Synopsis
Most mainstream models of work are not sustainable and often waste a great deal of human potential. Grateful for the privilege of receiving a PhD education studying the sociology and psychology of work at Stanford University, Carol Xu would like to give something back to society. Drawing from the fields of organizational behavior, sociology and psychology of work, and design thinking, she curates a broad spectrum of the human experience of work, from work burnout and depression to pursuing our life purpose, joy, and mastery at work. We will also explore new professions, novel work designs, and radical ways of organizing people and resources that encourage human thriving. Carol hopes that by learning from real-world stories, we can all bring some insights to our work life, design new ways to organize people and work, and ignite the imagination of others. A new episode will be released every two to five weeks. While you're waiting for the next episode, experiment with one take-away you picked up from the last episode and share your experience with Carol at carol@workstoriesproject.org. Collectively, let's re-imagine what work can be for you, your loved ones, and society as a whole!
Episodes
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![E2. Story of A Workplace Asshole-Part 2]()
E2. Story of A Workplace Asshole-Part 2
29/05/2016 Duration: 28minFull Show Transcription Welcome back to the Work Stories Project. I’m your host Carol Xu. In today’s show, Mark and his co-workers will continue with the workplace asshole story. In the last episode, Mark had no real awareness that his co-workers hated working with him for four years. When his manager Miles incidentally broke the news to him, it was a painful revelation to Mark. Mark: It just never occurred to me that I was disliked. So the idea that my self-image of being a nice guy that people generally like… To have that idea destroyed like that was eye-opening and painful. It’s like a revelation. To redeem himself, Mark went and bought flowers for the implementation coordinators (ICs for short), Mark: One flower for each IC and a little note saying, “I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole” and… I think they gave me a hug. There was reconciliation. Apologies and coming together. It just turned the whole thing around. However, notice there were limits to what a symbolic gesture could accomplish. There were no
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![E1. Story of A Workplace Asshole-Part 1]()
E1. Story of A Workplace Asshole-Part 1
16/05/2016 Duration: 37minShow Transcript [Section I: Introduction] Welcome to the Work Stories Project. I’m your host Carol Xu. Oh, workplace assholes. Have you ever worked with one? Have you ever wondered what’s going on in their head when they’re making other people miserable? Well, I’ve got an interesting story for you. We’ll hear the victims’ perspective first. Then, we can also get into a workplace asshole’s head and poke around a little and ask him questions like “So, were you aware that others regarded you as an asshole? And how did that feel?” So, let’s get started. [music] [Section II: The Coworkers’ Perspective] Our story took place in a silicon valley startup named Bisnet in the early two thousands. The main product of the company was an online platform and database to help other companies manage their employee data, such as payroll, insurance, and employee benefits. Mark was the lead software engineer in the company. He was regarded as the workplace asshole by many of his co-workers, especially the implementation coordin
