Category Archives: Uncategorized

Is the ‘Future Of Work’ conversation played out? It’s certainly less intense than it was because a lot of things have settled out. Here’s my take on what’s DONE, what’s NOT DONE and what could be COMING. (A longer and more expansive version of this is in the ‘Decrapify Work Not-Newsletter’ that I put outContinue reading “State of play on the Future Of Work”

Do you get the ‘Sunday Scaries’? Quite a turn of phrase for something so common that 8 out 10 employees experience it. We used to call it ‘the Sunday blues’, the dawning realisation that tomorrow was a work day and the fun would have to stop soon. The deflating thought of another week of boringContinue reading “Sunday Scaries”

A beacon of common sense amongst a sea of ego and opinion, US insurance provider Allstate have embraced the shift towards hybrid/remote working. These are my observations from what their CEO Tom Wilson said at the Aspen Ideas Festival (summarised by Charter’s Kevin Delaney – link in comments) It’s not what they’ve done that’s impressiveContinue reading “Allstate – a beacon of common sense”

Has Jamie Dimon become a socialist? He recently said AI would improve workers lives and lead to them having a 3 1/2 day work week. He also said they would live to 100 because technology would stop them having cancer. Sharing the benefits of progress with workers? Whatever next? Is he also suggesting that healthcareContinue reading “Is Jamie Dimon a socialist?”

Are you heading for Burnout, or for Smoulder-out? We know what Burnout is, you go down in flames, right? It’s dramatic, there’s some sort of collapse or crisis, there’s an event after which things have to change. It fits in with a very popular narrative, one of disaster and recovery, one of ruination and redemption.Continue reading “Smoulder-out”

If you’re one of the 6 in 10 that are not engaged at work (it’s 9 in 10 in the UK!) then you have some choices. 2. Change jobs 3. Become an ‘entrepreneur’ 4. Run away and join the circus 5. Improve your day-to-day experience to create the space to make long-term change ‘Put upContinue reading “Choices in an unhappy workplace”

What if you don’t burnout? What if you never quite get to that tipping point where you stop functioning? What if you never have a dramatic moment of crisis that forces change? What if you just, somehow, keep going? Lots of people report they are suffering from ‘burnout’, some might say it is now over-reported.Continue reading “What if you don’t burnout?”

“People at increased risk of burnout due to more demanding workdays, TUC says”The Guardian, 23 July 2023 Are we reaching the end game for the version of work on offer in today’s last stage capitalism? The machine is running so hard that the cogs are breaking faster than they can be replaced. The damage toContinue reading “Work Intensification”

Gallup’s recent State of Work report highlighted an ‘engagement gap’ between the best and the rest (see graph). It’s not a little gap, a small sliver of difference. It’s a huge, Grand Canyon-sized gap. The best have almost three times as many engaged employees as the rest.
(in fact, the lower line is the average, soContinue reading “The Employee Engagement Gap”

BT, where I spent the bulk of my career, have announced they are intend to reduce their workforce by 55,000 employees world wide. That’s over 40%. So if you work in BT, you have a 4 in 10 chance of losing your job. The original announcement was couched in terms of being more efficient andContinue reading “Your job’s never safe”