Eat Sleep Work Repeat - better workplace culture
Eat Sleep Work Repeat is a podcast about workplace culture hosted by Bruce Daisley. It explores how to make work better through curious discussions about jobs and their role in our lives. The show has been listened to millions of times and offers a newsletter for further insights.
Episodes
What chance do we have versus the machines?
Sarah O'Connor is a journalist for the Financial Times who specialises in writing about work and the evolution of our jobs. Over the last year or so that has meant a lot of reflection about AI job displacement.In her new book, We Are Not Machines, Sarah reflects on how technological change is reshaping the workplace - and the invisible enshittification it often brings with it. Sarah has a strong m
Can one bad apple ruin your team?
Kate Murphy is the author a new book called Why We Click. It combines the very latest research into interpersonal synchrony - how we form bonds with others. It's an intriguing read - at times compelling, at times challenging.I chatted to her to understand 'the bad apple effect' and her take on whether we need face-to-face communication at all costs.There's a full transcript on the website.Sign up
Your colleagues like you more than you realise…
Dr Gillian Sandstrom is a researcher whose work explores her fascination with our conversations with other people - whether colleagues, friends or strangers. She’s just published a fabulous new book ‘Once Upon A Stranger’.Her work says that we often have a ‘liking gap’ when we talk to people - we think they like us less than we like them - even if they are work colleagues. It turns out not to be t
Life Reclaimed with Pippa Grange
A return interview with Dr Pippa Grange, a performance ("regenerative") psychologist who has worked with the England men's football team and who has earned the admiration of Brene Brown.I'm always excited to hear from the likes of Pippa, elite practioners who have earned the respect of the most respected high performers in the world.Pippa has a new book out, Life Reclaimed, which is a reflection o
We-ness: The secret cause of Psychological Safety
I saw a post by Professor Rob Briner about the enigma of psychological safety, and in the replies it was discussed that in fact PS isn't so much an enigma, there's evidence that it is the output of group identity. It felt important to talk to Katrien Fransen about her work exploring this.This conversation (and the papers that led into it) were real penny drop moments for me.There's a full tra
The more you talk about culture, the less people believe you
Today's conversation is with Professor Benjamin Laker, someone I've long admired for his cutting edge work on the evolution of culture. His article on Meeting Free Days is probably the piece of research I've shared the most in the last 5 years.Laker is Professor of Leadership at Henley Business School, which is part of the University of Reading. As well as writing multiple bestselling books on wor
Flourishing at Work
Daniel Coyle returns to reflect on what has changed since we last spoke. He's moved attention to an examination of what contributes to us getting a fulfilling experience from work - and life.We talk attention, community and the way that great teams demonstrate 'group flow'. We also delve into some research by Nick Epley that I've covered on the newsletter, that suggests we're terrible at predictin
What makes for the Best Place to Work
I'm joined by Daniel Zhao, chief economist of Glassdoor, who talks me through their new rankings of the best places to work in 2026.It's an intriguing list, is a car wash really better than some of the most famous tech brands in the world?The ranking allows us to explore what we want in a job: culture, connection, progression and autonomy.Bad culture is 7 times more powerful driving quitting than
Culture is built on 'moments of truth'
Kevin Green is the Chief People Officer for First Group.He's set about reinventing the culture of the organisation from the ground up.I heard Kevin speak at an event last year was completely bowled over by the way he talked about culture and the way he was trying to build it. I think you'll love this discussion. There's a full transcript on the website.Also mentioned: Waitrose culture episode with
People-watching in the workplace
Dr Karen Bridbord is the author of a new book, The Relationship-Driven Leader that invites us to bring a psychologist's lens to our job and the relationships with those around us.Her perspective is to use psychology to understand the person in front of you to interpret the world through their eyes. If you’ve got a controlling boss or someone who behaves in a way that impacts your life she helps yo
What Gen Z need from work
Gen Z have been shaped by recessions, the pandemic, geopolitical instability, not to mention financial insecurity and world changing technology.That's the finding of the Edelman Gen Z Lab as told to me by the leader of the project Jackie Cooper. Most powerfully she explains that Gen Z's have a 'visceral need for safety' - that's financial, social, cultural and even physical.They respond to fear by
Is training really corporate sludge?
