WorkLife with Adam Grant

By TED

Business

What's WorkLife with Adam Grant about?

You spend a quarter of your life at work, so shouldn’t you enjoy it? Organizational psychologist Adam Grant takes you inside some of the world’s most unusual workplaces to discover the keys to better work. Whether you’re learning how to love criticism or trust a co-worker you can’t stand, one thing’s for sure: You’ll never see your job the same way again.

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The Science of Productive C...

04.13.2021

Whether it's over a project, politics, or pizza toppings, conflict with colleagues is inevitable. The goal is not to eliminate it; it’s to handle it better. There’s a whole science of managing individual and team conflicts, and it suggests that ...

WorkLife with Adam Grant episodes:

04.13.2021 The Science of Productive Conflict Whether it's over a project, politics, or pizza toppings, conflict with colleagues is inevitable. The goal is not to eliminate it; it’s to handle it better. There’s a whole science of managing individual and team conflicts, and it suggests that ...
04.06.2021 Navigating Career Turbulence Everyone’s career will hit some turbulence at some point. The past year has left us all reacting to dramatic change. Instead of pushing harder against the headwinds, we’re sometimes better off tilting our rudder and charting a new course. In ...
03.30.2021 How to Rethink a Bad Decision In life and work, we have a hard time changing course. When we wind up in a miserable job, a failing project, or a floundering romantic relationship, we rationalize, make excuses, and stick with our bad decisions—even when the writing's ...
03.16.2021 Taken for Granted: Daniel Kahneman Doesn't Trust Your Intuition Daniel Kahneman is a Nobel Prize winner who transformed our understanding of the biases that cloud our thinking. In this conversation, he and Adam explore when to trust our intuition and when to second-guess it. Danny explains how he finds ...
03.09.2021 Taken for Granted: Malcolm Gladwell Questions Everything When Adam Grant and Malcolm Gladwell sit down to challenge each other, everything is fair game. Sit ringside for this collegial cage match in which two preeminent writers rethink each other's ideas in an insatiable quest to get closer to ...
03.02.2021 Taken for Granted: Jane Goodall on Leadership Lessons from Primates Have you ever felt your work colleagues sometimes act like animals? In this conversation, Jane and Adam take that idea literally, exploring what Jane's expertise on chimp behavior can teach us about how humans relate and organize. With grace and ...
02.23.2021 Taken for Granted: Brené Brown on What Vulnerability Isn't We usually wear our thickest armor at work, and Brené Brown has blazed the trail of teaching us why—and how to shed it. In this conversation, Adam and Brené unpack the power of showing vulnerability at work—and explore how much ...
01.31.2021 Think Again: JJ Abrams Takes Adam’s Job JJ Abrams joins as the interviewer for an exclusive first look at Adam's forthcoming book: “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know.” Together, they illuminate strategies for maintaining humility, curiosity, and mental flexibility in a world that ...
05.12.2020 Burnout Is Everyone's Problem Burnout seems to be everywhere. But it’s not inevitable. Come inside some high-pressure workplaces that have figured out how to fight exhaustion by redesigning jobs—and changing cultures.
05.11.2020 We Don’t Have to Fight Loneliness Alone Many workplaces have become increasingly lonely, even before the coronavirus pandemic made more of us literally remote. It’s not just an unpleasant feeling—loneliness can hurt our health and our job performance. Find out why it's time for happy hours to ...
05.10.2020 The Science of the Deal Most of us negotiate in one of two ways: either you roll right over the other party, or you just roll over. But great negotiators refuse to believe that we have to choose between results and relationships. Sharpen your negotiation ...
05.05.2020 Career Decline Isn't Inevitable As we age, we often feel like the clock starts ticking on our careers. But there are ways to sustain—and even gain—excellence over time. Meet a musician whose career ended too soon, and an entrepreneur and a social media star ...
04.30.2020 Bonus: The Fall of WeWork's Culture Exclusive: In his first public interview since WeWork’s collapse, former Chief Growth Officer David Fano opens up about the company’s leadership and culture. We go deep on the rewards and risks of charismatic leadership and bold visions, the differences between ...
04.21.2020 Reinventing the Job Interview "We’ve all answered our share of cringeworthy interview questions—and watched managers pick the wrong person while rejecting the right one. Is it time to delegate hiring decisions to algorithms? Find out what the experts recommend, and meet a pair of ...
04.07.2020 Authenticity Is a Double-Edged Sword "Just be yourself." That's popular work advice these days, with more and more companies encouraging people to “be authentic” and bring their whole selves to work. But when we get real at the wrong time or in the wrong way, ...
03.30.2020 Bonus: Relationships at Work with Esther Perel Work relationships are complicated. Who holds the power and why? What are effective ways to solve conflict? And how do you know when it’s time to walk away? Adam gets personal with therapist Esther Perel to explore the dynamics of ...
03.17.2020 How Science Can Fix Remote Work Remote work was a trend that some companies and gig workers were trying out, even as others resisted. Then the pandemic made it an overnight reality for many of us. This feels like uncharted territory, but there’s already plenty of ...
03.10.2020 The Real Reason You Procrastinate You procrastinate because you're lazy, right? Wrong. The truth is more complex—and far more interesting. Learn how to stop putting off important tasks ... with a little help from master procrastinator Margaret Atwood. WorkLife listeners—we're running a survey and we'd ...
