Future Of Work Podcast

Afleveringen

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  Joe O'Connor: Can Working Less Actually Mean Achieving More? 18.08.2026 39min

  In this episode, Daniel Lamadrid interviews Joe O'Connor, a globally recognized researcher, consultant, and advocate for work time reduction. Originally from Ireland, O'Connor began studying compressed schedules in the Irish Public Service nearly a decade ago, where he discovered that employees who dropped to four days — at 80% pay — were delivering essentially the same output as their five-day colleagues. That finding led him to Parkinson's Law and, eventually, to leading the world's first coordinated private-sector four-day workweek pilot and the landmark post-pandemic trials in the UK, Ireland, and North America.   Today, O'Connor leads Work Time Revolution, advising hundreds of companies across industries and continents on redesigning work around shorter schedules and AI adoption. His book, Do More in 4 (Harvard Business Review Press), is the definitive playbook on making reduced work time operationally and commercially sustainable. Find him on LinkedIn, at worktimerevolution.com, or at domorein4.com.
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  The Future of Hybrid Work Requires Better Leadership with Ranya Nehmeh 04.08.2026 29min

  About This Episode  The debate over remote work versus office work continues, but many organizations are asking the wrong question. Instead of focusing on where employees work, leaders should be asking how work creates value and what conditions help people perform at their best.  In this episode of the Future of Work® Podcast, Frank Cottle speaks with HR strategist and leadership expert Ranya Nehmeh about why hybrid work remains one of the most misunderstood topics in business. Drawing from her research and her book In Praise of the Office, Ranya explains why flexibility alone is no longer enough. Organizations must intentionally design hybrid work around collaboration, mentoring, innovation, and business outcomes rather than arbitrary attendance policies.  Together, they explore leadership, change management, talent attraction, AI adoption, workplace flexibility, organizational culture, and why good managers ultimately determine whether any workplace strategy succeeds. Whether your organization is fully remote, hybrid, or office-based, this conversation offers practical guidance for building workplaces that balance employee expectations with organizational needs.  
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  Rethinking Workplace Wellness for Modern Teams with Wesley Edmonds, Melissa Doman & Angela R. Howard 28.07.2026 12min

  About This Episode  What makes employees want to come into the office? How should leaders approach conversations about mental health? Why do workplace debates repeat across generations? This Future of Work® Expert Compilation brings together three respected voices to examine the human side of work and what organizations can do to create environments where people and businesses thrive.  Wesley Edmonds explains why today's workplace must earn employees' commute through thoughtful, human-centered design. Melissa Doman discusses how leaders can approach mental health conversations with greater clarity, preparation, and purpose. Angela R. Howard explores why many workplace assumptions have existed for generations and why organizations should return to the fundamentals of dignity, fairness, and respect.  Together, these conversations highlight a common theme: successful organizations place people at the center of workplace design, leadership decisions, and organizational culture. For leaders navigating changing employee expectations, this episode offers practical ideas for creating workplaces that strengthen collaboration, communication, and long-term performance.   
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  Why Remote Work Requires Better Systems, Not More Meetings with Darren Murph 20.07.2026 41min

  About This Episode  Remote work has matured far beyond simply allowing employees to work from home. As organizations embrace distributed teams and artificial intelligence, the conversation is no longer about location—it's about designing systems that enable people to work effectively from anywhere.  In this episode of the Future of Work® Podcast, Frank Cottle welcomes Darren Murph, recognized by CNBC as an "oracle of remote work" and former workplace strategy leader at GitLab. Together, they examine why successful distributed organizations don't happen by accident. They discuss the importance of intentional workplace design, operational discipline, documentation, knowledge management, AI readiness, asynchronous collaboration, and the rise of small, globally connected companies.  The conversation also explores the future of entrepreneurship, the "manager of one" philosophy, coworking as an extension of remote work, operational fit, and why AI makes organizational knowledge more valuable than ever. Whether you're building a startup, leading a distributed team, or preparing your organization for AI, this episode offers practical insights into creating resilient, scalable organizations. 
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  Why AI's Biggest Opportunity For Businesses Goes Beyond Cost Cutting with Brian Solis 14.07.2026 40min

