Eat Sleep Work Repeat

Two things on the podcast today - at the end of the episode there is a discussion with former guest, Brian Elliott from Slack's Future Forum.Ahead of that I want to make an announcement about what I've been working on - with my new book Fortitude.Fortitude is an investigation into the elusive idea of resilience, a book that discovers that resilience is a area filled with mistakes, misdirection and over-promise. The book finds the true secrets of resilience.You can find out all of about the book here or you can receive my workplace culture course for free if you pre-order it now.The Future Forum book 'How the Future Works' is available now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“There are two kinds of companies: One is going to embrace work-from-anywhere, and the second is in denial — I feel those companies will lose their workforce. You have to make a choice, as a leader, what kind of company you want to lead” (source)The words of today's guest have stayed with me for the last few months. I'm so delighted to talk to Professor Raj Choudhury from Harvard Business School who will possibly wake you up from a self-created illusion. He'll explain:why WFA is inevitablethe role that top talent have in redefining work for everyonewhy 25% is a magic amount of timewhy WFA presents a win-win-win solution for usI was so looking forward to this and it doesn't disappoint.Read Professor Choudhury's HBR cover article.Here is the audio clip I mentioned. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you find yourself becoming interested in the magic of workplace culture one of the go to authors of the subject is today's guest, Dan Coyle.Dan's 2018 book The Culture Code allowed him to go deep with some of the most successful cultures in the world - in the arenas of business, sport and even the military. He's returning after the blazing success of the Culture Code with a book that gives more of the energy of that title but drawn into a workbook, The Culture Playbook - imagine something like a journal with prompts of what to write.He joined me for a discussion where we reflect on the challenges of the last 2 years and what any organisation should be thinking about as they set about creating a winning, forward-looking culture.If you like this sign up for the newsletter - Make Work Better - for a special announcement in 3 weeks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're going deeper into the evidence today with two brilliant guests. Anne Raimondi is COO of Asana who were smart enough to have started a major piece of research into how work is evolving just before the world turned upside down. We're also joined by the most in demand brain in the world right now, Professor Nick Bloom. Nick is Professor WFH, an economist from Stanford University who has been researching remote working for over a decade.Along the way we talk about how the biggest innovations in remote working are yet to come - and are coming from mindblowing places. We talk the changing expectations of Gen Z workers, why Nick doesn't believe we should be giving up our office just yet. We hear where the sweetspot of hybrid working is right now and why a little less freedom and a little more co-ordination is the order of the day.I was desperately trying to get Nick on the podcast and to land Anne Raimondi at the same time is a wonderful stroke of luck.Asana's Anatomy of Work Report 2022 is available here. You

Status is a fundamental need for humans.Such a fascinating discussion today. I recently read Will Storr's brilliant book The Status Game and was so taken with it I invited him on the podcast.He quotes Professor Brian Boyd when he says that we:‘naturally pursue status with ferocity: we all relentlessly, if unconsciously, try to raise our own standing by impressing peers, and naturally if unconsciously, evaluate others in terms of their standing’.In study after study it is found that our wellbeing depends on the degree that we feel respected by other people. One study found that the attainment off status of its loss was ‘the strongest predictor of long-term positive and negative feelings’ in subjects.I wanted to pick Will's brains to hear more of this - but also to understand how these mechanisms impact us at work. If you're interested in psychology or just a bit of people watching you'll love the reframing that this discussion provides for us. Along the way Will gives us the definitive take on why Will Smith s

This episode is greatly enhanced by reading the newsletter that comes with it. In today’s podcast I talk to two guests who have slightly different perspectives on how to fix the culture of the Met Police.Dr Megan O’Neill is Associate Director at the Scottish Institute for Policing Research. She has extensively studied the police and has worked closely with them - most notably helping to revise a stop and search policy that was found to be failing. She explains the challenges of the job, and how we should think about getting buy in to reform.Simon Holdaway is Professor emeritus of Criminology at the University of Sheffield. He joined the police after he left school and was promoted to sergeant. His study about the police has explored the culture of the profession and how themes of race could be more effectively tackled. While the police (and the Met) might not feel adjacent to your business there are critical lessons about cultural change.Four lessons of what good culture requires:Space - good culture can

Caleb Parker is one of the most intelligent commentators on the future of our workplaces (Twitter, his website) and this conversation with him did not disappoint. Caleb is the founder of a flexible workplace offering, Bold, but also host of a truly brilliant commercial real estate podcast called The Work Bold Podcast. I found Caleb's podcast via Antony Slumbers Twitter feed and it's become part of my weekly routine as it normally drops in time for my Sunday run. (BTW Antony was a former guest who shared with us the perspective of the commercial real estate sector early in the pandemic. I found the dialogue with Antony so rich that I wanted to seek another update from the sector.The second half of the discussion is especially strong. I ask Caleb to give the stump pitch for the office and his answer is stunning. He also shares a stark warning that 'bad culture is a bigger threat to the office than the pandemic'.Caleb also shares with us the perspective of his most inspiring guest on his own podcast - who outlin

