This Working Life
ABC listen
You spend so much time on work, why accept the status quo, when there are ways to do it better? Get expert advice, research and hacks that will crush your inertia.
Join Lisa Leong and other This Working Lifers as we experiment and explore the latest in the world of work.
We cover policy issues, like hybrid workplaces and remote work, employee wellbeing and organisational culture, the use of AI, employee surveillance, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion. We talk about progress on wider issues that relate to work, like work life balance, organisational change, restructures, and casualisation. On This Working Life our focus is on everything related to the people in a workplace too, including culture, individual experiences, performance management and career advice.
Join Lisa Leong and other This Working Lifers as we experiment and explore the latest in the world of work.
We cover policy issues, like hybrid workplaces and remote work, employee wellbeing and organisational culture, the use of AI, employee surveillance, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion. We talk about progress on wider issues that relate to work, like work life balance, organisational change, restructures, and casualisation. On This Working Life our focus is on everything related to the people in a workplace too, including culture, individual experiences, performance management and career advice.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 11, 2024 • 25min
Can’t decide what to listen to? Try this...
It’s estimated we make up to 35,000 decisions every day so how can you make better decisions at work? Before you start drawing up pros and cons lists, listen to this episode to hear how you can make decisions with less stress and a lot more satisfaction - from small everyday ones, to big ones like changing career.
Feb 2, 2024 • 25min
How you can be a Friction Fixer at work
Friction is everywhere - from our systems to our relationships at work.But there’s good news - not all friction is bad and if you know how, you can be a friction fixer.Robert (Bob) Sutton is Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Stanford Business School and co-author of The Friction Project. He takes us through the different types of friction and how we can fix it.Meanwhile, we hear personal stories from a few This Working Lifers about how they tackled friction in their jobs - thanks to Hamish Thompson, Kate McCallum, and Yashika Nayyar.
Jan 28, 2024 • 25min
Are you paying attention? This is why not.
Dr Gloria Mark, an expert on attention, explains how attention spans have declined and how to improve focus. Associate Professor Paul Ginns provides a hack to stay focused at work.
Jan 21, 2024 • 25min
Feeling a bit stuck? Here's how to progress in your work
Feeling a little bit stuck right now? Like you want to progress on something but feel a bit glued up?Why does this happen to us? It turns out getting stuck is not a bug in our system — it's a feature in our success.So how can we get unstuck? Here are some tips and techniques to help you navigate a breakthrough.
Jan 14, 2024 • 25min
Why you should say 'no' more at work
Learn about the power of saying 'no' at work, the negative consequences of being a people pleaser, and six steps to overcome people-pleasing. Discover how saying 'no' can reignite your career, prevent exhaustion and overload, and help you focus on the work you actually want to do.
Jan 7, 2024 • 25min
How to be a leader with both your head and your heart
The podcast discusses the evolving expectations of a good leader and the importance of balancing head-based and heart-based skills. Leadership expert Dr. Kirstin Ferguson emphasizes the need for empathy and inclusion in leadership. It also highlights the significance of recognizing leaders beyond titles and the benefits of leaders admitting they don't have all the answers. The speakers stress the need to integrate the leader you are at home with the leader you are at work.
Dec 31, 2023 • 25min
The power of Anti-Striving and feeling less ambitious
We've seen the Great Resignation, Lying Flat in China and Quiet Quitting. And now we're hearing murmurings of another movement that some are calling 'Anti-Striving'.So what exactly is it? And what will making peace with feeling less ambitious bring us in the long-term?
Dec 24, 2023 • 25min
How to get along with difficult colleagues
We've all had to work with 'that' difficult person that we just clash with. It's tense. It's stressful. And it's exhausting.So, do we have to get along to do our best work? Or is it in our best interests to make peace and move on? And how can we best do that? The solutions might surprise you.
Dec 15, 2023 • 25min
How one woman’s ‘fail’ lets us all embrace failure at work
When we make a mistake or fail at work we might want the earth to open up and swallow us whole. But what makes a fail ‘right’ and how can we talk about it at work?Amy Edmondson is a Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School. Renowned for her world-leading research into the concept of psychological safety, a crucible movement in the 1990s helped her understand our relationship with failure and how we can better embrace it at work.In her new book Right Kind of Wrong, Amy explains the three archetypes of failure and which ones help us fail in the right way.
Dec 9, 2023 • 25min
Curiosity - Bad for cats. Good for workers.
Exploring curiosity in the workplace, the impact of a curious teacher, the power of curiosity for adaptability and innovation, the dive model for curiosity, and the importance of dignity and embracing curiosity for personal growth.
