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...
Mar 07, 2022•37 min•Ep 143•Transcript available on Metacast 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 so...
Feb 28, 2022•52 min•Ep 142•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Alo...
Feb 18, 2022•38 min•Ep 141•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ne...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep 140•Transcript available on Metacast 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 p...
Jan 09, 2022•46 min•Ep 139•Transcript available on Metacast Pre-order Disconnected At 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 lin...
Dec 20, 2021•40 min•Ep 138•Transcript available on Metacast 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 train...
Dec 20, 2021•46 min•Ep 137•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Dec 05, 2021•49 min•Ep 136•Transcript available on Metacast 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 newsle...
Nov 29, 2021•51 min•Ep 135•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...
Oct 27, 2021•43 min•Ep 134•Transcript available on Metacast 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 tha...
Oct 13, 2021•38 min•Ep 133•Transcript available on Metacast 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 career how to tell if your boss is a narcissist how to deal with boss who is a people pleaser If you're a people watcher or amateur psychologist you're going to love this. Naomi's new book is The Man Who Mistook His ...
Sep 21, 2021•40 min•Ep 132•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Sep 07, 2021•53 min•Ep 131•Transcript available on Metacast Join the discussion on the newsletter This 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 conve...
Aug 14, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep 130•Transcript available on Metacast Sign up for the free newsletter Does political discourse have a place in the workplace? What is going on Basecamp? A truly dazzling discussion with Megan Reitz , Professor of Leadership and Dialogue at Ashridge Executive Education – part of Hult International Business School. I got in touch with Megan when I saw her articles about Basecamp, Coinbase and political activism at work. Along the way we discuss Jonathan Haidt and whether Gen Z’s are softer than previous generations. I reference a disc...
May 11, 2021•46 min•Ep 129•Transcript available on Metacast Amazon announced its earnings last week - and saw its share price hit a record high . Announcing that they’d surpassed 200 million Prime members was just one of the milestones that the company was able to celebrate in a blowout performance. The company’s sales - no doubt helped by a captive audience trapped at home in a pandemic - rose by 44%, a growth clip that would seem impossibly high for a 17 year old firm if we hadn’t seen Apple’s revenue grow by 54% two days previously. The interesting di...
May 03, 2021•50 min•Ep 128•Transcript available on Metacast This week I chat to Elizabeth Uviebinené , Financial Times columnist and the iconic author of Slay in Your Lane about her new book The Reset . With Slay (‘The Black Girl Bible’) she proved that she could sell huge amount of books to audiences who weren’t represented by mainstream books, but The Reset takes aim at work, society and a whole lot more… and it aimed at anyone! We have a fun and sparky discussion (including talking about the LinkedIn heart attack guy). Sign up for Make Work Better new...
Apr 27, 2021•48 min•Ep 127•Transcript available on Metacast Sign up for the newsletter Rutger Bregman’s Humankind was my favourite book of 2020 and it comes out in paperback next month. A brilliant read (that also works wonderfully as an audiobook) it will appeal to fans of Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens or anyone who wants a provocative, thoughtful summer read. To mark the paperback release I spoke to him about universal basic income, the way that we've worked in lockdown, and why we turn our backs to lots of evidence that humans are innately ki...
Apr 20, 2021•58 min•Ep 126•Transcript available on Metacast Sign up for the newsletter Two discussions today about big stories in the news. Firstly I chat to senior features writer at The Economist about his brilliant special report on work. Callum wrote the special report on work in this week's Economist - you can find it here. Then I have a discussion with CEO and podcaster Dan Murray-Serter . Dan runs his own start-up, Heights . We talk about three articles: What Gen Z workers want from their bosses I've learned to never treat my work like a family Lo...
Apr 13, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep 125•Transcript available on Metacast Sign up for the newsletter Kim Scott is the straight talking author of the phenomenal hit Radical Candour . Now she's back with a huge new book that's set to be equally as impactful. She joined me with business partner Trier Bryant to discuss themes of diversity, workplace bias, bullying and harassment - and what any of us can do to stamp it out. Along the way we go into plenty of specific examples that will help you think about issues like this in your own workplace. We also get real talking ab...
Apr 04, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep 124•Transcript available on Metacast Sign up for the newsletter What a guest today. I've tried to speak to Professor Robin Dunbar for 4 or 5 years. Robin has a new book out called Friends which is the sort of book you can lose yourself in on a holiday (if anyone lets you have one). I enjoyed it for surprising me and going beyond what I already knew. So reliant are human beings on our social collaboration that it has been suggested that our bodies have evolved the feeling of loneliness, an alarm system that aggressively resists isol...
