In this episode of How People Work, Jordan and Jason explore the ways to think differently about work, incorporating happiness and play. The hosts start by talking about their childhood aspirations and how most kids want to play games as their career.

The conversation between Jason and Jordan revolves around the complexity of life as one grows older and the need for rules to guide one's actions. They discuss how children have a script to follow, and boundaries are well defined. However, as one grows older, the rules become less defined, and one may not know what is expected of them. There are unwritten rules in work culture that are confusing, and people may not know how to navigate them. They suggest that it is essential to have a mutual aim and agreed-upon rules to play by, which makes the game of work fun.

Key ideas and highlights:

- When asked what they want to be when they grow up, most kids answers involve some form of play. Why do we lose that?

- There are unwritten rules at work that are confusing; good leaders write out the “How to Win” section.

- Having a clear mission, vision, values, or rule book gives people peace and clarity.

Word of the day: Scrupulous

Timestamps:

(0:00) Intro

(2:51) Why we need to think differently about the notion of work

(3:37) What did you want to be when you grew up?

(4:15) Playing a game as a career was every kid’s dream

(11:38) Why the fondest memories of life are memories of playing games

(13:15) Games as a microcosm of how society works

(15:51) Why we don’t like living in a world without rules

(19:55) Good leaders write down the unwritten rules and make them clear

(21:14) There must be a way to win work

(25:56) Why it’s harder to see wins at work

Work and happiness are intrinsically linked. Making happiness the central goal of one’s life, and business, can change everything.In this episode, Jason and Jordan discuss how personal and professional growth is essential for long-term fulfillment. They also explore how most learning and development programs offered by employers fail to address the individual needs of employees and don’t satisfy this greater need for fulfillment.

Having a clear understanding of what one is aiming for is crucial to achieving long-term success and happiness. Jason and Jordan explore meaningful ways to help people grow, both personally and professionally, and how companies can provide mentorship, training programs, and career advancement opportunities to support their employees.

Leaders must be willing to lead by example. By setting clear expectations and modeling desired behaviors, employers can foster a culture of growth and development.

Key ideas and highlights:

Word of the day: Symbiosis

Timestamps:

(0:00) Intro

(6:30) Why coasting in life doesn’t lead to satisfaction

(11:30) What most learning & development programs get wrong

(15:50) The importance of discovering what your goals are and what you’re aiming for.

(17:30) How to help your people grow

(20:53) How can companies help support their people in their goals

(23:10) Why leaders need to lead by example

(24:30) Are crazy audacious goals worth it?

(28:30) Making happiness the central goal will change everything

Happiness isn’t about the amount in your paycheck, but the values that define your purpose. In this episode, Jordan and Jason explore the science behind happiness and its correlation to employee productivity and workplace wellbeing.

They discuss the importance of humility in the workplace and why more money is not the key to achieving happiness. They also examine why 100% happiness in the workplace should not be the ultimate goal and what should be instead.

Key ideas and highlights:

Nothing is miserable unless you think it so; Nothing brings happiness unless you are content with it. - Boethius - Jason

Word of the day: Malarkey 24:01 AND 24:18

Chapters:

(0:00) Intro

(1:30) The science behind happiness

(3:38) Being happy makes you 4x more likely to be a top performer

(6:13) Greek philosophy and the predisposition of happiness

(10:45) Can you build a happiness playbook?

(11:43) Why 100% happiness in the workplace shouldn’t be the goal

(12:19) Where unhappiness at work stems from

(14:40) The importance of humility in the workplace

(16:00) Why lepers in India are happier than most people in the West

(20:45) How lifestyle creep interferes with happiness

(25:00) Why more money is not the chief tool to accomplish your goals

Happiness is underrated in the workplace. While most leaders understand that employee happiness is important, many have struggled to tie it to a core business metric.

How does workforce happiness impact costs, earnings, or efficiency?

Happiness is closely tied to productivity. According to research by MIT, self-reported happiness is a predictive measure of performance—a much more reliable predictor of productivity than employee engagement.

