Why you should take more risks, with Nate Silver

More from Working It

1. 

   S2 · E85 · 8 Oct 2024 · 17 min

   How to survive a corporate shake-up

   Corporate reorganisations can be hugely unsettling for employees, whose working lives can change overnight. What can managers do to make these periods of flux as easy as possible for their charges? Isabel Berwick speaks to work researcher Christine Armstrong, and Andrew Hill, the FT’s senior business writer. They discuss how to get ahead of gossip, why clarity is king when you deliver bad news, and the dirtiest office secret of all: that work isn’t your whole life. Want more? Free links: Silent lay-offs are rarely as quiet as bosses hope We’re all busy again’, say UK restructuring experts…

2. 

   S2 · E84 · 1 Oct 2024 · 19 min

   Amazon ends remote work. Will other firms follow?

   Amazon has ordered its staff back to the office five days a week from January. Will other companies follow its lead? Host Isabel Berwick asks Kevin Delaney, the editor-in-chief of media and research firm Charter, what the data says about the efficacy of remote work. They’re joined by the FT’s Emma Jacobs, who argues being in the office is not the solution to every workplace problem. Want more? Free links: Amazon orders staff back to office 5 days a week Amazon says workers need to be in the office. Most of Silicon Valley disagrees. The office is not the only solution Presented by Isabel…

3. 

   S2 · E83 · 24 Sep 2024 · 23 min

   Working It live: How to get ahead without burning out

   Leaders are always under pressure – but the most successful ones know how to manage it. In this special episode, recorded live at the FT Weekend Festival in London on September 7, Isabel Berwick speaks to psychologist Dr Audrey Tang, who explains how managers can better resist the pressures of their work. Tang, author of books including ‘The Leader’s Guide to Resilience,’ tells Isabel about the importance of bosses modelling healthy behaviour, why skills (as opposed to strengths) can make workers unhappy, and how to know when a colleague is about to burn out. Want more? Free links: The…

4. 

   S2 · E81 · 10 Sep 2024 · 21 min

   Why you can’t ‘hack’ your way to productivity, with Oliver Burkeman

   Lots of productivity advice tells you how you can cram more into your day, but accepting you can only do so much might be the only productivity “hack” that works. Oliver Burkeman, author of the smash-hit 2021 book Four Thousand Weeks , talks to Isabel Berwick about his new book, Meditations for Mortals , which lays out practical steps to living a less frantic life. Oliver tells Isabel why delaying our professional gratification can become a trap, how we should deal with our monstrous email backlogs and why pragmatism beats idealism every time. Want more? Free links: How can you manage your…

5. 

   S2 · E80 · 3 Sep 2024 · 19 min

   Who ate my lunch (hour)?

   If you like your colleagues, the lunch hour is probably a highlight of your working day. But fewer and fewer of us are actually using it to, well, lunch. Since flexible working has become the norm, people have increasingly ‘banked’ their lunch hour, and spent their break time running errands, exercising, or seeing their kids. Stanford university professor Nick Bloom tells host Isabel Berwick. But is something lost if we don’t break bread with our colleagues? Is eating ‘al desko’ really so bad? And what’s the secret to a great homemade lunch? FT Magazine Food and Drink editor Harriet Fitch…

6. 

   S2 · E79 · 27 Aug 2024 · 19 min

   What managers get wrong about Gen Z

   Managers can’t get their heads around Gen Z employees. Why won’t they work late? Why do they talk like that? And do they even want to be here? But instead of emphasising points of difference with younger workers, we should get better at understanding their motivations. In this episode, Isabel speaks to researcher and futurist Chloe Combi, who has interviewed more than 20,000 young people about what they want. Chloe explains why Gen Z workers often clash with millennials (and how to give them better mentors). FT columnist Pilita Clark vents about her biggest Gen Z bugbear: the fact that…

7. 

   S2 · E100 · 28 Jan 2025 · 26 min

   Finale: How work has changed since we started this show

   After more than three years, and 153 episodes, this is the final Working It podcast. Isabel Berwick gathers three colleagues (and friends) to discuss what they’ve learned about the world of work since the show first launched. So please, if you will, join Isabel, Andrew Hill, Emma Jacobs and Anjli Raval in the kitchen for a slice of ‘Working It’ cake, and a heartfelt goodbye to the podcast. Subscribe to the Working It newsletter here. Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Simon Panayi. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head…

8. 

   S2 · E99 · 21 Jan 2025 · 15 min

   Why being a CEO is so lonely (and how to fix that)

   Running a business is rewarding in plenty of ways – not least in terms of salary. But it can also be extremely lonely. Having friends at work becomes complicated (or even impossible), and you can’t be sure if people like you, or if they’re just saying what they think you want to hear. If you’re the boss, how can you learn to live with those downsides? To find out, Isabel Berwick speaks to Allan Barton (former MD of the waste disposal firm Shanks), and Tiffany Gaskell, co-CEO at the coaching consultancy Performance Consultants International. Subscribe to the Working It Newsletter here . Want…

9. 

   S2 · E98 · 14 Jan 2025 · 18 min

   The science of better workplace conversations

   What can we learn about the way we speak by analysing thousands of everyday conversations? That’s a question that fascinates Alison Wood Brooks. Alison, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, and author of the forthcoming book, Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves joins Isabel Berwick to discuss her research. She explains how to plan a conversation even when you don’t know who you’ll be speaking to, how we misunderstand apologies, and why there’s no such thing as too many questions. Want more? Free links: What we talk about when we talk about the…

10. 

    S2 · E97 · 7 Jan 2025 · 18 min

    Why are some bosses infuriating (and others inspiring)?

    When you’re a leader, colleagues look for hidden meanings in everything you do. That can make gentle suggestions sound infuriating – and amplify the effect of even off-hand compliments. So how can a leader make sure their words and actions are understood as intended? To find out, Isabel Berwick speaks to Adam Galinsky, a professor at Columbia Business School, and author of the forthcoming book ‘ Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others .’ Adam has asked tens of thousands of people about what makes a leader inspiring or infuriating. In this episode, he explains the perils…

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