This Working Life

Stay curious, find comfort in being wrong and create a "challenge circle" of people who actively challenge your beliefs - these are all steps towards knowing what you don't know according to Adam Grant.And he argues in today's rapidly changing work environment questioning your beliefs, rethinking and even unlearning are key skills.Adam is an organisational psychologist and professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on generosity, motivation and meaningful work. And I imagine that there are few senior managers who don’t have at least one of his New York Times best-selling books on their shelves.His new is book Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know in which he argues "if knowledge is power, knowing what we don't know is wisdom".Producer: Maria Tickle

Women at the top of their game share their stories about the good, the bad and the ugly of power in the workplace. And to you blokes out there, this isn't a "stacks on men", it's really worth a listen.(Hear part one from last week about why power makes you more likely to cheat, steal, talk over people and swear at work here.)GUESTSLaura, former analyst turned entrepreneurJuliet Bourke, adjunct professor at UNSW Business SchoolKate Jenkins, Sex Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission.Zoe Routh, leadership expert and trainer and author of People StuffProducer: Maria Tickle

The cliche of bright red lipstick and shoulder pads as symbols of power for women went out of style in the 80s, thank goodness.But who gets power at work today and why? And what do you need to do to keep it?Social psychologist Professor Dacher Keltner, from the University of California, Berkley has studied power for 25 years. And it turns out, the Machiavellian approach to power (force, deception, manipulation) is not what keeps you in power. Neither does red lipstick.Thanks to James Law, Chief People Officer, Estimate One, Cassandra Goodman author and executive coach plus our anonymous This Working Lifers, who shared their stories! Due to the huge amount of interest in this topic next week we dig deeper into the interplay of gender and power at work.Producer: Maria Tickle

Working as a first responder can have a huge mental toll. Compared to the general public police and emergency services workers are more likely to have suicidal thoughts, anxiety, depression, PTSD and struggle with alcohol and substance abuse. They are the findings of Answering the Call, the first national survey into the mental health and wellbeing survey of more than 20,000 police and emergency services personnel. Dr David Lawrence from the University of Western Australia led the research and discusses these findings.It took a long time for former police officer James Maskey to even realise he had PTSD and he shares how the trauma he faced at work led to him leaving a job he loved. Now, as national engagement manager of the Beyond Blue Police and Emergency Services Program, James helps others going through the same issues.Producer: Maria Tickle

What will 2021 hold for you at work? We've wrangled the experts and polished the This Working Life crystal ball to bring you our best predictions for this year.Demographer, Bernard Salt thinks this is our chance to hit the reset button and rebuild our working lives to a much better place than ever before.Insecure work was a strong theme for 2020 and Alison Pennington, senior economist for the Centre for Future Work, says 2021 will be no different. She argues that it may however provide us with an opportunity to improve some of the worst quality jobs in the workforce.And if you're hoping to 'thrive, not survive' in 2021, Pip Dexter who leads Deloitte's Human Capital Practice has one top focus for this year - adaptability. She shares why she believes this characteristic will matter above all else and how you can cultivate it in yourself and your workplace.Last to place their predictions is Dr Ben Hamer, he's the lead for Future Work at PWC Australia. He works with their 8000 employees to look ahead at what could be coming for them and their clients. They recently put out an organisation wide survey to learn about the impact of 2020 on their work. The surprise? Most people thought workplace culture had actually improved thanks to the pandemic. Ben shares why that is and what we can learn from it.Producer: Edwina StottSupervising Producer: Maria Tickle

How do you find your work mojo now that your holiday halo has started to dim?January is the most popular month to give your job the flick (and to file for divorce apparently - but this is outside the scope of our show!). We talk motivation with sports and organisational psychologist Dr Travis Kemp and Chris Low, head of vibe at Canva which has twice been named Australia's best place to work. We discuss why things come to a head in January - just what's going on in our brains? Plus why personal values trump free beer, why money isn't our primary motivator, and how eating breakfast and lunch together helped online graphic design business Canva become a unicorn company (a privately-owned start up worth more than a US one billion dollars).Chris also refers to the importance of psychological safety in the workplace. To hear more about this, listen to our previous show on this topic: After ramp up your motivation, you might want to tackle one of the toughest challenges in the workplace and have that difficult conversation. Karen Gately from Corporate Dojo gives us her very practical and imminently doable take.Producer: Maria Tickle(This program first aired on ABC Radio National on January 27, 2020.)

A trifecta of CEOs share why they introduced the four-day work week to their companies, how it has actually helped them navigate the economic downturn, and hard lessons learnt along the way.GUESTS: Andrew Barnes, CEO Perpetual Guardian, Kath Blackham CEO Versa, Nikki Beaumont CEO Beaumont People.Andrew's book: The Four Day Week: How the Flexible Work Revolution Can Increase Productivity, Profitability and Well-being, and Create a Sustainable Future.(This program first aired on ABC Radio National on August 24, 2020.)

What to eat, how to move for peak brain power.We dig into what science says about what to feed your brain and how to move your body in order to perform at your best at work in these stressful times.You'll hear:* The good oil on the good fats and how NOT to cook with them. * Are supplements useful additions to our diet or just expensive wee?* Coffee, yay or nay?* And the best way to exercise to increase focus and creativity at work. This one may surprise you, it surprised the researchers!(This program was first broadcast on July 13, 2020.)GUESTS:Dr Delia McCabe, is a nutritional neuroscientist her book is Feed Your Brain.Dr John Ratey, is a psychiatrist and clinical assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, who has studied the effect of exercise on the brain for more than 40 years.Producer: Maria Tickle