  About This Episode  Artificial intelligence has quickly become one of the defining forces influencing business, but many organizations are still approaching it as a cost-cutting exercise rather than an opportunity to create new value. In this episode of the Future of Work® Podcast, Frank Cottle welcomes Brian Solis, Head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow, to discuss why today's AI moment represents far more than another technology cycle.  Brian explains why organizations stand at a crossroads. One path focuses on improving yesterday's business through automation and efficiency. The other embraces AI as a catalyst for innovation, new business models, and entirely new forms of value creation. Throughout the conversation, Frank and Brian explore leadership, trust, workforce reinvention, AI augmentation, entrepreneurship, organizational culture, and the growing responsibility leaders have in guiding people through unprecedented technological change.  The discussion also examines why smaller organizations may be uniquely positioned to compete in the AI era, how AI can expand human capability instead of replacing it, and why curiosity, imagination, and courage will become defining leadership qualities. For executives, entrepreneurs, and workplace leaders preparing for what's next, this episode provides a thoughtful roadmap for building organizations that grow through innovation rather than fear. 
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  Why AI Is Changing Jobs Before It Changes Employment with Sebastian Fixson 07.07.2026 41min

  About This Episode  Artificial intelligence has become one of the defining topics in business, yet much of the public conversation continues to focus on one question: Will AI eliminate jobs? In this episode of the Future of Work® Podcast, Frank Cottle welcomes Sebastian Fixson, Professor of Innovation & Design at Babson College and Founder of the Work Futures Lab, to examine a far more meaningful question: how AI is changing the way work itself is designed.  Rather than focusing solely on automation, Sebastian explains why organizations should rethink workflows, redesign value streams, and develop innovation capabilities that allow employees and AI to work together. The conversation explores how AI is influencing productivity, organizational structures, decision-making, leadership, entrepreneurship, hybrid work, and the future quality of work. Throughout the discussion, Sebastian emphasizes that technology alone rarely creates lasting value. Organizations realize AI's full potential only when they redesign the systems surrounding it.  Whether you're leading a large enterprise, building a startup, or preparing your workforce for AI, this episode offers a thoughtful framework for understanding how organizations can embrace innovation while creating work that remains productive, engaging, and meaningful. 
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  Why AI Won't Fix Broken Workflows with Peter Cappelli 30.06.2026 41min

  About This Episode  Artificial intelligence is dominating boardroom conversations, yet many organizations are struggling to move beyond experimentation. In this episode of the Future of Work® Podcast, Frank Cottle sits down with Peter Cappelli, one of the world's leading researchers on management, employment, and workplace strategy, to separate perception from reality.  Drawing on decades of research, Cappelli explains why AI implementation is less about technology and more about organizational design. The conversation explores workflow analysis, job design, hybrid work, remote collaboration, workplace relationships, onboarding, office strategy, and why many executives are approaching AI implementation the wrong way.  The discussion also examines return-to-office policies, the purpose of the office, flexible work models, and why relationships remain the foundation of collaboration. Whether you're implementing AI, leading organizational change, or refining your workplace strategy, this episode provides practical guidance rooted in research rather than speculation. 
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  Why Employees Reject Managers, Return-to-Office Rules, and Even AI Rollouts with Matt Bertman, Nick Bloom and Ram Srinivasan 23.06.2026 11min

