Howard Lerman talks Roam

"There's this concept called inbox zero, where everyone tries to get to their inbox down to zero. But I would suggest that a more noble pursuit is that of calendar zero". I chatted to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/#" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Howard Lerman</a> this week. I was blown away by this discussion - it captured exactly what is wrong about current work, and why back-to-back meetings are going to lead to many organisations missing the opportunity of this vital moment. This is an essential listen - about where work is imminently going and how Howard's philosophy is building his fascinating new product <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/#" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Roam</a> to serve the company of the future. <a href="https://ro.am/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Explore Roam</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardlerman/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">follow Howard</a>. <a href="https://www.makeworkbetter.info/p/haunted-by-new-ai-predictions" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Read all about the way that work is about to change in the newsletter</a> The <a href="https://ai-2027.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AI 2027 predictions are the wake up call we didn't know we needed</a> <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/2025-the-year-the-frontier-firm-is-born" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Microsoft explains why we need to ready ourselves for the reinvention of work</a> <a href="https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/always-on-economy/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Konstantine Buhler on 'always on'</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/?p=4247&amp;preview=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Full transcript on the website</a>

Time to chase Calendar Zero

Zach Mercurio talks about mattering

The best culture book of 2025: The Power of Mattering

Conversation with Tamara Myles and Wes Adams

The next two podcasts I see as a piece with each other, today is about meaning the next one is about mattering. Collectively I feel they present serious substance about the foundations of good culture. <a href="https://amzn.to/4chTuON" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Read Meaningful Work </a><a href="https://www.makeworkbetter.info/p/af16fc3e-a207-4336-9172-9762c5c6d9d7?postPreview=paid&amp;updated=2025-04-05T13%3A59%3A32.101Z&amp;audience=everyone&amp;free_preview=false&amp;freemail=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Read the latest newsletter</a> There’s some overlap - the authors today,Tamara Myles and Wes Adams, have done research with next week’s guest Zach Mercurio. One of today’s guests Tamara Myles said one of the most powerful questions you can ask to measure engagement at work is to ask ‘does your manager care about what is going on in your life?’Today is about meaning, and I feel it gets to grips with questions of purpose. Why sometimes purpose doesn’t seem to create an impact in an organisation - and other times really makes it hum.The authors describe meaningful work as work that provides community, helps us contribute to something that matters, and challenges us to learn and grow.<a href="https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/?p=4158&amp;preview=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">For full show notes go to the website.</a>

Meaning: why showing work matters has such an impact

Psychologists Patricia Grabarek & Katina Sawyer explain how we can all build culture

<a href="https://www.makeworkbetter.info/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sign up for the newsletter</a> Someone posted on LinkedIn that the podcast had died. Or I had died. But he is risen! I'm back with a great discussion, powerful in its simplicity. Psychologists Dr. Patricia Grabarek and Dr. Katina Sawyer have created a guidebook for anyone who wants to make things better for their teams. In it they suggest that managers need to set the tone for our colleagues. Yes, of course I hear you say but it's so often something that the hectic buzz of work distracts us from. As workplace wellness is in decline they suggest that it's time for managers to step up and be the creators of great culture, even if that might be pushing against the tide. <a href="https://amzn.to/4bGKC57" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Leading for Wellness is out now.</a>

Great culture starts with teams

Andrew Brodsky explains how to survive a full inbox and bulging calendar

Join 100,000 other workplace culture enthusiasts by <a href="https://www.makeworkbetter.info/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signing up for the Make Work Better newsletter</a> <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/skills-for-life-how-investing-in-your-workforce-can-add-massive-value-to-your-business-b2666536.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Interested in how skills could enhance your business? Check out the short film I made with the Department for Education.</a> <a href="https://www.brucedaisley.com/book-bruce" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Get in touch with Bruce</a> What do your typos say about you? What's the right medium to build connection with your colleagues? How did Shopify and Netflix reinvent their communication? How can any of us navigate a bulging calendar and overloaded inbox? Professor Andrew Brodsky gives us a field guide to communications and tells how we should be rethinking how we message. <a href="https://amzn.to/3Ws84wu" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Andrew's new book Ping is out in February.</a>

PING! How to cope with communication overload

<a href=" https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/skills-for-life-how-investing-in-your-workforce-can-add-massive-value-to-your-business-b2666536.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Interested in how skills could enhance your business? Check out the short film I made with the Department for Education.</a> <a href="https://www.makeworkbetter.info/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sign up for the newsletter</a> Today's episode is an Avengers Assembled of podcasts about work. I join host Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis from the Squiggly Careers podcast, as well as Isabel Berwick from the FT's Working It and Jimmy McCloughlin from Jimmy's Jobs. We talk AI, asking payrises, RTO and much more.

The Careers Collective - what's next for work?

Michael Morris explains the codes that bond us together

<a href="https://amzn.to/4ii2eah" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Michael Morris's book Tribal </a>covers the codes that bond humans together. It has been shortlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award 2024. <a href="https://archive.ph/kJ1N3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">It came runner-up to 'Supremacy' by Parmy Olson.</a> He explains that humans are inspired by peer codes, human codes and ancestor codes when it comes to their behaviour - and he gives plenty of insight of how we could build more tightly bonded groups in our own teams. <a href="https://www.makeworkbetter.info/p/resisting-the-enshittification-of" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Make Work Better: Resisting the Enshittification of Work in 2024</a>

Turning your team into a tribe

Dealing with workplace anger with 

Everywhere we look we see someone who is outraged - and plenty of that anger makes its way to the workplace. The last time President Trump was in power it led to employees becoming more active - who knows if the same will happen in 2025. Karthik Ramanna talks us through the way to deal with outrage - and the actions that any leader can take to make the workplace a better place. <a href="https://amzn.to/4fHSQLy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">His new book is out now.</a> <a href="https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/trends-for-2024-trust/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">More about the Edelman Trust index</a>

Outrage in the work chat

Tiffany Gaskell outlines a plan for elite performance

<a href="https://www.makeworkbetter.info/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sign up for the newsletter</a> Tiffany Gaskell outlines coaching as a route to transformational leadership Tiffany Gaskell is the co-author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3Z6piRZ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Coaching for Performance</a>, the top-selling guide to coaching first published by Sir John Whitmore the inventor of the discipline. It's curious to consider that there was a founder of coaching, and Tiffany takes me through the history of the practice, how it took hold and where it is today. There's a key consideration about the modern manager given to us by the <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/357764/fast-feedback-fuels-performance.aspx#:~:text=They%20want%20to%20gain%20insights,past%20week%20are%20fully%20engaged." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gallup Global Workplace Report, 80% of those who are engaged with their jobs say they've received direct feedback from their manager in the last week</a>. This is a powerful insight but also poses a huge challenge - how can any of us find the time to observe and then feedback to every worker in our team. Tiffany explains that this is where a culture of coaching comes in, transferring the burden of observation from the manager to facilitating a socratic questioning approach. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanygaskell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">You can follow Tiffany on LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://amzn.to/3Z6piRZ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the book is out now</a>.

Transformational cultures use the manager as a coach

Build better workplace culture

MAKE WORK BETTER. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is the best podcast about workplace culture - it's been listened to millions of times. Bruce Daisley brings a curious mind to discussions about our jobs and the role they play in our lives. <a href="https://makeworkbetter.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sign up for the newsletter</a>

Eat Sleep Work Repeat

Follow