What Works

Another episode featuring HBO's The Pitt? You know it. This time: finding your course of action in the space between personal challenges and systemic and structural failings.Footnotes:Read the essay version here."Rethinking Busyness" on What WorksHBO's The Pitt"Changes in Burnout and Satisfaction With Work–Life Integration in Physicians and the General US Working Population Between 2011 and 2023"AMA STEPS ForwardA Spectre, Haunting by China Miéville ★ Support this podcast ★

To the uninitiated, "being your own boss" sounds pretty nice. Of course, the moment you go into business for yourself, you realize the wide variety of skills it requires—skills that you yourself do not possess. Skills that you don't want to and have no intention of learning. Being your own boss means balancing a host of functions within one corporate (that is, "body") system. You can address the variety of those functions in a number of ways: learn, hire, minimize, or fight like hell and hope the problem goes away on its own. Today, I'm exploring how we think about who a small business owner or independent worker is, what mental models have informed that identity, and how that identity plays into economic reality as work in the knowledge and creative sectors becomes increasingly hard to come by.First, we'll talk about a pair of influential books. Then, I'll take a look at recent layoffs at The Washington Post. And finally, I'll propose a different way to think about what "going solo" actually means and how it can help identify the trade-offs on offer. After the main episode, I've got a brief coda about some highly relevant Grammarly drama.P.S. Making Sense starts soon! Join me for a 8-week live workshop series that helps you turn your audience's "Wait, what?!" moments into clear and compelling content. Get all the information & register here!Footnotes:Read the essay version of this episode.Get Tara's new guide Blank Slate, a workbook for rethinking your business assumptions.The E-Myth Revisited by Michael GerberRocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Michael C. Winters"Washington Post lays off one-third of its newsroom" via NBC News"Washington Post cuts one third of its staff" via CNN"Grammarly is using our identities without permission" by Stevie Bonifield on The Verge"Grammarly will continue using authors' identities unless they opt out" by Sean Hollister on The Verge[ UPDATE ] There have been two developments in the Grammarly story. First, it wasn’t user error (thank goodness). Superhuman did, in fact, disable the feature on Wednesday, March 11. Second, journalist Julia Angwin filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all those whose identities were used improperly. Superhuman’s CEO issued a statement that did include an apology. (00:00) - Company of Multiple Personalities (02:38) - Part 1: The Myth of Solo Entrepreneurship (08:21) - Part 2: There's Always the Creator Economy (There Isn't) (16:25) - Part 3: Business Beyond Money-Making (20:21) - A Code ★ Support this podcast ★

So a couple of weeks ago, I downloaded Final Cut Pro and committed to learning how to use it. Despite logging hundreds, if not thousands, of hours in other video editing software, this is a big challenge. I took some time to reflect on how I make sense of learning a new skill like this—because learning new skills is an essential component of navigating the 21st-century economy.Footnotes:Read the essay version of this episode here.The Adult Learner by Malcolm Knowles"Apple Creator Studio is launching to take on Adobe" on The VergeRegistration for Making Sense, an 8-week workshop series on turning "Wait, what?!" moments into compelling content, is open for registration. Program starts March 24. Learn more: whatworks.fyi/makingsense ★ Support this podcast ★

It's no secret that one of my, let's say, special interests is higher education. The reasons for this are at least threefold. First, I have a kid heading off to college next year. Second, I have past regrets and future fantasies about the academy. And third, the world of work and the realm of education overlap in myriad ways.Work and education have always had a close relationship. Access to education influences access to different types of work. New forms of work influence how we organize and deliver education.I've been talking about doing an episode or a series on the intersection of higher ed and work for... years now. Today, finally, I have an initial installment in what I hope is an ongoing, if nonsequential, look at how these two pillars of modern life influence each other.Joining me to share both her professional insight and her personal journey is Dr. Lauren Lassabe Shepherd, a historian of education and the host of the American Campus Podcast.Footnotes:Read an edited transcript of this conversation.Learn more about Lauren Lassabe Shepherd.Resistance from the Right by Lauren Lassabe ShepherdThe Old is Dying and the New Cannot Be Born by Nancy Fraser"Adjunct professors deserve professional development" by Anna Conway and Thomas Tobin at Insight Higher Ed"An Army of Temps: AFT Adjunct Faculty Quality of Work/Life Report" "The Secret Lives of Adjunct Professors" by Gila Berryman at ElleJustice Lewis Power Jr. and the Powell Memo on WikipediaMore about futurist Bryan AlexanderMore about Indigenous studies scholar Sandy GrandeCheck out the American Campus Podcast:Mentioned in the Episode:"The peak and decline of US higher ed with Bryan Alexander""How to get a job at Harvard in 1860 with prabhdeep kehal"A few personal favorites:"Christianity, manhood, and college football with Hunter M. Hampton""The college bookstore racket with Katya Schwenk""The history of federal student loans with Elizabeth Tandy Shermer" (00:00) - Rethinking Higher Ed for the 21st-Century Economy with Lauren Lassabe Shepherd (00:03) - Cold Open (00:42) - Intro (53:31) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