  About This Episode  Leadership, workplace flexibility, and artificial intelligence are often treated as separate conversations. In reality, they are increasingly interconnected forces influencing how organizations attract talent, engage employees, and prepare for the future.  In this Future of Work® Podcast Expert Compilation, three leading voices explore the human side of workplace transformation. Matt Bertman shares research revealing growing employee dissatisfaction with management and explains what employees are asking for from today's leaders. Nick Bloom examines why hybrid work continues to outperform rigid return-to-office mandates and what organizations are learning about employee preferences. Ram Srinivasan explores the people side of AI adoption and explains why technology initiatives succeed or fail based on trust, mindset, and change management.  The speakers collectively explain how employees reject managers, RTO rules, and AI rollouts for the same reason: weak trust, poor communication, and misaligned expectations. Success depends less on policies or tech and more on how well organizations bring people into change.  Together, these conversations reveal a common theme: organizations that succeed in the future of work will be those that understand human behavior as deeply as they understand technology. Whether addressing leadership, workplace flexibility, or AI, people remain the foundation of every successful transformation. 
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  Why Employees Still Skip the Office—and What Workplace Design Can Do About It with Wesley Edmonds 09.06.2026 40min

  About This Episode  Hybrid work is no longer an experiment and has now become the standard operating model for much of the workforce. In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, Frank Cottle spoke with Wesley Edmonds, Director of Workplace at OFS, to explore how organizations can create workplaces that employees genuinely want to use.  Drawing from workplace research, design expertise, and conversations with architects, designers, and business leaders, Wesley explains why today's workplace must go far beyond furniture, layouts, and amenities. The discussion examines employee autonomy, workplace experience, culture, productivity, and the growing importance of designing environments that support a wide range of work styles and human needs.  The conversation also explores the role of AI, flexible workspace strategies, coworking environments, and how organizations can prepare for constant change. As companies continue balancing employee expectations with business goals, this episode offers practical insights into creating workplaces that support engagement, performance, and long-term talent retention. 
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  Why Every Generation Is Asking for Dignity at Work with Angela R. Howard 02.06.2026 36min

  About This Episode  In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, Frank Cottle speaks with Angela R. Howard, Founder of Call for Culture, about the deeper cultural changes influencing today’s workplace. Drawing from her background in organizational psychology, people-centered culture strategy, and workplace change, Angela explores why generational conversations often repeat throughout history and why leaders must focus on dignity, respect, fair pay, belonging, and human-centered leadership. The conversation also examines AI’s role in management, the future of leadership, the connection between education and workforce development, and how organizations can build cultures that support both people and performance. 
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  Leadership Mental Health: The Business Priority Companies Can’t Ignore with Melissa Doman 19.05.2026 41min

  In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, host Daniel Lamadrid speaks with Melissa Doman, MA, an organizational psychologist, former mental health therapist, author, and founder of The Workplace Mental Health Method™. Melissa brings deep expertise from her work with global companies including Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, Siemens, Dow Jones, Estée Lauder, and more.  The conversation explores why leaders are often expected to support everyone else’s mental health while their own emotional toll goes unaddressed. Melissa explains how workplace mental health conversations can become more effective, appropriate, and practical, especially as organizations navigate remote work, loneliness, flexibility, communication challenges, and rising pressure on leaders. For listeners, this episode offers a grounded look at how companies can support human functioning, healthier leadership, and stronger workplace cultures in the future of work.
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  Distributed Work: Insights for Success with Nadia Vatalidis, Tony Jamous, and Sophie Wade 05.05.2026 11min

  About This Episode  This episode of The Future of Work® Podcast brings together three leading voices shaping distributed work and global workforce strategy. Nadia Vatalidis, Head of People at Doist, shares how organizations can scale remote-first teams across dozens of countries while maintaining strong culture and operational efficiency. Tony Jamous, founder of Oyster, expands the conversation to the global economy, explaining how distributed hiring can unlock talent at scale and increase economic opportunity worldwide. Sophie Wade, workforce innovator and founder of Flexcel Network, grounds the discussion in the practical reality of work design, emphasizing the need to rethink workflows to effectively integrate AI.  Together, their insights provide a forward-looking perspective on how organizations can compete globally, design better systems of work, and connect talent, technology, and opportunity across borders.   
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  Why the Future Office Must Earn the Commute in an AI-Driven World with Bob Cicero 28.04.2026 38min

