Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: workplace culture

  • Listen In -> Playing Favorites #5: Favoring Certain Workplace Cultures

    Many leaders have good reason to be proud of the workplace cultures they have built in their companies.

    But times change, people change, teams turn over, and new generations bring new values and aspirations to their jobs.

    In this week’s show, Claudia and I look at the workplace culture itself.

    Yes, most of the time we are talking up the importance of having an a workplace culture period. We preach the value of having an intentionally designed workplace culture instead of simply slipping into one without thinking about it.

    When it comes to playing favorites, though, we want to look at the issue from the other end of the spectrum.

    Are you aware of how and where your workplace culture is serving you well and where it is not?

     Are you holding onto a culture whose effectiveness in the past is dissuading you from reevaluating it in the present?

    Do you have so much at stake personally that you’re having a difficult time thinking critically about what’s best for the future?

    Workplace cultures change slowly. Could playing favorites here be sowing the seeds of future problems?

    Listen in.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.

  • Loving Monday: From Occasional to Ordinary

    loving_mondayGet up right now and walk over to a co-worker and thank them for being a part of the team.

    Don’t pause. Don’t hesitate. Don’t over-think this one. Simply go let someone know that you appreciate them and then come back and finish reading this post.

    How was it? Did they look at you with bewildered astonishment? Did they smile and return an awkward thank-you?

    I‘d love to see a movement where expressions of appreciation at work went from being occasional to being ordinary.

    There doesn’t need to be a reason to express appreciation. In fact, the element of surprise is one of the best parts.

    What if work became the sort of place where one could expect to be appreciated and valued? Hearing things like, “Thank you” and “I’m glad you’re here” would be ordinary experiences instead of isolated rarities.

    What would it be like?

    Would would it be like to know that whatever your mood, whatever your mistake, whatever the complications of the day, there would be an atmosphere (more…)

  • Acting Up Brings Everyone Down by Nick McCormick

    Many years ago I managed a firm where I began calling my colleagues, “my kids.” This moniker was descriptive of both my affection for them and their childish behavior toward work and each other.

    Now Nick McCormick has captured a wonderful collection of the childish things people do at work. Or… I should say… the clever and common things people do at work, which are, in fact, quite childish.

    It’s called, Acting Up Brings Everyone Down: The Impacts of Childish Behavior in the Workplace.

    From the introduction”

    “The purpose of this book is to point out the silliness that we engage in at work in hopes that readers will acknowledge their actions, realize there are better and more constructive ways to act, and make the necessary changes to improve the work environment.”

    It takes a great sense of humor to get us insecure leader-types to let down our guards and see our imperfections without feeling attacked.

    McCormick, though, instead of attacking us for our petty and counter-productive behaviors, laughs at them with us.

    He takes on maddening workplace dynamics like making excuses, blaming (more…)

  • Listen In -> Good Leaders in Bad Times #5: Creating a Culture That Get Results

    One of our recent Questions of the Week was, “What disincentives to taking the initiative would a visitor observe in our company?” (Watch it here.)

    As we conclude our audio series on Good Leaders in Bad Times, we take a look at the workplace as a cultural system. (Our passion, I know. It might be risky to listen this week.)

    We are all familiar with the workaholic workplace culture. We know the fear-driven cultures, the cultures of panic, and the cultures of boredom. We know the workplaces where everyone wears masks of competence and works in splendid isolation as a result.

    We know the cultures of finger-pointing and blame-shifting. We know the workplaces that are always running at 100 mph, the ones who are always a day late and a dollar short, and those which have so many rules no one can use their judgment in making a decision.

    But what about a culture of results? What if, in the very fabric of how you went about your days, how you communicated with each other, and how you approached complex and difficult issues, you created a culture of getting results?

    What if?

    Listen in.

  • Listen In -> Good Leaders in Bad Times #2: The Issues Behind the Problems

    The problem can seem so straightforward. A runaway complainer. A mounting cost overrun. A slipping schedule.

    What if the problem, though, were merely a symptom of something deeper needing attention?

    What if addressing the problem on the table was actually preventing you from looking deeper, asking more probing questions, exploring what values and practices were creating the breeding grounds for the issue at stake?

    In this week’s show, Claudia and I discuss just this dynamic. Good leaders in bad times don’t settle for relieving symptoms. They dig deeper than the presenting issue and solve for underlying causes and confront systemic dysfunction.

    Listen in.

  • Question of the Week

    How often do you set aside time to evaluate how effectively your office culture is serving your business goals?