So why is it so often overlooked by many organizations?

In this episode, Jason and Jordan explain the connection between employee happiness and productivity, building a case for why employers should care about the happiness of their people from a business perspective.

They urge leaders to view human flourishing as an orienting principle in their business to support the happiness and productivity of their people.

Key ideas and highlights:

- Jason Murray

Word of the day: Tantamount ✨

Chapters:

(0:00) Intro

(2:20) Why employee happiness is an important business metric

(5:00) 3 different definitions for happiness: Eudaimonic Wellbeing, Fulfillment, and Hedonic Pleasure

(8:29) How to accurately assess employee happiness

(9:35) Is happiness a “soft” metric or a core business metric?

(13:51) Why businesses aren’t set up to drive happiness

(16:47) Why leaders should care about the happiness of their people

(17:01) Why Gen Z is poised to be the most philanthropic generation ever

(20:30) Leadership approaches that inspire happiness and productivity vs those that don’t

(24:21) What happens when we view human flourishing as an orienting principle

(27:37) How does happiness tie to productivity?

For many of today’s employees, it is no longer possible to separate work and life the way we used to. Emails fill our inboxes after hours, our homes have become our offices, and we carry notifications from bosses and colleagues in our pockets at all times.

The notion of “work-life balance” has therefore little resonance for the modern workplace.

But is that a bad thing?

In this episode, Jordan and Jason argue that work and life have the same aim (fulfillment) and therefore should be seen as two means of reaching the same end. They urge listeners to move from a work-life balance mindset to the “66% of time” mindset—a view that allocates eight hours a day (or one third of life) to sleep and the other two-thirds of time to seeking fulfillment in and outside of work.

Key ideas and highlights:

Word of the day: Anachronistic ✨

Chapters:

(0:00) Intro

(7:22) The misplaced assumptions behind the notion of work-life balance

(8:36) Debunking the work/life balance myth

(12:01) Why work and life don’t have to compete with one another

(14:26) How the history of work has shaped how we think about work

(18:56) What the work used to have built-in limits

(22:22) Where people are seeking community

(29:14) Moving to a “66% of time” mindset

(30:53) Why “fulfillment” is a better aim than work/life balance

(35:00) The role community plays in staving off fear and anxiety

(38:54) The key to making work more meaningful

Learn more about how you can retain employees and reduce the costs of your people programs with Fringe.

There is a fundamental difference in how the generations of the workforce see and experience the world because of the role technology has played in their lives. These generations can be split into two groups: native analogs and native digitals.

Native analogs: Silent, Boomers, Gen X, and even some older Millennials remember a time before the Internet. They view technology one of two ways: (1) a helpful, occasional resource or (2) as a distraction from everyday life. 

Native digitals: Millennials and Gen Z, on the other hand, grew up surrounded by new technological advances at a rapid rate. They integrated technology into everyday life.

This fundamental difference of perspective is why we often see executives and employees talking past each other.

Key ideas and highlights

Transformation of Communication w/ Workplace Generations:

“Thinking about trying to lead a company ourselves, I think we just need to be flexible. We need to be really open-minded. We just need to not think about things like pedigree in the same way. We need to not think about where people work and how they work in the same way. And we need to understand that people need different things. And the only way to provide such a diverse group of people and opportunity to be successful in the way that they need to be successful is to be incredibly flexible.”

Word of the day: Cacophony

Timestamps

(0:00) Intro

(4:20) Native analogs vs native digitals, explained

(5:20) Fundamental difference in how generations see the world

(6:50) Could the online world be “real life”?

(10:20) What was the world like for native analogs?

(13:50) Maybe filming the moment IS the new living in the moment

(15:30) How much of the world has changed for native digitals?

(17:50) 62% of employees already report to a Millennial boss

(22:02) How has communication changed for these two groups?