Most company training is a waste of time that turns firms into bureaucratic sludge holes. That’s roughly the conclusion of today’s episode which is a conversation with Andre Spicer and Mats AlvessonThey have a new book out The Art of Less. Andre has been a guest a few times before - way back in 2018. This podcast is old. In 2018 this podcast was ahead of Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO at the top
Strong team identity delivers success
Jeremy Holt is a psychologist and leadership coach who has spent more than 20 years helping teams get better. Read his research about better team results.This episode is the third part of a series about the power of identity in teams. Listen to the other Eat Sleep Work Repeat episodes about identity.Jeremy posting about identityWatch the Lebron documentary More Than a GameJeremy's book For the Lov
To understand leadership, you need to understand identity
This is the second part of an interview with Professor Alex Haslam, the world's leading voice on the study of social identity.You can hear the first part of this interview on the website.In this discussion we talk how social identity can help us understand leadership.Alex talks about the CARE model of leadership.C - Create the groupA - Advance the group (sometimes over themselves)R - Represent the
Everything is identity
“Why are we so fixated on the individual self? I think it was a big con. The individual self is a relatively modern invention. The idea that human psychology is about the individual self was really an analytical fiction that was devised in the 20th century.”This is the first part of a wide-ranging discussion with Professor Alex Haslam. He talks us why our group identities are so essential to us an
We need to tackle workplace loneliness
Simon Gilbody talks loneliness at workThe Loneliness of the American Worker - Wall Street JournalMake Work Better on lonelinessMore on solving lonelinessLoneliness in teamsDerek Thompson on elective isolationProfessor Simon Gilbody is a psychiatrist and clinical epidemiologist at the University of York. His work specialises in 'taking a population approach to mental health', trying to understand t
Delivering culture through food
This sponsored episode is brought to you by Deliveroo for WorkSpencer Walker is the global director of Deliveroo for Work.The podcast has returned several times to the idea of food as a cultural trigger, something that catalyses connection and allows cohesion. We explore that idea further this week with Spencer Walker who runs Deliveroo For Work the workplace service provided by the delivery firm.
RTO mandates are caused by middle aged men not liking their wives
Delighted to post this small conversation with Nick Shackleton-Jones. Nick posts brilliantly witty rants on TikTok that are just the best things I hear about work and the futility of bureaucracy.TikTok is a fame machine and if creators drop a banger they can end up reaching a vast audience. Nick has posted some content about work, neurodiversity and philosophy that has had millions of views.It was
What gives a team the 'collective edge'?
If we shifted our focus from the individual to the collective how different would our results at work be?I'm joined by Colin Fisher who explains that great teams are the most important contributors to great outcomes at work. The problem is that for many of our teams they are equal to less than the sum of the parts. Groups get bigger and bigger and stop being effective. Managers avoid having discus
How behavioural psychology is shaping workspace
It’s been a while since I revisited a conversation on offices and how our physical workspaces are evolving. Disruption has made the property business hugely raise their games. With 20-25% of Gen Z workers self reporting having issues of neurodivergency the office is trying to prove that it's still the centre of great workplace cultures.I chatted to Susan Carruth, a partner a 3XN, an architecture f
Our personalities are changing, will it ruin work?
Last month the FInancial Times published an article by John Burn Murdoch in the form of an analysis of personality data, specifically looking at what are styled the Big Five personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.Typically these five factors are regarded as a statistically reliable way to measure personality. Unlike approaches like Myers Brigg
Did we do Big Ange dirty?
Sign up for the newsletterA couple of years ago, I was surrounded with so many happy Spurs fans that I bought into the euphoric buzz they were giving off.Ange Postecoglou had brought the smile back to Tottenham supporters. I chatted to Charlie Eccleshare from The Athletic about the cultural reinvention that the Australian manager that enacted.Reader, the Big Ange story didn't end well as a result
How Octopus Energy used culture to reach the top
I’m often asked asked which company cultures I admire, especially as I tend to be critical of the culture inside tech firms. It’s easy to have good vibes in small firms but organisations who manage to deliver good culture at scale are the ones I’m most interested in. I often call out Nando’s or Octopus Energy.I was delighted to get the chance to talk to the CEO of Octopus Energy Group, Greg Jacks
Getting to grips with workplace AI
This is the second episode this month about AI and the implications for our jobs.Two weeks ago I went along to a huge event run by Workday down in North Greenwich. Workday, their partners and their customers took to the stage to talk about applications of AI that are coming to their platform. As part of the event I was able to run a discussion with a couple of voices from the company who are helpi
What does it mean for culture when 'intelligence is on tap'?
