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Today’s discussion should land you right in the sweetspot of thinking about AI for your own job by taking a step back, by asking yourself how you can connect with AI and why you should. Today’s guest Professor Costas Andriopoulos explain curiosity is the engine of creativity. And by striving to be curious our minds will surprise us with the creativity that results.There was a wonderful piece of work five years ago by Francesco Gino from Harvard Business School that looked into curiosity. It found that of more than 3,000 employees from a wide range of firms and industries, only about 24% reported feeling curious in their jobs on a regular basis, and about 70% said they face barriers to asking more questions at work. In a study of 120 employees it was found that natural curiosity was associated with better job performance, as evaluated by their direct bosses.In the survey of more than 3,000 employees mentioned earlier, 92% credited curious people with bringing new ideas into teams and organizations and vie

Sign up for the Make Work Better newsletter Ellen Scott is the deputy digital editor of Stylist and someone who has achieved recognition for having a sharp eye when it comes to observing the changing face of work.Ellen was one of the first voices to pick up on the TikTok trend of Quiet Quitting, she's written about 'the ambi-work' movement and continues to give voice to the challenges facing Gen Z and Millennial workers. We talk about whether is as fair a deal today as it always was, and what firms could do to improve things.You can read some of her past articles hereYou'll find Joel Golby's final London Rental Property of the Week linked here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are there forces at work that might impact the way work feels? Could we use those forces to make work better?This discussion with Robin Dunbar and Tracey Camilleri took me to places I hadn't expected to go. That hormones, our brains and time would play a part in the relationships we forge at work isn't something that you would expect to find in a company's culture document, but as you'll hear today they forge a vital component of better team work.Hormones are triggered by emotional interactions with other humans. Uniquely they only tend to work face-to-face. Hormones can help us build affinity with others in a powerful way that is often overlooked.Brain-size impacts the connections we have with those people. At the core of human experience is our closest one (or two) relationships. There’s a small circle of 4 or 5 people who sit at the heart of our lives, and up to 15 who make up the majority of our time.And that time is critical for the strength of those connections. We spent 40% of our time with our 5 close

Today’s episode is a discussion with Amy Gallo. During the pandemic I had a wonderful discussion about work and where it was going and I was delighted to have another conversation with her two years on. Amy is the author of Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) and The HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict. She also co-hosts the Women at Work podcast, and is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review, where she writes about workplace dynamics.Articles mentioned:The Harvard study of human life & wellbeing: The secret to happiness? Here’s some advice from the longest-running study on happinessStop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome  The myth of bringing your full, authentic self to work  Amy wrote a wonderful article on psychological safety this week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeremy shares his: free bonus chapterJeremy Utley leads some of the most popular courses on creativity and innovation at the d.school of Stanford University. I was delighted to see that he was making his teaching of such popular courses available to a wider audience and chased him for an interview. This is one of his first interviews to talk about his brand new book Ideaflow.In it he discusses the way to have good ideas, and why most of us aren't willing to do what is required. I loved this discussion. Buy Ideaflow here - and find out more about Jeremy and his co-author, Perry Klebahn, here.Sign up for the podcast newsletter here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sign up to hear more about Radix Big TentRory Sutherland is one of the most respected brains in the advertising industry, a man whose early endorsement of behavioural economics helped popularise the nascent science. He's also a regular writer for The Spectator and Vice Chief of Ogilvy Group. Rory joins me to interview to talk about my new book, Fortitude, which has become a Sunday Times Bestseller and tackles the myth of resilience.The event was hosted by a brilliant organisation called Radix Big Tent. Radix Big Trent gives a platform for non-partisan conversations about big policy issues, giving a voice to people and places. It provokes and promotes new conversations about the regeneration and renewal of our society in a non-partisan way, inspiring practical actions which demonstrate the value of political intervention and delivering real change in left behind areas.It convenes Summits, Festivals, physical and online events around the country that engage local leaders and ordinary people, bringing them into

