At Work with The Ready

Written by: Rodney Evans and Sam Spurlin
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  • Summary

  • Rodney Evans and Sam Spurlin have helped teams around the world adopt more modern ways of working and on At Work with The Ready they’re sharing the inside scoop with you, too. Whether you’re struggling with a carousel of ineffective meetings, annual strategy sessions that go nowhere, or decision-making churn that never ceases, they’ve seen it all and are here to help. In each episode, they'll break down common workplace challenges and show you the moves—both big and small—to start making real, lasting change. (Formerly “Brave New Work” with Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans)
    © 2024 The Ready Company, All Rights Reserved.
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Economics Management & Leadership Small Business & Entrepreneurship
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Episodes
  • 22. Founder Mode vs. Manager Mode is the Wrong Question

    22. Founder Mode vs. Manager Mode is the Wrong Question
    Oct 28 2024
    If you’ve been on LinkedIn this past month, you’ve likely seen at least one post (or more than you’d care to) about “founder mode.” Presented as a counter to “manager mode” (meant to represent highly bureaucratic leadership rife with micromanaging and delegation), “founder mode” is all about championing the pioneering, hands-on behaviors of startup founders scaled to organizations of any size. And sure, when these are the only choices, anything that’s not “manager mode” sounds like a good option. But show us a binary, and we’ll respond by asking tough questions. This week Rodney and Sam dig into how “founder mode” actually shows up in practice, whether it causes more organizational harm than good, and what it means when real leadership seems to be left out of the discussion entirely. -------------------------------- Want future of work insights and experiments you can try delivered to your inbox? Sign up here. Follow us on your favorite platforms for more org design nerdery: LinkedIn Instagram -------------------------------- Mentioned references: Diane from Cheers Founder Mode, article by Paul Graham either/or thinking Kim Scott's op-ed about founder mode "people positivity episode": AWWTR Ep. 21 "strategy episode": AWWTR Ep. 2 "futures thinking" BNW Ep. 34 with Kevin Kelly Depthfinding John Cutler Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety Andon cord
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    46 mins
  • 21. From Control to Trust: The People Positivity Journey

    21. From Control to Trust: The People Positivity Journey
    Oct 14 2024
    Over the last nine years, The Ready has seen firsthand how organizations designed to be people positive (a.k.a. a foundational belief that people are eager to contribute and capable of change) outperform those that aren’t. Turns out when you treat people like adults, it boosts your team’s motivation, adaptability, and contribution. The only catch? Unlearning nearly everything traditional leadership and management science has taught us for decades. Once beliefs like “People are lazy,” “People can’t be trusted,” and “People will actively abuse any flexibility they get” get baked into an organization’s culture, it’s tremendously hard to change. But not impossible. In this episode, Rodney and Sam get candid about the fears that come with letting go of control, offer real-world examples to help skeptical leaders flip the script on trust, and explore how people positive principles can lead to long-term benefits. -------------------------------- Want future of work insights and experiments you can try delivered to your inbox? Sign up here. Follow us on your favorite platforms for more org design nerdery: LinkedIn Instagram -------------------------------- Mentioned references: "the tower" Theory Y vs Theory X "Dan Pink stuff" mastery: BNW Ep. 63 "psychological safety episode": AWWTR Ep. 20 "nature vs nurture" "complexity conscious" "discretionary spending discussion": AWWTR Ep. 16, question 3 negativity bias
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    41 mins
  • 20. Psychological Safety Starts With Your Leadership Team

    20. Psychological Safety Starts With Your Leadership Team
    Sep 30 2024
    Psychological safety is a buzzy topic every company claims to want—but only a handful actually achieve. Sometimes, it’s misunderstood as being about “niceness” or “politeness”, but real psychological safety is deeper and more complex than that. It’s an ecosystem of behaviors that add up over time to impact how your team shows up day after day. Unfortunately, this misconception has a stranglehold on most leadership teams as well, who spend more time talking the talk than walking the walk. We’ve seen and worked with many executive teams over the years where people didn’t feel comfortable speaking up, challenging ideas, admitting mistakes, or sharing concerns without fearing retribution or embarrassment. When that’s happening inside the team responsible for some of a business’s biggest decisions, there are big consequences. In today’s episode, Rodney and Sam break down why leadership teams often feel the most psychologically unsafe, how to move the needle on developing trust, and why a ropes course can’t solve a team or organization’s culture problems. (Producer’s note: Ok, so we're zero for two this week with Sam's mic going rogue after Rodney's mishap last episode. Taylor's been working some major magic lately. Hopefully third time's the charm with episode 21 🤞) -------------------------------- Want future of work insights and experiments you can try delivered to your inbox? Sign up here. Follow us on your favorite platforms for more org design nerdery: LinkedIn Instagram -------------------------------- Mentioned references: What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team (NYT, 2016) ”emperor has no clothes” ”leaders as org designers episode”: AWWTR Ep. 13 ”hard vs soft power” team charter working agreements ”mundane episode”: AWWTR Ep. 19
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    44 mins

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