Sign up to the newsletterFirst of two episodes going deep on how AI is going to impact work - and therefore workplace culture and dynamics.This week is with Alexia Cambon from Microsoft. Alexia is Head of Research on Copilot & Future of Work. Last month her team released the Work Trend Index Annual Report. It’s one of the most important pieces of insight into how our jobs will change. Their pr
Time to chase Calendar Zero
"There's this concept called inbox zero, where everyone tries to get to their inbox down to zero. But I would suggest that a more noble pursuit is that of calendar zero".I chatted to Howard Lerman this week. I was blown away by this discussion - it captured exactly what is wrong about current work, and why back-to-back meetings are going to lead to many organisations missing the opportunity of thi
The best culture book of 2025: The Power of Mattering
When Zach Mercurio’s new book, The Power of Mattering, arrived on my desk I devoured it. It’s the most essential book about workplace culture that I’ve read in a couple of years.Read a full transcript and notes on the website.Read more : Wall Street Journal: The Power of Mattering at WorkOrder the book: The Power of MatteringSign up to the Make Work Better newsletter or check out th
Meaning: why showing work matters has such an impact
The next two podcasts I see as a piece with each other, today is about meaning the next one is about mattering. Collectively I feel they present serious substance about the foundations of good culture.Read Meaningful Work Read the latest newsletterThere’s some overlap - the authors today,Tamara Myles and Wes Adams, have done research with next week’s guest Zach Mercurio. One of today’s guests Tama
Great culture starts with teams
Sign up for the newsletterSomeone posted on LinkedIn that the podcast had died. Or I had died. But he is risen! I'm back with a great discussion, powerful in its simplicity.Psychologists Dr. Patricia Grabarek and Dr. Katina Sawyer have created a guidebook for anyone who wants to make things better for their teams. In it they suggest that managers need to set the tone for our colleagues. Yes, of co
PING! How to cope with communication overload
Join 100,000 other workplace culture enthusiasts by signing up for the Make Work Better newsletterInterested in how skills could enhance your business? Check out the short film I made with the Department for Education.Get in touch with BruceWhat do your typos say about you?What's the right medium to build connection with your colleagues?How did Shopify and Netflix reinvent their communication?How
The Careers Collective - what's next for work?
Interested in how skills could enhance your business? Check out the short film I made with the Department for Education.Sign up for the newsletterToday's episode is an Avengers Assembled of podcasts about work. I join host Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis from the Squiggly Careers podcast, as well as Isabel Berwick from the FT's Working It and Jimmy McCloughlin from Jimmy's Jobs.We talk AI, asking pay
Turning your team into a tribe
Michael Morris's book Tribal covers the codes that bond humans together. It has been shortlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award 2024. It came runner-up to 'Supremacy' by Parmy Olson.He explains that humans are inspired by peer codes, human codes and ancestor codes when it comes to their behaviour - and he gives plenty of insight of how we could build more tightly bonded gr
Outrage in the work chat
Everywhere we look we see someone who is outraged - and plenty of that anger makes its way to the workplace. The last time President Trump was in power it led to employees becoming more active - who knows if the same will happen in 2025.Karthik Ramanna talks us through the way to deal with outrage - and the actions that any leader can take to make the workplace a better place. His new book is out
Transformational cultures use the manager as a coach
Sign up for the newsletterTiffany Gaskell outlines coaching as a route to transformational leadershipTiffany Gaskell is the co-author of Coaching for Performance, the top-selling guide to coaching first published by Sir John Whitmore the inventor of the discipline.It's curious to consider that there was a founder of coaching, and Tiffany takes me through the history of the practice, how it took ho
How Intel fixed work and then threw it away
Subscribe to the free Make Work Better newsletterBrigid Schulte is a journalist and writer who brings a reporter's ear for stories to her exploration of modern work.Over the course of a decade Schulte has talked to people about the impact their jobs has on their lives - and has explored any hope that we might be able to make this better.Her new book, Over Work and paints a hopeful image of how we
TOXIC: When good cultures go bad
Colin Ellis is a consultant and author who spends his time working with organisations to improve their culture. He's turned his attention to why some companies go bad in a new book Detox Your Culture. He talked me through what has gone wrong at the likes of ITV's This Morning, the CBI, The Ellen Show and Boeing.Sign up for the newsletterSign up to the Make Work Better newsletter or check out the b
"Help: my team doesn't feel connected any more"
Sign up for the newsletterHow can any of us build a more effective team?Owen Eastwood is one of the world’s most in demand performance coaches, with a focus on team culture & leading. Owen has worked with some of the most successful sporting sides in the world. He also works with corporate teams wrestling with similar themes.Last year I talked to Owen about his work on belonging and identity b
Should we focus on making workers happy?
