This Working Life

Have you ever sat at work thinking “Houston we have a problem, common sense has left the room!”?

Brand and culture transformation expert Martin Lindstrom, certainly has. He walks us through how to bring common sense back into our workplaces by establishing what he calls a “ministry of common sense”. 

And Martin has walked the talk -  he has advised multinationals including Pepsi, Google, Burger King and Swiss Air but he started this movement in what traditionally has been a bastion of bureaucracy, banks.

Martin’s book: Ministry of Common Sense: How to Eliminate Bureaucratic Red Tape, Bad Excuses and Corporate Bullshit.

Producer: Maria Tickle

As the saying goes “money can’t buy happiness”, but does getting paid more make us happier and more motivated at work? And if not, what does? And why is it still such a taboo topic? We also hear negotiation strategies to use with your boss and what you need to do to stay employable after 40.

GUESTS:

Professor Adrian Furnham, author of The New Psychology of Money (and about 100 other books)

Adjunct professor at BI Norwegian Business School and professor at University College London.

Emily Barnes, mediator

Kate McCallum, financial advisor and co-author of The Joy of Money.

(This show was first broadcast on Radio National on November 30, 2020.)

Producer: Maria Tickle

Whether you are male or female, if you work with a woman over 40, menopause matters to you. And if you are a woman over 40 understanding what’s happening to your mind and body during “the change” is absolutely crucial.

As you'll hear many women, including those at the top of the game, are leaving careers they love because of poor management around menopause.

We dive deep into a topic that is steeped in silence, suffering and stigma to start this important conversation.

Some people seem to get all the breaks, new gigs, interesting and challenging projects, or support for their business idea. Why? What is so special about them?

After being featured in a New York Times article about failure, Suneel Gupta decided things needed to change in his career and this is the question he set out to answer. Suneel interviewed Hollywood film producers, venture capitalists, military leaders and executives at iconic companies and he shares what he learned.

We also hear from Australian backers what they look for when they are deciding who and what to fund.And spoiler alert, the key to being backable is not charisma.

GUESTS: 

Suneel Gupta, co-author of Backable: The Surprising Truth Behind What Makes People Take a Chance on You.

Julie Demsey, startup advisor and investor

Nick Peace,VP corporate and investments at Planet Innovation

Matt Allen, CEO Tractor Ventures

Producer: Maria Tickle

Dorie Clark, sought after New York-based executive coach and consultant, warns it’s crucial to build a portfolio career - where you have multiple revenue streams - even if you have a full-time job. 

Recorded live at Pausefest 2021 Dorie explains how this model saved her in 2020 when hundreds of thousands of dollars income dried up almost overnight. She shares her blueprint for professional independence, including insights and advice on becoming a recognised expert, monetising your expertise, and extending your reach and impact online. 

Dorie has been recognized as #1 Communication Coach in the world, one of the top 50 business thinkers in the world and she’s worked with clients such as Google, Microsoft, and the World Bank.

She’s written numerous books including best sellers Standout and Entrepreneurial You and her next book The Long Game comes out in September this year.

We also hear from Madeleine Grummet (tech entrepreneur and investor Future Amp, girledworld) and Darren Milo (D Milo Consulting, Beaton) on how they have built their own portfolio careers.

And then we follow up our episode on Harnessing humour as a superpower at work with Naomi Bagdonas and Jennifer Aaker from Stanford Graduate School of Business with some Aussie research. Dr David Cheng from ANU joins us to explore how humour interacts with power, conflict and persistence at work. 

Producer: Maria Tickle

“A group of behavioural scientists walk into a bar…”  

Sounds like the start of a joke right - it’s not.

Those ten people were gathering to perform sketch comedy and two of them ended up researching the hypothesis that humour is serious business and that it is vastly underleveraged in most workplaces today.   

Dr Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas now teach the course Humor: Serious Business at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and have co-authored the book Humor, Seriously: why humor is a secret weapon in business and life.

They explain what levity does to our brains and how anyone can harness it and use it skilfully at work.

Can you spot the finger in the photo? Now that's funny.

What is your humour type? Here is the quiz.

(This program first aired on Radio National on Monday November 2, 2020.)

Producer: Maria Tickle

Founder of Google's Empathy Lab, Danielle Krettek, believes that using empathy at work results in happier staff, and greater productivity.

Minter Dial, author of Heartificial Empathy thinks it might even help you fall in love!

Empathy has become the business world’s new secret sauce – but can it be taught to a chat bot?  

Producer: Maria Tickle

Stay curious, find comfort in being wrong and create a "challenge circle" of people who actively challenge your beliefs - these are all steps towards knowing what you don't know according to Adam Grant.

And he argues in today's rapidly changing work environment questioning your beliefs, rethinking and even unlearning are key skills.

Adam is an organisational psychologist and professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on generosity, motivation and meaningful work. And I imagine that there are few senior managers who don’t have at least one of his New York Times best-selling books on their shelves.

His new is book Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know in which he argues "if knowledge is power, knowing what we don't know is wisdom".

Producer: Maria Tickle

Women at the top of their game share their stories about the good, the bad and the ugly of power in the workplace. And to you blokes out there, this isn't a "stacks on men", it's really worth a listen.

(Hear part one from last week about why power makes you more likely to cheat, steal, talk over people and swear at work here.)

GUESTS

Laura, former analyst turned entrepreneur

Juliet Bourke, adjunct professor at UNSW Business School

Kate Jenkins, Sex Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Zoe Routh, leadership expert and trainer and author of People Stuff

Producer: Maria Tickle

The cliche of bright red lipstick and shoulder pads as symbols of power for women went out of style in the 80s, thank goodness.

But who gets power at work today and why? And what do you need to do to keep it?

Social psychologist Professor Dacher Keltner, from the University of California, Berkley has studied power for 25 years. And it turns out, the Machiavellian approach to power (force, deception, manipulation) is not what keeps you in power. Neither does red lipstick.

Thanks to James Law, Chief People Officer, Estimate One, Cassandra Goodman author and executive coach plus our anonymous This Working Lifers, who shared their stories! 

Due to the huge amount of interest in this topic next week we dig deeper into the interplay of gender and power at work.

Producer: Maria Tickle