What Works

The labor market has undergone a sea change in the last 20 years. A full third of US workers are part of the independent workforce, including gig workers, contract workers, freelancers, and sole proprietors. And yet, key provisions in our labor regulations do not cover independent workers.What's more, platform companies have further changed our idea of work. If you sell your labor on a platform, you're not an employee of the platform—you're an entrepreneur.Well, those entrepreneurs are starting to ask questions. I am, too.Today's episode examines one organization's attempt to organize the indie workforce. The Indie Sellers Guild formed in the wake of a strike action in April 2022 by 30,000 Etsy sellers. I spoke with executive director Chiarra Lohr about what they've been up to, the challenges they face, and the victories they've already celebrated.Plus, you'll learn a bit about the history of working women's organizing in the US—starting back in the 1830s!Footnotes:Learn more about the Indie Sellers GuildWhat Works Ep 385: "Who do you work for?"The Lowell Offering by Benita EislerThe Voice of Industry digital archive"History & Culture" — Lowell National Historical ParkPlatform Capitalism by Nick SrincekMonopsony 101 via InvestopediaNational Labor Relations Act of 1935Check out the Indie Sellers Guild Convention (00:00) - April 2022 Etsy Strike (00:59) - Introduction (01:45) - More on the 2022 strike (03:18) - The Lowell mill girls and early labor organizing (07:38) - The push for a 10-hour workday (10:13) - Chiarra's origin story (11:25) - Etsy is a platform, which complicate organizing (13:26) - Platform policies impact who is on the platform, what is successful, and how businesses are structure (15:05) - Example: shipping policies (16:08) - Example: production partners (17:01) - Example: the Star Seller program (19:20) - A labor monopsony? (22:09) - Etsy passes off platform problems as individual problems (24:06) - Internal competition makes it harder to see common struggles (24:53) - How the ISG is doing things differently (26:13) - Why independent workers don't have the same rights as other workers under the NLRA (or the NLSA) (28:26) - Working in solidarity with other organizations (30:13) - Success: Fighting the reserve payments policy (32:48) - Success-in-the-making: the COOL Online Act (33:22) - Success-in-the-making: the Marketplace Accreditation Program (33:47) - The ISG is also focused on education & member enrichment (35:22) - Conclusion: we have an opportunity (36:59) - Credits ★ Support this podcast ★

The Center for Nonviolent Communication describes what they teach as "empathy in action." And so it seems fitting to close out this series on Decoding Empathy with a look at nonviolence, Nonviolent Communication, and making social spaces at work & beyond that work for more people. I talked with Leonie Smith, founder of The Thoughtful Workplace, about how she uses the tools and practices of nonviolence to help individuals and teams feel more seen and understood.Footnotes:Find out more about Leonie Smith and The Thoughtful WorkplaceWatch the Ask Leonie video seriesThe Expulsion of the Other by Byung-Chul Han"Ahimsa" on WikipediaThe Center for Nonviolent Communication"The 'Magic' of Meeting in Person" by Devon PriceThe Notebooks of Simone Weil edited and translated by Arthur WillsRelated:My conversation with Mara Glatzel on the economics of "neediness"My conversation with Charlie Gilkey about implied rules and better team habitsCheck out the full Decoding Empathy series!Every episode of What Works is also released in essay form at whatworks.fyi! (00:00) - What if meetings came with instructions? (02:54) - A bias toward sameness (07:33) - Introducing Leonie Smith, founder of The Thoughtful Workplace (08:33) - Violence is embedded in Sameness (09:36) - What is nonviolence? (11:11) - What is Nonviolent Communication? (14:08) - Example: how to request accommodation (16:54) - Welcoming diverse forms of expression (18:23) - Managing a wider range of expressions (without it getting out of control) (21:14) - "Widen our window of tolerance" for normative behavior (23:49) - How do we know if what we're doing is working? (25:49) - Leonie's vision for the thoughtful workplace of the future (27:13) - Simone Weil on reading people (29:12) - Byung-Chul Han on listening (30:20) - Credits ★ Support this podcast ★

I have learned a lot about cognitive empathy by learning copywriting. After all, copywriting is a puzzle—the puzzle of figuring out what someone is thinking or feeling and how you can connect your idea to that thought or feeling. So, it seemed only fitting that I would invite a copywriter to this series on decoding empathy to share her process and give you a behind-the-scenes look at cognitive empathy in practical application. In this episode, I get real nerdy with Samantha Pollack, a positioning strategist and copywriter, and think about how the digital doppelgangers we create via our personal brands might help us get curious about who is behind others' digital doppelgangers. Footnotes:Find out more about Samantha Pollack and Cult of PersonalityDoppelganger by Naomi Klein"The Politics of Recognition" by Charles Taylor in MulticulturalismFind every essay and episode in the Decoding Empathy series.Every episode of What Works is also released in essay form at whatworks.fyi! (00:00) - Introduction (01:16) - Doppelganger by Naomi Klein (04:58) - The tension between who we are and who we want to become (09:11) - Behind the scenes of Samantha's copywriting process (12:36) - How Samantha learns more about her client's customers (16:01) - How to write in someone else's voice (17:45) - How to write in someone else's voice (21:45) - Two more tools for learning about customers (26:08) - Sometimes people surprise you (26:54) - What's the difference between the person and the personal brand? (31:09) - Doppelgangers remind us to be curious about ourselves, others, and how we're all connected (33:07) - Credits ★ Support this podcast ★

In this podcast, Erin Perkins discusses the importance of empathy in online accessibility, sharing her journey as a deafblind individual. The episode highlights the value of inclusivity, understanding, and implementing simple accessibility measures. It also delves into the significance of embracing diversity, self-acceptance, and radical accessibility in creating inclusive spaces.