  About This Episode  In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, Frank Cottle speaks with Bob Cicero, who leads Future Proofed Workplace for Real Estate at Cisco, about how AI is transforming the physical workplace. The conversation explores the rise of agentic AI, the growing role of digital workers, the move toward collaborative “we space,” and why companies must now “earn the commute” by making the office more valuable, frictionless, and human-centered. Bob brings a technology and real estate perspective to one of the biggest questions facing organizations today: how should workplaces evolve when humans, AI agents, physical space, and virtual collaboration all become part of the same operating system? 
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  Why Hope Is a Business Strategy for Leadership, Wellbeing, and the Future of Work with Jen Fisher 21.04.2026 46min

  About this episode  In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, Daniel Lamadrid speaks with Jen Fisher, a globally recognized workplace wellbeing expert, author of Hope Is The Strategy, founder and CEO of The Wellbeing Team, and Deloitte US’s first Chief Wellbeing Officer. Together, they explore why burnout is often a symptom of something deeper: hopelessness in the workplace. Jen shares why hope is not a vague emotion but a measurable, actionable strategy that helps people move through uncertainty, build momentum, and reconnect to meaningful work.  The conversation covers what leaders still get wrong about wellbeing, why perks alone cannot solve burnout, how boundaries actually improve performance, and why vulnerability at work needs to be redefined. From leadership communication and trust to AI anxiety and the expectations of younger generations, this episode offers practical insight into how organizations can build cultures where people feel seen, supported, and able to thrive. It is a timely conversation about leadership, wellbeing, and what the future of work must become if it is going to sustain people rather than drain them.   
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  The Future of Work Requires a Fractional Talent Strategy with Lara Vandenberg 14.04.2026 35min

  In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, Frank Cottle speaks with Lara Vandenberg, Founder and CEO of Assemble, about the structural changes redefining how modern teams are built. Drawing from her work with chief marketing officers and enterprise leaders, Lara explains why traditional headcount models are breaking down and why companies are moving toward capability-based ecosystems that combine full-time employees, freelance specialists, AI, and operational strategy.  The conversation explores the future of work through one of its most urgent questions: how should companies design teams when speed, uncertainty, and technology are changing faster than org charts can keep up? Together, Frank and Lara unpack the rise of fractional talent, the growing importance of internal culture, the role of AI in reducing but not eliminating jobs, and why businesses must rethink talent systems from the customer backward. For leaders navigating workforce design, marketing operations, and long-term organizational resilience, this episode offers a sharp and practical look at where work is heading next. 
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  Why Burnout at Work Is Getting Worse in the Age of AI and Remote Work with Dr. Guy Winch 07.04.2026 43min

  About This Episode  In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, Daniel Lamadrid speaks with Dr. Guy Winch, internationally renowned psychologist, bestselling author, and leading voice on emotional health, about why burnout, stress, and overwork continue to intensify even as awareness around well-being has grown. Drawing from his latest book, Mind Over Grind: How to Break Free When Work Hijacks Your Life, Dr. Winch explores the paradox of modern work: companies talk more about emotional health than ever before, yet people remain overwhelmed, mentally depleted, and unable to disconnect.  The conversation examines how burnout at work now extends far beyond office hours, especially in an era shaped by remote work, AI anxiety, blurred boundaries, hustle culture, and nonstop digital access. Dr. Winch explains the psychological patterns that keep people stuck in rumination, why overwork erodes productivity rather than improving it, and what leaders and employees can do to build healthier, more sustainable ways of working. This episode offers timely insight into the future of work by showing that emotional adaptability, psychological awareness, and intentional recovery are becoming essential human skills in a rapidly changing workplace. 
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  Future of Work Leadership Is Changing: From Burnout to Trust, Purpose, and Performance with Kurtis Lee Thomas, Stephanie Chung and Jasmine Escalera 24.03.2026 12min

