This Working Life

When’s the last time you had fun at work? Really had fun? FUN. What is it, and how can it  help us enjoy work more, which of course will help us work better! How can we bring more fun into our working lives?  Catherine Price is a science journalist and author of T he Power of Fun . She also wrote How to break up with your phone. 

Are you seeking leadership nirvana? Is there even such a thing? Leadership development is such a lucrative, multi-million dollar industry but are we just throwing resources at the executive level managers with little benefit to the broader organisation? Are we going about leadership development all wrong?

Burning out has become a phrase thrown around almost as often as anxiety. But being stressed and overworked is not actually burnout. There is  more to it. Individuals can’t fight burnout alone - things have to change in our organisations. This is what the ‘pioneer’ of burnout theory and research has found. It’s Christina Maslach's measurement tool that’s been used by workplaces and the World Healt...

What's it actually like to be a teacher these days? There’s a worldwide shortage of teachers at the moment, so what’s going on in the classroom and school yards? In this episode we meet a bunch of teachers and former teachers and hear first hand about the new pressures, and what’s driving them out of the profession. What needs to change about the working lives of teachers?

Have you heard of the Dunbar number?  It’s the number of social connections one person can maintain at any one time.  It turns out that this also plays out at work.  How is Robin Dunbar’s  research relevant for your workplace? What are the optimum numbers for teams and factories?  How important are social connections and friendships at work, and how do these affect our productivity? Guest: Robin D...

Mindfulness … being mindful,  meditating, you know it’s good for you, but it just never feels like there’s enough time. Using meditation to create mindfulness is an ancient practice, and the science backing it has been piling in for years now. But how can we be motivated to make meditation part of our essential routine? How will it actually help our working lives? 

What’s your relationship with feedback? Maybe you’ve thought you could learn how to be better at giving it…but how about switching it round and considering how you receive it? Turns out, if we hone our skills at receiving we also get better at giving feedback.

What happens when the career you chose at 18 just isn't you anymore?

Have you ever sat at work thinking “Houston we have a problem, common sense has left the room!”? Brand and culture transformation expert  Martin Lindstrom , walks us through how to bring common sense back into our workplaces by establishing what he calls a “ministry of common sense”.  Martin has advised multinationals including Pepsi, Google, Burger King and Swiss Air but he started this movement...

Does your inbox make you miserable? Cal Newport walks us through why our relationship with email is dysfunctional and what a world without email looks like. Cal's book: A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in the Age of Overload Producer: Maria Tickle

What if ADHD wasn't seen as a deficit or a disorder? What if it's actually harnessed as a superpower? We show how, given the right support and understanding, workplaces have the ability to turn ADHD into an asset and create environments where everyone thrives.

We speak with proud Torres Strait Islander woman (Kubin; Moa Island descendant) Carla McGrath and proud Yorta Yorta man Ian Hamm about what First Nations perspectives bring to governance and management.

Emotions at work - do you repress or ruminate? Both could be dangerous for your career. Harvard Medical School psychologist Dr Susan David is one of the world's leading management thinkers. Her Ted talk has been viewed more than five million times and her book Emotional Agility is a bestseller. Susan discusses the benefits of bringing our whole selves to work; emotions as data not directives (we s...

We take a deep dive into this medical mystery and look at how workplaces and individuals can navigate the world of work as they recover from long COVID.

Teamwork, resilience and grit – just some of the skills from sport that we can all learn from when it comes to our work. So how can the corporate world harness these skills, and what can we learn from the athlete’s mindset?

It’s not just about getting the job done when we’re working hybridly, it’s about the connections we make. And this has been lost when we’re working from home, and this is making us feel lonely. In the second part of our hybrid work feature, we look at how hybrid work can leave us feeling lonely and disconnected, and what we can do about it. Guests: Mark Mortensen - Associate Professor, INSEAD Dr C...

Hybrid is here to stay. So, what is pandemic-driven hybrid work doing to our ability to focus and what do we need to do to find that elusive flow state in this brave new world of work? In the first part of our hybrid work feature, we look at hybrid work and our level of focus when working from home, compared to in the office, and along the way we’ll bust some myths and get some attention hacks. Gu...

What is your role in your family of origin? Jester, responsible one, black sheep or peacemaker, we all have one. But did you know the role you have inherited or the values and beliefs your family held could be holding you back at work? Professor Deborah Ancona runs us through how to recognise the “family ghosts” and how to bust them. Guests: Deborah Ancona , Seley Distinguished Professor of Manage...

Would you call yourself an introvert, or an extrovert? Or are you a bit of both? When it comes to personality traits and states, it’s not black and white. It’s a spectrum. But sometimes we still desire a label or a name for what we are. Many of us have done personality tests for fun, or have been asked to do a psychometric test when applying for a job. Here in Australia, around 40 per cent of recr...

What was your first job, and what did it teach you? We’re turning back the clocks and heading back into the supermarket and greasy fast-food joints to find out just why first jobs are so crucial in our careers and what they can teach us. If we put on our detective caps, we can look at our first jobs and pick up the little clues and insights about ourselves that can help us navigate our current car...

Cryotherapy, sleep apps and binaural beats, are just some or the more than 20 biohacks Lisa Leong uses to perform her best at work. Are they useful or a complete waste of time and or money? We recruited three scientists to run the research filter over these hacks. This episode was originally broadcast on Tuesday 12th November 2019

Even today, the class you are born into can largely determine your career. Research by Diversity Council Australia shows that more than any other diversity demographic, it was social class which most determined Australian workers’ experience of inclusion or exclusion at work.  Talking about class at work can be awkward, especially when most Australians believe we live in the land of a “fair go”. B...

Imagine you’re applying for a job. You’re asked a few questions and have a conversation online. But it’s not with a human. It’s with a chatbot. How would you feel? Possibly relaxed? Maybe even a bit more confident? More likely to apply for that job, if there’s no intimidating interview panel? Probably. AI is increasingly being used in recruitment and it’s being employed to make the hiring process...

Call it what you like, The Great Resignation, The Great Reshuffle, or even The Great Reimagination, the employment landscape in Australia has changed radically in the past two years.  CEO of the Australian HR Institute Sarah McCann Bartlett and career coach Kate Richardson talk us through how can you use this moment in time to your career advantage and what businesses need to do to get through it....

Australia’s renowned for its multiculturalism. But when it comes to the workplace and leadership positions, that diversity isn’t represented. So, what’s going on? In part two of our special series, we dive into some solutions to improve diversity and inclusion at work to see Australia's multiculturalism reflected in leadership positions. Guests: Daisy Auger-Dominguez - Chief People Officer, VICE M...