Lots of discussion right now about firms trying to kick start their workplace culture. I wanted to explore conversations with leaders who were leading experiments in how to make things feel different. In what prove to be a pair of candid conversations I talk to two firms who are asking the question if workplaces can be more motivated by trying to vary the ingredients. John Sill tells us how his firm The Foundation are trying out Wednesday plus one, then John Readman tells us how Modo25 have become the latest firm to try the four-day week - with some learnings along the way.If you like this you can sign up to the Make Work Better newsletter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Come along to one of my free events in SeptemberWe all tell stories all of the time, but what makes a magical, memorable story? What pitfalls should we avoid? This was an issue that I was thinking about. Presentations are stories, and we deliver presentations every day.In my own investigation I found real value in the book by the storytelling organisation The Moth. I was beyond excited when I saw they were releasing a UK edition of the book. One of the authors Kate Tellers joins me to discuss The Moth's approach to making memorable stories. Kate is a senior director at The Moth, helping people transform into storytellers. But she explains something even more valuable, of how The Moth run workshops that allow colleagues to better connect with each other by sharing their stories with each other. How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The MothCarolyn Martin's story about becoming a Catholic Sister (such a beautiful story)Josh Broder's story about being an extra in

Professor Sophie Scott is the UK's most recognisable neuroscientist, famed for her passion and her ability to excite interest in a complex field. Her new book, The Brain - Ten Things You Should Know is out now and I got in touch to discuss what any of us can learn about the brain. It's a wonderful discussion that included one detail that stopped me in my tracks.Listen to Professor Sophie Scott on our previous episode about laughterRoyal Institution Christmas LectureWhy we laughCover image by Hugging Face AI Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lots of my favourite podcasts have gone on summer break, so I wanted to keep putting some episodes out. But maybe you don't want something that is too work related in the midst of the summer, so this is an episode that is more psychology and life than workplace culture. It's a lovely discussion with Max Dickins author of 'Billy No Mates'.I got so much from the book - and from the discussion. Max reflects on the geezerish persona he adopts with workmen in his house and wonders if it's a performance and if it is a performance is it by him, or the workman or both of them. He considers how for many men adult life becomes a process of refusing to demonstrate - and then refusing to experience - joy. As someone asked of him, 'what happened to these men'?The article that the episode is titled after is here - we discuss it in the show: “Men have no friends and women carry the burden”Max's book is available now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To find out more about the workplace culture course go to the website or the book page.After recent episodes have made a case that the office might be on the way out, today is a voice who dares to say otherwise. Tom Goodwin is an active voice in media - operating somewhere between provocateur and consultant. He has been voted a top 10 voice in Marketing by LinkedIn, one of 30 people to follow on Twitter by Business Insider, and a 'must follow' by Fast Company. In the conversation we discuss how there's a danger that we might be turning our backs on something special in the office, 'dog mode' and how the best technology is the technology that we have available to us now.Tom's new book is a total rewrite of his first book Digital Darwinism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're a user of social media, whether Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn you'll have seen the work of today's guest.Sign up for the free Winning Workplace Culture course here if you prefer Fortitude.Get the Make Work Better newsletter hereLiz Fosslien is half of Liz and Mollie whose perceptive dissections of contemporary anxieties have won hundreds of thousands of fans. Liz talks through her process of creating these atoms of insight and how the response from viewers inspired them to write a new book about how to cope with the major emotions in our lives.A lovely warm summer conversation. You can follow Liz and Mollie on social media - or buy their new book Big Feelings hereNorrie Norrie Norrie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A wonderful discussion that I think has got immense to richness to it. I chat to the boss of St John's Ambulance Martin Houghton-Brown (Martin on Twitter). I was struck with the power of the lessons about connection and identity - we often find ourselves throwing these terms around casually but Martin's testimony brings it vividly to life.Find out more about St John's Ambulance - become a volunteerDonate to St John's AmbulanceParkrun research: volunteers see a bigger health uplift than the runnersPre-order Fortitude and get a workplace culture course for free (before 8th July 2022)The book is about resilience - how we get it wrong, and where it really lies. There are a lot of mistakes made about resilience and increasingly our teams are getting fed up hearing us talk about it. Fortitude explores where resilience really lives.The early reviews on the book are sensational.Steven Bartlett said:‘This is a truly refreshing, captivating and important book that shifted my perception on a topic I thought I knew! A mu