  About This Episode  The future of work is no longer defined by productivity alone—it is being reformed by how organizations prioritize people, leadership, and purpose. In this Expert Compilation episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, three leading voices explore the fundamental changes transforming how we work, lead, and build sustainable organizations.  Kurtis Lee Thomas, founder of Breathwork Detox, shares how workplace well-being is evolving from a perk into a measurable, strategic business priority—impacting performance, retention, and long-term resilience. Stephanie Chung, former Chief Growth Officer at Wheels Up, brings over 30 years of leadership experience to redefine what it takes to build high-performing teams, emphasizing trust, vulnerability, and the neuroscience of winning. Finally, Jasmine Escalera, PhD, a career expert and LinkedIn Top Voice, explores how Gen Z is shaping expectations around work, identity, and success—challenging organizations to adapt or risk losing emerging talent.  Together, these perspectives reveal a clear truth: the organizations that will thrive in the future of work are those that prioritize human experience as much as performance. 
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  The Future of Work Demands Fewer, Smarter Meetings with Rebecca Hinds 17.03.2026 32min

  About This Episode  Meeting culture is one of the most overlooked yet costly dysfunctions in modern organizations. In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, Daniel Lamadrid was joined by Rebecca Hinds, PhD—organizational behavior expert and author of Your Best Meeting Ever—to speak about why meetings persist despite being widely disliked, and how leaders can transform them into powerful tools for progress.  Drawing on research from Stanford, Worklytics, and her experience founding the Work Innovation Lab at Asana and the Work AI Institute at Glean, Rebecca explains how visibility bias, meeting debt, and hybrid dysfunction are driving calendar overload and burnout. She introduces practical frameworks like the 4D Test (Decide, Debate, Discuss, Develop), Meeting Doomsday, and Return on Time Investment (ROTI) to help leaders and teams reset their collaboration systems.  As AI alters how we work, Rebecca challenges organizations to use technology intentionally—freeing meetings for the deeply human work of creativity, trust-building, and decision-making. This episode is a masterclass in designing meeting culture that truly advances business outcomes in the future of work. 
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  Quantum Cities And The Real Estate Experience: Workplace Strategy As An Economic Engine With Chase Garbarino 10.03.2026 42min

  About this episode  In this episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, Frank Cottle is joined by Chase Garbarino, Co-Founder and CEO of HqO, to explore how cities evolve when we treat them like outcomes-driven systems rather than tech experiments. Chase introduces the framework behind “Quantum Cities,” arguing that technology must serve measurable results—starting with GDP—while balancing essential principles like privacy, liberty, and economic dynamism. Together, they connect the dots between city revitalization, the changing demands of the workforce, and the growing need for better feedback loops on what people actually value.  The conversation then moves into the practical reality of commercial real estate and workplace experience—from the limitations of legacy landlord thinking to the rise of “experience” as the new differentiator. Chase explains why the industry must become more customer-oriented and data-driven, including concepts like tenant health scores and better success signals tied to renewal and expansion. Frank expands the lens with a “food chain” view: if the employee experience breaks, every layer above it—tenants, buildings, cities, capital—eventually feels the impact.   
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  Workplace Strategy Is Becoming A Consumer Experience, Not A Real Estate Decision with Sue Asprey Price 03.03.2026 45min

  About this episode  Workplace strategy is being rewritten in real time—and this conversation makes the shift unmistakable. Frank Cottle sits down with Sue Asprey Price, a workplace and real estate strategist at JLL, to unpack how organizations are moving beyond “office vs. remote” and into a more precise question: how do we design an experience that improves talent outcomes and business outcomes at the same time? From space utilization and the ROI logic leaders demand, to amenitization (including why food and proximity matter), to neurodiversity in workplace design, Sue shares what’s changing—and why it’s becoming more strategic, more data-driven, and more personalized. They also explore how AI is shifting planning from guesswork to real-time insight, helping companies justify every dollar while keeping the office relevant as a hub for connection, culture, and brand.