Sign up for the Make Work Better newsletterHow important is a happy workforce? According to Mark Price, the former boss of Waitrose, it's the main thing that leaders should be thinking about. Make your workforce happy and the profits will follow. Mark's new book is Happy Economics.To prove it Mark cites his experience running the supermarket chain, when with a goal of workers happiness he made it
Presence: 'Yes and...' - how the secrets of improv can teach us about work
This episode is part of the Presence project: Presence: Fixing culture starts with your calendar, not your officeYou might think an episode about improv comedy might be a stretch for a podcast about making work better. But in fact as Kelly Leonard explains today the skills of improv comedy are the most important ones that will determine our success at work. Kelly helps to run Second City, the
Presence: Fish! Time to revisit a culture classic?
This episode is part of the Presence project: Presence: Fixing culture starts with your calendar, not your officeIn the 2000s a book called Fish! A remarkable way to boost morale and improve results became a bestseller. A small book, it was often used by companies accompanying a video of the same name. Together the two told a story of the culture of the fish market in Seattle, a noisy, bombastic p
Presence: exploring real life culture rituals
This episode is part of the Presence project: Presence: Fixing culture starts with your calendar, not your officeThis is the second episode about rituals - the first one is next to it in the podcast feed, it's an interview with Kursat Ozenc about how rituals can be used to create culture. This episode goes into real life examples.Claudia Wallace talks about Crisp Thursday (Connection)Andy Puleston
Presence: our rituals show what matters to us
This episode is part of the Presence project: Presence: Fixing culture starts with your calendar, not your officeKursat Ozenc is a product designer who he teaches at Stanford university, He teaches on the subject that we can all learn from which is the idea that culture can be designed. The specific tool he uses to design culture is the creation of workplace rituals. Kursat's Substack newslet
Presence: Presence starts with positive leadership
Flow is the state of being in which people become so immersed in the joy of their work or activity “that nothing else seems to matter.”Presence is to be in a flow state of connection with others.Here’s the last discussion about the Happiness TrackSign up for the newsletterEmma’s new book SovereignHBR: The Best Leaders Have a Contagious Positive EnergyHBR: Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are
“Workers watch your feet, not your lips” - changing culture at scale
To receive the newsletter and the forthcoming Presence project sign-up hereToday’s top episode goes to the heart of an issue that a lot of people raise with me.They say ‘where do you start when changing a culture’.To some extent it’s what the episode about the hospital trust in Barking was about, going in and changing the culture of a huge organisation.I saw one of today’s guests Darren Ashby spea
The future of work? "The manager as a therapist"
Isabel Berwick is a writer and podcaster who focusses on the evolving state of modern work. I’ve celebrated her podcast Working It many times here (here’s her specials on the 4-day week for example, or her special on meeting-free days was essential listening). I love its ability to react rapidly to the biggest news stories of the moment and to drop a snackable episode midweek.I talked to her about
Getting real with Employee Experience
How should most of us think about the differences between Employee Experience and Employee Engagement.I first spoke to Emma Bridger, who is the author of a well respected book on this topic and the founder of the EX Space, a learning community focussed on raising the bar in the Employee Experience field.Then I picked the brains of Melanie Wheeler who leads People Communications at Sutherland, a fi
Better conversations, better relationships
Charles Duhigg’s bestseller The Power of Habit was the definitive guide to building and sustaining successful habits.His new book, Supercommunicators, grapples with the knotty topic of creating successful interactions with others.It’s a thorough and dazzling read that has many applications for the way we work (and how we live our lives).We talked about:the single biggest thing that builds psycholo
Do bonuses actually make us work harder?
