Thanks but no thanks
September 6, 2023
Sometimes humans really do need a reality check, that’s fair. But if you’re going to reality check someone, we suggest starting with the manager in the mirror.
World's Best Newsletter Archive
The future of work is in pieces
August 9, 2023
When we talk with bosses about their work today, we don’t hear about commutes. We don’t hear about summer hours, or four-day-work-weeks, either.
Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right
July 12, 2023
How do you know? How is it that you can listen to someone talk about work and consistently know what’s going to happen next?
The sign of a good compromise
June 28, 2023
The past few years we’ve swung wildly between utopian and dystopian visions.
You don’t have a culture problem, you have a management problem
June 14, 2023
Culture handbooks don’t produce culture, people do.
Before your next offsite
April 19, 2023
The best thing you can do. The magical transformative thing you can do to improve your odds that something amazing will happen. Is to think ahead.
My milkshake brings all the orgs to the yard
January 25, 2023
Someone else’s goals might be eloquently written, but that doesn’t mean they matter to you. Someone else’s values statement might seem so clear-eyed and attractive, but that doesn’t make it yours.
When meetings are outlawed, only outlaws will hold meetings
January 11, 2023
While collaboration, alignment, decision making, and unit cohesion can all happen outside of meetings, well-run meetings are a very useful and effective place to accomplish those things.
Year of the pulse
December 14, 2022
When you look back at the last month, or the last year, what patterns do you see? What are those habits, and are they serving you, as you are now?
Behind the scenes at the magic kingdom
November 16, 2022
We don’t need it to be all doom and gloom. But what does it mean when there’s no longer space to talk about what’s working and what isn’t?
Who gets Humperdinck?
November 2, 2022
For many bosses, it’s clear that the more you look and talk and vibe like Elon, the more permission you’ll get to be capricious and abusive and cynical.
What to do when you’re all out of puffins
October 19, 2022
The bullshit is supposed to be in service of something. Ideally, say, work that you’re proud of, whose impact matters to you, and which allows you to live a life you enjoy.
Build Something Better
Subscribe to our free, biweekly newsletter