“Power.” It’s a loaded word that can conjure up feelings of negativity, fear, and general ickiness. And with good reason. If our default definition of power is all about authority and control, then the less of it, the better—right? But if we tilt our head a little and instead see power as the ability to move energy through a system, then it becomes a powerful (sorry, had to) ingredient in making big change. In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans invited former Ready member Larissa Conte—a coach, rites-of-passage guide, and founder of the consulting organization, Wayfinding—onto the show to help us navigate this collective head-tilt, unpack power’s many different flavors, any explore why power literacy is a critical skill in the future of work.And as a special bonus to the Brave New Work community, Larissa is offering our listeners a discount for her “Power at Work” program. Simply head to wayfinding.io/power-at-work to learn more and apply code BNWFRIENDS at checkout to receive 20 percent off. Now, go get your power on.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

Sometimes, Rodney and Aaron stop by other people’s podcasts to nerd out on the hits we know and love: new ways of working, self-management, breaking down the binary between chaos and bureaucracy, the future of work—the list goes on and on. So today, we’re actually bringing one of those awesome conversations right to your ears.Rodney recently joined Jonathan Westover on his show, Human Capital Innovations, for an epic chat about adaptive organizational design and a whole lot more. We hope you enjoy the exchange and we’ll return with a fresh episode of Brave New Work next Monday.To tune into more episodes of Jonathan’s show, head to his website or search "Human Capital Innovations" wherever you get your podcasts.----------This episode originally aired on September 26th, 2022 on the Human Capital Innovations (HCI) Podcast with Dr. Jonathan H. Westover.In this HCI Podcast episode, Dr. Jonathan H. Westover talks with Rodney Evans about adaptive organization design and the future of work.Rodney Evans is a pioneer in adaptive organization design and the future of work. With 20 years of experience in all things transformation, she has researched, developed, and taught new ways of working in dozens of complex environments including Airbnb, Cooper Hewitt Museum, Macy’s, Intuit, and Johnson & Johnson. The Ready is a self-managed change agency that helps you discover a better way of working. Rodney works with companies around the world to modernize traditional practices and bust bureaucracy.About the Human Capital Innovations (HCI) Podcast:Maximize your personal and #OrganizationalPotential with the Human Capital Innovations (HCI) Podcast! We're your source for personal, professional, and #OrganizationalGrowth and development. We share our own original #Research, explore #IndustryTrends, and interview executives and thought leaders from across the globe. Join us for practitioner-oriented content around all things #Leadership, #HR, #TalentManagement, #OrganizationalDevelopment, and #ChangeManagement.

We’ve covered feedback before on the show, because learning how to give and receive it is a key part of team growth and success. But establishing an entire system that lets different flavors of feedback flourish? That’s a different can of worms. So, how do we cultivate feedback-related agreements and norms in a self-managing culture? In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans have some solid ideas—and some spicy questions: Why creating a feedback-rich culture is hard—and why not having one is harder Why experiences in and around feedback can feel so perilous and panicky How to build containers in which intense, even critical feedback can happen safely The three different types of feedback we most often run into at work How power dynamics and personal preference play a part in this game 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

Picture it: Your company’s landed on an important and shiny new project and it needs a team to bring it to life. Cue the barrage of big questions—questions like: “So…who’s on this team? What support will they receive? When will they meet? Wait, is this extra work or something different?”Welcome to the wonderful world of cross-functional teaming. Standing up a cross-functional team is a place where plenty of organizations stumble—because it’s asking most systems to play a game they aren’t designed to play well. In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans team up (see what we did there?) to answer questions like: How should cross-functional teams—as well as the projects they work on—be chartered? Should the size and scope of an idea impact how a team is designed? What level and kind of authority should cross-functional teams be given? What are the first moves cross-functional teams always need to make? How can we bake experimentation into this cake? 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

