At Work with The Ready

44. Forget ROI: The Ethical Case for Org Design


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Most org design conversations get forced through a narrow funnel: prove the ROI, justify the spend, make the numbers work. But if work is something most people can’t opt out of—and where we spend a huge chunk of our attention and waking lives—then “it pays off” feels like a painfully small standard.


This week, Rodney and Sam explore the ethical case for organizational design. They move beyond spreadsheets and profit metrics to ask bigger questions about leadership, power, transparency, compensation, and the human impact of broken systems. What do organizations owe the people who work inside them? Is better workplace design a moral responsibility — not just a financial strategy?


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    Mentioned references:

    • r/antiwork
    • Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi and Flow
    • Target CEO comp package (note: New CEO’s comp package is roughly $16m, vs over $70m for the prior CEO in 2020)
    • triple bottom line
    • John Rawls and A Theory of Justice

    • 00:00 Check-In: What’s your energy like right now?

      04:04 Divorcing doing what’s “good work” from ROI

      08:16 A “good” experience is the exception rather than the rule

      10:06 Protecting yourself isn’t “selling out”

      15:41 Spending our attention on worthy things

      21:35 Leadership vs. worker power disparity is broken

      27:31 Ethically designed companies never are publicly traded

      31:07 Principles and values of ethical orgs

      40:35 Joy at work shouldn’t be nickled and dimed

      44:35 Idea 1: Don’t accept performative change initiatives

      47:17 Idea 2: Audit your existing principles and values

      48:35 Idea 3: Don’t let leadership gaslight you into conforming

      50:33 Wrap up: Leave us a review and share the show with a friend


      Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Coupe Studios⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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      At Work with The ReadyBy Rodney Evans and Sam Spurlin

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