Many of us have worked in environments that provided bonuses or rewards for success. Maybe they took the form of team rewards or individual incentives, or end of year profit-share schemes. But do these rewards achieve what they are designed to?Professor Uri Gneezy is the world's foremost expert on the science of incentives - and he comes with a huge warning about what such schemes actually achieve
Workchat: workplace culture has never been more complicated
This week's Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook.Roll up roll up as this week we talk the major trends in work and workplace culture and the big stories of the last month.Including:Wellness programs don’t work - in TikTok form, or in Matt’s post on LinkedIn Research from Oxford University looking at the (in)effectiveness of workplace wellbeing interventi
Can better culture improve the results of an NHS Trust?
I was flattered to be invited to visit the NHS trust of Barking, Havering and Redbridge last year. I spent an afternoon meeting the team and seeing the place in action.It was an inspiring question that CEO Matthew Trainer was asking: 'can we improve the results by making it a better culture?'What does that look like? And how is going for them?Matthew Trainer's CEO note at the end of 2023Video: Ins
Building Trust at Work: Trends for 2024
We often overlook the fact that trust is the basis for all good culture. I called out some of the remarkable data on this in the Work In 2024 deck.In Slack’s August 2023 survey of over 10,000 global office workers, trust was the top determinant of employees’ productivity scores. Employees who felt trusted were 2X as productive as those who didn’t. They were 30% more likely to put in extr
Helping the accidental manager: Trends for work
The role of managers are pivotal in our working lives but most managers aren't trained or prepared for the responsibilities that they are given.When we look at the research from Gallup about burnout and why people hate their jobs managers are regarded as having the biggest responsibility. Half of people who say they don't rate their manager say they are looking for jobs. So what can we do to make
WorkChat: Should part-time workers have to give up on ambition?
Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen Scott and Matthew Cook. Sign up to the newsletterWe talk through the hottest topics in work:New research says that bosses think going part-time signals the end of career ambitionRadio 5 Live's Nihal Arthanayake says he feels alienated as the only brown face in a sea of white at his workplaceBill Gates advocates for the three-day week but does
The single thing that every organisation should do to fix culture
Professor Frances Frei is the biggest brain in the field of workplace culture and I was delighted to get another opportunity to talk to her.She explains the one thing that firms should do to fix their cultures (spoiler: train their managers), why she thinks inclusion is a more important element of culture than just diversity.The previous episode with Frances FreiFrances and Anne’s podcast FixableF
Is toxic culture driving your team away?
Is toxic culture driving your team away?If you’re someone whose job it is think about culture, or maybe you’re a boss who has tried to communicate values to your team then today’s episode is an essential listen.Donald Sull and Charlie Sull are a father and son research team who have discovered extraordinary insights into values and what they look like in the real world.Here are some articles to ge
WorkChat: are you ready to declare your workplace relationships?
Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen Scott and Matthew Cook. Sign up to the newsletterThis week we go deep on the latest news about work.ITV tell staff to declare ‘friendships’Moderation staff at Facebook are suing over PTSDBBC staff given help for stress levels'We Had To Remove This Post' - brilliant novella by Hanna BervoetsOobah Butler’s Amazon show on Channel 4Reddit anti wo
WorkChat: Is work heading for a freelance future?
Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook. Sign up to the newsletterThis week we go deep on the latest news about work. We discuss:Two thirds of bosses expect a return to the office by 2036KPMG CEO surveyDavid Foster Wallace - This is Water commencement speechShonda Rhimes “Whenever you see me somewhere succeeding in one area of my life, that almost certainly
I’m loving Big Ange instead
Sign up for the newsletterWhat Ange Postecoglou changed at Spurs in his first 100 days: ‘The mood has been transformed’Charlie writes about the oratory of Ange PostecoglouLast week I read something wonderful about the culture of Tottenham Hotspur, I contacted the writer and it felt like it was worth putting out quickly. We’ve got a couple of podcast recorded with Matt and Ellen so we’ll be back fo
Psychological safety - setting the record straight
Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook. Ellen is away this week - we were working hard to squeeze an elite guest in.Amy Edmondson is the most renowned organisational psychologist in the world. In other words she's looked to more than anyone else for the answers of how to fix work.In this in depth discussion she talks us through what she understands by psyc
The surprising importance of FUN in productive work
Sign up for the Make Work Better newsletterThis episode explores the concept of fun and its importance in adult life, challenging the misperception that fun is frivolous.What is fun? Catherine Price suggests that it is the confluence of playfulness, connection, and flow.The discussion also addresses the impact of social media on fake fun and the role of playfulness in work and productivity. The co
WorkChat: Hang on, was the office stressing us out all along?
Sign up for the Make Work Better newsletterEat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook.Ellen wrote about her learnings about being a managerDespite government threats of legal action Cambridgeshire council are continuing their evidence-led trial of the 4-day week. “Nine in ten councils are struggling with job recruitment and retention and a four-day working wee
The world's best performance coach explains how he transforms teams
I’m joined again by new cohosts Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook.Buy BelongingOwen Eastwood is the most in-demand team performance coach in the worldHe's earned that reputation by delivering break-through results with a diverse range of teams from Gareth Southgate’s England team and the England women’s team, to the senior leadership team of NATO. His former clients represent an elite range of teams
WorkChat: a broader perspective on work starts here
A few months ago I put out a call asking for other voices to get involved in the podcast and I’m delighted today to add Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook to Eat Sleep Work Repeat.You may have read Ellen’s brilliant writing in The Stylist where she is the Deputy Digital Editor and previously in Metro. She writes and edits pieces on work, mental health, relationships, and more. Here’s her own Substack
FIXED WITH INTRO How to build a truly engaged team
Sorry for duplicate - the previous version had no intro!If you liked this I actually shared a lot of the data on the newsletter a couple of weeks ago - read that here.Today's episode is an in depth exploration of the latest Gallup Global Workplace Report, Anna Sawyer, a Principal at Gallup takes us through the findings - and the implications for all leaders.Get your hands on Gallup’s ‘State of the
How to build a truly engaged team
If you liked this I actually shared a lot of the data on the newsletter a couple of weeks ago - read that here.Today's episode is an in depth exploration of the latest Gallup Global Workplace Report, Anna Sawyer, a Principal at Gallup takes us through the findings - and the implications for all leaders.Get your hands on Gallup’s ‘State of the Global Workplace Report’Here’s Anna on LinkedInI loved
Is the 4 day week a cult that we can all get behind?
Alex's book: Work less, do moreMake Work Better newsletter covered the 4 day week trials For today’s episode I went to meet Alex Soujung Kim Pang. Alex has written a lot about our relationship with work, first in his book Rest and now in his book WORK LESS, DO MORE which is a refreshed version of Shorter.When we first spoke the evidence for shorter working was a series of quirky stories of pioneer
AI and work...it's imminent
Sign up for the newsletterWe’re in a stage place with AI right now where for most of us it’s still a parlour trick. Something that we’ve seen create images of the Pope in bling or summon up meal planners that we’ll never use. But we’ve not really seen how it will impact our jobs.Along the way there have been some huge claims:An MIT study said that knowledge work could become 37% faster and more ef
Making the Case for Good Jobs
Zeynep Ton is the author of the Good Jobs Strategy - which holds the honour of being the book I refer to the most when it comes to talking about work. In that book she set about making the case for firms to create good jobs for their employees, not just for the moral reason but because it was a route to faster growth. Now she returns with a new book, The Case for Good Jobs, which not only exp
The Importance of Touch
Are you touch starved? Do you feel a touch hunger in your life?Michael Banissy is a psychologist whose work focusses on the importance of physical connection between people, he styles himself as part of a group of ‘scientists who stroke’. Touch has become sigmatised by the actions of those who have misused it, to the extent that many of us have become fearful of touching the arm or shoulder of oth
What *is* the future of work? A discussion with Dror Poleg
An episode today that is a reflection on where work is going and what implications there are for cities, for workers and for life. Dror Poleg is a writer and commentator who thinks about how the internet is disrupting our lives. What sets him apart is his ability to see second and third order effects of change. Dror Poleg's newsletter (and draft book of the future of work) can be found at his
Curiosity, creativity and AI
Today’s discussion should land you right in the sweetspot of thinking about AI for your own job by taking a step back, by asking yourself how you can connect with AI and why you should. Today’s guest Professor Costas Andriopoulos explain curiosity is the engine of creativity. And by striving to be curious our minds will surprise us with the creativity that results.There was a wonderful piece of wo
Is Work Destined For Generational Discord?
