Nir And Far: Business, Behaviour and the Brain

This is How to Repair a Toxic Work Culture-Nir&Far

Nov 16, 2020

08:31

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Leslie Perlow, Harvard professor, studied The Boston Consulting Group's toxic work culture. She found that employees were leaving due to a lack of control over their schedules. To address the issue, Perlow proposed giving consultants a predictable night off each week. This would allow them to have time away from work and make plans without fear of being pulled back in. The podcast discusses the study's findings, simple strategies to improve work culture, and the importance of psychological safety.

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Quick takeaways

Implementing a predictable night off each week for employees can improve communication, clarify objectives, and increase empowerment.

Creating a culture of psychological safety, where team members feel safe to speak up, leads to higher retention rates, increased revenue, and more effective teamwork.

Deep dives

Promoting Work-Life Balance at BCG

BCG employees were leaving due to lack of control over schedules. To address this, a consultant named Perlow proposed giving consultants a predictable night off each week. With the support of one partner named Doug, Perlow conducted an experiment and found that regular meetings and open discussions about work-life balance led to improved communication, a clearer vision of objectives, and increased empowerment.

Introducing the Near and Far Podcast and Analyzing a Study on Work Culture at BCG

2min

Open Discussions, Simple Solutions, and the Importance of Psychological Safety

6min

When Harvard’s Leslie Perlow began to study The Boston Consulting Group, she was well aware of the firm’s round-the-clock reputation. After conducting interviews with BCG’s staff, Perlow found that this reputation was coming at a major cost.

Employees were leaving the elite consulting firm, in part because they lacked control over their schedules. To address the issue, Perlow offered a simple proposition: If everyone who worked at BCG hated the always-on lifestyle, why not try to give consultants at least a “single predictable night off a week”? This would give people time away from phone calls and email notifications and allow them to make plans without the fear of being pulled back into work.

You can read the NirAndFar blog post on: This is How to Repair a Toxic Work Culture https://medium.com/the-mission/this-is-how-to-repair-a-toxic-work-culture-24fa03fdb138

Nir & Far, a podcast about business, behaviour and the brain by Nir Eyal. If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe on iTunes and leave an iTunes review. It will greatly help new listeners discover the show. Please visit my website Nir and Far for other info about my writing, books and teaching: http://www.nirandfar.com/

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