Last year I did a few episodes looking to see how firms were tackling the return to the office (the return to work - THE PLACE) but they were all small workplaces. Organisations that could make nimble actions, I wanted to see how a big firm handled these things. I contacted Tom Kegode, the lead for Work:Lab at Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds employs 70000 people across hundreds of sites. It is logistically intense to make hybrid work for them.Tom is a brilliant bright leader intent on creating something sustainable and special in the bank. He is thinking of creating co-working in branches. He is leading best practice about different workstyles in an organisation that isn't mandating any rules. In classic egoless style Tom brought along his colleague Josh Reynolds who works in employee experience. You can find them both on Linked In here:Tom Kegode is the leader for Lloyds’ Work:Lab initiative.Josh Reynolds sits within colleague experience.Sign up for the newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor

Professor Lynda Gratton is one of the world's leading experts on business and the future of work. She's on speed dial with the top CEOs and is a regular at Davos and the World Economic Forum. Her HBR cover article about 'doing hybrid right' has been the navigation guide to the last two years for many firms, and she's turned her thinking into a brand new book, Redesigning Work. She shares with me the questions she's asking of leaders in her MBA course and where she thinks work will go next. Along the way she also gives a shout out to her article about management in the remote era.If you like this sign up for the Make Work Better newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two outstanding conversations trying to make sense of what is happening around work. Firstly I chat to Brian Elliott who leads the Future Forum, a group led by Slack. they released a new report surveying workers in the UK, US and other major countries. Here are the topline findings - but the conversation goes way beyond this.UK knowledge workers are most likely to say they want flexibility in where they work (81%)60% of UK knowledge workers are more open to changing jobs in the next year69% UK knowledge workers say they want to work hybrid - 58% are currently doing soBrian also gives a shout out to Donut - a tool to build serendipity.Then I speak to one of the most respected thought leaders in making sense of the future of work, Julia Hobsbawm is the sought after intelligent voice when it comes to future of work discussions. She chairs the Demos 'Workshift Commission. Her new book, The Nowhere Office is a confident reflection about how we can tackle the future - it’s out for pre-order now. We talk a

 As we start a new year considerations about the jobs we do have never been more prominent. One headline this year has already suggested that up to three-quarters of us might be considering changing jobs. Intriguingly money doesn't appear to be in the top five reasons to make a change.I wanted to understand what was going on here, and what any of should be doing about it. Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis are the UK's most respected careers coaches. Their first book The Squiggly Career is a perennial bestseller, and has become adopted into the lexicon of how we talk about a renegotiated relationship with our careers. Their TED Talk has received millions of views. They have a new book out, You Coach You, which offers practical coaching for anyone curious about changing their career. Some of their suggestions - like job scanning - will help you reorientate what you want from your job - and how you can achieve it.Whether you're thinking about changing work - or just have friends who are considering it - this is

Pre-order DisconnectedAt this time of year I find myself listening to more podcasts I’ve released two episodes this week. One is a truly brilliant discussion about how simple decisions can transform workplace culture. And the second is not really about workplace culture but is a stimulating reflection on the way we’re living .A couple of years ago I loved Jia tolentino’s Trick Mirror which was a sparklingly intelligent reflection on the way that the internet is evolving. And along the same lines is a brand new book, Disconnected by Emma Gannon. Emma is increasingly accomplished in multiple fields, she’s a novelist, a non-fiction writer and also an incredibly successful podcaster with over 10 million listens to her podcasts.She’s written a new book which comes at a time that a lot of us are considering renegotiating relationship with our phone. But how can be not lose what we love about our devices which increasing our connection to those around us - a great discussion.Along the way we also talk about her

How did thinking about workplace culture increase the profitability of firms?I was doing some thinking for some businesses over the last few weeks and the work of one person sprung to mind. Zeynep Ton is a professor of operation management at MIT Sloan School of Management. She found herself looking at the challenges that some businesses had with high employee turnover. They were losing a lot of people. It was causing their service to suffer - it was also costing them a lot of money training and recruiting people. Sounds familiar?From this it lead to another understanding. Some organisations by thinking about and planning the employee experience of work create jobs that were less stressful and more rewarding. It struck her that quite often companies don’t want to make decisions or create limitations for fear of upsetting customers. But in the process they become more muddled for customers and less rewarding for employees.Zeynep goes on to say that the firms who think about these things and set about crea