Sign up for the Make Work Better newsletter Ellen Scott is the deputy digital editor of Stylist and someone who has achieved recognition for having a sharp eye when it comes to observing the changing face of work.Ellen was one of the first voices to pick up on the TikTok trend of Quiet Quitting, she's written about 'the ambi-work' movement and continues to give voice to the challenges fa
Brains, hormones and time - the invisible causes of better workplace culture
Are there forces at work that might impact the way work feels? Could we use those forces to make work better?This discussion with Robin Dunbar and Tracey Camilleri took me to places I hadn't expected to go. That hormones, our brains and time would play a part in the relationships we forge at work isn't something that you would expect to find in a company's culture document, but as you'll hear toda
Fixing work's people problem(s)
Today’s episode is a discussion with Amy Gallo. During the pandemic I had a wonderful discussion about work and where it was going and I was delighted to have another conversation with her two years on. Amy is the author of Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) and The HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict. She also co-hosts the Women at Work podcast, and is a contributi
Inside the ideas factory - demystifying creativity
Jeremy shares his: free bonus chapterJeremy Utley leads some of the most popular courses on creativity and innovation at the d.school of Stanford University. I was delighted to see that he was making his teaching of such popular courses available to a wider audience and chased him for an interview. This is one of his first interviews to talk about his brand new book Ideaflow.In it he discusses the
Rory Sutherland explores Fortitude
Sign up to hear more about Radix Big TentRory Sutherland is one of the most respected brains in the advertising industry, a man whose early endorsement of behavioural economics helped popularise the nascent science. He's also a regular writer for The Spectator and Vice Chief of Ogilvy Group. Rory joins me to interview to talk about my new book, Fortitude, which has become a Sunday Times Bestseller
'Wednesday plus one' & the 4-day week
Lots of discussion right now about firms trying to kick start their workplace culture. I wanted to explore conversations with leaders who were leading experiments in how to make things feel different. In what prove to be a pair of candid conversations I talk to two firms who are asking the question if workplaces can be more motivated by trying to vary the ingredients. John Sill tells us how his fi
We've never needed stories more - a masterclass by a story coach from The Moth
Come along to one of my free events in SeptemberWe all tell stories all of the time, but what makes a magical, memorable story? What pitfalls should we avoid? This was an issue that I was thinking about. Presentations are stories, and we deliver presentations every day.In my own investigation I found real value in the book by the storytelling organisation The Moth. I was beyond excited when I saw
Professor Sophie Scott takes us into the brain
Professor Sophie Scott is the UK's most recognisable neuroscientist, famed for her passion and her ability to excite interest in a complex field. Her new book, The Brain - Ten Things You Should Know is out now and I got in touch to discuss what any of us can learn about the brain. It's a wonderful discussion that included one detail that stopped me in my tracks.Listen to Professor Sophie Scott on
"Men have no friends and women bear the burden”
Lots of my favourite podcasts have gone on summer break, so I wanted to keep putting some episodes out. But maybe you don't want something that is too work related in the midst of the summer, so this is an episode that is more psychology and life than workplace culture. It's a lovely discussion with Max Dickins author of 'Billy No Mates'.I got so much from the book - and from the discussion. Max r