How often do you revisit old work? Do you have systems for circling back to what you've created in the past to see how you could improve upon it or take it in a new direction? In this episode, I consider the practice of circling back through Mckenzie Wark's theory of "hacking." And I explain why my latest project, Blank Slate, is a hack and how it came to be.Footnotes:Read the essay version of this episode.Learn more about rethinking your small business status quo with Blank Slate."Broken Links" by Tara McMullin on What WorksCapital Is Dead: Is This Something Worse? by Mckenzie WarkHow to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell"Make Something Heavy." by Anu AtluruCasey Newton on The Vergecast (31:50) explaining his creative system ★ Support this podcast ★

Have a big decision on your mind? Trying to choose between a bunch of good options?Today, I'm talking about decision-making… not so much how to choose, but the context of our choices. No decision gets made in a vacuum. Choices are always framed by circumstances, relationships, emotions, fears, and desires.The good news is that deepening our self-knowledge can be a great way to illuminate the context of our choices and point us in a productive direction. So I'm sharing an exercise from my new guide, Blank Slate, to unlock some of that self-knowledge as you head into the new year.Blank Slate officially launches on January 15, but you can pre-order today at an early bird price! Learn more here.Footnotes:Read the essay version of this episode.Clues By Sam"Delightful Misdirection (Or, How to Rethink Your Options)" at What Works"Honeydew" at What Works (00:00) - Puzzles (02:02) - The Challenge of Making Decisions (05:23) - The Important of Self-Knowledge (07:07) - Needs & Priorities: An Excerpt from Blank Slate (09:11) - Business Strategy Is Like Algebra? (14:21) - Exercise: Needs & Priorities (20:12) - One More Thing ★ Support this podcast ★

How do you get people to care about what you care about?It's a marketing question. A movement-building question. A question at the heart of the attention economy. And in one form or another, it's the question I've probably received more than any other over the last 15+ years. After all, there is no silver-bullet social media plan, no door-knocking strategy, no magical meeting agenda that produces results if the message at its heart doesn’t resonate with those receiving it.This episode is in four chapters. In the first chapter, I assure you that getting attention is actually (relatively) easy—even if few of us are willing to do what it takes. In the second chapter, I explain why paying attention is really difficult, with the help of my favorite French philosopher. In the third chapter, I've got a story about getting my teenage daughter to watch a movie explaining esoteric financial products. And in the final chapter, I'll share a little idea I've been referring to as the Swimming Pool Theory of Communication.If you care about getting others to care about what you care about (and I know you do), this one is for you. Footnotes:Reasons my husky got mad at me this weekThings that annoyed Waffles this weekThe Subversive Simone Weil by Robert ZaretskyThe Big Short (book by Michael Lewis, film directed by Adam McKay)"Encoding/Decoding" by Stuart Hall (00:00) - Introduction (03:02) - 1. Attention is Easy (07:38) - 2. Attention is Really Hard (15:33) - 3. The Big Short (24:17) - 4. The Swimming Pool Theory of Communication ★ Support this podcast ★

Try as we might, many of us can’t shake the overwhelming sense that we're just too damn busy—that feeling that there’s something we’re forgetting about, somewhere we should be, some person we should be checking on. Busyness is sticky. And that’s because busyness is more than the amount of stuff we have on our to-do lists or the appointments on our calendars. Busyness is social, structural, and even political—though our go-to “solutions” for it tend to be individual. This episode examines busyness on a deeper level—and in doing so, offers ideas for how navigate it with more care and grace. And I can think of no better way to start than by talking about The Pitt. First, we’ll explore a nuanced theory of what busyness is and why we experience it. And then, we’ll distinguish between two forms of busyness and why differentiating between the two matters for how we navigate our responsibilities. Finally, I have a few recommendations for how we can approach limiting the harms of busyness without isolating ourselves.Footnotes:Read the written version of this episode.The Pitt on HBOThe Social Life of Busyness by Clare Holdsworth"Hers" by Barbara Ehrenreich in The New York Times (1985)Midlife by Kieran Setiya ★ Support this podcast ★

