Work For Humans

In this episode, we are joined by Anu Gupta, a sought-after expert in breaking bias, behavior change, and well-being. For the last 50 years or so, companies have spent billions of dollars and billions of hours trying to address the challenges of bias, inequity, diversity, and inclusion. Noticing this, Anu’s curiosity led him down a path to figure out why these companies weren’t making any headway....

Picture two cafes that serve precisely the same coffee. The first cafe has friendly baristas, comfortable seating, free WIFI, and great music. In the second cafe, the employees are bored, the music is bad, and the WIFI is slow. Most of us would choose the first one. This is because our experience of a product goes far beyond the product itself - it's closely linked to the services that delive...

Today we are featuring Tim Goldstein. Tim is a Neurodiverse Communications Specialist, educator, and public speaker. He has a background in tech and has worked with name brands like Chase Bank, Macy’s, Citizens Bank, and many others. Tim's career took an interesting twist when he was diagnosed with autism at age 54. He has since gone on to become an advocate for neurodistinct employees – peop...

Donald Norman is perhaps the most influential design educator of all time. Don is often cited as the father of user interface design and user experience design. He is best known for his book The Design of Everyday Things  and is set to release a new book early next year – Design for a Better World . In his latest book, Don argues that design principles can provide solutions to many of the complex...

In this bonus episode, we are sharing Dart Lindsley's guest appearance on The Cutting Edge , a public radio show hosted by Santa Cruz's former mayor Tim Fitzmaurice. Tim and Dart discuss the genesis of Work for Humans, Dart's background and how it lead him to the management philosophy behind work for humans, the reimagining of work that is currently taking place worldwide, and much...

Work culture is changing, and it's changing fast. The old norms of toughing it out and sticking with a new job are fast being replaced by notions of employee autonomy and choice. A recent survey from the Muse found that 80% of active job seekers believe quitting a new job in less than 6 months is acceptable if it doesn’t live up to expectations. In the modern workplace, it is workers who are...

Two-sided markets are revolutionizing the way we do business, and in time, it may revolutionize the way we think about employees as well. Dartmouth Professor Geoffrey Parker has spent years researching and writing about platform business strategies that leverage two-sided markets like eBay, Airbnb, and Uber. Geoffery is the co-developer of the theory of two-sided markets, the co-author of Platform...

What comes to mind when you hear the word power? Whether or not you’re ambivalent about the idea of power, there’s no denying its role in the workplace. From bureaucracy and hierarchy to performance reviews and incentive plans, power dynamics are on full display in the workplace. So how can we show up powerfully at work and wield influence within our organizations?   Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer is a profe...

Inspiring individual or organizational change is one of the hardest things for any leader or manager to accomplish. According to Shalini Verma, a high-energy leader at Google who practices trauma-informed management, it's not about the process or the tools. That’s the easy stuff. In her opinion, the ability to drive individual and organizational change starts with a single thread: self-awaren...

When people don’t feel like they belong at work, their performance and well-being suffer. But, when individuals can be their authentic selves, the benefits for both the employee and the workplace are substantial. So what can organizations do to help promote belonging and inclusion in the workplace? Dr. Susie Wise studies, writes, and teaches how levers of design like roles, events, and spaces can...

In order to survive and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace, businesses must be proactive in designing experiences that customers love. Alder Yarrow has spent 25 years creating customer experiences for some of the world’s top brands including Twitter, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Tesla Motors, and more. In this episode, Dart and Alder discuss experience design and experience modeling. They discuss...

For decades workers have been incentivized to work for a paycheck, but how does the pay-for-performance model impact motivation, productivity, innovation, and work satisfaction? Professor Barry Schwartz studies how work operates in our culture and argues that monetary incentives are weak drivers of employee productivity. Barry explores the traits that can make work feel meaningful, and studies how...

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped society as we know it. In this post-pandemic world, the balance of power has shifted from employer to employee. Workers are demanding respect and expecting a greater quality of life, in many cases refusing a return to the traditional office. So what happens when companies can no longer rely on culture and on-premise experience to attract and retain employees? And how...

Bureaucracy used to make sense. A lot of sense. Information was recorded on paper, it was difficult and expensive to move, and the best way for an organization to make decisions was for managers to consolidate information and send it up a chain of command. Times have changed, but for the most part, organizations haven’t. The average Fortune 500 company still has eight layers of management passing...

Too often business leaders are forced to choose between the needs of their company and the needs of their employees. It’s a lose/lose scenario leaving managers burned out and workers seeking other opportunities. But it doesn’t have to be this way... At Work for Humans, we believe work can be designed differently. When you design work like products people love, your company wins. Working conditions...