Humanizing Work Show

Industry leader, @Adobe, is known for its innovation in the creative industry, allowing creatives to do what they do best with the help of innovative tools. Audio professionals look to Adobe to help them create their best work with the use of Adobe Audition, audio editing, mixing, and creation tool. Who was behind the development of this software? A small but successful, high performing team that took their shared purpose and alignment seriously which allowed for unprecedented results to follow. They paved the way for the eventual business model change at Adobe to subscription and cloud. In our Humanizing Work Show Season 2 finale, we brought the original Adobe Audition team together to tell us what made their team so successful as they pioneered change and brought Scrum into Adobe.

Great models for building a strong and healthy team include regularly reviewing the work and how it's being done to improve going forward, creating structures for excellence and growth and tapping into human rhythms and cadences to how we break up work, just to name a few. What do these team practices have in common? They are all found in Agile approaches like Scrum and XP. Regardless of the industry, these lightweight frameworks provide insight into healthy team growth and structure. "Scrum, even though it was invented in a software development context... is such a minimal lightweight set of constraints it's broadly applicable outside of software development" Listen in and see how you can take these ideas to your team. Tell us what's worked and how your team is responding.

Trust is a key component in any healthy team. Business outcomes soar and individual thrive when trust is at the team's core. But what builds trust? How do strong teams turn to one another in times of adversity rather than creating more conflict amongst themselves? How do both the team and the individual grow and succeed? Richard and Peter identify team toxins and give you practical applications that you can put to work in your workplace to move toward a better workplace TODAY.  

Think about it. When people are paying attention to what other people are doing in a more present and engaged way, it frees them up to contribute in new ways and bring more creativity to the table. The parallels between jazz and how great teams operate are widespread. Peter Green's first career was as a professional trumpet player. As he moved into the traditional business world, and in team leadership, he found that the skills that he learned as a musician applied directly to building better business and teams. In this Humanizing Work Show special episode, we spend time with an actual Jazz group working through the need for trust, risk-taking, and creativity that makes great music. Peter and Richard break down the characteristics of jazz that can be adopted in the business world to make your team thrive.

Most meaningful work happens in teams so to further expand the Humanizing Work movement and conversation we are taking season 2 to focus on teams. Richard Lawrence and Peter Green dive into what makes teams great, what gets in their way and what we can learn from various kinds of teams. In this episode Richard & Peter examine the research around teams; from the characteristics of high performing teams to the dysfunctions of teams that cause burnout, dissatisfaction and lack of engagement.

Why now? What conditions in the world make this the right time for a Humanizing Work movement? There are two key shifts that have happened in our working world that are really unique to our day. These changes require us to rethink the way we work. Peter and Richard look at the reason behind the shift in work and practical steps you can take to humanize work individually and organization-wide.

Growth is one of the core things that motivates people in all aspects of their life. “Work that doesn’t provide opportunities for growth is dehumanizing.” “Energy is additive. If I’m growing at work I’ve got energy...when I get home...now I have some energy to develop other parts of my life.” Peter Green and Richard Lawrence talk about how they’ve seen growth motivate clients and share research and advice on how you can take the next steps in your individual growth.

When you think about what motivates someone within their job or work it tends to go back to what their connection is to the purpose behind their work. "...it's hard to imagine a motivating purpose that doesn't impact another person. I think we are wired to care about other people." Richard Lawrence and Peter Green examine the theories of motivation and the core motivators they've found in their work with clients.

"This is why successful serial entrepreneurs, even after a big exit, go on to start something else, not because they need the money, but because they need to do meaningful work."

A lot of people are punching the timecard, getting their paycheck and going home.'I can't wait until Friday' or 'Oh no, I've got the Monday blues,' is a typical conversation between friends and colleagues. It has become routine to complain about work. Agile For All's Peter Green and Richard Lawrence talk about what meaningful work can look like through four major themes they've witnessed in working with hundreds of clients and organizations.