I'm pretty sure The New York Times is trolling me.Footnotes:Read the written version of this episode."Hobbies Too Relaxing? Try 'Leisure Crafting'" by Lora Kelley in The New York Times"Research: How 'Leisure Crafting' Can Help You Recharge" by Alexander B. Hamrick, et al., in Harvard Business Review"Our Yearning for Competence" by Tara McMullin"Always Be Optimizing" by Tara McMullinSelf-Help, INC by Micki McGeeTurn your meaningful ideas into remarkable media—and help others make sense of chaos. Join me for Making Sense. We start September 16! ★ Support this podcast ★

In the last episode (written version), we talked about how "sensemaking starts with chaos" and that chaos arises when our expectations don't match reality. That mismatch occurs because the mental model we have that creates our expectations doesn't work for the situation at hand. To alleviate the frustration (or at least make sense of it), we need a new mental model.Well, in this episode, I want to share 3 mental models that I use to make sense of things that frustrate people I care about.These models aren’t even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the different ways we can make sense of the world. But I do think they’re ones you can apply broadly and start using quickly. Or, you might notice that they’re models you’re already using and now can be more conscious of how you deploy them.Speaking of which, if you want to communicate with more clarity, create more persuasive messaging, and stand out from the crowd with rigorous thinking, check out Making Sense. Making Sense is my 8-week interactive workshop that walks you step-by-step through creating media that helps others make sense of the world. Whether you’re a writer, podcaster, creator, academic, marketer, or any other kind of media maker, you’ll learn new tools for producing content that offers others some relief from the confusion and frustration they feel.To learn more and register, go to makingsense.fyi.Footnotes:Read the written version of this episode."Wait, I Think You're Platform-Pilled" by Tara McMullin"Normalization" via Wikipedia"Buying Freedom and the Freedom to Buy" by Tara McMullin"Refund Policies" by Tara McMullin"The Dark Side of Fitness Trackers" by John Toner"Value Capture" by C. Thi Nguyen (00:00) - Introduction (05:38) - "Man Behind the Curtain" Framework (12:53) - The Process of Normalization (19:50) - The Theory of Value Capture (27:33) - Last Thing (29:14) - Making Sense: An 8-Week Interactive Workshop (29:57) - Credits ★ Support this podcast ★

If you're like me, you often think about what you would have done to prepare for... this job, this economy, this political climate, this financial situation, etc... if only you'd known. But you didn't know (I didn't know). And you (I) couldn't know. Some of the loudest shoulds and supposed-tos we face are those we couldn't have achieved due to the time we were born or the family we grew up in.In this episode, I reflect on the rapid changes occurring in work and the economy in the 21st century and how they relate to how I guide my now 17-year-old daughter. Then, I share my interview with sociologist and political economist Mauro Guillén about his book The Perennials: The Megatrends Creating a Postgenerational Society.Footnotes:Read the written version of this episode.The Perennials by Mauro GuillénThe Folded Sky by Elizabeth BearMidlife by Kieran Setiya***Making Sense is back!This 8-week online seminar is a step-by-step framework for turning your meaningful ideas into remarkable media—and helping others make sense of our complex and often confusing world. Whether you're a creator, academic, marketer, speaker, podcaster, or any other kind of communicator, this program is for you.The program is limited to 15 participants and runs from September 16 to November 4.Enrollment opens soon! ★ Support this podcast ★

I wanted to drop in with a quiet interlude about re-reading (or re-watching, or re-listening) and its value in a world obsessed with new and different.Footnotes:Read the essay version of this episode."Murderbot Gets Us In Ways Humans Don't" by Tara McMullin on Motley Bloom"Broken Links" by Tara McMullinLiquid Modernity by Zygmunt BaumanCapital is Dead: Is This Something Worse? by Mackenzie Wark ★ Support this podcast ★