The Wankernomics Podcast

Workplace productivity apps like Trello, Asana, Jira and Miro are everywhere now. But do they actually increase productivity, or are they just another thing to add to your workload, that actually ends up slowing everything down? In this episode James and Charles try to get to the bottom of what these collaboration tools actually are, and debate whether there is anything more boring that someone talking about Jira. More importantly, they explore how the world might have been different if Lennon and McCartney had access to workplace productivity apps. Would ‘Let it Be’ have benefited from more stakeholder input and alignment? Would the process of writing ‘Hey Jude’ have been simpler if it allowed for the tracking against key milestones. It would certainly have been more measurable.

Our People & Culture team advised us that we rushed ahead and launched this podcast without first doing an onboarding episode. What a disaster. How will people know how to listen to the podcast? Have they done the safety induction? Where is the kitchen? And are they even aware of the Wankernomics Mission and Vision Statements? Or Purpose Statement for that matter? In this episode, James and Charles answer all of those questions and more, so that new starters can confidentially settle into the Wankernomics podcast and feel right at home. Welcome aboard.

"When I grow up I want to manage the delivery of complex cross-functional initiatives and shape scope across business cases" said no-one, ever. Job advertisements have a language all of their own. Meaningless phrases like “Dynamic, fast paced environment”, “self starter”, “unlocking incremental value”, “key stakeholders”, “driving insights” and “our people are at the heart of everything we do” are used so liberally that it’s often impossible to tell what the job is actually for. So what do these phrases really mean? And why do companies use them? In this episode Charles and James deep dive into the meaningless language of job ads and the psychology behind them, unpacking an actual job advertisement line by line. Plus, Charles reveals how in his wedding vows he promised to unlock incremental value and nurture relationships within key ecosystems.

Most workplaces have at least some ridiculous processes that seem to serve no purpose. But when it comes to pointless bureaucracy, Government departments are best-in-class.Charles and James tell two stories – one from Australia and one from the UK – where bureaucracy got completely out of hand.You’ll hear about stationery budgets, re-used envelopes, wayward traffic cones, and a very different definition of ‘mogging’.Please note, before listening to this podcast you must fill out a mandatory form, undertake a safety briefing and attend a subcommittee meeting.

In 2025 a worker was sent an email from their employer to recognise their three years of service. Inside the email was a button that read, ‘view recognition’, which when clicked on, revealed the reward. We don’t want to spoil how absurdly bad this reward was – you’ll have to listen to the episode to find out.In this episode James and Charles reveal some of the worst employee recognition schemes imaginable, and how some organisations are even outsourcing their employee recognition to third parties.Then they deep-dive into an infamous incentive scheme at one of America’s biggest banks that was so morally horrifying it led to a multi-million dollar fine and a minor change to the company’s logo.Along the way, James and Charles unpack how large organisations outsource responsibility and how jargon is used to paper over morally questionable, or even illegal corporate behaviour.Warning: this episode contains buzzwords and other corporate bullsh*ttery that could be offensive to some listeners.

You probably know the story. In 2001 Enron – then one of the largest companies in the world – collapsed after it was found to be using illegal accounting tricks to hide massive debts and fake huge profits.But what was it actually like to work there?James and Charles apply a Wankernomics lens to one of the world’s biggest ever corporate scandals, unpacking the company values, analysing the office culture and reading the actual emails that were sent around the office at the time of the collapse.What they ultimately discover is a corporation that, on the surface, is much like any other, with all-staff emails about free donuts in the foyer, over-enthusiastic interns trying to impress the boss, and a set of ‘organisational values’ that are farcically detached from the actual conduct of the company.Warning: this episode contains buzzwords and other corporate bullsh*ttery that could be offensive to some listeners.