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.
World's Best Newsletter Archive
The little con and the big con
August 24, 2022
This Quiet Quitting thing may be the topic du jour, but it’s not universal. There are people out there doing engaged, enthusiastic work. There are organizations shining bright and without burning out. If you’re sweating it, worried that it’s happening with your team, here’s our advice.
The opposite of coherent
June 29, 2022
So here we are. Faced with this disastrous ruling. And it makes us wonder: how coherent are your organization’s actions on this one? We heard about the relocation policy, what other actions are they taking? Do they line up?
Bad advice you shouldn’t take
January 12, 2022
Resignations. Competitive talent markets. The structure of the org chart. All of these things can feel bigger than you, as an individual leader trying to get things done in your organization. We get that. But be skeptical of any advice that takes them as fixed.
We didn’t build *that* Better boss
December 15, 2021
People send us the links in part because, haha, you build better bosses. Here’s the literal CEO of Better and seems like he could have used some management training. Hardy har har. But some of them also want to know, “Is this normal?” And if so, how often does this happen? And why?
The cost of doing business
November 17, 2021
Every organization has costs, but there’s a lot of power in how they’re labelled. The labels people use bake in assumptions about whether those costs are internal or external. They tell you who we think should pay those costs.
The masks are off and the masks are off
October 20, 2021
We’re in the midst of a massive renegotiation of the rules of work. And the central focus of that negotiation isn’t back to office plans, or international salary parity, or vaccine mandates. It’s power.
Your home office is not a scent-free workplace
July 14, 2021
Every company is a community that needs rules. And, as bosses, making the rules of engagement clear is our job. That’s true whether your company is remote, in-office, or a mix of the two.
It’s not worth it
May 19, 2021
After a year of being burnt out, crispy fried, work from home, but mostly living at work, employers are asking if we’re ready to come back.
Fundamentally, this is a story about power
May 5, 2021
The short answer is no. The Basecamp stuff isn’t some evil genius strategy playing out according to plan.
Companies don’t make decisions, people do
October 7, 2020
So on the one hand, you have employees agitating for a more complete view of how their employers’ activities impact the world. And on the other you have CEOs hoping that no one will notice those impacts.
You’d know the answer for sidewalk chalk
July 1, 2020
What is the choice you can make that feeds your community? Of the available options, even if they’ll never hear about it either way, which is the one you’d be proud for your community to know about? Do that one.
Build Something Better
Subscribe to our free, biweekly newsletter