to be tackled in order to do that.
[40:11] How do we start to change our leadership style?
[41:10] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: When listening to other people, reformulate what they have said rather than bouncing off it.
RESOURCES
Minterdial.com
Minter Dial on LinkedIn
Minter Dial on Twitter
Minter’s book You Lead
Minter’s podcast Minter Dialogue
Minter’s four books on Amazon
Minter’s DIALOGOS on Substack
QUOTES
“I really felt it was important that if you run a brand, it must be different from the inside out from the other brands.”
“It has everything to do with having a de facto realistic purpose that is not all about 100% everything perfect. It's just making things manifest, making them real, and everybody talking some kind of real language.”
“In today’s world, especially now we’re working in the distributed world, if you don’t have trust, you have nothing.”
“You can’t limit your purpose to something that your team internally doesn’t experience, because if all you’re doing is making your customers happy…what about me?”
“The thing about the Grateful Dead is there’s a philosophy which is essentially once you understand that you are mortal, that you will die, then you become more grateful in the present.”
“When you think of the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, he was the leader, but he was not one of those fear and control leaders. He was a participant. You were contributing with him in his leadership.”
Reid Hiatt, the Co-Founder and CEO at Tactic, launched this new venture during the pandemic to enable companies to bring employees back into the office safely and to provide long-term solutions for those moving to hybrid models. Reid shares insights about the dynamics of hybrid work arrangements and how he sees companies—including his own—using effective communication and new tools to implement them successfully. He discusses specific solutions to reduce meeting overload as well as the importance of proactive planning and participation to enable every employee to do their best work.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:10] Reid never imagined being where his position is now.
[03:40] Reid finds meaning in his early career.
[04:15] How COVID shaped Reid’s life and family.
[07:00] Reid’s friend Chris calls with an interesting idea for them to explore together.
[09:38] Reid and Chris try to evaluate and scope the future of hybrid working during 2020.
[10:44] What was middle management’s reaction to hybrid work models?
[12:50] Reid learns the challenges for new recruits in distributed teams in his consulting job.
[14:58] At the end of 2020, Reid and Chris bring in a tech co-founder, and notice patterns.
[15:40] Believing the priority pain point for distributed teams is collaboration, the team is ready to start.
[17:45] How to address each person’s working preferences while enabling relationships to develop.
[19:50] The key to making hybrid work is communication.
[20:38] The importance of eliminating proximity bias.
[20:58] The approach tools for creating a good communication culture.
[23:39] We have too many meetings. How to make them effective—includind recording and documenting them.
[24:39] Reid shares an example of how to have an effective meeting using transparency and documentation.
[25:21] Being purposeful about transparency and inclusion.
[26:58] Reid was surprised by the number of hybrid models.
[29:25] The initial product launched based on their research.
[30:00] The focus on the employee experience especially collaboration.
[31:12] Hybrid preferably provides a solution to suit each individual worker.
[33:30] You need to be intentional about onboarding and employee development.
[35:12] How to choose the right model for your company.
[35:38] Effective implementation first requires a plan.
[36:49] The human-centric focus is key to success for any hybrid work arrangement.
[37:15] Internal messaging about a hybrid model is key so employees understand their wellbeing is at the core.
[38:48] What are the next steps after launching a hybrid model?
[39:29] What to do if your hybrid work model is working as well as you had hoped.
[41:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: First define what effective looks like and how you will measure the success of your hybrid model. Second, gather feedback from your employees to find out what their experience of hybrid has been so far.
RESOURCES
Reid Hiatt on LinkedIn
Reid Hiatt on Twitter
Gettactic.com
Tactic on LinkedIn
QUOTES
“Honestly, across the board, what we found was that the vast majority of people, both younger and older, really resonated with this hybrid model. The younger people actually more so than the older but there wasn't a ton of resistance.”
“I believe that one reason why work can be so great is because you develop relationships with people that you wouldn't have otherwise.”
“Remote and in-person, like just one or the other, is the easiest to implement. I believe hybrid, when done correctly, is the most effective.”
“If I don't have anything to share, if there's nothing for me to share, and there's nothing that I need to specifically know or do in this meeting, then I have to ask myself, is this the most effective use of my time?”
Claire Harbour spent years in general management, strategy consulting, and executive search before deciding to focus on people, talent and bringing out the best in individuals and organizations. She is now a leadership coach and co-author of Disrupt Your Career: How to Navigate Uncharted Career Transitions and Thrive and online courses on career agility. Claire shares insights about the Great Resignation—how employees can be reflecting and developing career agility and how employers can foster constructive career conversations. KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:10] Claire started out on a very different career path.
[04:00] How Claire changed to internationally-focused business and management.
[04:43] Interest in talent opportunities first manifested for Claire.
[06:26] Claire starts to focus on talent while balancing evolving professional and personal circumstances.
[07:25] The role Claire plays as a coach at decisive moments in her clients’ professional lives.
[09:33] The ‘push’ reasons for resigning from your job have not changed much.
[10:43] However, we have had more mind space to take action during the pandemic.
[11:35] New perspectives about possibilities especially with many employees moving jobs.
[13:35] For employees thinking through their options, there is much information available to review.
[15:06] The Japanese concept of ikigai is one useful tool to start the reflection process.
[17:08] What career agility means and the six “Cs”.
[19:00] How working on career agility helps you consider options and make changes.
[20:41] The importance of talking with, not about, talent.
[21:45] How managers must be involved in empathic career conversations, not just HR.
[24:16] Ways to create safe space to talk openly about career development.
[23:45] What do managers need to be thinking about when it comes to upskilling talent?
[25:53] The value of academy companies nurturing employees’ capabilities.
[25:50] Organizations are updating their offerings for employees—internal mobility and more.
[29:00] The benefit of personal openness and awareness to foster creative conversations.
[31:06] How to use exit interviews to generate constructive dialog and ongoing relationships.
[32:17] – The questions you can ask to help someone reconsider leaving.
[34:18] Why shopping lists in recruitment are no longer helpful or relevant.
[35:04] The importance of creative thinking in recruitment.
[37:06] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Focus on what you want to move towards rather than away from. Make yourself a Dream Board of the things that you might want in your career. Practice visioning, imagining the job and environment where you want to be.
RESOURCES
Claire Harbour on LinkedIn
Claire's website
Disrupt Your Career by Claire Harbour
Careeracrobats.com
QUOTES
“There are an awful lot of jobs flowing around in, in a buoyant job market. I think one thing that maybe we forget too easily is that when one person resigns, typically that person has to be replaced. To an extent, we’re in a merry-go-round.”
“We've got this simple model, which refers to the six Cs which are: commitment, control, curiosity, change agility, connections, and confidence.”
“Whatever stage you’re in in your career, you can be asking yourself questions.”
“Why wouldn’t we create a system eventually whereby everybody is given a chance to have a safe creative space in which to talk and plan and develop.”
“We are all packages of resources and capacities and capabilities.”
“She said to me a few weeks ago, "What I wish we could do is to stop talking about talent and start talking with talent.”
Kapil Kane, Director of Innovation at Intel China and co-founder of award-winning corporate innovation accelerator GrowthX, has wide-ranging experience in product design and shares insights about his customer- and employee-centric approach to design and innovation. He explains how the accelerator stimulates innovation at Intel and how they have adapted to be responsive and innovate faster during these times of uncertainty.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:45] Where Kapil grew up and what he dreamed of doing.
[03:40] Why his first experience in the US was very different for Kapil.
[04:20] Kapil interns for Apple and finds consumer electronics product design more satisfying.
[05:24] Working on a revolutionary project at Apple, Kapil drops out of school.
[06:14] Why testing is such an integral part of the design process for a great product.
[06:38] The challenge of testing a revolutionary product!
[07:59] Why Kapil moved to China in 2007.
[09:14] The rapid prototyping and positive attitude allowed Kapil to make quick progress.
[10:36] The do/try/break/iterate approach in China which differs from his experiences of design in India and the US.
[11:15] Enterprising attitudes allow quick access to resources nationwide.
[13:00] China’s consumer electronics design work is very customer centric.
[14:20] Intel recently empowered a local group to create products for the local market based on core technology.
[15:19] Employees working close to customers are identifying needs in the local market.
[17:41] How hackathons are used to generate initial ideas.
[18:25] Various seed programs develop proof of concept.
[19:30] How the accelerator Kapil co-founded explores feasibility and business viability.
[20:48] Multiple sprints prepare viable ideas for investment and launch.
[21:38] How market conditions changed the process and opportunities for technology.
[23;36] The pros and cons of innovating with hybrid work arrangements.
[24:31] The benefit of experimentation away from company headquarters.
[25:11] Kapil has found that consumers are more forgiving in China about new products.
[25:55] How customer feedback and (hackathon) research affect product development.
[27:43] The shift to empathetic mindsets in validation interviews involves understanding customers’ pain points.
[28:48] Innovation is best achieved in environments where people are allowed to challenge the status quo.
[31:43] How Kapil’s creative approach successfully stimulates innovation at Intel.
[34:59] Transferring business understanding upstream enables innovation in an ever-changing environment.
[37:03] Stimulating innovation and testing business cases early on encourages employees to be intrapreneurial.
[39:08] Kapil spends most of his time supporting the idea selection process—especially bootcamps and business pitches.
[40:15] Team coachability during bootcamps is an indicator of performance in the accelerator.
[41:15] Why has Intel’s accelerator been successful and others’ have not?
[42:21] The two factors Kapil attributes to the innovation program’s overall success.
[44:12] Why a flexible attitude also matters.
[45:44] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: In addition to empathizing with clients, have empathy for your employees. Listen to their ideas. Give them a platform and an environment to play with their ideas. Enable them. Empower them and you can explore all types of innovation—moonshots and incremental and adjacent innovation.
RESOURCES
Kapil Kane on LinkedIn
Kapil Kane’s podcast Between Two Friends
GrowthX's website
QUOTES
“Many times, the success rate is quite, quite small. I would say 10 to 15%, so not all projects you start in an accelerator will have an ending.”
“In general, this pandemic I think has brought more opportunities for technology, especially in data centers, PC, and internet streaming.”
“The cool thing is that not being in your headquartered country or the headquartered market, you have more chances to experiment.”
“I think the definition of innovation is not limited to technology. When people hear innovation, they think new ideas are being built in a lab.”
“You need to create real value from the innovation by landing those innovations into the market.”
Susan Inouye, CEO of the Inouye LoRe Group, is an executive coach, recognized expert with Millennials, and bestselling author of Leadership’s Perfect Storm: What Millennials Are Teaching Us about Possibilities, Passion and Purpose. Susan brings her proven track record in transformational change to share insights about what matters most in all our working lives and how leaders can stop the burnout, stem the tide, and engage younger employees who are walking out.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:45] Susan’s unusual transition towards coaching from the entertainment industry.
[03:18] How Susan was selected as a top coach to study with Tony Robbins.
[05:27] Transitioning to sales, Susan becomes the number one salesperson in 10 months.
[06:23] A friend insists Susan coach her and extraordinary financial success results.
[08:15] Susan is told coaching is her calling!
[09:30] Susan hits another ceiling and is advised to go out on her own
[10:49] How did Millennials became a focus of Susan’s work.
[11:28] What understanding Millennials really entails.
[12:55] The impact of connected relationships for at-risk Millennial youth.
[14:58] What compelled Susan to write her book?
[16:45] Why is the Great Resignation happening?
[18:51] How people experience burnout.
[21:44] Why we didn’t notice we were burning out until now.
[22:20] Why cultural values and issues are highlighted causing employees to reassess their employer.
[25:32] An employee exodus shock an employer.
[27:32] The three things Millennials want—that every human wants.
[29:39] Susan suggests simple solutions for improving connections.
[31:11] Leaders need to focus their people be role models.
[32:23] Understanding and orienting towards people’s gifts generates energy and engagement.
[36:05] The benefit of understanding our blind spots.
[38:19] The benefit of working with gifts and blind spots and how to find your own.
[43:19] How to nurture and coach Millennials as our new and upcoming leaders.
[44:01] How Boomers are behind Millennials perspectives and actions.
[44:46] What legacy do Boomers and Gen Xers what to leave?
[45:18] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Connect and receive what others have to offer. Observe people, using the connection that you have to see their gifts, who they are in the world, and accept them for who they are.
[46:21] Many soft skills are rising to the top of the list for leaders.
RESOURCES
Susan Inouye on LinkedIn
Susan Inouye on Twitter
Susan's website
Susan’s book “Leadership’s Perfect Storm: What Millennials are Teaching Us about Possibilities, Passion, and Purpose”
Youthmentoring.org
QUOTES
“When your calling hits you in the face, you kind of push it away. It took me three months [to accept it].”
“The number one reason employees are leaving is because of burn out.”
“Gifts are what we were born naturally to bring into this world. It’s what we do without thinking about it.”
“We focused on his gifts, and his blind spots, and he started to become a better leader, better person. And he said, "Oh my gosh, my whole team changed because I changed."”
Neil Miller, host of The Digital Workplace podcast, has been working remotely almost all his working life. Early years working overseas fostered his understanding of different work approaches and habits. Neil has significant expertise leading distributed teams, utilizing digital tools, and incorporating effective asynchronous work methods and practices, especially to reduce the number and length of meetings in order to improve performance. KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:24] Neil explores different life and work options at the beginning of his career.
[03:57] Neil shares his early work experiences—challenges, observations, and learnings.
[05:29] How you ask “why?” more working in a different cultural environment.
[06:42] Neil discusses the realities of direct and indirect communication and power dynamics in different cultures.
[09:17] What it was like for Neil working remotely as his first work experience in the US.
[11:56] As the only remote worker to begin with, Neil felt he always had to be the one making the compromises working with in-person teams and how that motivated him.
[13:07] How Neil could sense when in-person visits were needed to reconnect with colleagues.
[14:05] Reactions to pandemic-related remote-working and desires to transition back to the office.
[15:44] In-person meetings were the over-used catch-all tool for collaboration.
[16:33] Digital work offers benefits of new workflow options, not replicating office-based work.
[17:26] How should we be thinking about meetings if we optimize with digital tools?
[19:05] Understanding asynchronous working, its benefits, and how to do it.
[21:56] If you could “hire” a meeting what would it’s functionality and objective be?
[22:56] Opportunities and challenges for digital leaders: aligning channels, content, and timing.
[25:49] Top benefits of meetings working with distributed/hybrid teams.
[27:48] Neil shares his tips for collaboration and intentional serendipity.
[29:08] How employees with different personality types show up in meetings.
[29:55] The beneficial results from starting a collaboration and ending it 24 hours later.
[31:25] Using empathy to be an effective leader of a distributed team.
[32:48] How Neil is adjusting his work preferences while onboarding a new team member.
[34:31] Neil offers advice on how to bring a new employee up to speed on culture.
[35:46] Onboarding a new hire offers an opportunity to make, re-evaluate, and communicate promises to the team as well as share an updated operating guide.
[37:45] Neil recommends when low and high fidelity communications are best used by leaders.
[41:51] Neil has an assessment tool on his website that helps gauge your digital workplace score.
[42:54] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Look at the next meeting on your calendar and ask yourself “what part of the meeting could be done asynchronously or another way?”
RESOURCES
Neil Miller on LinkedIn
Neil Miller on Twitter
The Digital Workplace website
Digital Workplace assessment tool
QUOTES
“When you’re in an office, the meeting is the catch-all tool for collaboration. We use it for all sorts of different purposes. When we transitioned to digital work, we carry that reliance on meetings over with us.”
“Now I have eight ways that I can collaborate instead of just one, instead of just meetings.”
“It’s going to require a lot of digital fluency, a lot of intelligence about picking the right mediums.”
“Think of a meeting like it's something you hire. So if I'm going to hire a meeting, what is it that I really want it to do? If I'm going to hire a meeting, I'm going hire it to build connection with people because a meeting's going do that much better than a text message going back and forth.”
“Look at your schedule tomorrow, what part of that meeting do you think could be done asynchronously or could be done in another way? It just opens up a lot of good questions.”
