At Work with The Ready

The sit-down-and-slowly-zone-out-while-Joe-describes-50-slides type of meeting isn’t at all fun…but it is extremely common. Most work gatherings happen because someone wants us to absorb, consume, or comply with information. But if you’re actually hoping to change behavior or get a team stoked about a new initiative, this push-style of gathering just won’t cut it (and no, it’s not Zoom’s fault). In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans ask Lindsey Caplan, a communication strategist and author of the forthcoming book The Gathering Effect, about why good gatherings aren’t one-size-fits-all, how to generate legitimate buy-in, and how to make your next all-hands meeting impactful and even, well, fun.Learn more about Lindsey on LinkedIn or by reading her book The Gathering Effect.Check out our other episodes about gatherings:–AWWTR Ep. 15Mentioned references: Friends reunion on HBO feedback: BNW Ep. 13 with Kim Scott Liberating Structures: BNW Ep. 49 with Keith McCandless Charlie Brown adults Oculus (now the Meta Quest) Hannah Gadsby Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

Odds are you’ve seen an article (or 20) about some company somewhere testing out a four-day workweek. And if you’ve scrolled past the story to the comments, you’ve probably spied a few cheers…and plenty of jeers. Punching in five days a week might seem like the natural working order—but it’s less a fixed and unchallengeable fact and more a human-shaped choice we can, you know, shape differently. In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan asks Rodney Evans about lessons learned from her own four-day workweek experiment, how to navigate relationships with coworkers on different schedules, and why a four-day workweek is labor’s next evolutionary leap forward.Mentioned references: Wesley, from The Princess Bride Gilmore Girls S3E11 “I Solemnly Swear” Plinko boards Icelandic study around 4 day work week Anne Helen Petersen episode: BNW Ep. 77 with Anne Helen Petersen Henry Ford and the 40 hour work week Anne Helen Petersen article “Who’s Afraid of the Four Day Work Week?” op rhythm: BNW Ep. 118 retrospectives remote work episode: AWWTR Ep. 4 Joel at Buffer episode: BNW Ep. 6 with Joel Gascoigne Fosbury flop Atlantic “Kill the Five-Day Work Week” JEDI work: BNW Ep. 40 with Sharan Bal UBI (universal basic income) New Deal Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

In this episode, Sam Spurlin, an expert in implementing and scaling effective action meetings, joins Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans to discuss strategies for making meetings more productive. They cover topics such as engaging check-in rounds, metrics review, project updates, and the importance of metacognition in work meetings.

It’s a major question on many minds these days: When will the office reopen? Or rather: Will the office reopen? Different countries are in very different stages of heading back to physical workspaces (or not); in the United States, the prospect of on-premise work is inching closer as companies struggle to decide between three main models: fully in-office; fully remote; or…maybe some mix of both? In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans unpack why floppy hybrid models are doomed to fail, different flavors of creativity (that don’t rely on glass-walled conference rooms), and what the most adaptive path forward could look like.Mentioned references: "Sid and GitLab": BNW Ep. 35 with Sid Sijbrandij Ted Rau: BNW Ep. 74 with Ted Rau A World Without Email, by Cal Newport "2003 SARS mask wearing in Hong Kong" Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

It’s no surprise that we’re fans of self-management, and we talk a lot about its benefits and transformative potential. But sometimes we forget just how much traditional hierarchy is baked into the operating system of our work cultures—and of our personal lives. So when self-management and hierarchy smash into each other, there can be a steep, sometimes uncomfortable learning curve.In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk with Michael Y. Lee, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD, about how orgs prepare and smartly scaffold for self-management, growing academic research into impactful org design, and how the pandemic presented a unique challenge for his work.Learn more about Michael on LinkedIn or at his website.Learn more about INSEAD on their website or on Youtube.Mentioned references: Oura ring Dave’s Hot Chicken in Denver, CO Voodoo Doughnut Zappos Holacracy ”mastery”: BNW Ep. 31 Valve, video game company The Ready's OS Canvas Doug Kirkpatrick and The Morning Star Company: BNW Ep. 54 with Doug Kirkpatrick Haier anti-fragility "Lisa Gill episode": BNW Ep. 73 with Lisa Gill Michael’s episode of Lisa Gill’s podcast Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

