A Job Done Well - For Managers Caught in the Middle

Work-life balance? Jimmy and James are here to dismantle the corporate fairy tale that you can magically split your life into two neat, equal halves.   The hosts, both veterans of demanding jobs, long hours, and the occasional existential crisis, argue that the very term “balance” is a setup. Balance implies precision, equality, and a static state, but life (and work) is anything but. It ebbs, it...

Have you ever sent an email so polished it could double as a mirror—only for no one to act on it? Or delivered a change initiative so inspiring it left your team staring blankly at their screens?  This week, Amanda Gilbert joins Jimmy and James to discuss the 4MAT model , a framework that might save your next communication from the recycling bin of irrelevance. This isn’t about prettier PowerPoint...

Let’s be honest: most bosses are forgettable. They’re neither terrible enough to inspire a mutiny nor brilliant enough to earn your loyalty. But the ones who do stand out? They’re either the reason you quit or the reason you stayed. This week, Jimmy and James ditch the usual rant about bad bosses (though, let’s face it, they’ve had a few) to tackle the far trickier question: What actually makes a...

Everyone wants a team of high performers. Or do they? This week, Jimmy and James dismantle the corporate obsession with “high performers”—a label so vague it could mean anything from “top salesperson” to “office psychopath who throws toys out of the pram when they don’t get their way. The episode exposes the absurdity of how organisations define, reward, and often suffer from their so-called high...

Ever sat in a meeting where the same problem gets rehashed for the nth time, only for nothing to change? Welcome to the world of organisational inertia —where analysis paralysis, over-collaboration, and a pathological fear of doing anything turn workplaces into graveyards of good intentions. This week, Jimmy and James dissect why companies (and the people in them) would rather sit on a nail than m...

Performance management systems: the corporate treadmill to nowhere. Organisations preach the gospel of improvement, then build systems so convoluted they’d make Kafka weep. Ratings are political, feedback is a weapon, and calibration meetings resemble gladiatorial combat. The result? A process so dark and detached from reality it should be a corporate snuff movie. Jimmy Barber and James Lawther ar...

Ever wondered why your team’s brilliant technical expert turns into a bumbling fool the second they’re promoted? Or why your boss would rather launch a doomed rocket than admit a mistake? Welcome to the brutal, biological truth: status is the invisible force driving every decision, conflict, and ego in your workplace. In this eye-opening episode, Jimmy and James are joined by Ceri Newton-Sargunar...

Ever noticed how the most capable managers end up drowning in work that isn’t theirs? This episode of A Job Done Well dives into the maddening cycle of overworked employees who absorb tasks like a sponge—only to realise they’ve become the bottleneck, the scapegoat, and the office’s unofficial problem-solver. Jimmy Barber and James Lawther dissect why good managers fall into this trap: the ego boos...

Let’s be honest: most managers don’t know how to solve problems.  They spend their days firefighting issues they don’t understand, slapping on plasters, and praying the next disaster waits until they are on holiday. Enter Ed Wells, Chief Strategy Officer of What Caused This , who’s here to explain why your organisation’s approach to problem-solving is probably as effective as the proverbial chocol...

Ever been stuck delivering a message at work that makes you froth at the mouth like a rabid dog? Welcome to the club. This week on A Job Done Well , Jimmy and James tackle one of the most soul-crushing tasks a manager faces: delivering a decision you know is wrong . From performance management systems designed by third-rate sportsmen to closing sites for arbitrary profitability targets, the hosts...

Bad bosses: the office equivalent of a microwave with a broken timer. It either leaves your career frozen in the middle or burns it to a crisp, and you’re never quite sure which setting it’s on today. In this episode of A Job Done Well , Jimmy Barber and James Lawther dissect the scourge of the workplace: the boss who turns a dream job into a daily grind. With a mix of war stories, dry humour, and...

Welcome to another episode of A Job Done Well , where Jimmy and James dissect the brutal reality of middle management—a role where you’re accountable for everything and in control of nothing. This week, they expose the absurdity of being the corporate shock absorber: squeezed between bosses who demand miracles and teams who resent you for failing to deliver them. From the horror of “Project Hessia...