(25:24) Experiences > stuff

(28:20) Experiences provide more sustained happiness than things

(28:59) Seinfeld and cash gifts 

(31:05) Some benefits programs do more harm than good 

(38:22) How to think about benefits equity for a remote team

(39:25) Why flexibility matters now more than ever

You can learn more about Fringe by visiting: https://www.fringe.us

Employers and people leaders across industries are facing the same challenge at work. How do you lead a diverse workforce well?

For the first time in history, there are five different generations in the workplace—Silent, Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, and Gen Z. And each generation has a fundamentally different experience of the world, leading to competing expectations of the employer. How can leaders demonstrate care and respect for all of their employees when they experience the same work environment differently?

In this episode of How People Work, Jordan and Jason discuss how leaders can meet the competing needs of today’s employees without neglecting any one group.

They’ll answer questions like:

“Companies are grossly unprepared to handle the generational shifts about to take place over the next 5 years. The experience of the world is fundamentally different for each generation.”

— Jason Murray

(0:00) Intro

(1:18) What are the five generations in the workforce?

(3:06) What the workforce will look like by 2030

(3:56) The radically different expectations each generation has for their employer

(5:10) Why many recognition programs do more harm than good

(7:16) What each generation has in common at work

(17:18) How to lead all 5 generations well

(22:50) What happens when you view work as the enemy

(24:18) Why “work-life balance” is a ridiculous false dichotomy

(26:30) What we stand to gain if we think of work as play

(27:30) What work, camping, and sports have in common

(29:05) What language trips up leaders and silences employees?

(33:28) How leading out of fear vs. trust will inform your talent strategy

Many of the concepts we have about work assume that it is a necessary evil. Work is bad and life is good, and therefore we should aim for minimal time spent working and maximal time at leisure. This is the assumption embedded in the “work-life balance” model.

In this first episode of How People Work, Fringe co-founders Jordan Peace and Jason Murray challenge this way of thinking.

They explore the history of how people have thought about work, what we stand to gain if we view it as inherently good, and how this mindset led them to start Fringe.

Key ideas and highlights

“Work should be a good thing. This notion of how we work as humans, but also how we apply ourselves to work, is something that ought to be investigated and talked about. And it’s relevant to what we're doing here with Fringe because we're trying to very much build a company in which people can feel that they do good work and that the work is good for them and good for their lives and their families.” — Jason Murray

Welcome to the How People Work podcast, where we explore the intersection of how humans think and act and how they apply themselves to their work.

Every week, startup co-founders Jordan Peace and Jason Murray discuss topics ranging from human psychology and anthropology to leadership, business trends, people strategy & more.

This podcast is for anyone who strives to be a compassionate and compelling leader and organization builder. If you are a people leader who wants to better understand and serve your people, this podcast is for you.

Jordan Peace (CEO) and Jason Murray (Head of Innovation) are co-founders of Fringe, a lifestyle benefits start-up based out of Richmond, VA. Lifestyle benefits are services that enhance employees’ lives in personal and meaningful ways. These services reduce stress, give time back, spark joy, and impact families.

Learn how Fringe can help supercharge your talent, culture, wellbeing, and DEI efforts at fringe.us.

On this episode, Cassandra Rose sits down with Jessica Marucci, VP of People and Places at Catalyst Software. Catalyst offers a customer success platform (CSP) that integrates with all the tools a company is already using to provide a single, centralized view of customer data. This can help organizations prevent churn and provide better customer outcomes.

Jessica discusses how Catalyst went remote, after originally establishing itself as very much an in-person business. She discusses the importance of staying attuned to the needs of team members because, in the current climate, these are constantly shifting. One of these needs is mental health. Jessica talks about what that means to her and to Catalyst and how they kept that as a value, even as other companies scaled back time and benefits related to it.

Looking to build your own BragWorthy Culture? Fringe can help. Fringe is the number one lifestyle benefits platform. Give your people the power of choice and save a ton of administrative headaches by consolidating existing vendors and programs into a simple, automated platform. Contact us at Fringe.us.