The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving 599: Joy at Work in the Age of AI: The Pain Is Optional (with Bree Groff)
Nov 5, 2025
Bree Groff, a workplace culture expert and author of "Today Was Fun," explores how joy and fun aren't just fluff but are crucial for creativity and performance. She reflects on her mother’s teaching approach, emphasizing that work can produce 'the best days.' Bree discusses how AI can either enhance or diminish workplace joy and urges leaders to redefine success beyond profits to include employee happiness. Ultimately, she encourages seizing daily moments of joy and fostering genuine connections at work.
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Days Deserve To Be Worth Having
- Our workdays are five sevenths of our week and deserve to be worth having.
- Measuring success should include whether people can curl up and say, "Today was fun."
Reclaim Joy With Micro Habits
- Start small with micro-habits to reclaim joy, even 1% of your day (~14 minutes).
- Make micro acts of humanity and build one workplace friendship to improve daily experience.
A Teacher's Repeated Joy
- Bree's mother, a kindergarten teacher, routinely came home saying, "I have the best days."
- That plural phrasing reflected overall sustained joy despite imperfect individual days.