Discover how to get noticed in a world that overlooks you as behavioral scientist N. Chloé Nwangwu discusses helping underrecognized individuals emerge. Explore the impact of societal norms on visibility, navigating exclusion in conflict resolution, the power of branding for inclusivity, and fostering empathy in the workplace.

Today, we peel back the layers of a term that's become ubiquitous in the business world and beyond: empathy. In this episode, empathy's origin story. Er, stories. We'll explore its philosophical roots deep in the 19th century, through my personal trials and errors with empathy, to some of the challenges we face in empathizing with people we have less in common with. Ultimately, I want to explore the ways empathy invites curiosity, leverages imagination, and recognizes our differences.This is the first in a 5-part series in which I'm decoding empathy. We'll talk brand strategy, non-violent communication, disability, and copywriting. And all throughout the series, we'll look for ways to recognize difference instead of assuming sameness.Footnotes:"Build Your Creative Confidence: Empathy Maps" via IDEOBewilderment by Richard Powers"Double empathy, explained" by Rachel Zamzow "On the Ontological Status of Autism: the 'double empathy' problem" by Damian Milton"Don't Mourn for Us" by Jim SinclairEmpathy: Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives by Amy Coplan and Peter GoldieWaiting for God by Simone WeilNot Mentioned:Anderson, Ellie , and David Peña-Guzmán. 2020. “Episode 07: What’s the Deal with Empathy?” Overthink Podcast. December 1, 2020. Ganczarek, J., Hünefeldt, T., & Olivetti Belardinelli, M. (2018). From "Einfühlung" to empathy: exploring the relationship between aesthetic and interpersonal experience. Cognitive processing, 19(2), 141–145. Every episode of What Works is also published in essay form at whatworks.fyiIf you love deep dives like this series, please consider becoming a premium subscriber. You get access to my premium columns, quarterly live workshops, and discussion thread. Visit: whatworks.fyi/subscribe (00:00) - The Language of Empathy (00:07) - Corporate Empathy (01:20) - Empathy's Origin Story (04:54) - My Empathy Engine (10:48) - Empathy in Richard Powers's Novel, Bewilderment (14:54) - The Double Empathy Problem (19:33) - No, Really: What Is Empathy?! (21:18) - 1. Empathy can be cognitive and/or affective. (22:19) - 2. Empathy is a product of imagination. (22:49) - 3. Empathy is situational. (23:44) - Recognizing Difference Is Part of Empathy (28:13) - Simone Weil's Attention (31:22) - Attention (and Empathy) Isn't Attached To Outcomes ★ Support this podcast ★

The podcast discusses the challenges of adapting to changes in operational processes and strategies in entrepreneurship. It explores running a podcast production agency, facing client attrition, and regaining stability. The importance of creating effective procedures and maintenance for evolving processes is highlighted.

In this episode, the host reflects on beliefs about quality of life influenced by Star Trek's Data, discussing technoableism, self-judgment, and narratives of overcoming. They explore societal expectations, identity, and disabilities, raising thought-provoking questions. The episode ends with an introduction to a transformative course on reshaping perspectives on work-life balance and success.

The proliferation of derivative nonsense on various social media platforms begs the question: Is it possible to make a TikTok video, Instagram post, or LinkedIn update that's remarkable? Is it possible for repetition to be an asset? For repetition to even be remarkable?In this episode, I take a deep dive into gimmicks—the formulaic and repetitive media that can help us think in new ways. Specifically, I'm looking at Frankie's Cultural Observations. If you don't know the series, I'm delighted to share it with you today!This is the 3rd in my series, What Makes This Remarkable, where I break down remarkable content I come across to give you new perspectives on your own work (creative or otherwise). Premium subscribers also get "Remarkable Homework"—prompts for thinking differently about your projects—and the chance to ask questions or discuss that week's lessons. Upgrade your subscription to join in!Footnotes:What Makes This Remarkable (60 Songs That Explain the '90s, Savior Complex)Frankie's Cultural Observations on YouTube"Observing Frankie McNamara's Observations" by Brandon Tauczik in Paper MagazineSandwiches of History on YouTubeGirl with the Dogs on YouTubeWorking definition for the gimmick as a medium: A gimmick is a nonsequential series of works that utilize a novel scheme, angle, or device to explore a network of ideas."Why Write In Form?" by Rebecca Hazelton via The Poetry FoundationAmusing Ourselves to Death by Neil PostmanHyperculture by Byung-Chul HanTed Nelson & "intertwingularity"The Cluetrain ManifestoAll new episodes are available in written essay form at whatworks.fyi***If you’re questioning your relationship to work but finding it difficult to make lasting changes, I’d love to help.I’m committed to helping you confront and deconstruct big assumptions that compete with your good intentions. And that’s exactly what we’re doing in my new 8-week cohort-based course, Rethink Work.We’ll examine the beliefs, stories, and systems that keep us hustling—even when it hurts—so you can make changes that last and create a more sustainable approach to work. (00:00) - Gimmicks (00:08) - Introduction (02:20) - What Makes This Remarkable: Gimmicks (03:52) - Frankie's Cultural Observations (08:37) - The Gimmick as a Medium (14:23) - Gimmicks are like Poetry (17:24) - Citing Theorists to Think About TikTok (21:33) - Intertwingularity and Hyper-rationality (24:33) - New Media Influence How We Think (26:08) - Conclusion (27:32) - You're invited to Rethink Work ★ Support this podcast ★

This podcast episode explores the changes in content promotion online, the ineffectiveness of self-promotion in digital content, and the importance of meaningful and engaging media beyond promoting oneself. It introduces the concept of 'in shitification' and the three R's of digital content - respecting the medium, respecting the audience, and redistributing the idea.