Joy at Work Thinking
Written by Ed Cook
Exploring the question, “Are you a great Change Leader?” is an insightful exercise. The personae that tend to emerge, in response to the question, break in one of two directions: Lawyer or Scientist.
The Lawyer will begin with a recitation of the available evidence underlyi...
 Written by Ed Cook and Roxanne Brown
Despite the gobs of money spent on employee engagement programs, globally in 2024, employee engagement has declined to just 21%, according to Gallup. Meanwhile, “quiet quitting” describes half the U.S. workforce, and “job-hugging” indicates employees are stayin...
Written by Ed Cook and Roxanne Brown
You spend days, weeks, sometimes even months recruiting new people to your organization. What if you used some of that energy on your current team? Consider the potential impact of re-recruiting. The clear value is that it will take far less effort to keep your ...
Written by Ed Cook and Roxanne Brown
You've just walked out of a meeting where leadership announced a major change. Your team will be looking to you for direction, but inside, you're struggling. You weren't consulted. You don't agree with the decision. You might even think it's a terrible idea.
An...
Written by Ed Cook
The questions to ask to make the mentor or coach choice clear
The words coach and mentor are often used interchangeably, making distinctions between them murky. This is unfortunate because the value of each can be tremendous for a person’s career, but where and how that val...
Written by Ed Cook
Humans walk about the Earth trying to make sense of it. Karl Weick introduced the concept of "sensemaking" to organizational studies in his 1969 book The Social Psychology of Organizing. His work described how humans understand the world in the face of uncertainty and labeled hum...
Written by Ed Cook
Leaders who help to develop the skills and capabilities of their teammates are giving a gift that returns again and again. These brave leaders are attempting a process that can be both difficult to do and even damaging if not carefully done. What makes this such a difficult under...
Written by Roxanne Brown
Imagine this: You trust everyone you work with to do what you need them to do, in the way you need them to do it. You know you can count on them to do their best, even when they make a mistake. Imagine how liberating that would be. Imagine what you could accomplish, what yo...
Written by Ed Cook and Roxanne Brown
As a leader, it can be difficult to convey how you want the team to be. Not what the team does but how the team is. People know how their team feels. They know the culture and norms and habits of the team. But is the feeling, on the team, what the leader intends...
Even in the worst situations you can spread joy by joining forces with others to shift the energy and atmosphere at work. And, what’s great about doing this with others is it can lift your spirits too!
It's okay if you're struggling! There are healthy and constructive ways to talk about personal struggles in the workplace. Spread some Joy at Work by making it easy to discuss and help each other.
