Work For Humans

Send us Fan MailJosh Block became president of his family’s medical imaging company at 29, just months after layoffs had shaken trust across the business. People were asking whether he was ready. His answer was simple: not fully. But he knew what he didn’t know. That humility became the starting point for how he chose to lead. Instead of protecting his position or pushing for performance at any cost, Josh shifted from what he calls the “Me Cycle” to the “We Cycle.”In this episode, Dart and Josh discuss whether leadership alone can shape culture, whether performance is the goal or the byproduct, and what it really means to believe that people matter at work.Josh Block is Executive Advisor and former President at Block Imaging, where he led the company through significant growth and cultural change. He is the founder of Cube Mobile Imaging and author of People Matter at Work.In this episode, Dart and Josh discuss:- Work as a reflection of leadership beliefs- The shift from “Me” to “We” leadership- Why humility builds trust- Performance as a byproduct, not a goal- What it means to feel safe at work- How transparency changes behavior- Why culture shows up in daily decisions- The role of leaders in shaping experience- When growth follows people, not pressure- What it means to believe people matter- And other topics…Josh Block is Executive Advisor at Block Imaging, where he previously served as President from 2011 to 2025, helping grow the company into a global provider of refurbished medical imaging equipment. He is also the founder of Cube Mobile Imaging and the author of People Matter at Work, which explores how leadership shapes culture and performance.Resources Mentioned:Josh’s Book, People Matter at Work: https://www.amazon.com/People-Matter-Work-Fostering-Everyone/dp/1637635044Connect with Josh:https://www.blockimaging.com/blog/author/josh-blockhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/joshblock1/Work with Dart:Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.

Alain Thys, experience architect and founder of Alain Thys & Co., helps companies build customer and employee experiences into their systems. He talks about turning vision into lived experience. He explains designing incentives and environments so people naturally do the right thing. He covers choosing the right customers and employees, hiring for cultural fit, and future-proofing experience and CRM design.

Margaret Heffernan, author and former CEO known for books on decision-making, explores why chasing certainty at work costs agency and creativity. She contrasts prediction-driven systems with artistic practices that embrace risk. Short, provocative takes on leadership that lets teams lead, how education and tech encourage compliance, and why curiosity and preparation beat false certainty.

William Hurst, Chong Hua Professor of Chinese Development at Cambridge who studies labor, law, and institutions in China and Indonesia. He examines why top-down rules and simplification break real work. Short takes on Seeing Like a State, how efficiency warps systems, fake compliance at work, local knowledge vs central control, and why coercive governance and distorted metrics cause harm.

Catherine Mattice, founder and CEO of Civility Partners who helps organizations fix workplace bullying and incivility. She explains how toxicity hides in sarcasm, neglect, and ambiguity. Short stories cover how culture is shaped by everyday interactions, why leaders tolerate low-level harm, and what repair truly requires.

Send us Fan MailKentaro Toyama spent a decade designing technologies to fight global poverty and improve education and health. As co-founder of Microsoft Research India lab, he made a troubling discovery – innovative technologies can’t create change on their own. Realizing that social progress depends more on people than on the technology they use, Kentaro became a self-proclaimed “geek heretic” who now teaches others the importance of putting people over tech. In this revisited episode, Dart and Kentaro discuss why technology is never the solution on its own, how human systems shape outcomes, and what it really takes to create meaningful social change.Kentaro Toyama is W.K. Kellogg Professor of Community Information at the University of Michigan, a fellow of the Dalai Lama Center at MIT, and author of Geek Heresy.In this episode, Dart and Kentaro discuss:- Why technology needs a human touch to succeed- Kentaro’s leadership at Microsoft Research India- The 10 fallacies of technology- Why the most important areas of focus are unmeasurable- The pitfalls of focusing on the end-goal- How to create societal change- Innovation versus tried-and-true approaches- The law of amplification- 3 elements of intrinsic growth- And other topics…Kentaro Toyama is W.K. Kellogg Professor of Community Information at the University of Michigan School of Information, a fellow of the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at MIT, and author of Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology. Before moving to Michigan, Kentaro co-founded Microsoft Research India, where he helped grow the lab into 60 full-time research staff. Kentaro is also a former researcher for UC Berkeley and former co-editor-in-chief of the Information Technologies and International Development journal.Resources Mentioned:Geek Heresy, by Kentaro Toyama: https://www.amazon.com/Geek-Heresy-Rescuing-Social-Technology/dp/161039528XConnect with Kentaro:www.kentarotoyama.orgWork with Dart:Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.

Send us Fan MailGeoffrey West didn’t set out to explain work. He was a physicist trying to understand why living things grow, age, and die. But when his questions expanded into biology, cities, and organizations, they offered a way to think about why growth changes how organizations behave and why success often brings new constraints. In this episode, Dart and Geoffrey discuss why work feels different as organizations scale, why cities keep renewing themselves while companies tend to burn out, and what these hidden constraints mean for the people doing the work.Geoffrey West is a British theoretical physicist and Distinguished Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. He is a former president of the Institute and the author of Scale, which explores how size shapes growth, innovation, and lifespan across living and social systems.In this episode, Dart and Geoffrey discuss:- Why work changes as organizations grow- How simple scaling laws shape complex systems- Why larger animals live longer- Why companies die younger than cities- How scale speeds up innovation- Why bureaucracy grows with success- How innovation gets crowded out over time- Why cities tolerate difference better than firms- What keeps work alive inside organizations- And other topics…Geoffrey West is a British theoretical physicist and Distinguished Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, where he previously served as president. Earlier in his career, he led the high-energy physics group at Los Alamos National Laboratory and held faculty positions at Stanford University. His research focuses on universal scaling laws in biology, cities, and social systems, examining how size shapes growth, innovation, and lifespan. He is the author of Scale.Resources Mentioned:Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies, by Geoffrey West: https://www.amazon.com/Scale-Universal-Innovation-Sustainability-Organisms/dp/014311090XConnect with Geoffrey:Official website: https://www.geoffreywest.com/Work with Dart:Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.

Peter Liljedahl, a math education professor who created the Thinking Classrooms approach, recounts redesigning classrooms to spark real thinking. He explores switching norms, using vertical whiteboards, random groups, and shared materials to boost engagement. Conversation covers how environment, evaluation, and power structures shape collaboration and creativity in learning and work.

R. Edward Freeman, Darden professor and originator of stakeholder theory, reframes business as networks of relationships. He explores how organizational systems create ethical outcomes. Short takes cover legitimacy and managerial responsibility. He contrasts ethics and strategy, explains stakeholder mapping, and urges moral imagination over trade-offs.

Alder Yarrow, an experience designer and founder of Hydrant, dives deep into why experience shapes brand perception. He shares insights on experience design versus user experience and the importance of considering employees as internal customers. Alder emphasizes the value of in-context studies over surveys and discusses how trauma-aware management can foster trust. Their conversation also highlights the critical role managers play in shaping employee experiences and how understanding the 'say-do gap' can enhance organizational growth.