Mar 30, 2021•55 min•Ep 123•Transcript available on Metacast A recording of a Twitter Spaces discussion with Scott Galloway. We talk remote working, why cities will never die, why working hard is Scott's top career advice. Along the way we talk about the power of touch, Goldman Sachs, missing humans and what will come next for work. The Twitter Spaces app also blings a lot too, sorry about that. I've edited about 200 of them out. Scott's book Post Corona is a bestseller. Sign up for the newsletter. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkr...
Mar 18, 2021•55 min•Ep 123•Transcript available on Metacast Buy A World Without Email I’ve talked a lot about Cal Newport’s provocations about abolishing email (and Zoom calls) [find them here and here ]. And in fact, I had someone last week astonished when I suggested we should try to limit video calls to eight hours a week. They thought I’d lost my mind. How would we get things done unless we were on video calls all day? This default to video and emails is what Cal Newport calls the Hyperactive Hive Mind. He’s convinced that we’ll look back at the way ...
Feb 24, 2021•54 min•Ep 122•Transcript available on Metacast Pre-order Conflicted now - available from 18th Feb You can also read Ian's post on Paul McCartney that I mentioned on the show and follow him on Twitter here . What's the route to better decision making at work? What can any of us do to ensure we resolve our disputes in a more productive way. A brilliant discussion with Ian Leslie about his forthcoming new book, Conflicted. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...
Feb 06, 2021•55 min•Ep 121•Transcript available on Metacast Subscribe to the newsletter of the podcast A couple of things for you. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned here but I’ve done a new Audible Original podcast/audiobook called No Office Required. It is free. In December I spent a long time contacting a wide range of people from the likes of the author of Solo, Rebecca Seal through to futurists, psychologists, architects to find out the most effective way to do remote working. Like I say it’s free if you’re an Audible subscriber. I love audiobooks, whether...
Jan 26, 2021•37 min•Ep 120•Transcript available on Metacast Sign for the newsletter What's going to happen with our workplaces. Today the theme is how, if we're not careful the way that we're using our workplaces is going redefine our work culture. At the start there is discussion about some of the themes in the most recent newsletter and then go on to chat to Nick LiVigne from Convene . Convene are a coworking/events business that allows you to adapt your needs to the minute-to-minute demands of your business - they have been very successful in the US a...
Jan 10, 2021•37 min•Ep 119•Transcript available on Metacast Sign up for the Make Work Better newsletter There is no better guest to kick off 2021 than Amy Gallo . Amy Gallo is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review writing about workplace dynamics and emotional intelligence . She is co-host of the wonderful Women at Work podcast She's is the author of the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict and gave a hit TEDx talk on that subject in 2019 . On the Women at Work podcast , Harvard Business Review staffers Amy Bernstein, Amy Gallo, and Emily Caulfi...
Jan 02, 2021•43 min•Ep 118•Transcript available on Metacast Sign up for the Make Work Better newsletter. How the heck did we end up thinking that humour and serious work are in opposition to each other? Today's guests, Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, run a tremendously successful course at Stanford Business School on how we can all use humour to be better (and happier) at our jobs. One of the people they have coming along to guest speaker at their course is Dick Costolo, Dick was my former boss as CEO of Twitter (and hired me to work there). He had an...
Dec 27, 2020•47 min•Ep 117•Transcript available on Metacast Sign up for the newsletter Seth Godin has cracked the secret of how to make you more creative. And the good news is that everyone can do it. He was so dogged by his need to share this that he has turned it into a book, The Practice. We talk about the simple way to unlock creativity and ask why schools don't teach this. At the end Seth gives his recommendations of the best things you should be reading (linked below) Seth's blog My previous interview with Seth - How you can reinvent your company c...
Dec 13, 2020•43 min•Ep 115•Transcript available on Metacast Sign up for the newsletter There was an incredible response to the episode with Chris hayward last week. I know that Chris was really touched with the response. He’s not on Twitter but I know he was responding to some people on Linkedin last week. Today’s episode is much lighter in tone but it’s fascinating rare opportunity to get a different perspective into another world. During the summer someone at GCHQ got in touch and asked whether it would be of interest to get an insight into the ...
Nov 30, 2020•36 min•Ep 114•Transcript available on Metacast 
