At Work with The Ready

By Rodney Evans and Sam SpurlinBusiness Entrepreneurship Management

At Work with The Ready episodes

July 18, 2022 136. The Workplace After Roe v. Wade with Emma Goldberg
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the American legal landscape instantly changed. So did the business landscape, since more than half of Americans rely on their employers for healthcare—and that includes reproductive healthcare. Abortion as a critical workplace issue is now top-of-mind for organizations coming to grips with how they can and should respond to a post-Roe world.
Emma Goldberg covers the future of work for The New York Times and has been asking big questions about abortion since the Supreme Court’s decision came down: “How will this decision reshape workplace policies? What influence will it have on the job market? How do employees want their employers to respond? How do consumers want businesses to respond? Why does this issue in particular feel so fraught?”
This week on Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans ask Emma about the answers she’s been hearing.

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com
We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]
Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
46 min
July 11, 2022 135. Rodney and Aaron Go To Work Therapy: Part 2
We’re coming at you with part two of the intimate conversation Rodney and Aaron cracked open last week. (Haven’t listened to part one yet? Go back and check out that episode now!)
Today on Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans continue exploring the ups and downs of their professional partnership; why they chose to start working with a coach; the big lessons and lingering worries they both sit with; and why seeking out help isn’t necessarily a sign that something’s broken, but rather that you’re actually ready to dig deeper.

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com
We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]
Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
42 min
July 05, 2022134. Rodney and Aaron Go to Work Therapy: Part 1
In part one of a very special two-part episode from Brave New Work, Rodney Evans and Aaron Dignan talk about…themselves. Specifically, their partnership and why they decided to start working with a coach. Together, they dig into:
The tensions, dynamics, and patterns that prompted them to seek outside help
How they picked a coach and the skills and capabilities they wanted to level up on
Why org designing their way through conflict wasn’t working
Why self-work is a critical part of self-management
What’s scared them, surprised them, and pushed them after a few months of coaching

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com
We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]
Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
42 min
June 27, 2022 133. What Makes a City Strong with Chuck Marohn
Helping big systems learn how to evolve and sustain themselves; designing for long-term endurance rather than long-term liability; disrupting the idea that unchecked growth is always a good thing; asking “What are we designing for?” to clarify tradeoffs from the jump. Those activities not only describe the organizational design work we do at The Ready, it also describes the work of Chuck Marohn at Strong Towns, a nonprofit advocating for cities of all sizes to be safe, livable, and inviting.
In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans chat with Chuck, author of Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town, about the similarities between our work, how we can make our cities more resilient and complexity-conscious, and how expecting more from work can translate into expecting more from our neighborhoods.

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com
We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]
Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
45 min
June 20, 2022132. We've Got More Mail!
You keep having dope questions, so we keep offering our best answers.
In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans offer their two cents on some of our most recent—and most excellent—listener queries, including:
What distinguishes our work from Agile and digital transformation
The organizational symptoms that prompt leaders to give new ways of working a try
How to stick with experimentation and avoid snapping back to old patterns when the going gets tough
And how to approach at-work complexity when at-home complexity (like becoming a parent or caring for a sick loved one)—dramatically changes

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com
We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]
Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
35 min
June 13, 2022 131. The Time of Your Life with Oliver Burkeman
Why does it always feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get work done? How did we come to see time as a resource we could manipulate and exploit? Why does achieving “inbox zero” come with bragging rights? And how has the belief that we can command and control time totally warped not only our personal lives, but also our working lives?
In today's episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans start to tease apart a few of the brain-expanding questions with guest Oliver Burkeman, the best-selling author of Four Thousand Weeks. Together, they explore what we don’t talk about when we talk about modern time management.
Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com
We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]
Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
49 min
June 06, 2022130. Sizing Up Your Team
King-size is great when we’re talking about candy bars. But when it comes to designing impactful teams, we’re on team fun-size. That’s because the best teams share a clear purpose, have high trust, and are interdependent—which can be hard to pull off when you’re rolling 40 people deep.
In today’s episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans size up how we think about team size and dig into:
The new questions and contexts to weigh when trying to find an ideal team size
What real team interdependence feels like—e.g., “I have an interest and a stake in what every member of this group does and works on”
Designing teams that get stuff done without falling prey to groupthink or social loafing
How to bust up big groups into smaller teams that organize around different flavors of work
The dynamism and flexibility needed to team effectively in a hybrid-work world
What sports and tarot can teach us about dream team size

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com
We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]
Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
45 min
June 01, 2022 129. How the Future Works with Slack’s Brian Elliott and Sheela Subramanian
The Covid-19 pandemic marked a sea change in how most people think about work. The mind-numbing norms and deeply-rooted inequities that defined our day-to-day working lives were upended, exposed, and called out for being (let’s face it) what they’ve been all along: rigid, harmful, unacceptable, and unproductive. The good news: Many companies are acknowledging that how we work needs major upgrades—ones that enable real autonomy and flexibility.
Of course, wanting a flexible work strategy and designing one that works for your organization are two different things. That’s why Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans teamed up with Brian Elliott and Sheela Subramanian—the Executive Leader and Vice President, respectively, of Slack’s Future Forum think tank—for this very special episode of Brave New Work. Together with Helen Kupp, Brian and Sheela co-wrote the new book How the Future Works, a step-by-step guide on building a flexible, inclusive, and digital-first workplace. We jam with them on the fundamental bedrock elements teams need to transform and weave future-of-work practices into their present-day lives.
Link to Sheela, Brian, and Helen Kupp's book, "How The Future Works": https://futureforum.com/how-the-future-works/
Slack's Future Forum: https://futureforum.com/
Sheela Subramanian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheelasubramanian/
Brian Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/belliott/

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com
We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]
Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
51 min
May 23, 2022128. Jamming, Gaming, and Org Designing
We can draw connections between org design at work and org design IRL all day, every day. And today's no exception, as Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans unpack what playing music and playing video games has taught them about working in complexity.
In this episode of Brave New Work, they dig into:
The reflex for planning and prediction that kicks in when we try something new
The instincts that may run counter to working in complexity, and how to develop new heuristics that serve us better
The disorientation that comes with simultaneously thinking about, learning, and trying something new
The difference between noticing muscles and planning muscles
Why it’s worth wading into the complexity pool with playfulness and an openness to experimentation

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com
We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]
Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
44 min
May 16, 2022 127. The Case for Human-Powered Business with New Belgium Brewing’s Steve Fechheimer
New Belgium Brewing company has been making great beer for decades. It also decided right from the jump to design a company OS that places its people smack-dab at the center of things. That core, human-powered philosophy has driven the wildly popular craft brewer’s business practices for more than 30 years.
In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans speak to New Belgium Brewing’s CEO, Steve Fechheimer, about what those practices look like on the ground; how the company adapted, pivoted, and became even more nimble during the pandemic; and why New Belgium Brewing is still on a mission to show that a human-powered business can be a better and more successful one. Hey, we’ll drink to that.
Learn more about Steve and his work here: https://www.newbelgium.com/

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com
We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]
Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com
49 min

About At Work with The Ready

From the publisher's feed

Rodney Evans and Sam Spurlin have helped teams around the world adopt more modern ways of working and on At Work with The Ready they’re sharing the inside scoop with you, too. Whether you’re…