Two things on the podcast today - at the end of the episode there is a discussion with former guest, Brian Elliott from Slack's Future Forum.Ahead of that I want to make an announcement about what I've been working on - with my new book Fortitude.Fortitude is an investigation into the elusive idea of resilience, a book that discovers that resilience is a area filled with mistakes, misdirection and over-promise. The book finds the true secrets of resilience.You can find out all of about the book here or you can receive my workplace culture course for free if you pre-order it now.The Future Forum book 'How the Future Works' is available now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“There are two kinds of companies: One is going to embrace work-from-anywhere, and the second is in denial — I feel those companies will lose their workforce. You have to make a choice, as a leader, what kind of company you want to lead” (source)The words of today's guest have stayed with me for the last few months. I'm so delighted to talk to Professor Raj Choudhury from Harvard Business School who will possibly wake you up from a self-created illusion. He'll explain:why WFA is inevitablethe role that top talent have in redefining work for everyonewhy 25% is a magic amount of timewhy WFA presents a win-win-win solution for usI was so looking forward to this and it doesn't disappoint.Read Professor Choudhury's HBR cover article.Here is the audio clip I mentioned. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you find yourself becoming interested in the magic of workplace culture one of the go to authors of the subject is today's guest, Dan Coyle.Dan's 2018 book The Culture Code allowed him to go deep with some of the most successful cultures in the world - in the arenas of business, sport and even the military. He's returning after the blazing success of the Culture Code with a book that gives more of the energy of that title but drawn into a workbook, The Culture Playbook - imagine something like a journal with prompts of what to write.He joined me for a discussion where we reflect on the challenges of the last 2 years and what any organisation should be thinking about as they set about creating a winning, forward-looking culture.If you like this sign up for the newsletter - Make Work Better - for a special announcement in 3 weeks Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're going deeper into the evidence today with two brilliant guests. Anne Raimondi is COO of Asana who were smart enough to have started a major piece of research into how work is evolving just before the world turned upside down. We're also joined by the most in demand brain in the world right now, Professor Nick Bloom. Nick is Professor WFH, an economist from Stanford University who has been researching remote working for over a decade.Along the way we talk about how the biggest innovations in remote working are yet to come - and are coming from mindblowing places. We talk the changing expectations of Gen Z workers, why Nick doesn't believe we should be giving up our office just yet. We hear where the sweetspot of hybrid working is right now and why a little less freedom and a little more co-ordination is the order of the day.I was desperately trying to get Nick on the podcast and to land Anne Raimondi at the same time is a wonderful stroke of luck.Asana's Anatomy of Work Report 2022 is available here. You

Status is a fundamental need for humans.Such a fascinating discussion today. I recently read Will Storr's brilliant book The Status Game and was so taken with it I invited him on the podcast.He quotes Professor Brian Boyd when he says that we:‘naturally pursue status with ferocity: we all relentlessly, if unconsciously, try to raise our own standing by impressing peers, and naturally if unconsciously, evaluate others in terms of their standing’.In study after study it is found that our wellbeing depends on the degree that we feel respected by other people. One study found that the attainment off status of its loss was ‘the strongest predictor of long-term positive and negative feelings’ in subjects.I wanted to pick Will's brains to hear more of this - but also to understand how these mechanisms impact us at work. If you're interested in psychology or just a bit of people watching you'll love the reframing that this discussion provides for us. Along the way Will gives us the definitive take on why Will Smith s

This episode is greatly enhanced by reading the newsletter that comes with it. In today’s podcast I talk to two guests who have slightly different perspectives on how to fix the culture of the Met Police.Dr Megan O’Neill is Associate Director at the Scottish Institute for Policing Research. She has extensively studied the police and has worked closely with them - most notably helping to revise a stop and search policy that was found to be failing. She explains the challenges of the job, and how we should think about getting buy in to reform.Simon Holdaway is Professor emeritus of Criminology at the University of Sheffield. He joined the police after he left school and was promoted to sergeant. His study about the police has explored the culture of the profession and how themes of race could be more effectively tackled. While the police (and the Met) might not feel adjacent to your business there are critical lessons about cultural change.Four lessons of what good culture requires:Space - good culture can

Caleb Parker is one of the most intelligent commentators on the future of our workplaces (Twitter, his website) and this conversation with him did not disappoint. Caleb is the founder of a flexible workplace offering, Bold, but also host of a truly brilliant commercial real estate podcast called The Work Bold Podcast. I found Caleb's podcast via Antony Slumbers Twitter feed and it's become part of my weekly routine as it normally drops in time for my Sunday run. (BTW Antony was a former guest who shared with us the perspective of the commercial real estate sector early in the pandemic. I found the dialogue with Antony so rich that I wanted to seek another update from the sector.The second half of the discussion is especially strong. I ask Caleb to give the stump pitch for the office and his answer is stunning. He also shares a stark warning that 'bad culture is a bigger threat to the office than the pandemic'.Caleb also shares with us the perspective of his most inspiring guest on his own podcast - who outlin