02.12.2020 Bonus: Wild Work Advice with Cheryl Strayed We’re constantly seeking advice about our work lives. Which job offer to take. When to quit. Whether to blow the whistle on a bad boss. But so much of the advice we get—and give—turns out to be bad. For some ...
05.20.2019 Bonus: Fadbusting with Freakonomics Open office plans. Learning styles. 10,000 hours of practice. Freakonomics host Stephen Dubner joins Adam for a live conversation to reveal why some popular workplace fads might be bogus—and what to do instead. This episode is made possible with the ...
04.23.2019 When Strength Becomes Weakness Excellence comes from doing what you do best—but you need to make sure you’re doing it at the right times. This episode is made possible with the support of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Accenture, Bonobos, and Hilton. Find the transcript ...
04.16.2019 Bouncing Back from Rejection Learn how to face rejection—and even come out stronger because of it. This episode is made possible with the support of Hilton, Accenture, Bonobos, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Find the transcript at: go.ted.com/workliferejection
04.09.2019 How to Remember Anything Memory is a skill you can learn -- and a powerful strategy every workplace can harness. This episode is made possible with the support of Accenture, Bonobos, Hilton, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Find the transcript at: go.ted.com/worklifememory
04.02.2019 The Office Without A**holes How do you deal with jerks at work? And is it possible to eliminate them altogether? This episode is made possible with the support of Bonobos, Accenture, Hilton, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Find the transcript at: go.ted.com/worklifeaholes
03.26.2019 The Perils of Following Your Career Passion “Do what you love” is often terrible advice. Instead of taking the job that will make you happiest, look for the one where you’ll learn the most. This episode is made possible with the support of JPMorgan Chase & Co., ...
03.19.2019 Networking For People Who Hate Networking Ditch your business cards. There are more effective, less awkward strategies for building your connections. This episode is made possible with the support of Bonobos, Accenture, Hilton, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Find the transcript at: go.ted.com/worklifenetworking
03.12.2019 Become Friends with Your Rivals What we can learn about friendly competition from Olympic skiers, elite marathoners, and...food truck vendors. This episode is made possible with the support of Accenture, Bonobos, Hilton, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Find the transcript at: go.ted.com/workliferivals
03.05.2019 The Creative Power of Misfits Harness the power of frustrated people to shake up the status quo — just like Pixar did. This episode is made possible with the support of Bonobos, Accenture, Hilton, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Find the transcript at: go.ted.com/worklifemisfits
02.20.2019 Teaser: WorkLife Season 2 Work doesn't have to suck; science says so. Take a trip inside the minds of expert networkers and Olympic champions, an Oscar-winning director and an office-politics whisperer — who've all mastered ways to make work more creative and more fun.
05.10.2018 Bonus: A Debate with Malcolm Gladwell In a special live taping at the 92nd Street Y in New York, Adam talks with Revisionist History's Malcolm Gladwell about how to avoid doing highly undesirable tasks, what makes an idea interesting, and why Malcolm thinks we shouldn't root ...
04.25.2018 Bonus: #MeToo with Ashley Judd, Ronan Farrow, and Tarana Burke To find out how to stop sexual harassment at work, Adam talks with three powerful voices of the #MeToo movement: its founder Tarana Burke, Pulitzer Prize-winner Ronan Farrow and silence breaker Ashley Judd. This episode is brought to you by ...
04.18.2018 When Work Takes Over Your Life Technology is making it harder than ever to disconnect, but it might be easier than you think. To learn about setting boundaries, Adam talks with entrepreneur Arianna Huffington, leaders who have taken bold steps to ban emails at odd hours ...
04.11.2018 A World Without Bosses Being your own boss can be liberating, but it can also be paralyzing. Adam talks with author Dan Pink about the challenges of working for ourselves and visits a tomato paste company, Morning Star, that has run successfully for decades ...
04.04.2018 Faking Your Emotions at Work You manage your own emotions at work—and your coworkers’ and customers’ emotions too. How do you do that without burning out? To find out how to get into character, deliver a great performance, and avoid exhaustion, Adam talks with actor ...
03.28.2018 How to Trust People You Don’t Like Astronauts on the International Space Station live in capsules together for months. And yes, they can get on each other's nerves. A crew of astronauts from different countries -- and the wilderness trainer who was called in for an emergency ...
03.21.2018 Your Hidden Personality Are you an introvert... or an extrovert? You might not know yourself as well as you think. Adam talks with “Quiet” author Susan Cain and visits a workplace where personality training starts even before job training, to help you discover ...
03.14.2018 The Problem with All-Stars The Butler Bulldogs have a habit of shocking college basketball fans by beating top teams with far more talent. How do they do it? Adam Grant joins the team to talk about why stars are overrated, role players are underrated, ...
03.07.2018 The Daily Show’s Secret to Creativity Group brainstorming is usually where creativity goes to die. But at The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, they have it down to a science. Adam takes us behind the scenes in the writers’ room to show how creative collaboration really ...
02.28.2018 How to Love Criticism What if you could tell your co-workers what you really think of them? At the world’s most successful hedge fund, everyone is rated and ranked constantly – in front of everyone. They’ve figured out how to embrace negative feedback, and ...
02.07.2018 Trailer: WorkLife with Adam Grant What do the Daily Show, the Boston Celtics, and NASA all have in common? They’re about to change the way you think about work.