THE BEST BITS: Episodes 21-29

Audio production by James Ede, Be Heard
Every tenth episode of CultureLab, we look back at the previous 9 episodes and pick the ‘best bits’: the tips and stories that help us demystify organisational and team culture to make it more accessible and less overwhelming in its complexity.
The Best Bits episode is also an opportunity to zoom out and see the big picture, extracting common themes from the interviews with our diverse group of guests.
This time, yet again, we had a truly eclectic mix of guests: Rahaf Harfoush, Kate Cairns, Sue Black, Garry Ridge, Wendy Smith, Patty McCord, Kip Lambert, Dave Ulrich, and Ayse Birsel.
Here’s what you will find in this compilation:
- How Dave Ulrich defines culture and why he believes that we should be building a culture from the outside-in
- The “secret sauce” of Netflix’s success
- What’s more important than technology in the future of work according to Digital Anthropologist, Rahaf Harfoush
- Why Garry Ridge and Kip Lambert credit the culture of their companies for their financial success
- Professor Wendy Smith talking about why we tend to get trapped in false dichotomies and how to break free of them by adopting a paradox mindset
- What Patty McCord, the author of “Powerful”, has to say about the so-called “culture of fear” in Netflix
- Ayse Birsel speaking on how you can use design thinking and process to design a culture that your customers and employees love
- Professor Sue Black sharing what she does when she sees a problem that she cares about
- Kate Cairns on why we have more power to drive change than we think
Listen to this episode on the player below, or on iTunes. If you like what you hear, please leave a review and it may be featured on a future episode.
Audio production by James Ede, Be Heard
Resources and Books Mentioned in the Past Episodes
Books:
“A Good Time to be a Girl” – Helena Morrissey
“Design the Life You Love” – Ayse Birsel
“Dynamic Administration: The Collected Papers of Mary Parker Follett“ – Mary Parker Follett
“Growing Up Digital” – Don Tapscott
“Helping People Win at Work: A Business Philosophy Called ‘Don’t Mark My Paper, Help Me Get an A’” – Ken Blanchard and Garry Ridge
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” – Maya Angelou
“Imagine it Forward” – Beth Comstock
“Quiet” – Susan Cain
“Saving Bletchley Park” – Dr. Sue Black
“Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time” – Jeff Sutherland
“The Advantage” – Patrick Lencioni
“The Creative Habit” – Twyla Tharp
“The Design of Everyday Things” – Don Norman
“The Happiness Hypothesis” – Jonathan Haid
“The Hiding Place” – Corrie Ten Boom
“The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact” – Chip and Dan Heath
“The Prince” – Niccolò Machiavelli
“The SPEED of TRUST: The One Thing That Changes Everything” – Stephen M.R. Covey
“The Wisdom of Crowds” – James Surowiecki
“Think Wrong” – Reid Hoffman
“What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” – Marshall Goldsmith
Authors to Follow:
Charles O’Reilly
Edward Lawler
Jeffrey Pfeffer
Professor Linda Gratton
Ram Charan
Steve Denning
Various:
Ayse’s interview for Interior Magazine is available here
Garry’s recommended reading can be found here
Orange paper by Birsel + Seck: “What Millennials Want at Work – download it here
Recommended website and tool: Terms of Service Didn’t Read
Connect:
Ayse Birsel – Twitter, LinkedIn, or her website
Dave Ulrich – Twitter, LinkedIn, or his website
Garry Ridge – Twitter, LinkedIn, or his website
Kate Cairns – Twitter, LinkedIn, or her website
Kip Lambert – Facebook, LinkedIn, or on the Destinations website
Patty McCord – Twitter, LinkedIn, or her website
Rahaf Harfoush – Twitter, LinkedIn, or her website
Dr. Sue Black – Twitter, LinkedIn, or her website
Professor Wendy Smith – Twitter, or LinkedIn
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