How I Work

My guest today is Alison Watkins. Alison joined Coca-Cola Amatil as Group Managing Director in March 2014. Prior to joining Coca-Cola Amatil Alison was the CEO of agribusiness GrainCorp and of Berri, the market leader in Australian juice, and she was also the Managing Director of Regional Banking at ANZ.  Alison also spent 10 years at McKinsey & Company and became a partner of the firm before moving to ANZ as Group General Manager Strategy.  Alison has been a non-executive director of ANZ, Woolworths and the Just Group.We cover: How the way she works has changed dramatically since COVID Her strategy for delivering bad news The best and worst career advice she has been given Deciding when to take on board negative feedback, and when not to Alison’s approach to influencing others - and why doing good work isn’t enough to get ahead in your career And much more. Connect with Alison on LinkedIn.Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode looks at why you need to stop asking for feedback, and instead, ask for advice.Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My guest today is Darren Murph who is GitLab’s Head of Remote. If you have never heard of GitLab, it's the world’s largest all-remote company, with over 1,300 team members in 67+ countries with no company-owned offices. Darren has spent his career leading remote teams and charting remote transformations and authored GitLab’s Remote Playbook. Darren also holds a Guinness World Record as the planet's most prolific professional blogger, having published 10 million words.In this chat, we cover: How crisis-induced remote work is different from true remote work Darren’s favourite tips from Gitlab’s Remote Working handbook Why companies need to change their default to asynchronous communication How to create a corporate culture in a remote working environment The importance that values play in company culture How to recruit for people who are suited to remote work The key software that you need to make remote work, work How to design for serendipitous moments when everyone works remote How to replace water cooler conversations in the remote environment How to have effective meetings - and more importantly - deciding when NOT to meet Darren’s one page operating manual Darren’s favourite gadgets Companies that he looks to for remote working inspiration. Connect with Darren on Linkedin and Twitter. Check out Darren’s personal operating manual, GitLab’s remote playbook, and Darren’s book Living the Remote Dream.  Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My favourite tip from my chat with Google’s Executive Productivity Advisor Laura May Martin was on how she manages her inbox.You can find the full interview here.If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coVisit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My guests on today’s show are Michelle Andrews and Zara McDonald. Michelle and Zara are Melbourne-based journalists and broadcasters, aged 26. They met working as writers for Mama Mia, and in March 2018 launched Australia’s top pop-culture podcast Shameless, ‘for smart women who like dumb stuff.’ They now run Shameless Media and are the producers of three other highly popular podcasts.Shameless has been downloaded over 10 million times and was crowned Australia’s Most Popular Podcast of 2019 at the Australian Podcast Awards. Michelle and Zara and their podcast have been written about in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Age and Marie Claire. In this chat, we cover: What goes on behind the scenes of making the Shameless podcast Where they get their inspiration for content from Their process for preparing for interviews How they keep their podcast banter feeling fresh How Michelle and Zara decide how much personal information to share with listeners - and what not to disclose How they manage their time on social media Why they deleted their 40,000+ member Facebook group How they decide which projects to say Yes versus No to Michelle and Zara’s guiding principle for key business decisions How they deal with negative feedback  Their favourite podcasts And much more. Grab your copy of Michelle and Zara’s book The Space Between, follow Shameless on Instagram, join the Shameless Book Club, and listen to the Shameless podcast on Apple Podcasts.Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My favourite tip from my chat with Finder.com co-founder Fred Schebesta was on how he identifies top talent.You can find the full interview here.If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coVisit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's BEST OF episode, my guest is Dan Heath. Dan is the co-author, along with his brother Chip, of four New York Times bestsellers: Decisive, Switch, Made to Stick, and The Power of Moments. The Heath Brothers’ books have sold over 3 million copies worldwide and been translated into 33 languages.Dan is a Senior Fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports social entrepreneurs. I am a HUGE fan of Dan's work and we cover a lot of ground in this interview, including: The importance of trying to solve problems before they happen - and why this is so hard to do How Dan thinks about coming up with titles for his books Why he saw the title of his new book, Upstream, as incredibly risky The value in focusing on recurring irritants to focus upstream thinking Why Dan tracks his time, and the changes this lead to in his life How tunneling gets in the way of solving problems How Dan overcame his procrastination tendencies The importance of momentum in writing The pros and cons of not working with his brother Heath for writing Upstream Dan’s approach to soliciting feedback and the ideal time to seek it Where Dan’s book ideas come from What makes a great business book How Dan develops the frameworks for his books The strategies Dan has written about that have had the biggest impact on his own life. Find out more about Dan at Heathbrothers.com and grab a copy of Upstream here.Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode looks at a simple word that will dramatically improve your day. Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes. Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.co See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's BEST OF episode, my guest is Paul Migliorini. Paul leads the Amazon Web Services business across Australia and New Zealand - a role that he has been in for the last four years. Prior to joining AWS Paul held leadership roles in Asia and Australia with BT, Motorola, Regus and Ernst & Young, most recently as the CEO for Regus ANZ and Regional Managing Director for South Asia at BT.I was keen to speak to Paul because I have heard a lot of things about Amazon’s culture and ways of working that fascinated me. And there is nothing better than being able to get an insider’s perspective on how it all works.So if you have ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of one of the world’s fastest growing and most powerful companies, I think you’ll love my chat with Paul.We cover: How Paul has dramatically changed his mobile phone behaviour Amazon’s 14 key leadership principles How being frugal leads to innovative The importance of “two pizza teams" Why leaders at Amazon do more coaching rather than managing Why input measures matter more than output measures The two types of decisions that can be made at Amazon and how this impacts decision-making speed The importance of disagreeing and committing to decisions How strong opinions are encouraged at Amazon How Amazon identifies people who will fit with the culture during the recruitment process The 50% test that Amazon use in their recruitment process Why Powerpoint is banned at Amazon The critical role of long form narratives at Amazon Why the first 15-20 minutes of meetings at Amazon are spent reading Why Amazon create fictitious press releases for products that don’t exist Amazon’s working backwards process Why Paul sees it as his job to say yes to as many requests as possible.  Learn more about Amazon's Summit, check out career opportunities at Amazon and connect with Paul on Linkedin.Visit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auIf you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My favourite tip from my chat with Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner was on scheduling time for spontaneity.You can find the full interview here.If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.coVisit https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.