Fixable

Whatever happens off-the-job comes with us to work, including our mental health. And having the right tools to talk about it is crucial to improving our experience of work. In this episode, Master Fixer and Harvard Business School professor Lauren Cohen joins Anne and Frances to deliver some surprising statistics on mental health and why it’s vital to have conversations about wellness in the workplace. Whether you’re worried about an employee who lost a loved one or don’t know how to bring up your struggle with depression to your boss – you’ll hear how to have transparent conversations that can change the way you work for the better.

What problems are you dealing with at work right now? Call/text 234-FIXABLE or email [email protected] to be featured on the show.

Transcripts for Fixable are available at https://go.ted.com/fixablescripts

Do ideas have the freedom to run in your workplace, or do they get caught in internal complexity? As companies grow, they tend to have more processes and stakeholders slowing down change. So what can you do to get things done? In this week’s episode, Anne and Frances help a rockstar Chief People Officer avoid her company’s bureaucratic tendencies and stay on the fast track to success. Tune in to learn how empowerment, reframing and intention can help accelerate your organization’s way of getting things done.

Transcripts for Fixable are available at go.ted.com/fixablescripts.

What problems are you dealing with at work right now? Text 234-FIXABLE or email [email protected] to be featured on the show.

Do you feel like you’re hitting a wall at work? This week, Anne and Frances are joined by Master Fixers Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao. Bob and Huggy are professors at Stanford University and authors of “The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder”. Together, the four discuss how anyone can eliminate the obstacles to doing their best work—and create constraints that make work even better.

Transcripts for Fixable are available at go.ted.com/fixablescripts.

You have a fantastic idea, but you're going to need help with execution. Thankfully, that’s what your network is for. In this week’s episode, a listener who developed her own pilates equipment business comes to Anne and Frances for advice on how to turn a successful product into a scalable company. With a little help from Anne and Frances, Bree learns actionable ways to ask the right people for help and make her goals a reality by focusing on what she’s great at!

Transcripts for Fixable are available at go.ted.com/fixablescripts.

You know what they say about unsolicited advice (don’t give it!) but when it comes to SOLICITED feedback, author and executive coach Kim Scott says: bring it on. Kim believes that when it comes to improving your life at home, work, and anywhere in between, it helps to ask for – and provide – kind, but radical, candor. In this episode, Kim shares what she’s learned about embracing candidness and care in the workplace, gives tips on how to engage in constructive conversations, and opens up about the benefits of addressing bias in communication. Her latest book, "Just Work: How to Root Out Bias, Prejudice, and Bullying to Build a Kick-ass Culture of Inclusivity" is out now. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

This is an episode of How to Be a Better Human, another podcast from the TED Audio Collective. For more, check out How to Be a Better Human wherever you get your podcasts.

Have you ever been caught in the middle of a tricky work dynamic, struggling to please everyone? Sometimes, the only solution is to realize it’s not your job to fix everything. This week, Anne and Frances talk to a listener who’s struggling to manage relationships with multiple bosses with competing priorities. Together, they chart a path for this superstar employee to make it clear she can’t solve every problem while also safeguarding her career.

Transcripts for Fixable are available at go.ted.com/fixablescripts.

Sure, we all want our work to speak for itself… but who will make sure your impact is truly seen and valued? This week, Anne and Frances are joined by Master Fixer Carla Harris. Carla Harris is a Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley, the bestselling author of books like Expect to Win and Lead to Win, and an expert on building relationships at work. This week, she brings her wisdom to Fixable to discuss why it’s impossible to have a true meritocracy – and why strong relationships are the key to succeeding in your career.

Transcripts for Fixable are available at go.ted.com/fixablescripts.

Have you ever felt like something about your identity was getting in the way of your success? This week, a listener needs help pushing through the resistance she’s facing as a woman navigating a male-dominated workplace. Anne and Frances discuss what you can do when someone else’s bias is standing in your way. Together, the three uncover how you can find your agency in unexpected places – and why you must use it unapologetically.

Transcripts for Fixable are available at go.ted.com/fixablescripts.

How do you find common ground with skeptical audiences? Robin Steinberg is the CEO of The Bail Project, an organization that advocates for abolishing cash bail and reforming the criminal justice system. She knows her work is vital, but public anxiety about crime and safety often gets in the way of lasting change. Robin Steinberg asks Anne and Frances how to communicate her mission to people who don’t understand what she does or why she does it. They help Robin craft a new outreach strategy and discuss how you need more than just facts and data to win over new supporters.

What kinds of writing gets people to take action? In his book, “Writing Effectively for Busy Readers,” Harvard professor and this week’s Master Fixer Todd Rogers discusses his extensive research into the most effective writing styles. Todd talks with Anne and Frances about what it means to be "radically responsible" to your audience. Then he shares the best (and seemingly counterintuitive) writing techniques to stir your readers into action.

Transcripts for Fixable are available at go.ted.com/fixablescripts.