Workplace Stories by RedThread Research By cover art

Workplace Stories by RedThread Research

By: Stacia Garr & Dani Johnson
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  • Summary

  • At RedThread, we love our data, but we know that what you remember is stories. So we spend time listening to thinkers, writers, leaders, and practitioners as they tell their stories about what works in the workplace, what they’ve learned, and what they hope to see in the future. We hope you find it inspirational, motivational, and a touch irreverent.
    RedThread Research 2024
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Episodes
  • The Problem with Change: Author Ashley Goodall

    The Problem with Change: Author Ashley Goodall
    Jul 17 2024
    Ashley Goodall has spent 20 years in various roles in HR, covering everything from performance management to leadership. He spent six years at Cisco as the SVP of HR. He left Cisco to write his book, “The Problem with Change,” which was just released. In it, he addresses the problems that accompany change. To write his book, Ashley interviewed people around the world, asking them to tell their stories of organizational change. Many people told miserable stories, stories of unending change propelled by mergers, new leadership, new strategies, and much more—much of it unnecessary. What was the result?People were struggling to do their jobs because of the constant change. Yet organizations are rewarding leaders to do things that make it hard for their employees to do their work! That’s a problem, right? So, what should we do instead?We have to understand the conditions of human performance to understand how we can “do” change better. Ashley begins to dissect that complicated yet fascinating topic in this episode of Workplace Stories.You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...Join the RedThread Community [1:34]Why you should listen to Ashley Goodall [4:49] What is the problem with change? [7:09]Why Ashley wrote another book about change [10:34]The problems that accompany change [12:45] Looking at meaning and purpose differently [18:53] The story of Alexander the Great [23:38] The connection between meaning and ritual [25:29] We need to stop treating humans like “SKUmans” [29:10]The lightning round [33:08]Getting good at stability management [36:38] What we can learn from “the pistols” [39:59]How to create belonging on your team [44:21]Focusing on your teams to create stability [45:43] Learning how to radicalize HR [48:53] Ashley’s biggest takeaway from writing a book [53:11] The problems that accompany change Ashley addresses five core problem areas that accompany change: UncertaintyLack of control Lack of belonging DisplacementLoss of meaningThe feeling of belonging is intuitive. Humans form social groups. Those groups are massively important to psychological health, sense of identity, and cognitive processes. The way we think is socially mediated. A team gives you a sense of belonging. It’s a source of massive stability. Teammates complement each other so together they can meet a goal that couldn’t be achieved alone. When reorganization happens, all of the social groups at work are upended. In his book, Ashley also dove into the science of “place attachment.” People get attached to places. Place is a thing strongly tied to work. But there’s also a connection between ritual and place.Our habits are a mechanism by which we grow attached to a place. Habits and rituals tied to place have people saying “It’s where I do this” or “It’s where we do this.” When offices are changed or people are moved, you disrupt the rituals attached to that place.Those places are a source of stability. And for people to do their best work, they need stability. All of these facets of a human—certainty, control, social groups, sense of place, ritual—are the foundation of showing up at work and being useful. Everyone wants to be useful. How we design the workplace hinges on these things.Ashley is clear: “Sooner or later you have to ask people what they want and listen to what they tell you.”How Ashley looks at meaning differentlyAshley points out that the world around us must make sense. You can’t be uplifted by the mission of an organization if you can’t figure out what the mission is. Science tells us that the coherence of our world is so important that when it’s taken away in one place, we find it in another.There are two ingredients to meaning:Things have to make sense (which is shredded when things are changed)You need to find your own purpose. Someone can’t tell you what your purpose is We encounter the world and question, “Do I understand what’s going on here? Is this something that speaks to me?” If it does and someone asks if your work has meaning, you’ll say “yes.” Unfortunately, people think everyone around them has to have the same meaning. It doesn’t work like that. As much as they dislike it, employers aren’t massively important to someone’s purpose.We need to stop treating humans like “SKUmans”What characteristics of humans do we capture in our technology at work? How does that inform how we think about people at work? We track the “cogs in a machine” stuff. We record names, date of birth, someone’s role, their certifications and experience, etc. but we don’t record what amuses someone, what makes them smile, and the weird things they love to do. Maybe they’re always late for meetings, love to bake, or love creating spreadsheets.If you think humans are interchangeable and emotionless beings, how would you describe them? As a “SKU” number. SKUs are stock-keeping units. They track what...
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    56 mins
  • Using a Skills Framework to Empower Employees: Microsoft’s Shweta Srivastava and John Mighell

    Using a Skills Framework to Empower Employees: Microsoft’s Shweta Srivastava and John Mighell
    May 29 2024
    The mission of Microsoft is to empower every person in every organization to achieve more. An enterprise-wide skills focus is one way they’re fulfilling their mission.

    It’s about moving beyond job titles and fixed roles to give freedom and flexibility to apply skills and expertise where they matter the most. And it’s all in service of creating an environment where growing one’s career is the top reason to join and stay at Microsoft.

    They’re using human verification to give the individual control over the data that’s included, who it’s shared with, and how it’s shared.

    Shweta Srivastava and John Mighell share how Microsoft is implementing skills on a large scale in this fascinating conversation.
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    53 mins
  • Why Skills are like Oxygen: Ericsson’s Vidya Krishnan + Peter Sheppard

    Why Skills are like Oxygen: Ericsson’s Vidya Krishnan + Peter Sheppard
    May 8 2024
    “Skills are like oxygen, invisible but necessary.”

    This mindset shift is the brainchild of Vidya Krishnan, the Chief Learning Officer, and Peter Sheppard, the Head of the Global L&D Ecosystem at Ericsson.

    Much of their job is identifying the oxygen and making it visible so they can do something with it. To do this, they’re taking a top-down and bottom-up approach. They’ve worked with senior leadership to define seven key skills they think everyone in the organization needs. They also work with the job leaders who own the skills to make sure their skills taxonomy is continuously updated.

    Vidya and Peter are passionate about what they do. They’re working tirelessly to systemize learning to take care of and serve the individual. Because, ultimately, systems-first means people-first.
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    1 hr and 6 mins
Management Economics
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