Where life and work collide
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Conflict—don’t let it silence you!
Last week in Zurich I spoke to an international group of senior women at The Boardroom about power and presenting.
Their biggest unifying fear is being publicly challenged—many admit they’d rather avoid speaking than risk a battle.
Failing for 15 years: habits that work
At my girls’ boarding school, our running groups were sorted alphabetically by fruit: the Apples were the stars, Bananas were pretty good. My friend Emily and I were Ugli fruits, and fought hard to never get promoted for fear we might have to break a sweat in a race.
Sort your damn life out!
‘Indecision is expensive’, says Felix as he concludes why he and his wife go through an ‘awkward’ annual planning process to make the big decisions in their life.
It’s time to joyscape Christmas!
A friend told me she was crawwwwwwling to Christmas yesterday.
God knows, it feels like a battle this year… Which is why, right here and now, this is the moment to plan some joy.
2023 predictions: Sunday the new Friday
Don’t doubt me, friends! I’m so ahead of my time that I had a Neil Diamond impersonator singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ at our wedding 14 years ago.
And, with those rock-solid credentials in place, this is what I’m expecting to see next year:
How does it feel to be laid off by Zuck or Elon?
“This all reminds you what f*****g b******t all this corporate b******t actually is.”
According to a tech website, 140,000 tech workers have been laid off globally this year. We’ve been talking to some of them.
Not over the hill, but far away: 50+ w/Eleanor Mills
By popular demand, Eleanor is back to explain why the pandemic ended with nearly 400,000 more economically inactive over 50s than it started with. The government is desperate to encourage them back to work and new research suggests that one in three either has been tempted or could be...
How much power is too much?
Watching Elon bully his way around Twitter is a spine-chilling refresher for anyone who’s ever had a boss with an ego bigger than their brain.
Trending: OOO while you're IN the office?
Overheard on his train journey this week, was the “Out Of Office” autoreply taking over as an “In the Office” norm. With thanks to Matthew O’Halloran (Smart Spaces) for the great little story.
Always crashing in the same car
This week, Rachel Schofield was inspired by the Bowie song Always Crashing In the Same Car. She’s a Personal Development and Careers Coach and shares her wisdom on changing the car, the route, your driving style…
No, they’re not coming back for the heating.
Triumphant Daily Mail and Telegraph headlines have been boasting that the cost of heating, if you work from home, will increase your monthly bills by as much as £150-£190. They predict this will kill the ‘work from home dream’—you can picture the crocodile tears.
LATEST RESEARCH: singles, predators & more gorillas
This week we published the findings of 100 interviews with knowledge workers we began on 1st September. (Some of them we interviewed twice as events unravelled in the UK—thanks Kwasi).
Data scoop: what CEOs are thinking right now
KPMG has released its annual CEO Outlook from 1,325 global CEOs across 11 markets.
While Armstrong & Partners has trawled through the minds of 100 knowledge leaders and workers in the UK over the last few weeks, both before and since the major “fiscal events” began.
Is BT trying to clear out "the stale old guard"?
Ignore what I say at the end of the video - I am a liar - next week we’re going to deal with the impact of the wild ride of this week. It’ll take that long to synthesise the news from all the emergency board meetings currently sitting.
Where are the grown ups? (not in the office)
Greetings from stunning Venice!
A year ago I was hearing a lot of “our team are grown ups, we let them choose when they come into the office based on what needs to be done”…
The 6 models of work: choose very carefully!
The team is eyebrow-deep in research interviews about what is going on in the world of work now: inflation, hardship funds, big office decisions, title escalation, budget cuts. There is so much for us to get into this autumn.
But let’s start with a picture of where things are now and the six working options.
Reflections
You don’t have to a big royalist to know that it’s a historic and sobering day. I wasn’t sure whether to post something in place of the usual vlog, but here are my three thoughts from the middle of the night:
Revelations from our year of all-change
This time last year we were living in an ‘80s townhouse in Zone 2 Tower Hamlets. We bloody loved it. But the familiar crunch of nos canisters underfoot and taking our football-crazy daughter to training in a multi-storey car park lined with AstroTurf suggested a change was needed.
Hotelification—the future of the office?
This week I spoke with Craig Murray, Strategy Design Director @TSK—he’s been designing offices for life after Covid. And they’re amazing! I’ve spoken in some, including SAGA’s Folkestone HQ, complete with sweeping coastal views and an onsite nursery.
Why your panel is sh*t
This week, I am on location in Manchester, at TSK (workplace design & build company)—and I'm raging… about panels.
Not all of them (and definitely not TSK’s)! But quite a few.