Spoiler alert: Your organization already has a Digital HQ. Because whether you’re back in an office Monday through Friday or working remotely in your fluffiest slippers, every team now operates with a mesh of digital tools and systems that constitute where real work gets done day in and day out. But how can you help your already-existent Digital HQ unlock greater team flexibility, collaboration, and productivity? Cue insights from Ali Rayl, Slack’s SVP of product management. As part of Slack’s sponsorship of Brave New Work, Ali tells Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans all about the Digital HQ: what it is, how it can incentivize more human ways of working, and how you can start intentionally building a digital-first workplace today. Visit slack.com/dhq to learn more.And if this week’s convo sparks a big question of your own, we’re all ears! Please send it to podcast@theready.com with the subject line “Q about Digital HQs” for a chance to have your query answered in a future episode.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

Show us a podcast that gets better questions than ours, we dare you. Listeners, you’re crushing the question game these days—so we’re heading back to the mailbag (there’s just so much mail there!) to address three juicy ones. And please keep the queries and head-scratchers coming! Because we’ve got more AUA sessions lined up for the future. In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans crack into: How does resourcing work in a world of consent and participatory governance? How do we bring two opposing cultures together (think large bureaucratic behemoth buys small, innovative business to bolster their portfolio) without getting stuck in a standoff? How can an operating rhythm help support and model more org-wide inclusion? 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

We often talk about complexity and work, but complexity is everywhere: at our schools, sports teams, churches, families… you get the idea. Today, we’re looking at a different kind of complex system that’s as big—and maybe as broken—as it gets: U.S. politics. With the midterm elections around the corner, we wanted to take a closer look at the OS of U.S. politics, asking how its structure is designed, what it incentivizes (and disincentivizes), which levers voters can pull to start tackling some of our toughest problems, and how organizations should participate in the political process.In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans are joined by Emily Amick, a political consultant behind the popular Instagram account Emily In Your Phone, to help them ponder what we can do to implement fundamental change—and to provide some hope.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 discussed quiet quitting with your colleagues, your friends, your barista, your aunt Barbara… you get the idea. Super-hyped-up conversations about quiet quitting are everywhere these days—but what’s the noise really about? What’s the alleged trend mean or point toward? And if we double-click on quiet quitting, what can we learn about the OS of our workplaces? In this episode on Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans turn up the volume on this phenomenon and talk about: What these conversations tell us about our ways of working and what needs to change How to start caring more about outputs and commitments and less about timesheets Why the common belief that “good performance = beating expectations” is trash How a lack of clarity stokes both the quiet quitting and quit firing fires Why we need better workflows around asking workers what they really need 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

[Rebroadcast note: The Ready gathers for its next retreat next week, so there’s no better time to re-air this episode from December 2021.] Wait, haven’t we already covered retreats? Yes. But if the first one explored key dos and don’ts, this one imagines the retreat as a blank sheet of paper and invites you to ask: With unlimited options, what would you do? How would you take an off-site from good to great to transcendent? What’s the space where strategy meets luxury and how can you plan a rewarding experience that includes real work? Well, we’ve got a few ideas.In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans dig into the logistical, emotional, and design considerations that went into our most recent retreat to help them overhaul old habits; provoke bigger questions and bigger bets; and use fun as a guide. And regardless of organizational size or budget, you can create that time and space, too.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

What exactly is OS coffee? It’s a specific meeting structure we use to explore topics related to our operating system (a.k.a. our OS). But OS coffee isn’t meant to be a formal, note-taking, let’s-finally-get-to-agreement-on-X kind of deal; rather, it’s about making space for different subjects to emerge and to do some shared sensemaking. In fact, it’s so casual that it’s less like a meeting and more like a gathering. In this caffeinated episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans break down how to OS coffee, including: How to keep OS coffee conversations informal yet impactful How to ground the gathering in a “Yes, and…” headspace How to stand one up inside your own system without it feeling like mandatory fun How to use default agreements to create new group norms 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