David Nour, CEO of the Nour Group, brings his extensive expertise on applications of strategic business relationships to the challenges of 2022’s marketplace uncertainties and work conditions. As a senior leadership and board advisor, educator, executive coach, and prolific, best-selling author, David shares his insights about the importance of reciprocity, empathy, and the exchange of value to transform our professional exchanges and develop mutually beneficial, rewarding, and deep long-term relationships.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:44] How David grew up in Iran and as a child was sent to live in the US with relatives.
[03:36] David learns about the value of nurturing relationships from his father early on.
[04:24] There is a different emphasis in business in the US compared to other countries.
[05:04] David went on a listening tour and learned what he really did well.
[06:00] What David sees as the problem with ‘networking’.
[06:40] The role of trust in relationships.
[07:39] How planning and value exchange generate success in relationships.
[09:06] Matching the natural give and take of relationships.
[11:05] How empathy changes the relationship dynamic.
[11:29] The importance of asking good questions.
[12:07] Why it starts with “you” first.
[13:05] How are you showing up? How are people experiencing you?
[15:05] Have you considered why anyone would want to spend time with you?
[16:26] David emphasizes the significance of consistency in relationships.
[17:26] How you can add or offer value to someone else to build a relationship.
[19:44] What the Great Resignation is really about.
[20:20] Which relationships are worth investing time in?
[22:07] How pushback is healthy for developing a strong relationship.
[23:55] The importance of aligned values.
[26:16] The benefit of jobs fitting people, not people fitting jobs.
[28:27] How are we defining and measuring success?
[30:30] The relationship dynamics of high-performing teams.
[34:17] Key elements David has updated in the new version of Relationship Economics.
[35:52] David’s research into influencing without authority.
[38:44] Coping with the pandemic long-term.
[39:30] How David suggests everyone can get comfortable at in-person events.
[40:20] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Suspend judgment. Give people more options. Focus on three priorities. And ask more about people’s wellbeing—but only if you care.
[41:16] What are the key questions to ask?
[42:37] Focus on fewer things. Add less to people’s plates, not more.
[43:32] How to nurture your priority relationships.
[46:00] David advocates for micro communities and shares an invitation to join his private community.
RESOURCES
David Nour on LinkedIn
David Nour on Twitter
David Nour on Instagram
The Nour Group website
Join David’s group
QUOTES
“If you lead with the relationship, if you think about the relationship as the arrowhead, not as the feathers at the tail end of the arrow, you'll create a very different set of outcomes.”
“In every interaction you have basically two options: You’re either going to enhance, elevate, and amplify that relationship, your reputation, the perceived value in you, or you’re going to dilute it.”
“If you’re not thinking ‘what’s in it for the other person?’ you’re missing half the value.”
“You know what it takes to network? A pulse. You know what it takes to make relationships succeed? A plan.”
“A certain does of respectful pushback is healthy for every relationship.”
“Let's talk about this pandemic. I think the evolution or the nature of human species says, “We will adapt.””
As we wrap up 2021, there is much that we can learn, benefit from, and use to our competitive advantage in preparing for 2022. Much has changed since the pandemic started and the recent past—how we operated and acted over the last twelve months—provides us with some of the only available insights into how things have changed and examples of what worked and didn’t. Sophie discusses what we experienced in 2021 and areas to reflect upon. She also shares questions for you to think about to gather the insights you need to support your business’s growth and success in the year ahead.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[01:46] We are ready to put 2021 behind us, just as with 2020, but we are in a better place.
[02:51] However, the lingering pandemic has taken a toll on our mental health.
[03:19] Dashed expectations contributed to spring-time burnout, how could well-being be better supported next year?
[04:22] How empathetic concern dropped off during 2021 despite ongoing challenges.
[05:14] After a rollercoaster year, we need to pay attention to emotions and practicing empathy.
[06:30] The majority of new business conditions and lasting operational changes result from digitization, accelerated by the pandemic.
[07:40] Reflection can draw out the insights we need to transform successfully for 2022.
[08:35] Excuses that block or stall change are understandable, but they prevent important progress.
[09:56] The purpose of workplace flexibility is not “letting people work remotely”.
[10:42] There are many ways to give employees more control over how they accomplish their work.
[11:37] Offering equitable working arrangements does not mean employees all having identical options.
[12:29] Surveys help uncover suggestions from employees who know what flexibility they would like.
[13:14] A new work model will fail if leadership is not consistently committed to making it work.
[13:43] How employees act if they are engaged in their work—wherever they are working.
[14:31] Many people use those magically creative “water cooler” moments to insist on office-based work.
[15:41] The realities of creativity and serendipity and being proactive.
[16:52] Why every company needs to implement flexible work arrangements and manage differently.
[18:16] What the new “Project Economy” means regarding how we think about and organize work.
[19:20] Questions to assess 2021 project work methods at your company.
[20:43] How digitization has changed our understanding of business workflows and increased adaptability.
[21:42] Questions to assess how digitalization effected your company’s ability to adapt in 2021.
[23:23] Why are we able now to have a better understanding of our individual preferences?
[23:57] Questions to draw insights from your 2021 work experiences to optimize future results.
[25:05] Critical benefits of recognizing and accommodating our own and coworkers’ preferences.
[26:05] Where to focus useful retrospection to gain useful awareness and start 2022 off well!
RESOURCES
Sophie’s articles and interviews about the Future of Work including hybrid working models and working preferences.
Sophie’s new book Empathy Works: The Key to Competitive Advantage in the New Era of Work that will be released May 3, 2022.
QUOTES
“The purpose of hybrid work models is to improve employee engagement and performance”
“Success in the Future of Work has much to do with individuals and teams taking proactive measures.”
YuChiang Cheng is the Chief Product Officer of Zwift, an online global fitness platform for cyclists, runners, and triathletes. YuChiang has spent his career trying to understand how to create meaningful online and hybrid connections, communities, and experiences for customers. At Zwift, responsible for all aspects of the Customer Journey, YuChiang explains how they try to discover and satisfy their different customer groups’ online and offline pain points, needs, and desires.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:46] YuChiang’s career was determined by his interests and relationships.
[03:19] YuChiang’s interest in people generated early exploration.
[03:55] How YuChiang dropped out of law school and joined the compliance department of a betting startup.
[05:15] Learning about customers’ experiences and bridging real and virtual.
[06:18] How to bring older, less tech-savvy people online.
[07:22] YuChiang helps (gambling) regulators understand technology and online operations.
[09:11] The upside to studying law and philosophy is that you learn to ask a lot of questions.
[09:25] “What are you afraid of?” and other questions to expose risk and reduce volatility.
[10:39] The process of identifying the opportunity that developed into World Golf Tour.
[12:11] What the co-founders discovered to be the customers’ core pain points.
[13:33] How YuChiang understands customers, what drives them, and prioritizes their needs.
[14:16] The two main gaps that World Golf Tour concept focused on—time and cost.
[16:44] How did YuChiang consciously build community into his company and user base?
[17:52] The ways they involved community members in shaping the experience.
[19:27] Top Golf and World Golf Tour were great complements, bridging physical and virtual.
[20:16] How Angry Birds fit into the golfing picture!
[21:45] What ways are best to connect or integrate real and virtual experiences and benefits?
[24:47] YuChiang describes Zwift’s unique offering and what customers learn.
[26:11] On Zwift, you have your own progression system.
[27:00] More companies are incorporating gamification with real life benefits.
[31:19] How YuChiang understands passionate community groups and creating tools to enhance their experiences, especially in the metaverse.
[33:26] YuChiang programs virtual experiences like TV content segments.
[35:36] What Zwift is working on to attract, deliver, and become essential for all potential customers.
[37:32] Want to know your customers better? It starts with curiosity and conversations.
[38:01] YuChiang has merged experience with products—all part of the Customer Journey.
[40:00] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: It’s a process and skill to create amazing customer experiences which starts with discovery and asking many questions. Once you have the data, don’t be afraid. Try things incrementally and test them with actual customers.
RESOURCES
YuChiang Cheng on LinkedIn
YuChiang Cheng on Twitter
Zwift.com
Zwift on Twitter - @GoZwift
Zwift on Facebook - @gozwift
Zwift on Instagram - @gozwift
Zwift on YouTube - Zwift
Zwift on LinkedIn - Zwift
QUOTES
“My process is really not that unique. It's going to talk to the customer. It's going to understand and ask questions about, you know, "What do you like? What do you not like? What do you hope? How would you describe this?" It's asking these questions hundreds and hundreds of times.”
“Question I love to ask when trying to understand the consumer is, “What about the activity or the experience that you find the most delightful?” or “What is the thing that, if I took it away, the one thing that would cause you to quit?””
“At the end of the day, it's about having a constant curiosity about who your customers are, what do they really want, what are their behavior and motivations, and what are their pain points.”
Mikael Sorensen, the CEO of Handelsbanken UK, discusses the multinational bank’s decentralized management system with a human-centric culture and core beliefs that drive value creation—emphasizing customers first and then branch employees. Mikael shares how the bank empowers and encourages front-line employees to make decisions and the critical importance of trust. He also emphasizes the necessity of taking a long-term perspective.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:56] Why Mikael first joined Handelsbanken.
[03:44] What was Mikael’s initial experience of the bank.
[04:47] Why Handelsbanken’s values are central to their culture and business model.
[05:41] How decentralization is the organizing principle of a human-centric business.
[06:45] It takes courage for leaders to “sit on their hands”.
[08:08] What happens when people make mistakes?
[09:38] Handelsbanken’s booklet “Our Way” is experienced by employees daily across the bank.
[13:14] How branch employees are valued and trusted exclusively to nurture customer relationships.
[15:04] Handelsbanken believes that people are naturally motivated.
[15:31] How bonuses can drive the wrong behavior, especially with financial products’ risk profiles.
[16:44] The bank is driven by fulfilling customers’ dreams.
[17:46] Handelsbanken has an equitable profit-sharing model.
[19:57] How turnover decreases the efficiency of an organization.
[20:45] Why low staff turnover increases customer satisfaction.
[22:08] The bank has a flat structure and encourages generalists.
[23:41] How talent mobility allows employees to revisit customer-facing roles.
[25:27] Handelsbanken’s recruitment process takes time to ensure there is a good fit.
[27:29] What middle managers may find hard in adapting to Handelsbanken’s system.
[28:54] Not many people are natural leaders or managers—it comes from experience and being coached.
[31:03] Other organizations can benefit from Handelsbanken’s approach to trust and dare!
[32:14] Why other companies haven’t succeeded when adopting Handelsbanken’s business model.
[34:18] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Think about your fundamental beliefs about human behavior--how we interact with each other, what drives us, and motivates us. Plus take the long-term view, not short-cuts, to ensure your business is around another 10 or even 100 years!
RESOURCES
Mikael Sorensen on LinkedIn
Handelsbanken UK’s website
Handelsbanken on Twitter
QUOTES
“We really do believe that most people want to do good things.”
“Fundamental belief in human nature leads to trust in and respect for the individual—that being the customer or the staff.”
“If you empower people to take their own decisions, then you have to encourage them also to use that empowerment.”
“We don’t believe that we need to motivate people. They are motivated by nature and the worst thing you can do is try and interfere with that natural motivation.”
“Everything we do is with a long-term perspective. If you start taking a short-term view or take short cuts then there’s no guarantee that you will be here 10 years from now or 100 years from now. But we want to be here.”
Gena Cox, Founder and CEO of Feels Human, is an industrial/organizational psychologist with expertise in measuring and supporting inclusive behaviors. She works with companies to build inclusive organizational cultures. Gena has deep understanding about human dynamics in the workplace and the critical role leaders play. This episode is how to create engaging and inclusive employee experiences which leaders are responsible for.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[2:57] How Gena got into industrial/organizational psychology.
[04:25] The odd subordination of the human element in business to the operational system.
[5:45] Gena’s positive early experience working at a company with a very purpose-built culture.
[07:03] How assessment and evaluation systems are inequitably applied.
[07:44] Leadership became Gena’s focus, recognizing the impact individual managers have.
[09:06] How Gena used her expertise in measuring employee opinions and employee experience at IBM.
[10:57] Navigating the ethical challenges associated with using artificial intelligence.
[12:40] Have you ever done an online search for ‘thought leader’? What comes up?
[15:18] Evaluating organizational effectiveness—measuring and identifying what’s missing?
[16:02] To improve productivity, organizations need to accept the criticality of managers’ behaviors.
[17:30] The (discounted) importance of human experience in the creation of business value.
[19:20] What happens when employees aren’t included and asked for their inputs.
[21:30] Why haven’t soft skills been emphasized in the workplace?
[22:35] How leaders study leadership but are not trained how to lead.
[26:20] The importance of psychological safety in effective teamwork.
[27:10] Most managers don’t feel safe to ask for help, setting them up for failure.
[28:30] Gena describes her unexpected experiences arriving in US for the first time at 20 years old as a person of color.
[31:34] How Gena’s experiences influenced her work as an I/O psychologist advising leaders.
[32:30] The problems with finding distinctions and sifting data—especially when insights are held back as leaders do not want to hear them.
[34:08] Who leaders should ask for valuable advice from.
[35:55] George Floyd’s murder caused Gena to recognize that she had been being fake.
[36:40] How and why Gena is now combining her I/O expertise and personal and observed experiences to share understanding and insights about inclusion with leaders.
[38:09] Stories from Gena’s childhood growing up in Barbados and the United Kingdom growing up.
[40:58] How to create an environment where everyone can flourish.
[42:33] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Inclusion starts at the top, as a leader be convincing in articulating why it matters, establish expectations of behavior, and hold managers accountable.
[44:17] Does Gena feel discouraged?
RESOURCES
Gena Cox on LinkedIn
Gena Cox on Twitter
Feelshuman.com
Leadership Reckoning by Thomas Kolditz PhD, Libby Gill and Ryan Brown PhD
Five Strategies to Infuse D&I into your organization by Gena Cox and David Lancefield
QUOTES
“Industrial organizational psychology has always been about that human element.”
“We found in our research pretty consistently that it's really the manager that is at the core of the employee experience.”
“I would outlaw the use of the word soft skills. What I take that to mean is that the human experience is lesser than all of these other experiences that go into the creation of ‘the thing.’”
“In the context of leadership, it always includes the human experience.”
“I’m trying to shed light on the leader's role and creating an environment in which all of us can flourish.”
Matthias Hollwich, Founder of HKWN Architecture, has long focused on designing buildings that foster human connection and generate positive emotions and memories. He describes his vision for the office of the future designed to create a more human experience, recognizing the cadence of workers’ emotions, tasks, and other needs during the course of their workdays. Matthias explains how these offices will lure people back and support positive and productive experiences and interactions.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[2:55] Matthias did not originally anticipate being an architect.
[05:00] One of Matthias’ high school teachers unwittingly set him on the path to New York.
[8:00] Why Rem Koolhaas is such an inspirational architect for Matthias.
[10:48] Matthias wanted to understand how buildings made people feel.
[13:20] Taking part in a major competition Matthias’ team’s submission was a surprise last minute combination of ideas.
[15:02] How people connected emotionally with ‘Wendy’ their winning submission.
[16:03] Memories are generated by a combination of familiarity, emotions, and novelty.
[18:22] Architects were first to recognize that we need more than just cubicles and conference rooms at the office.
[20:07] How can we lure people back to the office? We don’t want to force them back.
[21:48] For Matthias, the future office environment “resorting” comes from three mega trends: hub and spoke, hoteling, and longevity.
[23:45] Matthias just won a competition to create the first ever “work resort’ in the world and explains the goal.
[26:22] Typical resorts create experiences. What would the work resort experience be like?
[29:38] How the economics can make creating a work resort effective and affordable.
[32:10] Matthias describes the buildings with personalities that visitors can interact with at the upcoming exhibition in Berlin.
[34:31] People have agency in shaping their living and working environments.
[36:35] Why did Matthias write a book about living smarter as we get older?
[37:55] Matthias recommends visiting an assisted living facility or a nursing home for a day.
[40:00] How do you design buildings with an older person in mind?
[42:15] At each age milestone, do a review of where and how you live and look ahead. How will your environment suit your needs in the future?