Say (or sigh) it with us now: burnout. As a physic state, it can be hard to precisely diagnose but you know it when you see it—and when you feel it. As remote work becomes a larger presence in our lives, it’s more important than ever to recognize why and when we need meaningful breaks. In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk to Anne Helen Petersen, author of Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation and the newsletter “Culture Study,” about the difference between setting boundaries versus guardrails, LARPing through your job, and what we can do to extinguish burnout.Learn more about Anne on LinkedIn, Twitter, or by subscribing to her newsletter.Read Anne's latest books: Can't Even Out of Office Mentioned references: Anne’s 2019 burnout article WHO’s classification of “burnout” as occupational phenomenon New York Times "Yolo Economy" article Cal Newport and "isolation from other minds" Ezra Klein John Herrman “LARPing your job” Anne’s 2021 "4 Day Work Week article" Charlie Warzel Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

Instead of talking about Unicorn companies, we should be spending more of our energy on Zebras—companies that are black and white, that pursue both purpose and profit. In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk to Mara Zepeda of Zebras Unite, a founder-led co-op, about how to build a community with your company, collective ownership, and what the future of capital investment should—and will—look like.Learn more about Mara on her website, on LinkedIn, and at Zebras Unite.Mentioned references: Boyz II Men "Zebras fix what unicorns break” SOCAP Shel Silverstein Margaret Wheatley Hopi Nora Bateson Reinventing Organizations: BNW Ep. 18 with Frederic Laloux sociocracy: BNW Ep. 74 with Ted Rau "terra incognita" Ari Weinzweig Depth psychology Warm Data "symmathesy" Baháʼí Faith Saint John of the Cross Saint Teresa of Ávila Charles Eisenstein Drivers Cooperative Tony Hsieh Nathan Schneider, UC Boulder Gumroad Audra Lorde Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

Let's talk about succession. No, not the show, but the concept. How do progressive, human-centric organizations deal with succession, and role changes, and new management, all while maintaining a high level of success?In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk to Michael Bungay Stanier and Shannon Minifie of Box of Crayons—about Michael stepping down and handing the reins of the organization to Shannon, the roadblocks the transition ran into, and how to go about it all without rocking the boat.Learn more about Shannon on LinkedIn, on Youtube, or by visiting Box of Crayons.Learn more about Michael on LinkedIn, on Youtube, or from listening to his previous episode of Brave New Work about 1:1s.Mentioned references: Bruce Springsteen E Street Band ABBA "Hotel California" Coaching Habit, by Michael Bungay Stanier Fierce Conversations, by Susan Scott "participatory governance": BNW Ep. 43 Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

With his organization Sociocracy for All, Ted Rau is helping organizations empower their members, and put a spotlight on equity. In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk to Ted about his book, Many Voices One Song, consent-based decision-making, and the challenges of getting the ball rolling with large orgs.Learn more about Ted and his work: On LinkedIn Sociocracy For All Many Voices One Song Who Decides Who Decides? Mentioned references: Notting Hill, 1999 movie Jerry Koch-Gonzalez "RACI": AWWTR Ep. 10 Teal Gerard Endenburg Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

There are elephants in the room, and then there are "Moose Heads on the Table." This book, by Lisa Gill and Karen Tenelius, describes the concept as workplace taboos that are simultaneously ingrained and incredibly toxic for getting things done.In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk to Lisa about how to embrace this discomfort at work, and what self-managing organizations can do to empower their employees to speak up when things aren't working.Get Lisa's book, Moose Heads On The Table.Learn more about Lisa on her website, LinkedIn, or by listening to her podcast, Leadermorphosis.Mentioned references: "Basecamp episode": BNW Ep. 71 "fuddy duddy" Reinventing Organizations: BNW Ep. 18 with Frederic Laloux "ASCATS": BNW Ep. 65 with Alastair Steward The Ready's Tension and Practice Cards Jorge Silva, from 10Pines Frederic Laloux's "Insights for the Journey" videos Liberating Structures: BNW Ep. 49 with Keith McCandless Reinventing Work's global community Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com