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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Taken for Granted: Allyson ...

10.19.2021

At the age of 18, Allyson Felix took home the Olympic silver medal in the 200 meter dash. She was devastated. Where others saw “second-best in the world,” she only saw “not first.” That race lit a fire that would ...

WorkLife with Adam Grant episodes:

10.19.2021 Taken for Granted: Allyson Felix on defeating disappointment and savoring success At the age of 18, Allyson Felix took home the Olympic silver medal in the 200 meter dash. She was devastated. Where others saw “second-best in the world,” she only saw “not first.” That race lit a fire that would ...
10.13.2021 How to stop languishing and start finding flow \| TED Talks Daily We're back soon with new episodes of Taken for Granted, but for now, here's a TED Talk Adam gave recently. Have you found yourself staying up late, joylessly bingeing TV shows and doomscrolling through the news, or simply navigating your ...
07.27.2021 We should allow sad days, not just sick days People are finally paying attention to mental health at work, but some major myths are holding us back. Adam breaks down what we get wrong about mental health at work, what individuals and organizations can do to start getting it ...
07.20.2021 Is it Safe to Speak Up at Work? Are you afraid to share bad news, ask for help, or admit you were wrong? These are signs of being in a psychologically unsafe work environment. Adam breaks down the importance of psychological safety in preventing errors and promoting innovation ...
06.29.2021 Taken for Granted: Lin-Manuel Miranda Daydreams, and His Dad Gets Things Done In a world obsessed with efficiency, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash Broadway hits Hamilton and In the Heights began with idle curiosity. Adam interviews Lin together with his father, Luis, about finding harmony between creativity and productivity—and rhythm between work and life. ...
06.22.2021 Taken for Granted: John Green Wants You to Pay Attention to Your Attention Do you pay attention to your attention? John Green is the beloved author of The Fault In Our Stars, and when he started tracking his attention, he realized he was obsessed with evaluating human progress. He decided to start rating ...
06.15.2021 Taken for Granted: Mellody Hobson on Taking Tough Feedback Criticism rarely comes wrapped in a shiny gift box, tied with a bow. As a trailblazing leader, one of Mellody Hobson’s gifts is finding the diamond in the rough. She and Adam unpack how to look for the grain of ...
06.08.2021 Taken for Granted: Merve Emre on Emotional Intelligence as Corporate Control It’s been 25 years since the concept of emotional intelligence exploded onto the scene. Cultural critic Merve Emre makes a bold case that in the wrong hands, it can be used to exploit people. We unpack the surprising roots of ...
06.01.2021 Your Insecurities Aren’t What You Think They Are “I can’t do this.” “I didn’t deserve this promotion.” “When will they find me out?” If you’ve had thoughts like these, you aren’t alone. Nearly 70% of people have experienced imposter syndrome—even some of the most successful ones! The difference ...
05.25.2021 Who's the Boss? Workers are now expecting more from their employers beyond a paycheck and benefits. Employees want an employer who lines up with their values outside of work and stands up in the name of justice. And when they don’t, employees are ...
05.18.2021 How to Bust Bias at Work We’ve all been to bias training, but it rarely works—and sometimes backfires. Science suggests that to drive real change, it’s not enough to run one-off workshops. We need to change individual and organizational habits. Find out how people can overcome ...
05.11.2021 Why it Pays to Raise Pay When employees are paid more, they give more. Going above market pay might sound like a fantasy, but in a growing number of companies it’s becoming a profitable reality. Peek inside workplaces that have reinvented their pay structures to give ...
05.04.2021 Dax Shepard Doesn't Believe in Regret Comedian, actor, and Armchair Expert host Dax Shepard steps into the hot seat for a conversation with Adam on Clubhouse. They discuss what he's learned over the course of 300+ interviews, how he thinks about humor at work, and how ...
05.03.2021 Bonus: That Blah You’re Feeling Is Called Languishing Adam wrote a viral article for The New York Times on a feeling many of us are struggling with right now. It's somewhere between burnout and depression: languishing. This neglected middle child of mental health can dull your motivation and ...
04.27.2021 Glennon Doyle Wants you to Abandon Identity Author and activist Glennon Doyle used to say “I am a Christian. I am straight. I am an addict.” Now she simply says “I am.” In this episode, Doyle sits down with Adam to discuss letting go of past identities ...
04.20.2021 How to Build an Inclusive Workplace Over the last year, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, many companies have paid lip service to racial inclusion. But what does it actually take to change individuals — and the structures and cultures of organizations? In the first ...
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 ...

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