The Humanizing Work Show

A lot of people are punching the timecard, getting their paycheck and going home... 'I can't wait until Friday' or 'Oh no, I've got the Monday blues,' seems like a typical conversation between friends and colleagues. It has become routine to complain about work.

Peter Green and Richard Lawrence talk about what meaningful work can look like through four major themes they've witnessed in working with hundreds of clients and organizations.

Location: Infinite Monkey Theorem, Denver, CO

"This is why successful serial entrepreneurs, even after a big exit, go on to start something else, not because they need the money, but because they need to do meaningful work."

If you're not growing, do you lose interest? If you're not pushing yourself to the edge of your ability, where the stakes are high and the outcome matters, are you able to find meaning in your work? Is doing as little work as possible with the greatest financial gain the goal?

Peter Green and Richard Lawrence tackle the relationship (or conflict) between ease and meaning in this episode of the Humanizing Work Show.

When you think about what motivates someone within their job or work it tends to go back to what their connection is to the purpose behind their work.

"...it's hard to imagine a motivating purpose that doesn't impact another person. I think we are wired to care about other people."

Richard Lawrence and Peter Green examine the theories of motivation and the core motivators they've found in their work with clients.

Growth is one of the core things that motivates people in all aspects of their life.

“Work that doesn’t provide opportunities for growth is dehumanizing.”

“Energy is additive. If I’m growing at work I’ve got energy...when I get home...now I have some energy to develop other parts of my life.”

Peter and Richard talk about how they’ve seen growth motivate clients and share research and advice on how you can take next steps in your individual growth.

Why now? What conditions in the world make this the right time for a Humanizing Work movement?

There are two key shifts that have happened in our working world that are really unique to our day. These changes require us to rethink the way we work.

Peter and Richard look at the reason behind the shift in work and practical steps you can take to humanize work individually and organization-wide.

Most meaningful work happens in teams so to further expand the Humanizing Work movement and conversation we are taking season 2 to focus on teams. Richard Lawrence and Peter Green dive into what makes teams great, what gets in their way and what we can learn from various kinds of teams.

In the Season 2 premiere, Peter and Richard examine the research around teams; from the characteristics of high performing teams to the dysfunctions of teams that cause burnout, dissatisfaction and lack of engagement.

What kind of team are you currently on? How can you take the action items from episode one and bring them to your workplace and to your team?

#humanizingworkshow #humanizework #humanizingwork

Think about it. When people are paying attention to what other people are doing in a more present and engaged way, it frees them up to contribute in new ways and bring more creativity to the table.

The parallels between jazz and how great teams operate are widespread.

Peter Green's first career was as a professional trumpet player. As he moved into the traditional business world, and in team leadership, he found that the skills that he learned as a musician applied directly to building better business and teams.

In this Humanizing Work Show special episode, we spend time with an actual Jazz group working through the need for trust, risk-taking, and creativity that makes great music. Peter and Richard break down the characteristics of jazz that can be adopted in the business world to make your team thrive.

Quick Links:
You Don't Know What Love Is: 2:10
Summertime - Unknown Variables: 15:22
Bye Bye Blackbird - Exploring Constraints and Structure: 32:29
C-Jam Blues - Changing Melody Leader: 41:21
Business Application: 49:54

Great models for building a strong and healthy team include regularly reviewing the work and how it's being done to improve going forward, creating structures for excellence and growth and tapping into human rhythms and cadences to how we break up work, just to name a few.

What do these team practices have in common? They are all found in Agile approaches like Scrum and XP.

Regardless of the industry, these lightweight frameworks provide insight into healthy team growth and structure.

"Scrum, even though it was invented in a software development context... is such a minimal lightweight set of constraints it's broadly applicable outside of software development"

Listen in and see how you can take these ideas to your team. Tell us what's worked and how your team is responding.

Trust is a key component in any healthy team. Business outcomes soar and individuals thrive when trust is at the team's core. But what builds trust? How do strong teams turn to one another in times of adversity rather than creating more conflict amongst themselves? How do both the team and the individual grow and succeed?

Richard and Peter identify team toxins and give you practical applications that you can put to work in your workplace to move toward a better workplace TODAY.

#HumanizingWorkShow #HumanizingWork #Agile #AgileForAll