At Work with The Ready

Rodney Evans and Sam Spurlin
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Feb 10, 2020 • 32min

Brave New Work 12. Ask Us Anything No. 1: Talent Calibration Minefields and Building Your Future of Work Bookshelf

Any podcast that promotes busting bureaucracy and hobbling hierarchy is bound to stir up some questions. That's why this week we're going to let our listeners Ask Us Anything.For this episode, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans took to Twitter and the Brave New Work Wednesdays newsletter to find out what you're wondering about. And you came through big time. We plan on doing this every twelve weeks or so from here on out, so if you ever feel a question percolating as you're listening, just drop us a line at podcast@theready.comResources mentioned: The Peter principle Essentialism by Greg McKeown Organize for Complexity by Niels Pflaeging The Little Book of Beyond Budgeting by Steve Morlidge Drive by Dan Pink Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B Rosenberg Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson We the People by John Buck and Sharon Villines Many Voices One Song by Ted J Rau and Jerry Koch-Gonzalez Unboss by Lars Kolind and Jacob Bøtter 9 Lies About Work by Marcus Buckingham John Cutler's Twitter account 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
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7 snips
Feb 3, 2020 • 50min

Brave New Work 11. The Journey To Self-Managing Teams with Doug Seacrist

Doug Seacrist, expert in self-managing teams, shares the journey of reinventing technology support in a restaurant system. Topics include challenges of self-management, SLAM teams, and transitioning to a new way of operating. Insightful advice for leaders on creating self-managing teams and achieving excellence.
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19 snips
Jan 27, 2020 • 1h 2min

Brave New Work 10. Retros: The Most Important Meetings You're Not Having with Jordan Husney

We all know that faster learning loops are critical to success in complexity. Yet, we rarely (if ever) take the time to practice one of the most powerful learning moves in the game: the retrospective.In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk about the power of reflection—for the individual, team, and organization—and why we can't keep charging ahead without looking back. Later, they're joined by Parabol founder and CEO Jordan Husney, who shares what he’s learned hosting tens of thousands of retrospectives on their platform, including this gem: ”The only wrong way to have a retrospective is to not have one at all.”Learn more about Jordan on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Medium.Learn more about Parabol on their website.Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your guest ideas and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
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5 snips
Jan 20, 2020 • 42min

Brave New Work 9. Skip the Plan and Learn by Doing with Ben Kaufman

When starting something new, most of us tend to research, analyze, plan, and procrastinate. Because we don't want to fail. We don't want to be exposed as imposters. And we don't want to take big risks. But in novel and complex spaces, that strategy doesn't help, it only slows us down without increasing our odds. Instead, we need to start by starting and learn by doing so that our ideas can make contact with reality as soon as possible. In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans explore how to get on with it—by starting small and working iteratively—so that more good things make it out into the world. And speaking of good things, later they're are joined by Ben Kaufman, founder and CEO of the revolutionary toy store CAMP, who shares why he feels compelled to start impossible projects, and how he rushes in before all the reasons he shouldn't overwhelm him.Learn more about Ben on LinkedIn and Twitter.Learn more about CAMP at their website.Resources mentioned:-"The Marshmallow Test" from Tom Wujec's 2010 TedTalk "Build a tower, build a team":------------------------------------Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your guest ideas and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
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9 snips
Jan 13, 2020 • 51min

Brave New Work 8. Leading Through Transformation with David Marquet

Leading a team through change is hard, but leading a team to a place without traditional leadership is far harder. If you ask people to step up... will they do it? And can you really mandate self-management? In this episode of Brave New Work, we talk about what it takes to realize a new way of working within a team or organization, and why that's so hard for—and so dependent on—those of us in charge. Later, they're're joined by former submarine commander David Marquet, author of Turn The Ship Around! and Leadership Is Language, who talks to us about the power of stepping back, the way language shapes the workplace, and how to create a "can think" (and do) culture.Learn more about David and his books on his website, LinkedIn, and Twitter.Resources mentioned: Setting The Table by Danny Meyer ("the salt shaker") Getting Past No by William Ury ("the balcony") ----------------------Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your guest ideas and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
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Jan 6, 2020 • 47min

