Flow is the state of being in which people become so immersed in the joy of their work or activity “that nothing else seems to matter.” Presence is to be in a flow state of connection with others. Here’s the last discussion about the Happiness Track Sign up for the newsletter Emma’s new book Sovereign HBR: The Best Leaders Have a Contagious Positive Energy HBR: Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive Today is the first of series of podcasts about an idea that needs more...

To receive the newsletter and the forthcoming Presence project sign-up here Today’s top episode goes to the heart of an issue that a lot of people raise with me. They say ‘where do you start when changing a culture’. To some extent it’s what the episode about the hospital trust in Barking was about, going in and changing the culture of a huge organisation. I saw one of today’s guests Darren Ashby speak at an event - talking through the specifics of how his company Business Four Zero tried to...

Isabel Berwick is a writer and podcaster who focusses on the evolving state of modern work. I’ve celebrated her podcast Working It many times here (here’s her specials on the 4-day week for example, or her special on meeting-free days was essential listening). I love its ability to react rapidly to the biggest news stories of the moment and to drop a snackable episode midweek. I talked to her about her opinions on modern work, going deep on the rapidly changing world of employment and where...

How should most of us think about the differences between Employee Experience and Employee Engagement. I first spoke to Emma Bridger, who is the author of a well respected book on this topic and the founder of the EX Space, a learning community focussed on raising the bar in the Employee Experience field. Then I picked the brains of Melanie Wheeler who leads People Communications at Sutherland, a firm widely recommended to me as outstanding in Employee Experience. Get in touch Sign up for the...

Charles Duhigg’s bestseller The Power of Habit was the definitive guide to building and sustaining successful habits. His new book, Supercommunicators, grapples with the knotty topic of creating successful interactions with others. It’s a thorough and dazzling read that has many applications for the way we work (and how we live our lives). We talked about: the single biggest thing that builds psychological safetywhy moving conversation out of small talk into deep discussion proves more...

Many of us have worked in environments that provided bonuses or rewards for success. Maybe they took the form of team rewards or individual incentives, or end of year profit-share schemes. But do these rewards achieve what they are designed to? Professor Uri Gneezy is the world's foremost expert on the science of incentives - and he comes with a huge warning about what such schemes actually achieve. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is today hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen Scott and Matthew Cook. Sign up...

This week's Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook. Roll up roll up as this week we talk the major trends in work and workplace culture and the big stories of the last month. Including: Wellness programs don’t work - in TikTok form, or in Matt’s post on LinkedIn Research from Oxford University looking at the (in)effectiveness of workplace wellbeing interventions at an individual levelChronoworking GymclassgateEllen on Gen Z workersFewer and fewer of...

I was flattered to be invited to visit the NHS trust of Barking, Havering and Redbridge last year. I spent an afternoon meeting the team and seeing the place in action. It was an inspiring question that CEO Matthew Trainer was asking: 'can we improve the results by making it a better culture?' What does that look like? And how is going for them? Matthew Trainer's CEO note at the end of 2023 Video: Inside the Trust Fill in the form: Consider my firm for a future podcast Become a member at...

We often overlook the fact that trust is the basis for all good culture. I called out some of the remarkable data on this in the Work In 2024 deck. In Slack’s August 2023 survey of over 10,000 global office workers, trust was the top determinant of employees’ productivity scores. Employees who felt trusted were 2X as productive as those who didn’t. They were 30% more likely to put in extra effort at their jobs. If we don’t feel trusted we’re twice as likely to say we’re looking for a new...

The role of managers are pivotal in our working lives but most managers aren't trained or prepared for the responsibilities that they are given. When we look at the research from Gallup about burnout and why people hate their jobs managers are regarded as having the biggest responsibility. Half of people who say they don't rate their manager say they are looking for jobs. So what can we do to make our relationship with our managers better? I chatted to Anthony Painter from CMI. Download the...

Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen Scott and Matthew Cook. Sign up to the newsletter We talk through the hottest topics in work: New research says that bosses think going part-time signals the end of career ambitionRadio 5 Live's Nihal Arthanayake says he feels alienated as the only brown face in a sea of white at his workplaceBill Gates advocates for the three-day week but doesn't detail who he thinks is going to pay for it Become a member at...

Professor Frances Frei is the biggest brain in the field of workplace culture and I was delighted to get another opportunity to talk to her. She explains the one thing that firms should do to fix their cultures (spoiler: train their managers), why she thinks inclusion is a more important element of culture than just diversity. The previous episode with Frances Frei Frances and Anne’s podcast Fixable Frances’ and Anne Morriss’ new book Move Fast and Fix Things Sign up for the...

Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen Scott and Matthew Cook. Sign up to the newsletter Is toxic culture driving your team away? If you’re someone whose job it is think about culture, or maybe you’re a boss who has tried to communicate values to your team then today’s episode is an essential listen. Donald Sull and Charlie Sull are a father and son research team who have discovered extraordinary insights into values and what they look like in the real world. Here are some...

Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen Scott and Matthew Cook. Sign up to the newsletter This week we go deep on the latest news about work. ITV tell staff to declare ‘friendships’Moderation staff at Facebook are suing over PTSDBBC staff given help for stress levels'We Had To Remove This Post' - brilliant novella by Hanna BervoetsOobah Butler’s Amazon show on Channel 4Reddit anti workReddit r/LateStageCapitalismMatt’s final comment about having orgasms to boost...

Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook. Sign up to the newsletter This week we go deep on the latest news about work. We discuss: Two thirds of bosses expect a return to the office by 2036KPMG CEO surveyDavid Foster Wallace - This is Water commencement speechShonda Rhimes “Whenever you see me somewhere succeeding in one area of my life, that almost certainly means I am failing in another area of my life”80% of remote workers claim to have two...

Sign up for the newsletter What Ange Postecoglou changed at Spurs in his first 100 days: ‘The mood has been transformed’ Charlie writes about the oratory of Ange Postecoglou Last week I read something wonderful about the culture of Tottenham Hotspur, I contacted the writer and it felt like it was worth putting out quickly. We’ve got a couple of podcast recorded with Matt and Ellen so we’ll be back for a fuller episode next week. Ange Postecoglou has been the manager of Spurs, Tottenham...

Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook. Ellen is away this week - we were working hard to squeeze an elite guest in. Amy Edmondson is the most renowned organisational psychologist in the world. In other words she's looked to more than anyone else for the answers of how to fix work. In this in depth discussion she talks us through what she understands by psychological safety, how any of us can create it and what she believes the best team structure is...

Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook. Sign up for the Make Work Better newsletter Catherine Price is a science and health writer who has written a couple of sensationally timely books. Firstly How to Break Up With Your Phone Secondly, and today’s discussion focusses on this, The Power of Fun I was put on to it by Elle Hunt’s Power of Fun article in The Guardian Memorise it: fun is playful connected flow Become a member at...

Sign up for the Make Work Better newsletter Eat Sleep Work Repeat is hosted by Bruce Daisley, Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook. Ellen wrote about her learnings about being a manager Despite government threats of legal action Cambridgeshire council are continuing their evidence-led trial of the 4-day week. “Nine in ten councils are struggling with job recruitment and retention and a four-day working week could be the answer” Ellen mentions this article on Stylist about boundaries (registration...

I’m joined again by new cohosts Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook. Buy Belonging Owen Eastwood is the most in-demand team performance coach in the world He's earned that reputation by delivering break-through results with a diverse range of teams from Gareth Southgate’s England team and the England women’s team, to the senior leadership team of NATO. His former clients represent an elite range of teams who have gone on to achieve incredible victories. We wanted to understand how he did it. What...

A few months ago I put out a call asking for other voices to get involved in the podcast and I’m delighted today to add Ellen C Scott and Matthew Cook to Eat Sleep Work Repeat. You may have read Ellen’s brilliant writing in The Stylist where she is the Deputy Digital Editor and previously in Metro. She writes and edits pieces on work, mental health, relationships, and more. Here’s her own Substack on work. She is also working on fiction and is represented by The Soho Agency. Matt/Matthew is...

Sorry for duplicate - the previous version had no intro! If you liked this I actually shared a lot of the data on the newsletter a couple of weeks ago - read that here. Today's episode is an in depth exploration of the latest Gallup Global Workplace Report, Anna Sawyer, a Principal at Gallup takes us through the findings - and the implications for all leaders. Get your hands on Gallup’s ‘State of the Global Workplace Report’ Here’s Anna on LinkedIn I loved the Gallup report on employee...

If you liked this I actually shared a lot of the data on the newsletter a couple of weeks ago - read that here. Today's episode is an in depth exploration of the latest Gallup Global Workplace Report, Anna Sawyer, a Principal at Gallup takes us through the findings - and the implications for all leaders. Get your hands on Gallup’s ‘State of the Global Workplace Report’ Here’s Anna on LinkedIn I loved the Gallup report on employee burnout (and I cited the results in the show) We talk a little...

Alex's book: Work less, do more Make Work Better newsletter covered the 4 day week trials For today’s episode I went to meet Alex Soujung Kim Pang. Alex has written a lot about our relationship with work, first in his book Rest and now in his book WORK LESS, DO MORE which is a refreshed version of Shorter. When we first spoke the evidence for shorter working was a series of quirky stories of pioneering firms, frequently led by maverick bosses. In the last three years the landscape for...