Managing people is the corporate equivalent of being handed a live grenade with the pin already pulled. You’re promoted because you’re brilliant at your day job—only to discover that managing humans requires a completely different skill set, one nobody bothers to teach you. Welcome to the brutal, hilarious, and occasionally soul-crushing reality of middle management. In this episode of A Job Done...

This week, Jimmy and James are joined by Paul Howley—a former radio astronomer turned corporate transformation expert—to dismantle the myth that technology is the answer to all organisational change. Here’s the truth: it’s not. With 36 years of experience across airlines, utilities, and financial services, Paul explains why most tech-driven transformations fail (70% of them, according to McKinsey)...

After a hundred episodes of dissecting corporate nonsense, Jimmy and James finally admit what you already knew: the system is rigged, your boss matters more than your paycheck, and no one cares about your career as much as you do. This isn’t a highlights reel—it’s a reckoning. From the delusion that “people can overcome a bad system” (spoiler: they can’t) to the farce of corporate purpose (hint: i...

Fitting in at work isn’t just about wearing the right shirt or laughing at the boss’s jokes—it’s about survival. Or at least, that’s how it feels. This week on A Job Done Well , James and Jimmy are joined by Gestalt psychotherapist Dawn Wray to dissect the dark art of "fitting in" and why it’s more psychologically taxing than a Monday morning spreadsheet. It’s not about your social skill...

Welcome to the 100th episode of A Job Done Well—where we celebrate the art of calling out corporate nonsense and replacing it with something that actually works. This week, we’re joined by John Seddon, a management thinker so influential he’s got his own Wikipedia page (unlike James, who may or may not have written his own). John’s spent decades proving that traditional management—targets, incenti...

You don’t need better time management. You need to stop agreeing to things you shouldn’t be doing.  Saying no isn’t about being difficult—it’s about protecting your priorities, your sanity, and, ironically, your relationships. In this episode of A Job Done Well , Jimmy and James dissect the art of the polite but firm refusal, exposing why so many of us default to “yes” and the damage it quietly in...

Work is noisy. Not just the hum of open-plan offices or the ping of endless emails, but the soul-sapping, productivity-killing corporate noise—the meetings that should have been emails, the politics that should have been resolved, and the reports that should have been binned. In this episode of A Job Done Well, Jimmy and James dissect the chaos of modern workplaces, where conflicting agendas, ego-...

This week, Jimmy and James welcome back Dr. Jackie Le Fèvre—aka “Dr. Values”—to dissect the messy, often hypocritical world of organisational and team values. Spoiler: those shiny plaques in the foyer? Probably bollocks. But don’t despair—this episode is your survival guide to navigating the gap between what companies say they value and what they actually do. Jackie pulls no punches: if your boss...

Risk management—it’s the corporate equivalent of eating your greens. You know it’s good for you, but sometimes you’d rather scoop your eyeballs out with a teaspoon than sit through another risk workshop. Yet, as this episode of A Job Done Well reveals, risk management isn’t just about spreadsheets, buzzwords, and endless meetings. It’s about stopping bad things from happening, so you can actually...

Ever felt like you’re swimming against the tide at work, but can’t quite put your finger on why? Or maybe you’ve said “yes” to something only to regret it later, wondering why you ignored that gut feeling? Welcome to the world of values —the invisible compass that shapes your decisions, reactions, and even your stress levels. In this episode of A Job Done Well , James and Jimmy are joined by Dr. J...

Welcome to A Job Done Well , the podcast for managers who want to improve their performance—and enjoy their jobs. Hosted by Jimmy Barber and James Lawther, this episode tackles hybrid working, a topic that’s causing headaches, heartburn, and heated debates in boardrooms and Slack channels everywhere. The pandemic proved that remote work could work. But now, as companies scramble to bring people ba...

In this week’s episode, we discuss effective decision-making. It is the cornerstone of good management, and makes up 80-90% of a manager’s role. While pressure and incomplete information are constants, improving this skill is the fastest route to better results. First, we discuss four common mistakes. Ignoring Stakeholders: Never forget the customer's view. Always consider how your decisions...

This episode introduces special guest Charles Irvine, who proposes a provocative idea: Conflict is our greatest natural resource. Key Discussion Points The Problem with Denial : Jimmy, James and Charles discuss how much time, energy, and resource people dedicate to denying the existence of conflict or avoiding it, leading to a "long tail of conflict" through rumination and anxiety. The W...