Brave New Work 7. How to Have Productive Disagreements with Buster Benson

A diverse team doing important work is bound to disagree. But they’re also likely to avoid talking about it—because conflict makes many of us deeply uncomfortable. But, what if we simply lack the skills to do it well? In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk about why disagreement is so hard, what healthy disagreement looks and feels like, and why it’s so critical to success in complexity. Later, they’re joined by Buster Benson, author of Why Are We Yelling, who teaches us how to have disagreements so productive we might actually seek them out and enjoy them.Learn more about Buster on his website, on Linkedin, or on Mastadon.Learn more about Buster's book Why Are We Yelling? The Art of Productive Disagreement--------------------Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
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Dec 30, 2019 • 48min

Brave New Work 6. Defaulting to Transparency with Joel Gascoigne

In a complex and dynamic world, sharing information on a "need to know" basis is misguided, because it perpetuates ignorance and bias. No one needs to know everything all the time, but we need the right (and the ability) to find what we need when we need it. And while many teams and organizations are coming around to the principle of transparency, when it comes to sharing more sensitive data—like compensation—many people freak out and start to backpedal.In this episode Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk about why traditional organizations and teams (and even the two of us) covet and hoard information, and what it looks and feels like to let information flow. Later, they’re joined by the cofounder and CEO of Buffer, Joel Gascoigne, who shares how Buffer made "defaulting to transparency" a core value and never looked back.Learn more about Buffer and their commitment to transparency at https://buffer.com/ and https://buffer.com/about#transparencyLearn more about Joel at his website or via LinkedIn or Twitter.Resources mentioned:Dave Snowden's Principles for Managing Knowledge -----------------------------Our book is available now at bravenewwork.comWe want to hear from you. Send your feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
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Dec 23, 2019 • 49min

Brave New Work 5. Egos and Identities in the Workplace with Dr. Gareth Holman

Self-awareness in the workplace is hard to come by—because our egos are so good at “protecting” us from reality. For many of us, our identity is so tied up in who we are at work that deep down we worry, “If not for my title... who am I?”In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk about how our egos get the better of us, and why reinventing organizations often means reinventing ourselves. Later, they’re joined by psychologist Dr. Gareth Holman (Rodney’s own coach) who shares how we can bring the inside out, to become better colleagues and better people.Learn more about Dr. Holman at his website or on Linkedin.References Mentioned: The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Warner Klemp Principles: Your Guided Journal by Ray Dalio The Trusted Advisor by David H. Maister, Robert Galford, and Charles Green ----------------------Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com.We want to hear from you. Send your feedback to podcast@theready.com.Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com.
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10 snips
Dec 16, 2019 • 46min

Brave New Work 4. Let's Have Fewer, Better Meetings with Dan Kim

In almost every organization we visit, teams aren't just having bad meetings—they're having meetings to prepare for those meetings. The virus is spreading. And so we have to ask: when should we have a meeting? And how can we make them more effective when we do?In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk about why meetings are a symptom of other problems in the operating system and the path to a healthier meeting culture. Later, we’re joined by Dan Kim from Basecamp, who shares how the iconoclastic "calm company" delights in avoiding meetings unless they're absolutely necessary.Learn more about Dan by visiting his website or connecting with him on Linkedin.Resources mentioned: The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule by Paul Graham ------------------------------------Our book is available now at https://www.bravenewwork.com/We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@theready.comLooking for some help with your own transformation? Visit https://theready.com/
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4 snips
Dec 9, 2019 • 38min

Brave New Work 3. The Right (and Wrong) Ways to Message Change with Deirdre Latour

Communication around organizational change is a prime example of a complicated approach (write an email that nineteen people edit!) to a complex situation (human beings and their feelings!). Most of us have been on the receiving end of messages that feel like they were designed to obscure any actual information.In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans dive into the double talk that gets the better of so many of us, and what to do instead. Later, they're joined by Deirdre Latour, who has led communications at both GE and Pearson, to learn what it's like to fight for candor in the midst of crisis.Learn more about Deirdre on Linkedin.Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com.Have an idea for an episode, or the perfect guest? Reach out to podcast@theready.com.Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com.

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