What Works podcast

What Works

Work is central to the human experience. It helps us shape our identities, care for those we love, and contribute to our communities. Work can be a source of power and a catalyst for change. Unfortunately, that's not how most of us experience work—even those who work for themselves. Our labor and creative spirit are used to enrich others and maintain the status quo. It's time for an intervention. What Works is a show about rethinking work, business, and leadership for the 21st-century economy. Host Tara McMullin covers money, management, culture, media, philosophy, and more to figure out what's working (and what's not) today. Tara offers a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to deep-dive analysis of how we work and how work shapes us.

Work is central to the human experience. It helps us shape our identities, care for those we love, and contribute to our communities. Work can be a source of power and a catalyst for change. Unfortunately, that's not how most of us experience work—even those who work for themselves. Our labor and creative spirit are used to enrich others and maintain the status quo. It's time for an intervention. What Works is a show about rethinking work, business, and leadership for the 21st-century economy. Host Tara McMullin covers money, management, culture, media, philosophy, and more to figure out what's working (and what's not) today. Tara offers a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to deep-dive analysis of how we work and how work shapes us.

 

#400

EP 492: How We Realize Higher Values Through Enabling Structures

Intractable challenges are often the result of a lack of imagination. That is, our solutio... more

03 Apr 2025

26 MINS

26:20

03 Apr 2025


#399

EP 491: Meet Your Tiny Capitalists

Many of us (most?) have an inner voice that loves to remind us that "If there's time to le... more

27 Mar 2025

18 MINS

18:08

27 Mar 2025


#398

EP 490: Standardize Me

Standardization is one of those ideas that, once you see it, you can't unsee it. It's a me... more

13 Mar 2025

25 MINS

25:02

13 Mar 2025


#397

EP 489: Temporal Bandwidth

This episode is about the long term—the commitments, projects, and relationships we can wo... more

06 Mar 2025

15 MINS

15:34

06 Mar 2025


#396

EP 488: Honeydew (Or, 3 Biases That Derail Remarkable Projects)

Most of the work I do that's not this revolves around coaching, editing, and/or thinking w... more

27 Feb 2025

19 MINS

19:51

27 Feb 2025


#395

EP 487: Rethinking Our Tech Mythology

The tech industry has a central role in shaping our work, our communication, and even our ... more

20 Feb 2025

19 MINS

19:00

20 Feb 2025


#394

EP 486: How Knowledge Really Does Become Power

What does my new website, the TikTok "ban," and the ongoing purge of "woke" from governmen... more

13 Feb 2025

26 MINS

26:50

13 Feb 2025


#393

EP 485: Broken Links

I'm back! Maybe you noticed or maybe you didn't—but the show (and my newsletter) has been ... more

06 Feb 2025

41 MINS

41:56

06 Feb 2025


#392

EP 484: The Freedom to Buy

So, health insurance is in the news. And so is Americans' feelings about it. I got to wond... more

12 Dec 2024

27 MINS

27:31

12 Dec 2024


#391

EP 483: Avoiding Acquiescence Bias

A problem, question, or challenge is often more than meets the eye. But we're biased to ac... more

05 Dec 2024

21 MINS

21:09

05 Dec 2024


#390

EP 482: Seeing Software

Do you see your software?Do you see how it influences how you run meetings, brainstorm ide... more

21 Nov 2024

17 MINS

17:57

21 Nov 2024


#389

EP 481: Preservation in the Post-Information Age with Sari Azout

Stop me if you've heard this before: we're overloaded and overwhelmed by information. Ther... more

25 Oct 2024

29 MINS

29:52

25 Oct 2024


#388

EP 480: Exceedingly Complex Systems

In management cybernetics, there are 3 types of systems: simple, complex, and exceedingly ... more

17 Oct 2024

20 MINS

20:32

17 Oct 2024


#387

EP 479: A Theory of Resourcefulness

You've probably heard of a scarcity mindset. Maybe you've even been accused of having one!... more

10 Oct 2024

17 MINS

17:50

10 Oct 2024


#386

EP 478: Data Never Speak For Themselves

We're constantly bombarded by data. And it's easy to think that with the right clues, we c... more

26 Sep 2024

23 MINS

23:50

26 Sep 2024


#385

EP 477: Here's a tip

Today's episode is about tips. As in gratuity. Wait, wait, wait! Where are you going? I kn... more

20 Sep 2024

28 MINS

28:17

20 Sep 2024


#384

EP 476: Cult Value

If a chatbot writes your novel, did you really complete NaNoWriMo? Two niche internet pani... more

12 Sep 2024

18 MINS

18:09

12 Sep 2024


#383

EP 475: Values aren't chains; they are wings

Inspired by the current vibe shift, I'm interrupting my rebroadcast of the Self-Help, LLC ... more

22 Aug 2024

07 MINS

07:24

22 Aug 2024


#382

What Does Power Sound Like?

This is the 6th installment in the Self-Help, LLC series, which originally ran in October ... more

15 Aug 2024

39 MINS

39:41

15 Aug 2024


#381

The Spectacle of Influence(rs) with Sara Petersen

How influencers, well, influence the way we see the world, our work, our families, and our... more

08 Aug 2024

38 MINS

38:50

08 Aug 2024