[47:45] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Walk around your local environment, single out a building and consider what you like about it and how you would change it. You are the user, you are in charge!
RESOURCES
Matthias Hollwich on LinkedIn
Matthias Hollwich on Twitter
HKWN website
HKWN on Instagram
Shape Tomorrow Expo on Nov 19
New Aging: Live Smarter Now to Live Better Forever by Matthias Hollwich
QUOTES
“We did not create architecture, we created memories. And that was for me the big paradigm change.”
“If you can create something so emotional that people connect to, it's magic that we can give to people. Suddenly they don't respond to that object anymore, it has a personality.”
“When emotions are involved in your experience, it goes from short-term memory into the long-term memory.”
“Now we can actually design buildings that really make it attractive for people to come there and have an incredible experience, which is about the corporate culture, the community and the experiences.”
“Shape Tomorrow really is an invitation to interact with us as architects, so that people realize they have a lot of power in shaping their own environments.”
“You have to look through the lens of older people, to be able to design things [for them]. So you have to really put yourself into the shoes of an older person.”
“As the user, you're in charge, and you have the right to live in a city that serves you well.”
Lisa Morton, CEO of Roland Dransfield, founded her PR agency in Manchester, England, combining entrepreneurial spirit, Northern grit, purpose, and values to build her company and expand nationally and internationally. Lisa explains her intentional emphasis on purpose and living her values daily which has been core for attracting and retaining clients and employees, while guiding all their actions and decisions. She also shares what happens when values are not clearly defined and how they have benefitted from setting boundaries.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:50] Who was Roland Dransfield and how was he relevant to Lisa’s business?
[03:46] Lisa’s father great saying about cars and baked beans!
[04:16] How Roland Dransfield started Lisa off as an entrepreneur.
[05:54] Circumstances were not easy when Lisa started her company.
[07:34] A dramatic incident impacted the purpose and role of Roland Dransfield early on.
[08:53] Manchester has changed significantly since Lisa first started her career.
[10:19] How purpose is manifested for employees coming to work at the agency.
[12:15] Lisa’s approach to mutually enriching development and progress.
[13:20] The celebration dinner for Roland Dransfield alumni.
[14:21] What happens when values do not have defining boundaries?
[15:54] Lisa set hard lines to achieve alignment and expected some people to resign.
[17:16] How they explored values—finding out which values resonated most.
[18:20] What they did once new values were agreed to integrate them effectively.
[18:49] Exploring Greater Manchunian values through their podcast “We Built This City”
[19:29] Values are lived actively—one is selected and reinforced every week.
[20:44] Lisa confirms potential new clients’ values before agreeing to work with them.
[21:33] How their value “Admit it, fix it, move on” helps them improve.
[22:08] How BrewDog admitted their mistakes and made amends and why other companies don’t.
[24:17] After finding disconnected values were really upsetting her team, Lisa resigned a client project.
[26:31] The positive outcomes after Lisa took this difficult step.
[28:08] How new recruits connect with the company values.
[29:40] Purpose helps retention and values provide protection.
[31:04] Why Lisa feels pro bono work is important.
[32:14] Are the agency’s values manifested differently in London and Los Angeles?
[35:26] How do boundaries make it easier when things are really tough?
[36:25] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP – Take time out to work on your values. Write them down, do some iterations and consider how to integrate them into your life.
RESOURCES
Lisa Morton on LinkedIn
Roland Dransfield’s website
Roland Dransfield on Twitter
Roland Dransfield on Instagram
Roland Dransfield on Facebook
Legacy by James Kerr
QUOTES
“My dad always used to say, ‘if business is going well, have a great car and eat baked beans. And if business is going badly, have a great car and eat baked beans.”
“We will hope to make your lives better in terms of your personal professional development, and we want you to help us make our platform even richer.”
“You wouldn't come and join Roland Dransfield if purpose wasn't at your heart, or if you didn't feel you wanted to be part of a purpose driven organization.”
“I want to know—for a 21 year old who's coming into this business—what's important to you? What does work need to look like for you? What gets you out of bed in the morning?”
“What we don't want to be as individuals or an organization that just goes through life using all the resources around us. Our platform as people and as a business needs to use the platform to create more resources. So we go out having left more than we've taken out.”
“Having put that values piece in has helped me to create space for myself as a mom, as a business person, as a friend, and as a leader.”
Jeremy Fleming, the Founder and CEO of Stagekings, discusses how he evolved and grew the Australian event and theater staging business after a necessary radical pivot at the beginning of the pandemic. Re-applying everyone’s crafts’ skills to design, develop, sell, and distribute innovative desks, they engaged new customers online and used feedback to help expand the product range. Jeremy also shares how encouraging people to work across all areas of the business as well as diversifying revenue and vertically integrating is creating resiliency to ensure the company’s ongoing stability and success.
[02:57] How Jeremy started his career in bridge carpentry and scaffolding.
[04:11] Jeremy brought his event staging experience from Europe to launch Stagekings in 2015.
[05:52] Versatile use of their skills expanded services into building theater sets and whole theaters.
[06:52] Jeremy’s scaffolding and event experience and innovative approach enabled rapid assembly and dismantling.
[08:07] Friday March 13th 2020: Devastating news for Stagekings’ business.
[10:03] Friday March 20th: Jeremy’s difficult decision to let employees go after exhausting all options.
[11:58] How chatting with a former employee seeded the idea of creating desks for people working from home.
[12:22] Sunday March 22nd: Mick’s furniture-making hobby and skills are engaged to explore desk ideas.
[13:13] Unique desk designs: no-tool quick assembly/disassembly, one packs flat for easy storage.
[14:15] Monday March 23rd: The business now needs ecommerce to sell the new desk products online.
[15:18] How Jeremy’s frank letter shared on social channels to market their desks goes viral.
[16:11] Tuesday March 24th: StageKings’ former employees are called back to work!
[16:55] Stagekings hires more people as the demand for IsoKing desks grows.
[18:25] New desk designs and other products are added as the business expands rapidly.
[19:19] Customers enjoy receiving desks delivered by entertainment event roadies.
[20:07] The product line expands driven by ‘community-led innovation’ with surprising requests!
[23:01] Stagekings consolidates IsoKings’ products and operations after rapid first year growth.
[24:27] A new brand of at-home furniture is launched as well as IsoKing becoming its own brand.
[26:42] With continuing uncertainties, the focus becomes establishing more income streams.
[27:58] Vertical integration enables Stagekings to broaden their offering and customer base.
[30:55] Jeremy attributes their success to the team, their adaptability, and positive attitudes.
[34:02] How Stagekings gives back to the event industry, supporting unemployed event workers.
[34:59] Discussing the challenges for freelance workers during the pandemic.
[37:02] The optimism Jeremy has about 2022 for Stagekings across market segments.
[37:39] What flexible approaches to work and encouraging employees to move around business areas means for them and the company.
[39:21] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you have an idea, go for it. And it doesn’t have to be massive steps. Small, consistent steps will get you much further.
RESOURCES
Jeremy Fleming on LinkedIn
Stagekings.com.au
Stagekings on YouTube
Stagekings on Facebook
Isoking.com.au
IsoKing on Instragram
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink
Supportact.org.au/get-help/crisis-relief-grants
Jeremy Fleming’s website
QUOTES
“There’s a time when the show must go on—and wherever we’re up to, that’s where it is when it happens!”
“We called it community-led innovation, where it was the community telling us what they wanted, and we’d design it.”
“Out of anything bad, something good will come, and you need to work on that. Don't focus on the bad, focus on the good that'll come from it.”
“It’s real event mentality—problems are going to come up, and you’re just going to deal with them, you’ve still got to get through it.”
“We lost all of our work, what can we do? What can we do? Yeah, there's something you can do.”
“I’ve really focused over the whole of the last 18 months on establishing more pillars of income.”
“I think that’s what people like about it here—it’s that nothing is every the same!”
“The big thing for me is if people have an idea, just really go for it.“
Laurel Farrer, Founder and CEO of Distribute Consulting—a virtual organizational development consulting firm, is well aware of the rewards of transitioning long-term to remote working, and the risks, especially with hybrid models. As a 15-year seasoned remote worker, Laurel has identified the key factors that are critical for success and benchmarking goals for healthy virtual organizations. She shares her experiences, insights, and cautions as we all work through our inevitable, work-related transformations.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[04:02] Laurel’s accidental exposure to remote working and her early experiences.
[07:43] The primary barrier to success was credibility.
[08:21] Determination to overcome the credibility gap fueled her company’s internal culture development.
[08:46] How the success of their creative team was not dependent on the existence of a [physical] whiteboard.
[09:46] The benefits of facilitator in virtual discussions, especially for brainstorming including introverts and extroverts.
[10:53] How asynchronous communications and pre-work boosts collaboration and outcomes.
[12:29] Laurel works on benchmarking to develop goals for healthy virtual organizations.
[13:48] How to navigate the challenges as we explore new work arrangements.
[14:37] The importance of balance and transparent communication.
[15:29] Companies with economic challenges in offering work from home options benefit from explaining the situation to their employees.
[18:17] Company culture is impacting the management process because it takes time to develop a strong culture.
[21:03] Culture is one the six pillars of Laurel’s company’s methodology.
[21:21] Training is key for remote workers to be equipped as successful self-managers.
[22:11] Managers need training to be able to manage people they can’t see—replacing supervising with support and encouragement.
[23:14] The difference between deliverables and results and the importance of tracking both.
[25:15] How a knowledge management system unifies a team to streamline communication and collaboration.
[26:16] Virtual infrastructure encompasses documenting culture and workflows with virtual handbooks.
[27:01] Compliance is a major issue - we haven’t yet achieved operational models for location irrelevancy yet.
[28:16] Understanding what you are getting into is essential.
[29:05] When we were forced to work remotely, it was an emergency not a long-term plan—which are two very different things.
[30:52] Hybrid teams are complicated. The risks and rewards of hybrid work models.
[32:15] The ultimate goal is to be operating as location irrelevant as possible, but we have not broken our habits enough as organizations.
[34:09] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Communicate! Employers and employees need to be talking and listening to each other! Together you can work out how to unleash the power of remote work for your specific and unique organization and organizational culture.
[34:34] Remember, remote work is not a one-size fits all.
[35:23] Go at your own pace—if some people are stressed and resistant, slow it down.
RESOURCES
Laurel Farrer on LinkedIn
DistributeConsulting.com
QUOTES
“We also leveraged asynchronous communication. So everybody always felt safe in the systems.”
“What is the checklist of things that I have to do in order to be better? That doesn't exist for virtual organizational development. It doesn't exist necessarily for remote work at all.”
“We really need to figure out how to communicate as transparently as possible about why decisions are being made the way that they are.”
“You might have those cat posters on the wall that say you're humble and that you're innovative and that you're adaptable, but are you really?”
“We need to be able to create space to measure and track all types of outcomes, all types of diverse productivity as opposed to just deliverables.”
“We haven’t yet achieved operational models for location irrelevancy yet.”
“There are so many organizations that say, "No, it's not possible. Everyone come back to the office." And it is possible. You just need to know what to do.”
“We haven’t broken habits enough to have location irrelevant mindsets yet so naturally we are dividing people by location which is going to be problematic as we try to move forward as a unified team.”
Ramon Ray, founder of SmartHustle.com, has been involved in the small business sector for over twenty years as a serial entrepreneur, podcast host, author, and expert advocating for small business success. As a vocal participant and active contributor, he helps small businesses adapt to new marketplace dynamics—from developing meaningful client relationships to motivating and supporting employees. He shares five priorities to focus on and the strategic importance of empathy.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:27] How Ramon’s experience working at the UN was the embryonic beginning of his focus on entrepreneurship and small businesses.
[03:56] Technology advice and understanding have been core to Ramon’s support to small businesses growth which has evolved with platform, application, and digital media advances.
[05:41] Ramon bridges the chasm between small emerging businesses and large tech companies trying to reach them—their empathy factor and influencer.
[08:36] Five priorities for small businesses to focus on to transform for the new era of work.
[11:34] How empathy came to the forefront for Ramon in 2020 as many significant events occurred.
[13;16] What it means to wear someone else’s shoes—in life and when offering business advice.
[14:59] Empathy can mean recognizing but not agreeing with another person’s perspective.
[16:14] Ramon encouraged a client to empathize with him, facilitating an effective way to work together.
[17:46] Understanding and fulfilling your own needs as well as supporting others during tough times.
[19:51] The power of contentment to appreciate the positive aspects of your situation.
[22:35] How empathy is particularly important now to bridge differences, connect with more people, and mitigate our more insular situations due to COVID19 restrictions.
[24:02] Managing differently in small companies to adjust to a less predictable marketplace while staying profitable—being more transparent, flexible, and supportive with employees.
[26:57] The reciprocal benefits of empathy, trust, and communication especially in changing conditions.
[27:56] Ramon shares the challenges of his kids—navigating work as a recent graduate and coping with very restrictive situations overseas during the pandemic.
[30:02] Wondering about new labor market entrants learning new work conditions as the standard.
[31:13] Aligned intention, shared values, and empathetic understanding with customers promotes strong relationships.
[34:33] The benefit of clients recognizing you for who you are!
[36:06] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Encourage and care about people. Be empathetic. Build and focus on your personal brand. Don’t be afraid to amplify who are you—in an empathetic way!
RESOURCES
Ramon Ray on LinkedIn
Ramon Ray on Twitter
Ramon Ray on Facebook
Ramon Ray on Instagram
Ramon Ray’s video “I’ll Wear Your Shoes”
Ramon Ray’s latest book “Celebrity CEO”
Smarthustle.com
RamonRay.com
QUOTES
“We cannot predict the future. Be comfortable with that.”
“It comes to the human dimensions, right? That make the biggest difference.”
“It’s not just shooting the target. 60% of it is mindset.”
“Somebody reading this may want to do it a different way. That’s okay.”
“We all need someone to reach out to us. It’s not a business thing. I go on WhatsApp once a week and send a message to 10-15 people and let them know I care.”
“I understand the broad strokes of your company [and your values], now unleash me and let me do what I do.”
“Don’t be afraid to amplify who you are.”
Sacha Connor—Founder and CEO of Virtual Work Insider—was a remote work pioneer for The Clorox Company. Sacha explains how she transitioned to working 3000 miles away from HQ for eight years and became the first fully remote member of the Leadership Team of a $1 billion division. Sacha shares how processes were reimagined, what issues arose, what solutions were developed, as well as surprising benefits gained along the way.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:50] Sacha discusses her career in marketing.
[05:28] Why Sacha chose to go remote and move 3000 miles away from her company HQ.
[06:29] How Sacha planted seeds over time to get agreement to work remotely as an experiment.
[08:32] A trusted relationship laid the foundation for constructive conversations about how it could work.
[09:29] How Sacha was allowed to lead an innovation team remotely.
[10:43] The three major career limitations that were initially part of Sacha’s remote arrangement.
[11:26] How risk was assessed in allowing this remote experiment.
[12:15] Potential was initially linked to promotability which was tied to location.
[12:38] How acceptance was enabled by The Clorox Company’s existing performance management system which tracked her defined and detailed objectives and measured her success.
[13:55] Surveys allowed Sacha to monitor team sentiment and development of trusting relationships that were important for virtual collaboration.
[14:40] What were some of the challenges and benefits of remote working across time zones?
[15:50] How to work effectively with new team members.
[17:27] Sacha’s steep learning curve and technology challenges in 2010.
[20:19] Adapting workflow for a distributed innovation team.
[21:54] Sharing experiences, learnings, and resources improved effectiveness.
[22:24] How the Employee Resource Group for remote workers helped employees bridge gaps between office locations too.
[23:40] Sacha became an influential pioneer regarding Future of Work adaptations at a 100-year old organization.
[25:06] Definitions of workplace flexibility, hybrid models and working, and remote working.
[26:47] ‘Virtual’ used as a term to encompass work and relationships across locations.
[28:51] Myth #1: The ‘magic’ generated by chance office encounters does not happen in virtual environments.
[31:03] Intentionally establishing rituals to create the interactions that enable creativity, influence, problem-solving, and ideation for virtual and multi-office workers.