Over the last few weeks the newsletters that have achieved the most resonance were related to having a friend at work. For many of us our favourite jobs were enhanced by having a desk buddy - or a group of friends we could laugh with. But for many people their experience of work is increasingly lonely - maybe they had friends when they were in the office but that experience has transformed in the last two years. Yes, we've managed to get our jobs done, maybe our domestic life has even improved but work just feels a little more isolated and joyless.How big an issue is this for us? Noreena Hertz is here to persuade you this silent spread of loneliness has wide reaching consequences, both for our organisations and for our societies.In a brilliant and wide-ranging discussion we discuss why loneliness matters and what any of us should be thinking about to make our experience of work more complete. If you enjoyed this then this week's newsletter covers adjacent themes: sign up herePhoto by Lowie Vanhoutte on Unspla

What can we learn about what is going to happen next with work by chatting to the leaders of the sector that supplies our workplaces? You might think very little. There’s certainly no shortage of people in the commercial property sector who have been intent on suggesting that we need to go back to the rat race of all office/all the time.But in that space there are some visionaries who are helping us seeing what is staring us in the face. Last year we’ve spoken to Antony Slumbers, on the newsletter I’ve shared links to the Work Bold podcast by Caleb Parker.Get Cushman & Wakefield’s Return to the Office reportRead more of the C&W Futures postsSign up for the podcast's newsletter - Make Work BetterToday I add Richard Pickering to that list. I was delighted to hear Richard, someone whose writing I’ve been following for a couple of years, speak at an event I was presenting at.We had such a stimulating discussion on the sidelines that I was desperate to persuade Richard to come on here to talk. Richard is t

Oliver Burkeman was a productivity geek. He was the guy trying to get it all done. He was that person, convinced he could optimise living to get the most out of life, writing about it in a wry, detached way in a Guardian column.In this episode we talk about his pursuit of elite productivity - but also what it taught him about the ultimate goal of managing one's time. A truly brilliant discussion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sign up for the newsletter Over the last few weeks I've been intrigued with the firms who have chosen to bite the bullet and ditch their office. What are their philosophies about getting colleagues together in person? How do they think about recruiting? What software tools do they use? What made them make the leap?First up I talked to Camilla Boyer who plays a leading role at making the culture at events platform Hopin. Andrew McNeile is the Chief Customer Officer for Thinscale - a company that supplies secure remote working software for outsourcing firms. One of their customers has 375,000 user on their remote work systems. Then I chatted to Lewis Clark at Qatalog he is responsible for storytelling at Qatalog who are remote first (but he spends one day a week in the office).Then I realised all of these firms were in some way invested in the shift to remote working so I talked to a real person - Lisa Freshwater has been helping Blood Cancer UK ditch their office for good. Finally I chatted to Dan Sodergren wh

How can we use the power of psychotherapy to help us in our jobs? A brilliant discussion with psychotherapist Naomi Shragai where we talk about how her practice has increasingly brought workplace issues to her coach.We cover:how imposters' syndrome might not be a disaster for your careerhow to tell if your boss is a narcissisthow to deal with boss who is a people pleaserIf you're a people watcher or amateur psychologist you're going to love this. Naomi's new book is The Man Who Mistook His Job for His Life: How to Thrive at Work by Leaving Your Emotional Baggage Behind Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode is one for those who have an appetite for psychology. It is by two authors of a brand new book that I was interested to check out because it covers some of the biggest themes that hybrid working is going to impact - the issue of group identity. I genuinely think this is one of the biggest things that companies need to be thinking about right now.As we discuss a lot of firms have thought about mission or values but the very best organisations create a sense of collective identity in their teams (and look this might be slightly different identity for different themes).Identity is often seen to be something negative in politics or society - mainly because it is so expertly used by people we don't like. But it's incredibly powerful for any group - and understanding it is vital. Group identity is a big predictor of your likelihood of being vaccinated, clever nations like New Zealand used it to set about creating 'a team of five million' to fight the disease. The discussion is with by Jay Van Bavel&

Join the discussion on the newsletterThis is the first of two read-alongs in August. Stacks of listeners and newsletter subscribers are reading along on two culture books with us, today we’re talking about Legacy by James Kerr. In two weeks we’re talking about What You Do Is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz. Even you don’t read them the podcast here will cover the lessons of the books for anyone interested in workplace culture - and learning together. Go to the newsletter to join in with the conversation.The All Blacks are the most successful rugby team of all time, in fact they have been called the most successful team in any sport. Drawing their players from a male population of just 2.5m New Zealand adult men, they don’t have any size advantage of the pool they draw from (if size determined outcome then England have more rugby players than the rest of the world combined). But the importance of team values have helped the team create and sustain a meaningful connection with the legacy of the team.‘Culture is lik