Sign up for the Make Work Better newsletter This 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 conversation explores the importance of fun in the workplace and the impact it has on productivity,...
Sep 22, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep 171•Transcript available on Metacast Sign up for the Make Work Better newsletter Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley , Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook . Ellen wrote about her learnings about being a manager Despite 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 week could be the answer” Ellen mentions this article on Stylist about boundaries (registration re...
Sep 15, 2023•51 min•Ep 170•Transcript available on Metacast I’m joined again by new cohosts Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook . Buy Belonging Owen Eastwood is the most in-demand team performance coach in the world He'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 who have gone on to achieve incredible victories. We wanted to understand how he did it. What do...
Sep 08, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep 169•Transcript available on Metacast 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 on work. She is also working on fiction and is represented by The Soho Agency. Matt/Matthew is the ...
Sep 01, 2023•52 min•Ep 168•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Global Workplace Report’ Here’s Anna on LinkedIn I loved the Gallup report on employee burnout ...
Jun 29, 2023•43 min•Ep 167•Transcript available on Metacast 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 LinkedIn I loved the Gallup report on employee burnout (and I cited the results in the show) We talk a little ab...
Jun 29, 2023•43 min•Ep 167•Transcript available on Metacast Alex's book: Work less, do more Make 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 pioneering firms, frequently led by maverick bosses. In the last three years the landscape for shorter w...
Jun 23, 2023•35 min•Ep 166•Transcript available on Metacast Sign up for the newsletter We’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 effective simply by using Chat GPT A study by Github found that software developers were 55% faster...
Jun 09, 2023•51 min•Ep 165•Transcript available on Metacast 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 explains the reasoning for creating better working conditions for workers, but also how any firm can ...
May 26, 2023•44 min•Ep 164•Transcript available on Metacast 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 others. Michael Banissy gives a compelling case for appropriate touch, and asks us to rethink the role...
May 18, 2023•42 min•Ep 163•Transcript available on Metacast 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 website. Join me at Microsoft's event on AI and the future of work Join me on 25th May at 12.30pm ...
May 11, 2023•50 min•Ep 162•Transcript available on Metacast 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 work five years ago by Francesco Gino from Harvard Business School that looked into curiosity. It fou...
Mar 20, 2023•1 hr•Ep 161•Transcript available on Metacast 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 facing Gen Z and Millennial workers. We talk about whether is as fair a deal today as it always was...
Mar 13, 2023•41 min•Ep 160•Transcript available on Metacast 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 today they forge a vital component of better team work. Hormones are triggered by emotional interaction...
Feb 24, 2023•56 min•Ep 159•Transcript available on Metacast 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 contributing editor at Harvard Business Review, where she writes about workplace dynamics . Articles menti...
Feb 17, 2023•49 min•Ep 158•Transcript available on Metacast Jeremy shares his: free bonus chapter Jeremy 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 way to have good ideas, and why most of us aren't willing to do what is required. I loved this di...
Oct 19, 2022•50 min•Ep 157•Transcript available on Metacast Sign up to hear more about Radix Big Tent Rory 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 and tackles the myth of resilience. The event was hosted by a brilliant organisation called Radix...
Oct 05, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep 156•Transcript available on Metacast 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 firm The Foundation are trying out Wednesday plus one , then John Readman tells us how Modo25 have bec...
Sep 27, 2022•38 min•Ep 155•Transcript available on Metacast Come along to one of my free events in September We 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 they were releasing a UK edition of the book. One of the authors Kate Tellers joins me to discuss ...
Sep 15, 2022•48 min•Ep 154•Transcript available on Metacast 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 our previous episode about laughter Royal Institution Christmas Lecture Why we laugh Cover image by...
Sep 08, 2022•37 min•Ep 153•Transcript available on Metacast 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 reflects on the geezerish persona he adopts with workmen in his house and wonders if it's a perform...
Aug 07, 2022•38 min•Ep 152•Transcript available on Metacast To find out more about the workplace culture course go to the website or the book page . After recent episodes have made a case that the office might be on the way out, today is a voice who dares to say otherwise. Tom Goodwin is an active voice in media - operating somewhere between provocateur and consultant. He has been voted a top 10 voice in Marketing by LinkedIn, one of 30 people to follow on Twitter by Business Insider , and a 'must follow' by Fast Company . In the ...
Jul 27, 2022•53 min•Ep 151•Transcript available on Metacast If you're a user of social media, whether Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn you'll have seen the work of today's guest. Sign up for the free Winning Workplace Culture course here if you prefer Fortitude. Get the Make Work Better newsletter here Liz Fosslien is half of Liz and Mollie whose perceptive dissections of contemporary anxieties have won hundreds of thousands of fans. Liz talks through her process of creating these atoms of insight and how the response from viewers inspired them to write a ...
Jul 14, 2022•39 min•Ep 150•Transcript available on Metacast A wonderful discussion that I think has got immense to richness to it. I chat to the boss of St John's Ambulance Martin Houghton-Brown ( Martin on Twitter ). I was struck with the power of the lessons about connection and identity - we often find ourselves throwing these terms around casually but Martin's testimony brings it vividly to life. Find out more about St John's Ambulance - become a volunteer Donate to St John's Ambulance Parkrun research: volunteers see a bigger health uplift than the ...
Jun 28, 2022•47 min•Ep 149•Transcript available on Metacast 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 bo...
Jun 07, 2022•44 min•Ep 148•Transcript available on Metacast “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 inevitable t...
May 18, 2022•39 min•Ep 147•Transcript available on Metacast 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 li...
May 03, 2022•43 min•Ep 147•Transcript available on Metacast 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 innovation...
Apr 26, 2022•41 min•Ep 146•Transcript available on Metacast 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 wellb...
Apr 11, 2022•44 min•Ep 145•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Mar 14, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep 144•Transcript available on Metacast 