[32:58] The importance of stimulating intersections of people across divisions and networks.
[34:05] Myth #2: Brainstorming effectively is not possible in virtual environments.
[36:09] Unintended (beneficial) consequences of new processes for virtual brainstorming.
[38:35] Hybrid meetings: reducing the challenges and biases, and improving inclusiveness requires facilitation and conscious action.
[40:10] The impact of a ‘virtual-first’ work approach and being intentional about how work is done.
[44:05] Whatever workforce and workplace strategies companies are working on now are not the final answer—it takes a flexible and iterative approach.
[45:21] It takes an infinite mindset to tackle the Future of Work—with each organization iterating and adjusting as they go.
[47:15] Everyone needs to upskill for new work circumstances and learning virtual leadership skills, whatever role employees are in.
[48:30] More areas to emphasize to enhance virtual work—setting expectations clearly; building relationships; fostering a culture of trust and inclusion; having the right technology tools; and teaching how to use the tools.
[49:05] Empathy is key for understanding each other beyond the virtual curtains between people and other ‘soft’ skills which are critical.
[50:42] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Have empathy for yourself and others in order to be able to adjust and iterate and make this next transition. Everyone is at a different stage and comfort level about what’s next.
RESOURCES
Sacha Connor on LinkedIn
Sacha Connor on Twitter
Virtualworkinsider.com
Special resources available for podcast listeners ’10 Tips from 10 Years of Remote Work’ and ‘Hybrid Work Kickstarter Toolkit’
The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts, and Cultures by Frans Johansson
The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
QUOTES
“Do we want to live near the careers that we love or near the people that we love?”
“They trusted me and trust is a huge component with remote work. They knew I was dedicated.”
“Innovation felt like one step removed from the risk (of being remote) because it was something that we were preparing for the future.”
“Potential was linked to promotability which was linked to location.”
“You think about measuring performance. You need to have that in place whether you’re located together or not.”
“The seemingly innocuous moments that happen on the way to the elevator, they’re actually moments of influence. They're moments of problem-solving, connection, and idea generation.”
This episode is about using sophisticated traditional marketing techniques to transform employees’ apathy and ambivalence into engagement and enable change initiatives to succeed. Neil Bedwell is a Founding Partner of LOCAL where he applies his extensive expertise in consumer marketing to internal corporate audiences to effect lasting change. The key is understanding how culture impacts new initiatives from ideation through development and execution. Neil explains what marketing techniques are core to LOCAL’s effective ‘Change Marketing™’.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:49] How Neil fell into marketing.
[04:49] Realizing the effect of corporate culture on ideas as they are developed.
[7:10] In big organizations, it is a challenge not to weaken ideas as they become more complex, trying to solve additional asks.
[10:06] Neil shifts to marketing to employees, founding LOCAL with two partners.
[11:00] What is ‘marketing’ and what is ‘Change Marketing’™?
[12:08] Why knowledge about your employees is a central sources of competitive advantage.
[13:30] Understanding the dire effect of unengaged employees on your business.
[14:33] Insights—Why Neil believes listening to employees is the difference between success and failure.
[15:23] Narrative—Change is a journey with employees as the heroes of the story.
[16:40] Helping people understand every step of transformative change by taking them along the storytelling journey.
[17:26] Craft—creating the quality of messaging to the win attention of employees.
[19:29] The significance of employees’ participation in change initiatives.
[20:17] What stories can fill the void if companies don’t communicate to their employees.
[21:32] How culture allows new initiatives to survive or die.
[21:57] Culture is created by your people, not you as a leader.
[22:42] How to influence employees by listening and crafting an intentional story.
[23:40] How to craft a story that is going to resonate with each employee.
[25:52] The meaningful role of a company’s ‘Believers’.
[26:46] Who influences the ‘Swayables’ in the middle?
[27:21] How to shift the norms within a company.
[30:30] The level of empathy in your company’s culture has determined resilience to disruption.
[32:36] Talented people are moving to cultures that have natural empathy built in.
[33:33] What it takes to foster, strengthen, and maintain a culture.
[34:10] Being in one place together used to be a key part of cultural ‘glue’.
[35:25] How cultural ‘cyclones’ can be developed away from the corporate hub and help solve the problem of cultural dilution.
[37:54] The powerful ‘Infinity Loop’: two connected halves—the customer and employee experiences.
[39:49] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: The Assumption Problem – Marketers don’t assume anything. Start with employees’ apathy and ambivalence. You have to earn their caring and their belief.
RESOURCES
Neil Bedwell on LinkedIn
LOCAL on LinkedIn
Neil Bedwell on Twitter — @Neilbedwell
LOCAL on Twitter - @insidelocal
Localindustries.com
QUOTES
“I’m a big believer that people shouldn’t have one career, that you should have as many different careers as you can.”
“Culture is what allows things to survive or die.”
“It doesn’t matter how helpful your idea is, if you don’t actually think about how it travels through culture, you’re likely going to lose that battle.”
“Marketing is ‘the orientation of everything you do around your audience.’”
“Around 2/3 of adults in the US are disengaged at work. They are unhappy, miserable, with the thing they spend half their waking life doing.”
“If you're not listening to your employees and understanding how they think and feel, you are in danger of not understanding the impact of that disengagement.”
“Disengagement hampers innovation, productivity, efficiency, effectiveness, customer service, the quality of your products, etc. Anything that you attribute to growth can be linked back to employee engagement.”
“Two thirds of those [change] initiatives require significant employee behavior change in order to succeed.”
“Smart talented folks are voting with their feet…they are seeking out those culture that have natural empathy built in.”
Paul Reid is the CEO and Founder of Trickle and a serial entrepreneur. He shares how his early employment experiences taught him to build trust-based, thriving cultures at his first two start-ups. Now, these learnings have been encoded into the software that powers his latest venture, Trickle. Trust—which is key for employee engagement, effective communication, and collaboration—is generally earned, slowly. However, Paul explains how to generate trusting relationships more quickly through a purposeful combination of anonymity and action, supplemented by transparency.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[04:00] Paul’s first work experience at a tech start-up and the work conditions for employees.
[06:05] How Paul tried to solve employees’ issues by sharing anonymous data.
[07:18] The surprising response he got from the company’s founders.
[08:34] The recurring process established to fix the problems and its impact on the culture.
[10:12] How important was the co-founders’ role in the process?
[11:15] Paul’s first venture—a tech start-up that focused on feedback and open discussion to create a high-performance culture.
[13:15] Recruiting software engineers and then setting them free to do the right thing.
[14:22] As a business scales up, how trust can be sustained.
[15:09] The ‘Broken Windows’ criminology study of derelict buildings and what it signals.
[17:00] The benefit of Trickle’s internal ‘broken window sessions’.
[18:25] How do you ‘trigger’ trust in a company, enabling it to build quickly?
[19:00] Psychological safety is a huge component of a highly-functioning team. How do you cultivate that? People feel they can speak up without fear of negative consequences.
[20:18] Why Trickle doesn’t record anything if someone wants to contribute anonymously.
[21:14] Action must follow quickly after listening to employees. If you survey employees, it is important to show them progress is being made based on their feedback.
[22:01] Trickle’s effectiveness is based on tying engagement to the actual issues.
[22:58] Why Trickle focuses on introducing three things: inclusivity, transparency, and agility.
[23:25] As trust builds within an organization, many employees start to feel comfortable enough to submit feedback without being anonymous.
[25:05] How champions spend five minutes a day to support habit-forming.
[27:19] Due to the pandemic, people were afraid to ask doctors how they were doing, so Trickle added a feature to check in with them and gathered insights to help improve their well-being.
[31:20] How Trickle helps nudge people to establish new habits—e.g. sending a fist-bump!
[32:35] Why the sign of a healthy organization is engagement with a rolling cadence responding to issues of interest to talk about.
[33:45] The three stages of check-ins to engage employees feedback on key issues.
[35:16] What will happen when people go back into the office and how can Trickle help?
[36:23] How transparency is always a key theme for Trickle.
[36:51] Why not to fear anonymity – it helps more people engage in and contribute on key issues.
[37:47] The hybrid model that Paul anticipates for Trickle going forward and why.
[38:58] What is Paul’s onboarding process like, especially sharing the company’s culture?
[41:52] How Paul helps employees speak up during uncertain times and Trickle shares targeted mental health advice responding to anonymous check-ins.
[43:51] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Don’t get hung up on how to respond to employee feedback. Gather the data so you can understand how people feel. Without that, you can't create the environments that people are going to thrive in.
RESOURCES
Paul Reid on LinkedIn
Paul Reid on Twitter — @TricklePaul
Trickle on Twitter - @TrickleWorks
Trickle.works
Smart and Gets Things Done by Avram Joel Spolsky
QUOTES
“You’re here because you’re very talented and you’ve got a desire to get things done and we’ve got a desire to be the best at what we do, and in order to do that, we are going to need to challenge each other.”
“The premise of Trickle is about helping people to speak up within an organization. So, we built it because we know that people don't often speak up about things that they care about.”
“When Google studied their highest-performing teams, what was the thing they had in common? Psychological safety. The ability to speak up without fear of negative consequences.”
“People don’t often see the value in speaking out, because they feel that things don’t change.”
“The idea is to tie the engagement and the action into one thread.”
“You’re trying to embed this openness.”
“When there's massive uncertainty, that’s when you want to be giving people a chance to speak up and get feedback.”
“If you don’t understand how people feel, you can’t create the environments that people are going to thrive in.”
Laetitia Vitaud is an author and authority on the Future of Work and brings a European perspective with her experience living, lecturing, consulting, and doing research in France, the UK, and Germany. She has long been concerned about the unbundling of jobs and the impact on employees, especially women. In this episode, Laetitia shares her views on new employment dynamics and emerging options that mean proactive attention and re-bundling can change future outcomes for workers.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:51] Why did Laetitia have a mid-life crisis at 20 and what did she do about it?
[06:28] Laetitia initially focused on how individuals make professional transitions successfully.
[07:39] Evangelizing the idea of freelancing which was a novelty in France in 2016.
[08:10] Laetitia compares the difference between US healthcare vs. French healthcare.
[10:29] There was a rise in freelance job opportunities during the mid 2000s. Why is that?
[12:06] Consulting contracts for younger people are common in Europe because the full salary bundle has become a barrier to hiring someone as an employee.
[13:09] Rigid employee contracts for well-protected bundles led to outsourcing to service companies as well as freelancers.
[14:50] The evolution of the social contract with specialization, alienation, and subordination.
[16:23] The broad attractive work bundle offered by Ford and other auto manufacturers.
[18:01] Laetitia shares some key traits that have disappeared from the job bundle.
[18:56] Unalignment, exploitation, and inequalities are effects of the unbundling.
[19:45] Corporations’ attempts at realignment and filling in the gaps.
[20:34] Laetitia describes broad job dissatisfaction about trade-offs.
[22:18] What is a ‘good job’ now?
[23:33] Considering the concept of ‘good work’ which could mean bundling gigs.
[24:52] What questions should you be asking about your work?
[26:36] People aren’t calculating if their current bundle enough for the long-haul.
[27:32] The disparity in younger and older employees recognizing the reality of job bundles.
[29:08] How someone can become a craftsperson and remain relevant and valuable in the market.
[29:59] How employers can redefine contracts, employment arrangements, and open up work to be more flexible, attractive, and creative.
[31:09] How the pandemic has increased flexibility in work models to adapt to uncertainties.
[32:57] Managers are so reluctant to have a distributed workforce. Why?
[33:45] The return to the office is about order and rituals.
[37:07] ‘Hybrid work’ means many different things and must be applicable for everyone’s needs.
[39:28] Flexible working is a mindset first and not enforcing one model for everyone.
[40:28] How to create an inclusive workforce in a hybrid context.
[42:35] Increased options for creating new bundles—especially beneficial to counter ageism and discrimination against women.
[45:01] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Thinking about the impact of increased longevity, before you make any important decision, invite past and future selves to the table to confer with your current self. You should all have a say in discussing important issues before making your mind up!
RESOURCES
Laetitia Vitaud on LinkedIn
Laetitia Vitaud on Twitter — @Vitolae
Subscribe to Laetitia's Newsletter
Laetitiavitaud.com
QUOTES
“In France, whatever you do, you will have access to healthcare insurance and it would not cost you more [as a freelancer]. So, it’s easier to leave a salaried job and become self-employed even if you have a preexisting condition.”
“This quote what's good for GM is good for America and vice versa is actually a very profound thing because there's perfect alignment between what you do and the interest of the country, the nation, the planet, and that's that, that's also something that disappeared from the bundle.”
“What made the Fordist deal attractive was that in exchange of this alienation—division of labor and subordination—you had a very attractive bundle.”
“The more rigid the contract is, and the more companies want a flexible workforce and on demand work, the more hesitant they are to recruit people with that rigid contract.”
“The business of consulting is booming in those countries where the work contract is so rigid. You have so many consultants everywhere.”
“It’s not all bad for everybody. Some people have a satisfactory bundle, but by and large a lot more people are dissatisfied with the bundle that they have.”
“A lot of people are trapped in the vision of the old bundle and do not realize that without the job security [in this new bundle], they need to do some financial calculations that incorporate the risk of losing their jobs and transitioning to other jobs.”
“One way of inventing a new bundle by becoming a craftsman or craftswoman.”
“The question about what a good job is too narrow, because it's based on the assumption that basically there is a bundle behind a job.”
Muriel Clauson brings a rich background in industrial and organizational psychology and psychometrics to the discussion about the importance of reorienting our employment focus from ‘jobs’ to ‘skills’. As co-Founder of Anthill—which enables adaptive talent management with employee buy-in using talent-mapping software—Muriel explains how we can emphasize people and skills, since talent, not technology, will ultimately determine competitive advantage.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:32] Muriel started in finance, but soon realized it wasn’t for her. What next?
[03:50] With a mentor and determination, she got a job, then did a PhD in industrial and organizational psychology.
[04:48] On a NASA program, looking at humanities’ challenges, she missed the connection to work.
[05:57] Muriel was asked to fill a keynote spot at short notice. Without experience, she stepped up!
[06:45] If you’re passionate about something, tell everyone!
[07:27] - How we have typically been cataloguing and defining different occupations—by KSAOs: knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics.
[08:40] Instead of thinking about how people can keep their jobs as automation comes to the forefront, what are people bringing to a work experience, starting with skills?
[09:40] Using a relationship database with a more understanding of people’s skills and their jobs, the projections on job replacement went down dramatically.
[11:25] Muriel wanted to change databases so technologies being created to navigate Future-of-Work changes would be built on top of data organized around skills.
[12:29] How executives need to help employees navigate work changes as technology won't be a real differentiator in the future, it will be people.
[12:42] Employers over-correct for a gap in skills, training everyone on that skill.
[13:50] The perfect world? Where each person understands all they bring to the table, what next steps they could take, where each could lead them, and what their priorities might be
[14:32] The 30 year linear “one” career is gone.
[15:08] How can companies best track and manage employees’ new non-linear careers?
[16:20] Public school systems still use the Strobe Test to assess what job someone should do, although it is most correlated to their parents’ socioeconomic status.
[17:51] Muriel helps companies think about the skills their people can bring to the table and develop a strategy and jobs around them.
[19:18] People leave companies not because they're disengaged or overworked, but because they don’t see a progression and a future.
[20:44] More enterprises are adopting a people-first approach, realizing treating people well is aligned with incentives.
[21:03] After a necessary mental shift, how can employers individualize skills’-based solutions at scale?
[22:56] What are YOUR skills today?
[24:20] Muriel digs into psychometrics to help people identify what their skills are.
[26:10] Context for different tests is important in order to understand what they are assessing.
[28:28] Using a relational database and much historical data, answering a few questions can generate a good hypothesis which is then refined.
[29:29] Sharing test results with employees so they also benefit from insights.
[30:59] The importance of establishing a culture of trust at organizations.
[32:28] The benefit of asking employees: What skills and interests are you not bringing to the table now that you’d like to use more of?
[37:01] The pandemic catalyzed many leaders to change their mindsets, strategies and thinking about work.
[39:06] Muriel has been surprised by the shift in executives’ approach to internal talent mobility.
