Season 3 Episode 34: How to Be a Better Boss Let’s be honest: most bosses are forgettable. They’re neither terrible enough to inspire a mutiny nor brilliant enough to earn your loyalty. But the ones who do stand out? They’re either the reason you quit or the reason you stayed. This week, Jimmy and James ditch the usual rant about bad bosses (though, let’s face it, they’ve had a few) to tackle the far trickier question: What actually makes a good one? Turns out, it’s not about charisma, a fancy title, or even a well-stocked biscuit tin. It’s about clarity—knowing where you’re going and making sure your team gives a damn about getting there. It’s about adaptability, because what works in a … [Read more...]
Everything We Get Wrong About High Performers
Season 3 Episode 33 Everyone wants a team of high performers. Or do they? This week, Jimmy and James dismantle the corporate obsession with “high performers”—a label so vague it could mean anything from “top salesperson” to “office psychopath who throws toys out of the pram when they don’t get their way. The episode exposes the absurdity of how organisations define, reward, and often suffer from their so-called high performers. Is it the person who hits the numbers? The one who sucks up to the boss? Or the quiet grafter who never makes a fuss? Jimmy and James argue that the real problem isn’t just the subjectivity—it’s the chaos left in their wake. High performers can be super chickens, … [Read more...]
Why Nothing Ever Changes At Work
Season 3 Episode 32: Management Inertia Ever sat in a meeting where the same problem gets rehashed for the nth time, only for nothing to change? Welcome to the world of organisational inertia—where analysis paralysis, over-collaboration, and a pathological fear of doing anything turn workplaces into graveyards of good intentions. This week, Jimmy and James dissect why companies (and the people in them) would rather sit on a nail than move an inch, and—more importantly—how to stop the rot. From the “Plan Z” demand for impossible certainty to the “frozen middle” of middle managers trapped between reality and corporate delusion, they expose the absurdity of systems that reward inaction and … [Read more...]
Why Performance Reviews Make Companies Worse (And What Actually Works)…
Season 3 Episode 30: A Bad Idea That Refuses to Die Performance management systems: the corporate treadmill to nowhere. Organisations preach the gospel of improvement, then build systems so convoluted they’d make Kafka weep. Ratings are political, feedback is a weapon, and calibration meetings resemble gladiatorial combat. The result? A process so dark and detached from reality it should be a corporate snuff movie. Jimmy Barber and James Lawther aren’t here to sugarcoat it. They’re here to dissect why these systems fail: it’s because they’re designed by “Human Resource Professionals” who don’t understand humans. The hosts pull no punches: from the absurdity of ranking employees like … [Read more...]
Everything at Work Is Really About Status
Season 3 Episode 30: With Ceri Newton-Sargunar Ever wondered why your team’s brilliant technical expert turns into a bumbling fool the second they’re promoted? Or why your boss would rather launch a doomed rocket than admit a mistake? Welcome to the brutal, biological truth: status is the invisible force driving every decision, conflict, and ego in your workplace. In this eye-opening episode, Jimmy and James are joined by Ceri Newton-Sargunar—neuroscientist, chaos theorist, and self-proclaimed "ologist"—to dissect how our primal need for status (success, power, or virtue) shapes behaviour, from boardroom power plays to the quiet despair of middle managers. Ceri reveals why even flat … [Read more...]
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