The poet and the industrialist
Enabling employees at all levels to make the most of all they have to offer.
A romantic idea? Outdated? Or needed now more than ever?
“If you have to teach kindness, then you have already lost.”
Does it help to teach people how to relate to each other in the workplace?
Or is it too late?
“Combat pay”
How much of what we count as work today is producing real value, and how much is simply navigating a “designated hazard zone” so you can survive to fight another day?
Office-ism
Employees are not thriving at work and they haven’t been for a very long time.
What if we knew the reasons why? How long would it take for conventional wisdom and workplace practices to change?
“Who authorized this?”
What do you do when your boss cares more about control and preserving their authority than about doing what’s right for the company and its people?
Unsafe at any level
I used to think a new generation of employees would, inevitably, make companies more open and collaborative, maybe even kinder.
But what I see is that young new joiners don’t change the company. The company changes them.
Unless you stage a kind of positive intervention.
WOL Circle Workbooks now in SPANISH and FRENCH
Our newest translations make it easier to connect and empower more people in more places.
Yenny at the Coffee Shop
What makes someone care more about their job? About the people they serve?
Yenny’s story shows how intrinsic motivation, pride of workmanship, and a sense of community can fundamentally change how you view your job—and enable you to have a positive influence on thousands of people. Even in a New York coffee shop.
The first scientific paper on the effectiveness of Working Out Loud®
Can a social learning program change people’s behavior and sense of empowerment? If so, can these changes stick?
“Yes” and “Yes”.
This post summarizes the study, its findings, and ideas for future research.
The Voiceless at Work
We must seek ways to give a voice to "those that never sing" so they can offer “all their music in them.” When we humanize the workplace in this way, we make work and life richer for all of us.
Connecting the dots: Manifesting meaning in 2024
It isn’t always clear how your different interests and jobs fit together, but as Steve Jobs said in his now-famous commencement speech, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.“
Here’s where my dots are taking me in 2024. Heading into the coming New Year, I hope your dots lead you somewhere wonderful, too.
“Activating the culture”: A path from values to everyday behaviors
Most cultural transformation programs don’t change very much.
What’s usually missing is a chance for employees to work out how the values applied to their particular job and context; to actually experience what it would feel like to be “One Company”; to provide at least some answers to “What’s in it for me?”.
Social learning programs can close these gaps, particularly when they have three specific elements.
The killer chickens that lay a lot of eggs
Breeding chickens for their individual egg-laying ability led to vicious attacks and mortality rates of 50% or more. If you want more eggs, you need chickens with other skills beside being good egg-layers. You need chickens who are able to get along with other chickens.
“What profound treasures are hidden”
Inspired by two companies where employees actively seek out, connect, and grow the positive potential of their work and each other. “Give employees space and time for development, and thus give them wings.”
New Work New Culture
Frithjof Bergmann’s vision for “New Work” was bold and ambitious, a fundamental rethinking of jobs, pay, and markets. All of it, he proposes, needs to be reimagined and fashioned from scratch.
Today’s New Work initiatives may fall short of his vision, but they can fulfill his promise of enabling people to “be more alive” at work.
Everybody Matters
When it comes to how their employees relate to each other and to the work they do, Everybody Matters serves as an inspiring example of the way things could be.
The HR Director I wish I knew
How a single click can lead to something surprising and wonderful.