[41:10] We do robust modeling for resources and companies, but not talent.
[41:55] Employers began to have more empathy—helping employees get the most out of work.
[43:00] Imagine employees feeling comfortable enough to say “Hey, I’m not feeling fully leveraged” so they can be moved to a new opportunity.
[44:14] Talking about the future of work, it always boils down to deciding between technology/profits or putting their people first, but it’s a false choice.
[47:09] Muriel considers how we can bridge the gap between employers and employees.
[48:35] As a new generation of graduates enter the workforce, what do they need to be aware of in this new work environment?
[50:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: The future doesn’t have a ‘type’. In a rapidly-changing world, there is no one type of person that is most ‘future ready’. Each of us has a seat at the table and plays a role in creating our future.
RESOURCES
Muriel Clauson on LinkedIn
Muriel Clauson on Instagram — @anthillai
Anthillai.com
Onetonline.org
QUOTES
“There is so much more to people than job description.”
“I became obsessed with actually helping governments restructure their labor data in a way that was skills first.”
“When people started to take a skills-based approach, the projection on job replacement went down dramatically.”
“Technology actually won't be a real differentiator in the future, it will be people.”
“We have employees who want to learn and develop their career but lack that navigation on how to do it.”
“We need to come up with a way to help people really understand what they bring to the table.”
Matthew Bishop—author of Philanthrocapitalism, visiting senior fellow of the Brookings Institution and a founder of the Social Progress Initiative—discusses how we can begin to rethink, and reform, capitalism and better value all workers’ contributions. As we plan to emerge from a period of extreme disruption, our economic framework needs to be reconfigured and the human capital of America assessed as to whether it’s well-suited for the Future of Work.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[04:00] The pandemic highlighted existing fault lines and intensified and accelerated disruptions that were already underway.
[05:37] Why does capitalism need to be reformed?
[06:55] After the crash of 2008, it became clear that we have a system of two halves – with almost all benefits going to the half with financial capital.
[07:45] COVID caused economic justice to rise to the top of the political agenda because of its impact on the average worker who already felt insecure about work.
[08:48] Capitalism wasn’t delivering for the average family and COVID accelerated the need to address this.
[08:57] The significance of the Business Roundtable announcement about all stakeholders, not just shareholders, benefiting.
[09:56] Why it makes sense to separate workers out from the rest of ‘social’ in the ‘S’ of ESG.
[10:43] There are a lot of conversations right now on how to be a better employer--but a big challenge is to figure out how to find broad agreement.
[11:49] WorkMoney is a new organization lobbying for working family rights in Washington—including the delineation between employees and independent contractors.
[12:50] What can be reconfigured to reform capitalism—setting an enabling context?
[13:33] Next steps--vocal companies talking about long-term stakeholder strategy.
[14:23] Measuring how companies are performing against UN Sustainable Development Goal targets.
[15:20] Is it time to reformulate GDP since it has never adequately measured progress?
[16:33] Matthew co-founded the Social Progress Index—a series of measures of the good society to use alongside GDP.
[17:22] COVID highlighted places with poor social performance as more vulnerable to deaths.
[18:39] What ‘normality’ may look like with the release of pent-up demand!
[20:28] Companies will be judged on how they responded during the crisis.
[22:00] CEOs know they have to change, but will their investors punish them if they do?
[23:40] The younger generation has seen nothing but chaos and catastrophe which likely results in jadedness and low trust levels.
[24:31] Without long-term career prospects, employees are happy to share opinions about their companies publicly especially credentials about social issues.
[26:40] Google has a large percentage of contract workers who are treated differently to employees.
[27:57] A bifurcated workforce can exist where high-paid employees are not focused on the social contract as regular employees are.
[29:47] Gender bias in management may improve after men have been more exposed in home-based chores and challenges during the pandemic.
[30:51] Matthew believes the ability to work from home will be an option for almost every job going forward.
[31:17] African American billionaire Robert Smith has proposed the 2% Solution to the Business Roundtable to address structural social challenges.
[33:17] COVID has highlighted deep social and structural problems in the economy and how difficult it is to get ahead.
[34:35] There will be a need for a massive re-skilling.
[35:19] The average American family needs to be equipped for the new world of work.
[36:02] A new initiative to create a national human capital strategy for America.
[37:03] The private sector needs to collaborate with universities and colleges and discuss future skills’ needs and what degrees will prepare future employees best.
[38:44] Employers, educators, and the government ought to get together and talk about what the future of work looks like even though you can’t predict how technology is going to evolve.
[39:51] The pandemic has shaken up the traditional four-year in-person degree.
[41:14] Where is ‘Philanthrocapitalism’ headed in the upcoming years?
[44:02] We have the opportunity to have a more constructive dialog between business and society.
[45:56] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Big picture - demand a national Human Capital Strategy and be willing to participate. Within your own company - Talk with your own team and find out what they really want, what their expectations are and what good practice looks like.
RESOURCES
Matthew Bishop on LinkedIn
Matthew Bishop on Twitter — @Mattbish
Philanthrocapitalism.net
WorkMoney.org
Socialprogress.org
Worldbenchmarkingalliance.org
Association of American Colleges and Universities
Robert Smith’s 2% Solution
Businessroundtable.org
QUOTES
“There was already a recognition that capitalism wasn’t delivering for the average family.”
“You look at the last year and the richest people in the world, they’ve done fantastically well, and the average worker with no benefits, their life has gotten much harder.”
“I do think a lot of CEOs get it, they get the need to change, but they are concerned that investors are ultimately going to punish them for doing that rather than reward them.”
“There is a need to look seriously, not just at economic growth, but about how the money is spent in terms of really investing in a healthy society.”
“The average working family needs to be equipped for the new world of work. What’s striking to me is that we don’t have a lot of ideas about what to do beyond going to college.”
“Nobody really knows what the human capital of America is and whether it’s well-suited to the work of the future.”
“Employers, educators, and the government ought to get together and talk about what the future of work looks like.”
“We have the opportunity to have a more constructive dialog between business and society.”
This episode Rob Tercek—author of Vaporized: Solid Strategies for Success in a Dematerialized World—discusses the reality of where we are, how to forecast appropriately, and plan strategically for 2021—understanding the opportunities and challenges. Rob poses questions to consider, identifies trends and advantages we can capture, as well as alerting us to dematerialization’s impact and how to work with it rather than be disrupted by it.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:56] Humans are used to adapting for short crises which made 2020 endless and hard.
[03:55] Business decisions were paralyzed as many people were unable to decide how to move forward in 2020.
[04:27] There is light at the end of the tunnel in 2021 with the vaccine rolling out.
[05:02] The vaccine doesn’t mean ‘normality’, but we can start to plan to go back to the office.
[06:10] COVID19 has just accelerated the process the internet began.
[06:53] Companies are not going to abandon the investment they made in work-from-home infrastructure leading to two kinds of workforce—distributed and onsite.
[07:56] Executives secret desires to go back to the office and concerns about remote working.
[08:46] Questions to consider as leaders assess strategic options about how to configure their workplaces for 2022.
[10:04] Companies may use a faulty forecasting process when planning for beyond crisis mode.
[10:57] Organizations can mistakenly think they are the only ones dealing with these circumstances.
[11:41] What is the impact of the broad shift in consumer behavior—changed habits and products they are no longer buying?
[12:35] Invest for the future will not be to rebuild the company as it was in 2018 and 2019.
[13:47] For B2B businesses, user and developer conferences are turning into tutorials for users—creating new habits and switching costs.
[14:57] How to use data to counter some of the loss in face-to-face meetings for sales people.
[16:47] Putting the IT department and CIO at forefront of rebuilding for the future.
[18:02] The importance of HR gathering and tracking data for C-suite discussions.
[18:46] The balance of responsibility between employer and employee to maintain skillsets.
[22:37] Rob describes how to create an actionable forecast.
[23:42] The only way you can tell if a prediction is accurate is after it’s happened.
[24:40] Why confidence intervals and probabilities matter.
[27:18] How to adjust for different geographic restrictions and vaccine rollout to develop a rough hypothesis and timeline.
[31:39] For companies to be laying a foundation in 2021 for 2022 and beyond.
Robert thinks we will have two quarters this year that will not be great.
[32:19] Plan to deploy new digital infrastructure for 2022, since it usually takes 12-18 months.
[34:07] Robert describes the significant impact of COVID19 on digital healthcare.
[35:59] What smart companies are doing differently now to gain market share.
[37:00] Critical focus needs to be on the customer journey, which may be different now.
[38:15] We have to have more self-awareness, especially about our emotional state
[39:27] The impact of digital media immersion which can act as an outrage-generator.
[40:56] Disruption is scary. It’s hard. Cutting people some slack is being empathetic.
[42:49] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: What parts of your work and life can—and will—be replaced by software or ‘dematerialized’? Consider carefully taking action or leave the opportunity for someone else!
RESOURCES
Robert Tercek on LinkedIn
Robert Tercek on Facebook
Robert Tercek on Twitter — @Superplex
Roberttercek.com
QUOTES
“There is a feeling, it’s a depressing thought, that 2021 seems like it’s going to be a continuation of 2020, and everyone knows 2020 was a terrible year on many levels.”
“Based on the current deployment of the vaccine, it seems unlikely we’re going to be through this COVID-19 until the latter half of 2021 and it could be as late as 2022. To set expectations.”
“You can’t turn back the hands of time. Many big organizations reallocated massive budgets to create a structure to work from home. That investment isn’t going to go away.”
“We lost two channels of information: Face-to-face meetings and conferences, but what we’ve gained is a different channel of feedback which is real-time usage data.”
“Everyone knows that we live in a changing world. Everyone knows that sudden dislocation seems to be the theme of this century.”
Simone Sloan—diversity and inclusion specialist, business strategist and leadership coach—discusses how to become an inclusive leader. Simone shares her own early discovery that leaders with transactional management styles cannot nurture the kind of inclusive community at work that they need to succeed and advance. Bolstering practice with study and research, Simone explains how to lean in and understand team members’ experiences to: communicate differently, withhold judgments, connect and shift relationships, and improve collaboration.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:25] Feeling the impact of a manager saying your inputs and ideas aren’t important or valued.
[03:50] What Simone discovered when she started branching out across the organization.
[04:20] The benefits of advocates and allies within your company.
[05:18] Building social capital – where women often miss out.
[06:14] When Simone took time to reflect and started being intentional about reaching out for short one-on-one meetings, she was surprised by the positive reactions she got.
[07:08] The importance of follow through and being strategic about building your tribe at work.
[08:39] During a merger, a colleague told Simone they ‘didn’t know her’. What did they mean and why did it matter?
[10:30] How Simone connected differently with her reports after she re-introduced herself.
[11:35] As relationships deepened across the team, the energy shifted and collaboration improved.
[13:15] How Simone transitioned from marketing to inclusive leadership by studying human behavior.
[13:45] What is ontological coaching and how does it help leaders perform?
[14:15] The difference it makes to start a meeting genuinely asking, ‘How is everyone doing?’.
[16:00] By understanding how everyone is showing up, it’s possible to shift a meeting from being transactional to intentional.
[16:40] How emotional intelligence creates awareness which leads to organizational clarity.
[17:35] Changing leadership styles and how to define what kind of leader you are.
[18:56] Simone explains how to be intentional about fostering an empathy-based company culture as a leader.
[20:44] How to help people connect by telling their diverse stories.
[22:06] Combining understanding and accountability—are you asking the right questions?
[22:40] Inclusive leadership means creating a safe space for people to share without retribution.
[23:52] The additional human dimension that COVID has pushed us all to understand.
[24:22] How vulnerability humanizes leaders and helps support people they’re not alone.
[25:46] Simone starts with values—what do you value as a human being?
[27:03] People want to be: welcomed, valued, respected, and heard—with commitment. Without one one of these, it’s exclusion.
[27:40] It’s a lot of work to make sure all four of these components are in place, but that’s the role a leader has to take on.
[27:53] How we start to reduce polarization and division across the country?
[29:15] We are in a period of change, which is why there is tension.
[29:57] Simone sees lack of trust as the greatest hindrance to cooperation going forward.
[30:40] Communication is the key to building trust, paying attention to style, cadence and content.
[32:25] Putting aside assumptions and judgments about others is essential when collaborating and communicating with others -- allowing them to show you how they see themselves.
[32:52] How leaders can reduce judgments with intentional awareness and reality checking.
[36:10] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To become a more inclusive leader, think about what kind of experience people are having with you.
RESOURCES
Simone Sloan on LinkedIn
Simone Sloan on Facebook
Simone_Sloan_ on Instagram
Simone Sloan on Twitter — @AimInspireGrow
Biz Coach Network on YouTube
Yourchoicecoach.com
QUOTES
“When you are in it from a non-management role, that's where you feel the impact of what's inclusive, and what's not.”
“Think about who do I know, who knows me, who have I been interacting with? And start bridging out, and asking for a 15-minute one-on-one.”
“After opening up about our mood then we get into the agenda. Then we can start tackling things because now we have an understanding of where everyone's coming from and how they're showing up.”
“How are you defining your leadership style? Because some people have no clue, they're just like, ‘I just do.’”
“During this pandemic, I've seen more leaders get more vulnerable. When people can humanize themselves in front of large groups, people go, ‘Oh I'm not alone.’”
“People want to be welcomed, valued, respected, and heard. If one of those four things do not exist, it's an exclusion.”
Michael Ventura—Founder of Sub Rosa and author of Applied Empathy—discusses his process for integrating empathy practices in work environments. He recommends doing self-work first and attaining sufficient awareness to stimulate and present an empathetic self. For business situations, he emphasizes cognitive empathy which involves perspective-taking driven by inquiry, as well as identifying and unpacking top workplace challenges. For the broader setting, Michael suggests we have conversations to understand, rather than conversations to win.
Key Takeaways
[00:53] Where the journey of empathy starts.
[03:36] Michael gets encouragement to be brave as an entrepreneur.
[04:00] Sub Rosa’s role as UN translator helping brands connect with their target audiences was Michael’s first empathy-making moment.
[04:42] How Michael’s entrepreneurial ventures have all applied empathy in order to connect with people in meaningful ways.
[05:15] Generations differ in how they relate to technology.
[06:28] Defining generations, and the conundrum for those born 1977 to 1984!
[09:27] The interior work involved in empathy—observation, witnessing, and practice.
[10:14] In his book, Applied Empathy, Michael included self-work practices and how these help us learn about others.
[11:53] What is the most effective way to communicate the value of empathy in business?
[12:30] How we can measure empathy—through its impact.
[13:42] Since March 2020, has interest increased in practicing empathy at work?
[14:30] People have recognized issues communicating and collaborating, but not known that practicing more empathy was the solution.
[15:28] An unintended consequence of quarantine work environments: that employees see more of the ‘whole person’ of their co-workers.
[17:10] If managers want to support their team better, they need to shift their behavior and manage each person individually.
[19:04] When managers understand more about themselves, they can show up more empathically and be more effective.
[20:09] We become more aware when we ask ourself questions, recognize and take care of multiple aspects of our ‘self’.
[21:42] Michael finds core issues by asking managers about the biggest rock they are facing.
[23:04] There is so much on managers’ plates right now, how can their transition be supported?
[23:58] Michael advocates for manager peer groups for problem-solving and support.
[25:15] How does Michael define empathy? It’s not about being nicer to people!
[26:24] The three types of empathy.
[27:59] The importance and challenge of cognitive empathy - the Platinum Rule.
[29:43] How cognitive empathy is the easiest to demonstrate value generation to an organization.
[30:22] Michael positions empathy as a hard skill—it’s hard to practice and slows things down before it speeds them up.
[31:12] Cognitive empathy is inherently neutral and needs to come with a set of ethics.
[33:10] How can we apply empathy and help bring people together across the country?
[34:59] Approaching conversations to understand, not to win.
[36:52] Michael shares learnings from conversations he and his wife have had while traveling cross country in their caravan.
[37:44] Practicing empathy is sometimes a slow process.
[39:26] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To create a daily practice of empathy, find the benign moment of the day or questions and think about ways to shift them—such as going from an autopilot ‘How are you doing?’ to ‘What’s it like to be you today?’
