Overcoming Overwhelm at Work with Bob Sutton & Rebecca Hinds

🎙️ In the latest episode of the NR4W Labs podcast, Elise and I are joined by bestselling author and organizational psychologist Robert I. Sutton and Rebecca Hinds, Head of the Work Innovation Lab at Asana. We dive deep into the urgent topic of workplace overwhelm.

🚀 Episode Title: 
Overcoming Overwhelm at Work with Bob Sutton & Rebecca Hinds

🔍 Key Takeaways:

• Understand the corporate overwhelm landscape

• Tackle tech overwhelm with insights from past experiments

• Find the right balance between top-down and bottom-up strategies

• Learn the power of a 'subtraction' mindset in the age of more

• Gain actionable tips for maintaining a successful subtraction mindset

🎧 Listen Now: You can listen here or watch us on YouTube:

🔥 Why You Can't Miss This: Bob & Rebecca share invaluable tactics for managing tech overwhelm and advocate for a transformative shift in mindset. From the impact of pandemic-driven tech investments to the consequences of overhiring, this episode provides a comprehensive guide to cutting through the cruft in the modern workplace.

👉 Episode Timestamps:

02:55 Understanding Corporate Overwhelm
04:10 The Exhaustion of Leadership Positions
06:14 The Role of Technology in Overwhelm
06:24 The Impact of the Pandemic on Tech Investments
08:44 The Importance of a People-First Strategy
11:38 The Balance Between Bottom-Up and Top-Down Strategies
11:53 The Role of Meetings and Collaboration Tools
21:18 The Importance of Team Resets and Refreshes
27:00 The Mythical Man Month and the Problem of Overstaffing
27:29 Apple’s Unique Approach to Team Management
27:48 The Consequences of Overhiring in Tech
28:09 The Pitfalls of Spending Money as a Substitute for Action
28:37 The Human Tendency Towards Addition and Its Impact on Organizations
30:05 The Problem of Rewarding Addition Over Subtraction
31:02 Maintaining a Successful Subtraction Mindset
40:16 The Power of Constraints in Organizational Change
42:39 The Importance of Continuously Evaluating Work Practices

Episode Resources

To learn more about our guests and their work:

• Bob Sutton

• Rebecca Hinds

• The Friction podcast

• Book (available for pre-order):
  The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder

The original HBR articles: 

• Are Collaboration Tools Overwhelming Your Team?

• Meeting Overload is a Fixable Problem

Ready to conquer collaboration overwhelm? Hit play now!

Thank you, Bob and Rebecca!

-Elise & Dave

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