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Work For Humans

Work For Humans

Dart Lindsley 213 Episodes Aug 18, 2026

Too often business leaders are forced to choose between the needs of their company and the needs of their employees. It’s a lose/lose scenario leaving managers burned out and workers seeking other opportunities. At Work for Humans, we believe work can be designed differently. When you design work like products people love, your company wins. Work becomes irresistible, employees passionately buy into their roles every day, and your company takes measurable strides towards your vision.

Episodes

What We Get Wrong About Work | Barry Schwartz, Revisited
What We Get Wrong About Work | Barry Schwartz, Revisited Aug 18, 2026 5540 We’ve spent decades designing work around the idea that people need incentives to perform. But what happens when the systems designed to motivate people actually get in the way of motivation? Professor Barry Schwartz has spent decades studying what makes work meaningful, and his research challenges the idea that money and performance incentives are enough. In this revisited episode, Dart and Barry
When Career Success Feels Unfulfilling | Megan Hellerer
When Career Success Feels Unfulfilling | Megan Hellerer Aug 11, 2026 4101 Megan Hellerer had done everything she was supposed to do. She went to Stanford, graduated with a 3.9, and dutifully climbed the ladder at Google. But the life that looked great on paper felt terrible inside. A panic attack on the floor of a public restroom forced her to confront a bigger question: what if the problem wasn't choosing the wrong destination, but the idea that we need a destinat
The Core Value Equation: Building Culture That Scales | Darius Mirshahzadeh, Revisited
The Core Value Equation: Building Culture That Scales | Darius Mirshahzadeh, Revisited Aug 4, 2026 3702 Darius Mirshahzadeh built the company he'd always wanted. In just three years, he grew it from a one-person operation into one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States. But when he looked around, he realized something unsettling: he hated the company he had created. That experience forced him to rethink what it really means to scale a business. In this revisited episode, Dart and
The Missing Discipline for Better Work | Chris Metcalfe
The Missing Discipline for Better Work | Chris Metcalfe Jul 28, 2026 5303 After years building software products, Chris Metcalfe crossed into People & Culture and noticed something surprising. Organizations invested enormous effort into understanding customers, testing ideas, and improving products, yet the work people did every day was rarely designed with the same discipline. That realization led him to ask a different question: what if work itself were managed li
Jobs to Be Done: A Better Way to Understand Customers | Jim Kalbach, Revisited
Jobs to Be Done: A Better Way to Understand Customers | Jim Kalbach, Revisited Jul 21, 2026 3891 Most companies obsess over products, but Jim Kalbach believes they're asking the wrong question. Customers don't buy products because of what they are. They "hire" them to make progress in their lives. Jobs to Be Done is a way of uncovering that progress, helping organizations stop guessing what people want and start understanding twhat people are really trying to accomplish. I
Designing Better Work With Product Thinking | Vanessa Monsequeira
Designing Better Work With Product Thinking | Vanessa Monsequeira Jul 14, 2026 4361 Vanessa Monsequeira spent years leading change initiatives and helping organizations roll out new systems. Again and again, she saw that the hardest part wasn't convincing people to change, it was that the work itself had never been intentionally designed. That realization led her to apply product thinking to the workplace, treating work as something to be researched, tested, and continuously
Beyond HR: The Rise of Human Development | Bob Aubrey, Revisited
Beyond HR: The Rise of Human Development | Bob Aubrey, Revisited Jul 7, 2026 4718 Dr. Bob Aubrey has spent decades advancing the field of human development across Asia. With experience spanning 25 countries and six continents, he founded and chairs the Advisory Board of the ASEAN Human Development Organisation (AHDO), which promotes human development across the region and beyond. In this episode, Dart and Bob discuss the global human development movement, where it fits alongsid
Teal Organizations: A Better Way to Organize Work | Matthew Spaur
Teal Organizations: A Better Way to Organize Work | Matthew Spaur Jun 30, 2026 3999 Most organizations are built around hierarchy, clear reporting lines, and top-down control. But a growing number are experimenting with a different way of organizing work through self-management, distributed authority, and evolving purpose. As more organizations experiment with alternatives to traditional management, Matthew Spaur has spent years studying Teal organizations and what actually happe
Experience Design: Creating More Meaningful Work | Abraham Burickson, Revisited
Experience Design: Creating More Meaningful Work | Abraham Burickson, Revisited Jun 23, 2026 4460 Twenty years ago, Abraham Burickson and his collaborators asked a simple question: what if a work of art were designed for just one person? Instead of creating experiences for the masses, they spent months crafting deeply personal journeys for an audience of one. That experiment grew into a new way of thinking about design, participation, and transformation. In this revisited episode, Dart and Abr
Building Organizations for a Future That Doesn't Fit the Past | Rishad Tobaccowala
Building Organizations for a Future That Doesn't Fit the Past | Rishad Tobaccowala Jun 16, 2026 3979 Rishad Tobaccowala has spent much of his career breaking out of boxes. First it was the spreadsheet and the idea that organizations can be managed through numbers alone. Then it was the office and the assumptions built into how we supervise and coordinate work. More recently, he has turned his attention to the broader structures that shape how we work and learn. In this episode, Dart and Rishad di
Talentism: Building Organizations Around Human Potential | Jeff Hunter, Revisited
Talentism: Building Organizations Around Human Potential | Jeff Hunter, Revisited Jun 9, 2026 4289 After years leading recruiting and talent systems at companies like Bridgewater, Electronic Arts, and Dolby, Jeff Hunter came to believe that many of our assumptions about talent, hiring, and performance are fundamentally wrong. The problem is not that people lack potential. The problem is that the systems around them often fail to recognize or develop it. In this revisited episode, Dart and Jeff
Beyond Collective Impact: What It Really Takes to Change a System | John Kania
Beyond Collective Impact: What It Really Takes to Change a System | John Kania Jun 2, 2026 3689 Many of the problems we care most about cannot be solved by a single organization. That insight helped John Kania develop Collective Impact, a framework for bringing people together around shared goals. But over time, Kania noticed that coordination alone was not enough. Even when groups made progress, the deeper patterns of the system often remained unchanged. In this episode, Dart and John discu

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