Resources
Michael Ventura on LinkedIn
Instagram - @themichaelventura
The Bridge Generation by Michael Rosa
WeAreSubRosa
Quotes
“If you don’t learn how to get into trouble, you’ll never learn how you will get out of it.”
“Good managers already know, especially in this time, that there is no one-size-fits-all way of managing. You can’t manage everybody the same way.”
“Everyone has a synonym for empathy because we don’t have a shared definition of empathy.”
“There's a big difference between having a conversation to win and having a conversation to understand.”
“Practicing empathy is sometimes a slow process.”
“Find the benign questions or moments in your day where you go on autopilot and think about ways you can shift that.”
Jeff Wald, founder and former CEO of WorkMarket, shares his data-rich perspective with authoritative clarity to discuss the evolution of the On-Demand Economy, including the impact of technology, regulation, and the pandemic on its future direction and potential. Jeff considers how new understanding about remote working affects opportunities for on-demand workers, what is the ‘future of the firm’, and the critical issues facing us all with shifting business conditions and labor markets.
TAKEAWAYS
[03:44] A lack of systems and processes was holding back the On-Demand economy.
[04:57] The IRS has a 2-factor test to determine if someone should be classified as an employee or not.
[06:02] Each company has a complicated task to decide relevant criteria for their on-demand workers.
[06:55] Labor force regulation needs simplifying, but there’s zero near-term possibility of it happening.
[07:25] The impact (or continuing uncertainty) resulting from California’s Uber lawsuit conclusion.
[08:36] How regulation-related confusion is causing companies to consider hiring fewer freelancers.
[11:00] How much the On-Demand economy has been going over the last 10 years.
[12:20] Regulation has been hindering growth, but software has helped interpret regulations.
[12:39] Jeff guesses that regulation will shrink the on-demand economy over the next 10 years.
[14:48] Are more companies tapping into the ‘total extended workforce’ strategically?
[17:00] The percentage the remote workforce will grow as a result of COVID19.
[17:31] 42% of the US workforce CAN work from home.
[18:03] Moving on from ‘productivity equals presence’ mindsets.
[19:27] How policies, procedures, and infrastructure changed in March 2020, so that everyone possible could work remotely.
[20:11] Humans are social animals—the ‘Hub and Club’ role of offices in the future.
[21:39] The percentage of people wanting flexible work arrangements going forward.
[23:53] Needing to be more responsive, organizations can adapt the employee/freelancer composition of the workforce.
[24:42] One impetus for WorkMarket was the prediction that firms have small fixed cost kernels with everything else done on-demand.
[25:08] Understanding ‘total talent management’ where companies see all their labor resources together.
[26:08] Job versus income security relating to full-time jobs and on-demand work.
[27:12] How the economic environment might affect workers’ attitudes towards full-time positions.
[30:00] The changing social contract and convergence between full-time and on-demand workers.
[32:05] The depletion of training budgets with responsibility shifting to workers.
[32:49] The COVID19 disruption enabling non-incremental change and crafting new work conditions and practices.
[33:50] The rise of robots means displaced workers and re-skilling—but who owns workers’ training?
[35:15] What the impact of workers getting left behind means for society.
[36:00] Now, the average skill diminishes in four to six years, rather than 30 years.
[38:52] Jeff’s interim full-time gig with the Biden campaign, supporting the democratic process, and the need for Presidential support of the working class and retraining.
[40:31] Jeff’s next entrepreneurial venture—potentially helping companies benefit from staying connected with former employees.
[34:14] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Jeff’s lingering question—'who should own employees’ retraining?’ Until there is a clear answer, be proactive, keep learning, and keep your skills updated!
QUOTES“The tailwind pushing the on-demand economies, people wanting to be more agile. The headwind is regulation pushing the other way.”
“My guess is that regulation wins that fight, and that the on-demand economy shrinks.”
“There is convergence between the part-time or on-demand worker, and the full-time worker.”
“You will see millions of workers that need to be retrained…and as a society we have not done that retraining well, and it’s unclear who should own that training.”
“Everybody has got to constantly be reading and updating and staying in touch with the new stuff, or you will become irrelevant… Everybody’s got to own it in some way on their own.”
RESOURCES
Jeff LinkedIn
Jeff on Twitter
The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile Corporations by Jeff Wald
The Nature of the Firm by Ronald Coase
Karyn Twaronite, EY’s Global Vice Chair of Diversity and Inclusiveness, explains the depth and breadth of diversity and how inclusiveness is at the core of a culture of belonging. She describes the importance of practicing empathy and being authentically and actively involved for nurturing these values. Karyn suggests what more we can all do to enable fully-supportive corporate environments.
Key Takeaways
[2:48] Diversity has many different dimensions and has evolved. How does Karyn define it at EY?
[4:04] Karyn describes the evolution of diversity with four Cs: Compliance, Character, Commerce, and Culture.
[05:12] How important authenticity is to avoid an ‘inclusion allusion’ and keep striving.
[06:36] A sense of belonging creates inclusiveness which comes from people having empathy for each other.
[07:16] Employees felt the most sense of belonging was when the people they worked with checked in with them one on one.
[08:40] Highly-effective team leaders are being asked to lead their team and their teams’ families.
[09:25] Empathy is a key ingredient with respect to checking in and feeling a sense of belonging.
[10:00] How to create a culture of belonging while maintaining uniqueness and not asking for conformity.
[11:17] How equitable sponsorship has been a transformational lever for EY to increase diversity.
[12:56] Women who are sponsored are more likely to stay longer, lean in to opportunities and return from maternity leave.
[13:41] How executives can be measured and rewarded for achieving inclusive leadership goals.
[14:39] Empathy relating to recent experiences and protests has moved people from passive disapproval to more active roles.
[15:53] Racism and discrimination exist everywhere. Understanding, compassion and empathy also exist everywhere and have ignited new conversations, creating a sense of urgency.
[16:36] A platform for social equity: What does your organization stand for and against?
[16:56] How can you be an active anti-racist? What does that mean for you and your situation?
[19:37] What leaders and senior executives can do to create a more inclusive corporate culture.
[20:39] Key DNI reasons for companies include creating a safer and more respectful work environment.
[21:21] Key inclusive leadership behaviors.
[21:30] Creating DNI as a business topic to track and share updates on progress.
[23:40] Why checking in on employees matters.
[24:08] Leaning into similarities AND differences.
[25:26] Anybody can take charge and become an inclusive leader.
[25:50] ‘Violent politeness’ and why the highest earning team member should offer their opinion last.
[28:04] How to stay proactive—consider who is sitting on the sidelines in your company or team?
[29:46] Immediate Action Tip: Expand your A team. You might be pleasantly surprised who’s sitting in the wings.
Resources
Ey.com
Karyn on LinkedIn
Karyn on Twitter
EY Global D&I page
How to strengthen inclusive leadership in times of crisis
EY Global Executive Diversity & Inclusion Statement
EY’s commitment to anti-racism in the US
Quotes
“If you aren’t really authentic in your effort to bring about a real inclusive culture, you can end up with something I call an inclusion illusion.”
“Employees felt a sense of belonging when the people that they worked with checked in with them one-on-one.”
“Empathy is a key ingredient and without it you’re really going to miss the bullseye.”
“A mentor stands beside you, but a sponsor is someone that stands in front of you and is very active.”
“Tone from the top is critical.”
“’You don’t have to be the most senior person on the team to be an inclusive leader.”
“Inclusion allows everyone on the field to play.”
Diversity and inclusion are best addressed with a multi-dimensional approach founded on empathy believes Siham Jaafar, President and CEO of 3D Consulting and Communications, whose training and consulting focuses on educational, law enforcement, and corporate audiences. Siham shares her perspectives and insights about how empathy-driven awareness increases our knowledge and decreases our fear of each other to bridge gaps and build connections, showing us that we are more the same than we are different.
Key Takeaways
[02:35] What drew Siham to diversity and inclusion training?
[03:48] Siham shares a vital turning point for her and how she thought about diversity and the catalyst for the Images & Perceptions Diversity Conference.
[4:35] Teachers have always been an important portion of the conference audience.
[4:40] Asking difficult questions allowed people to understand more and get comfortable.
[5:14] A vital turning point for Siham — How knowledge turns fear into enrichment about other people.
[6:40] Well-known speakers sharing their personal experiences in Hollywood and other industries brought credibility and relatability.
[8:06] Why many judges, lawyers, and law enforcement attend the conference.
[9:40] Empathy is the platform to build everything on.
[10:21] The difference between tolerance and acceptance and empathy’s role for achieving acceptance.
[11:16] The fear factor and its impact.
[12:41] The ‘need to know’ factor and getting a solid understanding of what you are dealing with.
[13:33] How COVID19 is making us all more vulnerable and aware.
[14:44] The challenge of talking about integration while staying physically distanced.
[15:25] How much are we thinking about everyone putting their lives on the line during this pandemic?
[17:48] What the pandemic and George Floyd’s death has revealed — ‘when the snow melts’ you see what’s underneath.
[18:28] People want police officers to be active, present, and do their jobs in a safe way, as well as stay safe.
[19:28] What kind of training helps police officers react empathetically when dealing with stressful conflict-ridden situations so things don’t escalate?
[20:10] The need for funding to have experts available and training for police officers to be better-equipped to respond and deescalate situations such as domestic violence.
[20:42] It’s critical for police officers to understand themselves—their way of thinking and backstories—and how that affects their personal perception of what they see.
[22:01] How the ‘fear factor’ influences African American parents’ discussions with their kids, creating different perspectives and emotional responses, such as during a traffic stop.
[22:58] If an officer has a different perception over why someone is acting a certain way, it can deeply affect their stress levels and conflict response.
[24:01] In most situations, when people are treated with respect and dignity, it creates an environment that encourages voluntary compliance.
[25:52] How do you create a safe place for people to tell their story in your organization?
[26:24] Someone asking questions wants to learn.
[26:54] We are more the same than we are different, we face the same challenges and want similar things.
[28:28] Remembering we can agree to disagree and still appreciate other’s thinking and accept it.
[29:05] Understanding more about our coworkers by seeing into their homes.
[30:26] A lot of disparities have been revealed during the pandemic.
[33:00] Life is about connectivity. It’s about human to human connection.
[34:00] We’re all in this together, but we’re not. The snow is melting and revealing the disparities.
[36:15] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIPS: Accept others. Get to know other people’s backstory. If someone reacts differently, don’t take it personally. And lend a helping hand where you can—now more than ever.
Resources
3dconsults.com
Siham on LinkedIn
2010 Documentary: I Am
Quotes
“There’s a ‘need-to-know’ factor and there’s a fear factor.”
“I guess you fear what you don’t understand. It’s frightening, but once those gaps are filled they become more of a new enrichment process in your life.”
“Compassion and empathy can improve communications, inner personal relationships, and can even make you happy.”
“It’s definitely in the training. You wouldn’t send a brain surgeon to put out fire. When police officers go into situations and they don’t have any training or background, that’s going to be an escalated situation.”
“’Once the snow melts, the dirt shows’. And we have to address that dirt.”
“If you treat people with respect and dignity, regardless of the situation or who they are and where they came from, I believe you will instill more of an atmosphere of voluntary compliance.”
Mark Read, CEO of WPP, explains how strong cultural tenets help the organization connect with clients, support employees, and continue to innovate across the 100+ countries they operate in despite current circumstances. He emphasizes the importance of empathy for understanding evolving consumer behavior and workers’ different situations, as well as for responding to the protests sparked by racial injustice. Mark shares WPP’s commitments that ensure everyone feels comfortable to speak up and bring their whole self to work.
Key Takeaways
[00:45] What is the connection between empathy and corporate culture?
[01:03] Multinationals are dealing with multidimensional challenges.
[03:47] How WPP’s purpose has guided the company during the COVID19 pandemic.
[05:05] The effect of responding with an empathetic, common sense approach.
[06:16] How communication helps manage and support employees through uncertainty.
[07:10] The benefit of making clear decisions and not changing tack during a crisis.
[08:25] Encouraging people to connect regularly with co-workers.
[09:22] The influence of WPP’s cultural values: being open, optimistic, and extraordinary.
[10:21] WPP recently launched WPP TV as a way to bring employees around the world together.
[11:50] How COVID19 has accelerated the arrival of the Future of Work.
[12:29] Mark’s views about the use of technology to work effectively and its role in attracting the best people.
[16:02] The world’s biggest period of self-reflection.
[17:32] WPP’s guiding principles for bringing people back to the office in 100+ countries.
[18:45] Anticipating a seismic shift in people’s attitudes towards remote working.
[20:15] How will brands be rethinking how to connect and engage with their consumers long-term? Mark breaks it down in three phrases.
[21:35] What area of business or society has not been changed by the pandemic?
[23:03] Clients’ interest to accelerate digital transformation has increased.
[23:47] WPP is thinking through the future of work, as well as rethinking the future of the high street.
[25:10] How have the protests against racial injustice around the world affected WPP?
[25:37] The changes WPP has committed to make.
[26:25] Why the perspective of anti-racism is important and working proactively to make a difference.
[27:31] Leaders’ roles in making lasting change with a focus on recruiting.
[29:03] Mark shares how WPP created a safe space and environment where people could speak up and share their experiences.
[30:27] How WPP’s culture helps cultivate a company where people are comfortable bringing their full selves to work.
[31:43] The essential role of empathy to support diversity and inclusion.
[32:12] Fighting racism becomes a task for everyone.
[33:03] How to sustain new approaches and initiatives long-term.
[34:14] Mark’s recommendations about how to stay connected, without having to travel!
[36:03] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Say hello. Check in with people and see how they really are doing.
RESOURCES
wpp.com
WPP on LinkedIn
WPP on Twitter
Mark’s bio
Mark on LinkedIn
Mark on Twitter
QUOTES
“Communicate as much as possible with people. You cannot overcommunicate with people.”
“Our clients have a much greater desire to accelerate digital transformation. Companies that can transact online have definitely come out in a much stronger position.”
“We’ve seen more innovation in the last three months than we’ve seen in the previous 10 years, and I think the world we come out to will be very, very different.”
“When we get back to normal, probably by the time we’re through this, we would have forgotten what normal is like.”
“We committed to use the power of our voice. This notion that silence is complicity I think it helps you to think through what you need to say.”
“If you don’t have empathy, you don’t try to understand where other people are coming from.”
“Fighting racism becomes a task for everyone.”
Jey Van-Sharp, Principal at MyÜberLife, is an expert on culture. Jey discusses our many cultures as fundamental expressions of how we understand the world and each other. He explains why we are experiencing cultural dissonance and discomfort right now and how to step outside our own cultural codes. Jey offers insights into how companies and brands can make important cultural shifts.
Key Takeaways
[00:47] The role of empathy within our culture.
[01:18] Why culture’s core role becomes more evident during times of uncertainty.
[02:38] How do you define corporate culture?
[04:33] In unsettled conditions, culture needs to be emphasized, how can companies best focus on culture?
[05:19] We are each born into multiple cultures as social creatures.
[06:34] People try to create dominance of one culture over another.
[07:38] Why we are experiencing cultural dissonance now.
[08:30] How a company can create a sense of community and build a strong culture.
[09:15] What happens when a company, its employees and customers do not have aligned cultural values.
[10:20] Why youth culture is the most dominant culture.
[10:48] Historical channels of information presented conventional wisdoms pretending to be truths.
[11:49] How can brands fill in cultural texture for consumers with limited current options.
[13:01] Once you understand a community, then you can serve them.
[14:24] The value of empathetic listening.
[14:45] The effect of operating from the standpoint that everyone has value.
[15:49] Learning the ‘code’ of the dominant culture. Being a ‘code switcher’ to be able to see value.
[17:47] How to generate shifts to change culture—view your company as a platform of empowerment.
17[] Bring in additional voices, have authentic conversations, listen to and train them.
[19:53] The unwithering of old ideologies.
[21:00] When private enterprise and people team up, change happens very quickly.
[21:17] The aim is not for comfort. The aim is for understanding and truth.
[23:23] Is age a demographic or a mindset? Create new archetypes.
