WorkLife

A Storytime segment: Molly Graham and Ashley Murphy swap stories from their first jobs and distill advice for anyone starting a new position, set yourself up on day one, listen more than you talk, and ask the dumb questions early, plus a Claire Hughes Johnson story about how her first job shaped her career mindset. Career advice for individuals rather than material for org designers, but the 'ask dumb questions early' norm is one consultants can borrow for onboarding design.

Silicon Valley executive recruiter Jamie Tilotta Green argues most people approach job searches backwards, contorting themselves to fit the company's mold when fit runs both ways: who you are and what you want matter as much as the job description. She covers telling your story authentically in interviews, identifying your key strengths, and strategies for finding out what a company is actually like before you join. Individual career craft more than org design, though the 'fit is bilateral' frame maps neatly onto how self-managing organizations should hire.

Molly Graham (Google, Facebook, Quip, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, now host of TED's WorkLife) on why her famous give-away-your-Legos career advice no longer holds in an AI world, why delegating to AI is fundamentally different from delegating to a human, which Legos you should never hand to AI, and the grief and burnout running through tech right now. For consultants: the clearest articulation yet of how AI changes the delegation contract that career growth was built on.

Molly Graham sits down with Leah Belsky, head of education at OpenAI and a Coursera veteran, on what AI actually offers as a learning tool and where it falls short of the hype, including how to coach kids to use AI as an empowering tool without letting it do the learning for them. For consultants: directly relevant to the self-directed learning track, the same agency question Lumiar asks of school, asked of AI.

Chip Conley built Joie de Vivre Hospitality into one of the largest boutique hotel companies in the country before the Great Recession, a near-death experience, and personal tragedies forced him to reevaluate his ambitions. Now founder of the Modern Elder Academy, he talks with Molly about reframing midlife as a joyful and important transition rather than a crisis to blow up your life over.

Actress and director Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of Ron Howard, talks with Molly about growing up in the shadow of a family legacy and what it means to own your successes when you know you were given a head start. She reflects on the biggest lessons from watching her father at work, and why people are often blind to their own privilege and ashamed to admit it.

Adam Grant on the art and science of delivering an effective no, with strategies for setting boundaries even when the desire to protect your reputation makes turning people down hard. Guests include psychologist Vanessa Bohns, author of You Have More Influence Than You Think, Eldest Daughter Club founder Sherri Lu, and playwright Topher Payne. For consultants: boundary-setting is a practical skill for people in newly self-managed roles who suddenly field requests from every direction.

Kaya Henderson took over the District of Columbia Public Schools when it was one of the lowest performing districts in the country and, in under a decade, made it one of the fastest improving. She and Molly look at how: not alone, but through a change effort backed by parents, teachers, and community members, built on listening to and collaborating with the people closest to the problem. For consultants: a concrete case for pushing voice and decisions toward the people nearest the work, the core of participatory change.