Self-determination at work
It is a moral and business imperative to close the gap between what science knows and what business does. Here are two ways to do it.
“What profound treasures are hidden”
Inspired by two companies where employees actively seek out, connect, and grow the positive potential of their work and each other. “Give employees space and time for development, and thus give them wings.”
WOL in the classroom: A recent example
I had assumed the only reasons students would Work Out Loud would be to fulfill a course requirement or to explore careers and increase their access to jobs.
But students, it seems, crave connection and belonging like the rest of us.
New Work New Culture
Frithjof Bergmann’s vision for “New Work” was bold and ambitious, a fundamental rethinking of jobs, pay, and markets. All of it, he proposes, needs to be reimagined and fashioned from scratch.
Today’s New Work initiatives may fall short of his vision, but they can fulfill his promise of enabling people to “be more alive” at work.
WOL for Education: An update
Schools in Germany, the US, Austria, and Switzerland have used WOL in different ways.
Over time, a range of applications and ideas have emerged for both students and staff.
WOL at Vodafone
How a grassroots effort, full of passion and persistence, led Vodafone to be the first company to use three different WOL Methods: WOL Circles, WOL Mindfulness, and WOL for Teams.
WOL Healthcare: The first pilot
Will this new format work? I’m not sure.
But I am confident we will discover how to improve the WOL Circle method to reach more people in a wider range of jobs.
And I am determined to apply our learning to help those in healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and other environments so they too can make more of all they have to offer.
The Lindau Illusion
Same town, two fundamentally different experiences. Just based on what I happened to see or not see. I stop and think: If I can be so wrong about an entire town, what about people?
Everybody Matters
When it comes to how their employees relate to each other and to the work they do, Everybody Matters serves as an inspiring example of the way things could be.
What could WOL for Healthcare look like?
Bettina liked her WOL Circle and now she wants to spread WOL in healthcare. But she feels the method needs to be adapted to make it suitable for people working in busy environments like hospitals and clinics.
So… What could WOL for Healthcare look like?
Whatever you’re looking for, you’ll probably find it
We have a tendency to label people and file them into categories and boxes. It makes life simpler in some ways, but also poorer.
What if, instead, we were open to the possibility that each person has something precious inside them?
The life and death of Quality Circles
In the US, at least, “quality circles are almost universally consigned to the dustbin of management techniques.”
Why? What can we do to make a good idea even better?
WOL for Education: An Update
More than a dozen universities have used the original Working Out Loud method. Based on these experiences, we now have a much clearer sense of what students need and how a new WOL method can help.
WOL at the University of Melbourne
“And our own stories? Working Out Loud has changed us, too. ML and Margaret are planning to convene WOL groups across multiple universities over the next 12 months; and Mark is in the midst of his own career change. We’ve learnt new skills and have started sharing our work in different ways. We're moving on, working out loud as we go.”
“How did the TEDx talk go?”
“How did the talk go?” I was terrified and worse. Here’s the process I went through and what I learned in case it might help you prepare for something similar.
The HR Director I wish I knew
How a single click can lead to something surprising and wonderful.
The Empathy Test
Every interaction is a chance to take the Empathy Test, to pause and ask yourself: “How might this look from their perspective?”