[24:26] The fourth branch of American government is the media and the fifth branch is corporate marketing.
[26:35] Cross communication is critical, not just of races, but also genders and age ranges so as to not miss out on understanding and opportunities.
[28:15] We have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable
[29:42] With continued economic strain and ongoing uncertainty, this is the moment for culture to bring us together.
[30:35] The consequence of having a culture of dismissal, dominance, and superiority.
[31:57] Crafting the new normal with empathy and human values.
[32:49] We are all scared human beings in awe of this reality and the best leaders will guide us through the uncertainty.
[34:59] Recognize the history of the world we live and the people within it.
[35:32] When you see a source of information, try a counter-factual simulation: try and disprove your assumptions.
[37:11] As executives, business people, corporations, and brands, we are part of the narrative of equality and justice.
[38:03] Memes are part of memories, passed down through culture, oral stories, statues, language and frameworks.
[38:41] We need to practice rational empathy—less academia, less rational thought, more feeling and understanding.
[39:39] You have to incentivize feelings.
IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Question what you know. Try to disprove your own assumptions. Try not to judge. Get into the habit of inquiry. Operate from a place of humility.
Resources:
Myuberlife.com
Jey on Twitter
Quotes:
“Culture beats strategy. For me, culture is the memories, value system, the beliefs, the shared goals, the fears, the ideology, mythology that exists within each community of people.”
“Don’t try to speak on the behalf of people you don’t understand. Bring those people in. Lend them your platform.”
“Brands and private enterprise play a big role. When private enterprise and the people team up, change happens very quickly.”
“Get interested in the world again, read about the world, question everything that you know.”
“Every day is a brand new day to operate from a place of complete humility, complete awe, complete transparency, complete authenticity.’
Norman de Greve, the CMO of CVS Health, discusses the importance of practicing empathy, both as a senior leader and an executive of the largest health and wellness company in the US. He describes their ongoing response to the COVID19 crisis—listening to customers and employees, addressing their needs, and communicating frequently. Norman shares his views about the beneficial outcomes for leaders who take empathy-driven action to build trust, connection, and demonstrate commitment to helping people achieve what they want to achieve. He notes how CVS Health measures and rewards empathy-driven results.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[01:13] Empathy is indispensable for business leaders to practice to help customers and employees feel safe.
[02:03] A strong focus on caring and empathy has long been a deep-rooted value at CVS Health.
[04:00] How integral is empathy now to corporate mindsets and practices, especially for leaders?
[04:46] Companies that are succeeding now have a deep understanding of both their employees and consumers.
[05:43] Norman shares how empathy has helped CVS Health respond to the Covid-19 crisis.
[07:00] How CVS Health listens to the voices of customers and employees to understand and address their needs.
[08:13] Considering the servant leader mindset and relevance in current circumstances.
[10:00] Key challenges CVS Health faced were being able to pivot quickly and preparing for the unknown.
[10:29] At the leadership level, what did CVS Health do differently?
[12:05] This crisis has brought out the humanness in people.
[13:18] Norman shares a more human approach as plans to return to the office are developed.
[14:06] How communication was the key to reassuring employees when CVS Health started Covid-19 testing.
[15:09] Across corporate environments, there is a heightened listening to, understanding, and responding to employees.
[16:00] How Norman is preparing for months of uncertainty and considering remote work options.
[17:24] Moving into a new world where we value the individual more than just a ‘resource’.
[18:30] Delivering empathy through a C.A.R.E.R. interaction model in stores increases customers’ adherence to their medication.
[19:21] CVS Health’s satisfaction scores are going way up because people are valuing empathy and kindness even more than ever in this stressful time.
[19:47] When CVS Health decided to track empathy internally, the reaction was ‘thank goodness’!
[20:30] An organization needs to deliver both operational follow-through as well as having empathic behaviors to enhance the customer experience.
[21:41] How empathy impacts the compensation of the management team of CVS Health.
[22:28] How does Norman define empathy?
[23:13] The role of empathy in cultivating a welcoming environment for a diverse population so people can reach their potential.
[24:08] We have a racism problem in America, as well as a mental health problem. People are not feeling enfranchised to bring all their skills and talents to work.
[25:26] How CVS Health supported their diverse workforce and achieved #24 on Diversity Inc’s top 50 companies for diversity for 2020.
[27:57] For leaders, Norman cautions that empathy is not just about listening, but also taking action.
[28:49] For any company, to enable everyone to bring their full potential, it starts with: what do we believe is the right vision for who we are and how we operate.
[29:37] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Ask your boss how they’re doing, not just the people who work for you. It’s a way to connect and hear what’s going on, and people need it.
RESOURCES
Cvshealth.com
Norman on Twitter
QUOTES
“It’s a very different environment than it used to be and companies that are succeeding are the ones that have a much deeper understanding both their employees and consumers.”
“The theory of the firm, which is usually why companies exist; and they exist to take the friction out of working together. Turns out Zoom does that pretty well.”
“This is challenging the paradigms we have in our heads.”
“Success really comes from a combination of operational and empathic behaviors.”
Disruptions, uncertainty, and social unrest have raised the bar for leaders, compelling them to adopt more personal styles and practice empathy. Sophie shares how we can learn new leadership styles incorporating empathy to ensure organizations can adapt for current conditions and ongoing changes. The Future of Work is NOW and we need to make long-term adjustments for the next normal—there is no going back to how things were.
[00:50] The current environment has generated a very different dynamic for leaders.
[01:19] Leaders are needing to adopt more personal styles and practice empathy.
[02:14] The Future of Work is NOW—COVID19 lockdowns have accelerated adoption of new technologies and forced us to experience new work habits.
[02:30] We are in the midst of new upheaval with restrictions easing unevenly.
[03:08] How are you supporting your community of employees?
[03:46] Things are NOT going back to normal. Long-term changes are unavoidable to adjust for where we are now and what’s ahead.
[04:44] How much have you been empathizing with customers recently?
[05:10] Have you been connecting with your reports experiences?
[05:22] What is needed to transition through this uncertainty sustainably—business-wise, execution-wise, and regarding employees’ well-being?
[07:06] Everyone has been dealing with very different situations.
[07:53] Leaders need to learn new mindsets and approaches to deal with COVID19 uncertainties and social unrest related to racial injustice.
[08:56] We can learn and adapt to new leadership models
[10:07] Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and feel what they are going through.
[10:32] Empathetic leaders in the marines are able to achieve success under extraordinary pressure.
[11:54] Leaders are the ones to create new cohesive environments and drive meaningful change.
[13:11] How does Empathy make a difference?
[14:03] The three components of empathy: Cognitive Empathy, Affective Empathy, and Empathetic Action.
[16:28] What it takes to become an empathetic leader – intermally-focused and externally-applied.
Internally—focusing on mindset, manner, and model.
[17:22] The mindset of an empathetic leader is open and inclusive.
[19:36] A signature of empathetic leaders is an individualized approach towards team members.
[20:38] Being accessible, approachable, and authentic is important for empathetic leaders.
[24:16] Are you setting the example for others by modeling behaviors?
[25:12] Externally—key areas to focus on applying an empathetic approach include culture and values, talent, teamwork, intergenerational integration.
[25:56] It is rarely sustainable to be an empathetic leader without a support environment.
[27:43] Your role as a leader is indispensable to highlight and live by cultural values on a daily basis.
[28:44] Self-awareness is the best places to start to recognize your own reactions, emotions, and judgments in order to start to understand other people’s.
[29:03] How to identify the best work set up for yourself and your direct reports.
[30:10] Using empathy to explore sensitive issues.
[31:18] It is essential to be alert for mental health issues across your team.
[31:52] Empathy IS second nature to us, says Frans De Waal, a Dutch primatologist.
[33:00] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP – Start anywhere, and build incrementally and you will see the results-- share MORE information, include more people, consider more perspectives, invite more inputs, ask more questions, observe more closely and listen more actively.
Resources
‘The Age of Empathy’ by Frans De Waal
‘The Empathy Effect’ by Dr. Helen. Riess
Quotes
‘The current environment has generated a very different dynamic for leaders.’
‘As a leader, to transition through this uncertainty and change SUSTAINABLY, your responsibilities have expanded and deepened.’
‘Empathy is the critical characteristic of leadership now.’
‘As humans, we are empathetic beings.’
‘Self-awareness is the best place to start.’
Global disruption has created the opportunity for a Great Reset. Gary A. Bolles, Chair for the Future of Work at Singularity University and Co-Founder of eParachute.com, believes we can redesign our business systems to be optimized to help people learn needed and evolving skill sets and develop agency. For individuals, he explains the new rules of work require constant self-inventory, experimenting to match skills, needs, and interests, and the benefits of identifying a personal Northstar.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:18] The Future of Work is an evolution to a digital work economy.
[03:55] The impact of automation is supposed to both increase human’s capacity to create things and solve problems, but it also impacts human work.
[04:33] Automation is channeling human energies to be able to solve problems in completely new ways
[06:14] Disruptive technologies change the way that industries function and then the roles of workers in those industries.
[07:17] The internet evaporates the middle.
[08:19] There's two things that are different now, the pace of change and the spread of change.
[09:22] Every individual needs four skills-- P.A.C.E: to be Problem solvers who are Adaptive, Creative, and with Empathy—to help create agency.
[13:43] The least advantaged are the ones that are the most disadvantaged in terms of- of being remote.
[14:51] We can try to design the things that we want to have happen, but nobody can actually predict really what the next 12, 18 months is going to hold.
[16:02] The more command-and-control, the more highly-structured organizations were the least adaptable.
[16:22] The organizations the pushed decision-making down to the team level have done the best.
[18:48] Organizations that really understand their purpose are going to be the best prepared for tomorrow.
[20:18] The great reset involves a changing landscape of rules and norms.
[20:44] What are the rules across the ecosystem?
[21:16] What is the best way to create value for my customers?
[21:51] The constantly changing landscape means that we all have to have much better sensor network and be continually adaptive.
[23:03] The landscape of the future of work distilled down into four domains: individuals, organizations, communities, and countries.
[25:08] Creating incentives to ensure people remain employed
[26:22] Why we need systems that are optimized to help people find meaningful work.
[26:56] Why we need to help people have P.A.C.E. and agency.
[27:47] It will require massive investments in helping humans gather the new information and learn the basic digital toolkit
[28:45] The largest game of employment musical chairs in the history of the world.
[29:16] What are the roles of government and the private sector in making necessary changes?
[30:17] It's critical is to have the tool set--understand your own unique skills and interests, and experiences—and have your own agency.
[31:15] Schools must think of themselves as lifelong learning platforms.
[32:07] Industries must send stronger signals about what they're hiring for now.
[32:42] If you're not training the workers of tomorrow, we will simply not have the workforce that we need.
[33:40] You can impact the system, if you hire somebody with a non-standard background
[37:55] if there's one major takeaway to have empathy for so many others that are going through this process
[39:06] With the new rules of work, you- you have to do constant self-inventory.
[39:20] Keep on experimenting and trying different techniques--you've got to go find or create that work.
[40:12] Most important for people is to have a Northstar--a directional goal that you are working towards.
[42:49] IMMEDIATE TIP ACTION: The three key characteristics of leadership now are Competence, Compassion, and Courage.
RESOURCES
The future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed”-- Bruce Sterling
‘Big Shift: Measuring the Forces of Change’ – John Hagel
The Inside Gig – Edie Goldberg and Kelley-Steven-Waiss
SkyHive
Faethm
QUOTES
“The internet evaporates the middle.”
“We all need to be problem solvers who are adaptive, creative and with empathy.”
"Teams are going to be much more problem centric”
“We don't have a health care system, we have a sick care system…We don't have an employment system. We have an unemployment system.”
“One thing we can predict is that the market asymmetry is going to be biblical.”
“Schools must think of themselves as lifelong learning platforms.”
"If you're not training the workers of tomorrow, we will simply not have the workforce that we need."
When Kimmi Wernli took over as owner and CEO of Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter Company, she brought a holistic perspective and vision—wanting to enrich people’s lives and diets with sustainable, healthy peanut products. She focused on elevating and articulating their mission, connecting customers and employees with their purpose, and the company became a B-Corp. They also chose vendors and retail partners who shared their values and this alignment has helped the company handle tough and unpredictable operating conditions.
Key Takeaways
[02:55] Why is the company called Crazy Richard's Peanut Butter?
[03:56] Kimmi’s veins run with peanut butter!
[04:35] It was a smooth transition taking the business over from her father.
[06:05] Kimmi brought a more holistic perspective of how peanut butter can help people and enrich their lives.
[08:11] Peanut butter is the number 1 most requested item in food banks worldwide.
[08:55] Crazy Richard’s has always been about giving back.
[09:58] What is our vision? We need to articulate our mission, what is our ‘why’?
[11:15] Kimmi and her leadership team took 6-9 months to define their mission and core values and rebrand.
[12:54] They shared and aligned their values with their partners—across logistics, manufacturing, and retail—and parted ways when values were not in alignment.
[14:45] Why did Kimmi decide on making her company a B-Corp?
[15:20] Peanuts are a sustainable crop and great for the earth.
[17:53] To provide affordable products that are high quality required some significant operating changes for the business.
[20:46] For their Give-Back Program, they not only donate their product, but employees donate their time as well—which is great bonding time too!
[24:10] Kimmi is also an Ambassador for peanuts and advocates for US peanut farming and agriculture.
[25:37] Peanut butter sales are through the roof, and Kimmi feels a huge responsibility to get products to their customers
[27:09] It’s complicated making sure everyone involved in the process is safe.
[28:00] New technology is helping ensure they can do everything hands-off in logistics processes.
[29:08] New procedures and distancing means manufacturing orders are 10-20% short.
[30:15] Everyone along the supply chain is working together to try and absorb the extra costs.
[32:23] Close coordination with supply chain partners is possible because of their aligned values.
[34:38] Kimmi shares how she interacts with customers and shares some customer stories.
[37:46] Kimmi loves peanuts but is empathetic about tree nut allergies as her husband is very allergic.
[38:56] L-E-A-P study shows new preventative treatment for peanut allergies with early exposure.
[41:55] What is Kimmi’s favorite way to eat peanut butter?
[44:14] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP – Hone down your company's culture and values!
Resources:
Crazyrichards.com
Crazy Richard’s on Instagram
Kimmi on LinkedIn
Start With Why by Simon Sinek
Quotes:
“Peanut butter itself is the number one most requested item in food banks worldwide.”
“How can we get peanut butter into more people’s hands and really help solve the problems of the world one step at the time?”
“One of the great things about our product is it’s so sustainable. Peanuts themselves as a plant is a fantastic crop. It’s fantastic for the earth.”
“The guys in the warehouse, they’re not getting out on the front lines and on social media and seeing where our products are going to help others, but every quarter they get to spend a day at a food bank.”
“People have really overcome a lot of health issues and diseases they’re recovering from and peanut butter is one of the things they can eat.”
Brian Day is the CEO of Fuze, a global cloud communications provider for enterprises. Fuze’s workforce went mostly remote in 2017. Brian shares his insights as an experienced leader of remote teams focusing on mindset, culture, communication, and tools. He also looks ahead towards a new normal and embraces productive new habits that are benefitting his organization.
Key Takeaways
[02:32] How has the COVID-19 crisis affected progress towards Future of Work environments?
[03:20] With the right mindset and culture, you can enable your workers to work remotely.
[04:15] How can you cultivate the right mindset and culture?
[05:29] Setting expectations with employees about working from home.
[07:11] Every communication should be video.
[08:10] Using technology to protect employees’ health.
[09:01] What changes has Brian seen with more people are working from home?
[11:35] How are managers managing and communicating with their remote teams effectively?
[13:46] Brian shares how he uses different communication channels with remote employees.
[16:46] The benefit of integrated applications—content sharing and communications history.
[19:09] Recognizing how to set up and be equipped for remote working.
[20:42] Establishing the right rules when working from home, including boundaries and habits.
[22:32] Brian thinks most industries will not go back to Jan/Feb 2020, instead companies will continue to benefit from remote working, with shorter commutes for employees.
[24:54] When working from home, if you have the right tools, you don’t lose productivity.
[25:54] Preparing and hiring for what’s ahead.
[27:25] What is Fuze’s company’s culture like?
[27:49] Fuze believes in ‘Work from Anywhere’—what does that really look like?
[31:24] What recommendations does Brian have for CEOs leading virtual companies now?
[35:47] How can managers nurture internal relationships when working remotely?
[38:52] Brian believes we have to unplug from the past—the world is a different place.
[40:39] The more seamless you can make communication, the better it is.
[42:19] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP – Use your video!
Resources:
Fuze.com
Brian on LinkedIn
The Ultimate Guide to Remote Working
Quotes:
“The crisis that the world is living through today is essentially accelerated where we were all going in the first place.”
“As long as you have the right mindset and culture, you can enable your workers to work remotely, that’s the Future of Work.”
“For a lot of people, it’s a brave new world right now. I don’t think we’ll ever go back to the world of January or February of 2020.”
“I think the days of dedicated desks and offices, all that, I think those are numbered in most industries at this point.”
“You really need to unplug from the past and think about “That doesn’t matter anymore. The world’s a different place.””
Heidi Melin is the Chief Marketing Officer at Workfront which provides a work management application platform for the enterprise. She has been a remote leader for years and shares her first-hand experiences and recommendations. Heidi has seen how companies that understand their workflow have been able to pivot quickly and be less impacted by current conditions as well as be prepared to adapt as situations improve.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[1:00] The COVID-19 virus has taken us out of our working norms.
[3:45] Is remote working easy?!
[4:35] How Heidi views the Future of Work and the accelerating effect of work-from-home restrictions.
[5:35] Heidi has had a front-row seat in seeing which companies pivot successfully to remote work and adjust processes to keep their businesses going.
[7:00] Organizations can distribute work successfully to an entire remote workforce leveraging a combination of tools, including Workfront’s work management software.
[7:20] What kind of behaviors do employees need to adapt to?
[9:50] You CAN establish a strong personal connection with someone you only met via video!
[11:44] Being empathetic about mandated work-from-home situations.
[14:55] Heidi has been working mostly remotely at Workfront, successfully leading and managing her office-based team, for over two years.
[16:20] Heidi shares her remote working best practice tips!
[20:55] How to help people who get distracted when working from home?
[22:42] The importance of flexibility and focusing on outcomes.
[23:54] Why it matters to have visibility into the work being done at any organization.
[26:15] How does Workfront’s work management platform help remote employees?
[27:25] It’s difficult for a leader to make strategic decisions without a holistic view of the work being done.
[28:38] What ability will enable companies to emerge from this crisis most successfully?
[31:20] How can teams get productive work done right now?
[31:38] How do you own your own resilience?
[36:00] It’s critical to understand how work moves through the organization. Then you can adapt the ‘in-person’ aspects of previous work processes quickly.
[38:18] How Signet Health has accelerated the clinic trials for a COVID-19 vaccine.
RESOURCES
Workfront.com
Heidi on LinkedIn
Done Right: How Tomorrow's Top Leaders Get Stuff Done by Alex Shootman
QUOTES
“We’re having to adapt, today, to managing a remote workforce and the companies who have been able to pivot most successfully had a vision for the future of work.”
“We have the tools and infrastructure to do remote work, but it’s the behavior piece that requires some adapting to.”
“As companies look at which work they need to prioritize and which work they do not need to prioritize. That gets hard. If you don’t have a holistic view of the work being done in the organization, how can you make those trade offs?”
Sophie addresses the disruption we are now facing in our working lives. How can we navigate unprecedented changes due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak and technological advances? Sophie explains evolving conditions and how to adapt both in the short-term—transitioning to remote working—and for the longer-term, making important strategic changes. She describes sustainable ways of working to adopt that will enable your company to thrive in a digitized, less predictable business landscape when things turn around.
Key Takeaways
[01:00] How to approach the disruption we are facing in our working lives.
[01:27] Sustainable ways of working that can handle short-term and longer-term needs.
[01:52] Traditional work practices aren’t adaptable enough to handle current circumstances.
[03:08] Short-term focus on transitioning to remote working.
[03:47] Strategic long-term potential changes to be equipped to ramp up successfully when conditions improve.
[04:53] Fundamental changes to our work conditions and lives primarily due to technology advances.
[07:15] Why Sophie is well-qualified to provide clarity and direction.
[08:16] How to approach your company’s unique situation.
[09:21] Seven interrelated key areas to assess for action to transform and future-proof your company.
[11:08] How technology is impacting our business models, revenues, operations and workers.
[13:40] Shorter timeframes for projecting out and planning with more project work.
[14:18] Companies undergoing fundamental strategic reviews to stay competitive in a digitized business world.
[15:44] Employees needing to adapt and respond to faster, less predictable market conditions.
[16:37]Learning new skills ongoing – the start of life-long learning.
[16:55] Human beings resist change.
[18:30] Culture and values matter especially during times of great uncertainty and change.
[19:40] Questions to assess and actions to take relating to your company’s culture and values.
[21:12] Leadership styles shifting: sharing more responsibility and using more empathy.
[23;10] The importance of transparency—one of Atlassian’s core values.
[23:41] Questions to assess and actions to transform relating to your company’s leadership.
[26:04] The need to combine all generations’ expertise, skills, and creativity to compete effectively.
[27:28] How empathy bridges generational gaps—increasing productivity at a ServePro franchise.
[29:26] Questions to assess and step to take relating to your company’s intergenerational integration.
[31:05] The increase of teamwork to respond faster to more complex projects.
[31:48] The challenges of working effectively for teams including remote workers and non-employees.
[32:17] How to manage and motivate distributed and blended teams.
[34:08] Questions to assess and actions steps to transform your company’s remote teams and contractors’ performance.
[36:04] New careers are self-directed, non-linear with shifts between work arrangements, functions and industries.
[37:44] How is your company projecting out future skills’ needs and helping upskill employees?
[39:24] Questions to assess and steps to act upon relating to you and your direct reports’ careers and upskilling needs.
[40:40] Updating historical approaches to policies, measuring productivity, and performance reviews.
[41:46] Policies and other transformation efforts should be coordinated and consistent.
[42:32] How to monitor and support employees through and beyond periods of unsettling change.
[44:18] Questions to assess and steps to take to update your company’s policies, productivity metrics, and performance reviews.
[45:38] Immediate Action Tip: Urgency to transform for immediate needs and longer term sustainability.
Max Weiner is Founder and CEO at Resilient, a company that provides inclusive insurance options to low- and moderate-income freelancers and hourly workers Americans. It is difficult for hourly workers to find consistent work so they have benefits that can protect them from health shocks. However, companies are recognizing the benefits of taking a more holistic approach towards the well-being of all their workers.
Key Takeaways:
[01:28] The growing emphasis on inclusive culture and values.
[02:02] Hourly workers are seen as expendable and cannot gain enough hours to pay for health care coverage.
[03:34] What does the Future of Work look like for low income freelancers and hourly workers?
[04:46] What are some of the challenges of having a viable and sustainable work environment?
[05:18] The concern about wages and benefits for contract workers and what protection is needed.
[06:57] What are the pillars of a stable society and economy?
[08:12] Options for providing holistic support for hourly workers.
[08:59] How to shift the full cost off hourly workers of protecting their wellbeing.
[10:08] The challenges of overall financial health for workers without predictable schedules.
[11:46] How benefits and insurance help individuals deal with health-related shocks.
[12:57] Should the private sector solve this problem or is it time for the government to step in and help these workers?
[13:47] Companies are increasingly seeing the benefits of taking their workers holistically as financially stressed workers are less productive.
[15:07] Education and tools that nudge people to establish better financial habits.
[16:07] Max shares how a traditional NYC taxi company is retaining drivers using Resilient.
[20:02] How freelancer platforms could reward loyalty with insurance protection.
[24:43] The Business Roundtable announced the role of corporations is to maximize the interests of ALL stakeholders.
[27:55] Proactive regulators in the UK and NYC are open to new innovation.
[30:15] How technology benefits and enables inclusive insurance.
[33:09] Low income Millennials want life insurance more than cash back.
[35:23] The population that is underserved by the banking sector.
[38:14] Immediate Takeaway Action: Stakeholder capitalism—consider the full spectrum of the workforce and how to support their financial health.
Resources:
Imresilient.co
Articles on Medium
Quotes:
“It’s in everybody’s interest to protect stakeholders and workers are a very large part of that and providing worker’s protections is not only fair, but it’s fundamental if you want a stable society.”
“As the world changes, [fair treatment of workers] is increasingly important for consumers and consumers will vote with their purchasing.”
“People really want insurance protections and will do quite a lot to receive them if you provide them in ways that are comprehensive and easy to interact with.”
Sean Hinton, Founder and CEO of SkyHive, explains how SkyHive uses AI to help organizations and individuals identify their current and trending skills and best align them in real-time with business and career growth trajectories. In this episode, Sean explains the myth and fact of automation threats and how companies can focus resources on reskilling their current talent to retain them and stay competitive.
Key Takeaways:
[01:09] The half-life of skills used to be 10 years, now it is only 5 years.
[03:44] Sean finds purpose and founds SkyHive.
[05:29] We have had a hard time identifying our skills.
[07:27] Sean defines the Future of Work in three categories: rapid digital transformation; digitalization of the workplace and classroom; and the changing nature of the worker and learner.
[08:25] More than 45% of existing full-time employees define themselves as independent workers.
[10:20] Compared to 10 years ago, 20% of any job now requires digital skill sets. Over the next 10 years, 65% of a job is anticipated to become digitized.
[10:56] The myth and fact of reskilling: we have more time!
[13:07] The number one barrier to the success of widespread automation is the reskilling of humans.
[16:11] How do we know what our company’s workforce is truly capable of?
[17:22] Defining the Future of Work by skills and SkyHive’s creation of ‘quantum labor analysis’ to understand how skills needs are constantly changing.
[21:48] What skills does the workforce of the future need?
[22:30] How to find the skills gaps in your existing workforce and be able to adjust rapidly.
[24:54] What it means to understand current and trending skills and jobs in real-time in the labor market and be able to acquire talent efficiently.
[29:15] Careers are no longer linear. How can employees or people know what skill sets they should be focusing on?
[30:37] How identifying individual people’s skills reveals what each person is really capable of.
[31:03] Matching relevant content to skills’ gaps allows cost-effective, focused training.
[33:19] Displaced workers can identify new opportunities and options by identifying their skills and where they could be used.
[35:19] Employees’ development enabled by applying their skills in different areas.
[37:42] Mentoring as a means to develop and retain people.
[38:55] Does anyone have 100% of the skills they need for a job?
[39:52] How SkyHive’s technology identifies upward mobility opportunities quickly.
[41:20] SkyHive can help identify jobs that don’t yet exist.
[43:52] What is the number one soft skill you should be learning?
[44:25] Soft skills are becoming increasingly important.
[47:15] Immediate Action Tip: Discover and use your untapped skills.
Resources:
www.skyhive.io
Sean on LinkedI
YPO.org
Quotes:
“If I ask anyone, ‘What are your skills?’ People would have a very hard time conclusively answering that question.”
“95% of job growth in the United States since 2007 is contract-based and independent labor.”
“We still have control over our destiny. The robots are not taking over any time soon.”
“If the employee is not seeing the opportunities in front of them and being engaged, you’ll lose them.”
“There’s a much greater multitude of engagement and less attrition and turnover the faster you can connect somebody to a mentor.”
Beth Porter is CEO and Co-Founder of Riff Analytics. Riff offers AI-enabled tools that provide powerful insights about individual behaviors and team dynamics, which improves remote working teams’ results. Beth explains the effect of different types of meeting interactions and how Riff nudges people to form better meeting habits so they can develop trust, all share their thoughts and feel heard improving collaboration and outcomes.
Key Takeaways:
[01:36] We are often not set up for success in our meetings.
[02:11] Behavioral science identifies turn-taking as critical for productive meetings
[03:44] The two parts of the Future of Work: more complex, non-routine work using different skills and more remote working.
[06:16] Relationships are becoming more important as we become more distant physically.
[07:23] A shift from incentivizing individual work to teamwork.
[09:08] The pros and cons of remote versus office working.
[09:59] Community building is important to build trust for people working from home.
[11:41] Beth’s early career as a math teacher emphasizing team-based work.
[15:44] What is computational social science?
[17:33] How is Riff Analytics using artificial intelligence?
[20:00] What the dynamics of conversations tell us.
[21:06] The impact of unspoken signals during meetings.
[22:01] Engagement is measured and feedback is given in real-time about who is dominating the conversation.
[22:39] The effect of interrupting during meetings.
[23:51] Feedback raises awareness in all meeting attendees.
[24:01] Visualization of each person’s meeting participation.
[25:12] Riff is a tool for promoting and practicing productive meeting habits.
[25:53] Post-meeting surveys capture each attendee’s experience.
[27:53] Original goal was to help online course learning where trust levels are low.
[30:21] Riff increases social presence feeling as though you are meeting in person.
[31:48] The relevance of trust and taking turns in conversation.
[34:12] Successful patterns of different meeting interactions.
[36:36] Riff nudges people to adopt better collaboration habits.
[41:26] Immediate Action Tip: Understand that time is a collective responsibility—respecting and optimizing other people’s time as well as your own.
Resources:
Riffanalytics.ai
Quotes:
“Research shows 71% of people find meetings unproductive and inefficient.”
“Everyone has something to share and it requires you to trust that if you give up your speaking time to others that something valuable is going to happen on the other end.”
“Optimizing time is a collective responsibility, not an individual responsibility alone. If you’re in a meeting with other people, it’s not just your time.”
Ben Brooks is Founder and CEO of Pilot, a software-based employee coaching platform. Careers are becoming more self-directed with people needing to be more self-aware, advocate for themselves, and make career development a priority. Ben explains how Pilot is reframing growth and development, enabling employers to support employees’ individual development while also improving competitiveness and retention.
Key Takeaways:
[00:58] Every individual should plan to have 5 careers in their lifetime.
[01:52] Nurturing employees’ potential is key for engaging and retaining them.
[03:40] The Future of Work is self-directed, which means a greater reliance on the human brain, not less.
[07:03] Future of Work transformation has just started -- we are going through the teething stage now.
[08:22] Ben has had a varied career which he describes it as a zigzag.
[10:25] Why was Ben’s first job at Enterprise the most fun job he had?
[12:49] Why did Ben launch his career coaching platform, Pilot?
[14:54] Most people do not feel powerful at work.
[15:34] How to make employee growth and development a priority, not a hobby.
[16:47] We need help to focus as the attention economy pulls us in too many directions.
[17:56] One size doesn’t fit all for work or careers.
[18:35] Coaching helps unlock people being able to advocate for themselves.
[19:36] How Pilot handles the diversity of work across industries, organizations, and people.
[21:30] How Pilot helped a top salesman not have to choose between his health or success.
[22:25] Pilot enables users to focus on what really matters in life.
[25:24] Ben has a holistic approach when it comes to growth and development, focused on addressing current dissatisfaction and growing where you are.
[26:43] The commonalities in how to manage yourself as a professional and ensure the employee experiences suits you.
[28:17] The benefit of personal agility.
[29:42] A college degree is no longer sufficient.
[31:37] What employees need to future proof their careers.
[32:55] Leadership is not a position.
[36:09] How to manage your own inclusion by decoding and explaining yourself to others.
[39:30] The intent to democratize coaching to support employees owning their careers.
[41:59] The strategic role of HR and their need for data is supported by the product’s design.
[43:02] Pilot’s initial non-enterprise version.
[44:45] What are some of the biggest misconceptions of coaching?
[48:17] Immediate Action Tip: Look at any frustrations as an indicator to take action, advocate for yourself and own your life and experiences at work.
Resources:
Pilot.coach
Ben on LinkedIn
Steve Jobs Commencement Speech
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
How Will You Measure Your Life? By Clayton Christensen
Quotes:
“The Future of Work is self-directed”.
“Most people do not feel powerful at work.”
“The intent to democratize coaching.”
“People seldom regret speaking up and advocating for themselves.“
