8 lessons on building a company people enjoy working for | The Way We Work, a TED series

The Way We Work

In this section, the speaker talks about how HR jargon is unnecessary and that businesses can be run by talking to each other like regular human beings.

HR Jargon

• HR jargon is unnecessary.

• Businesses can be run by talking to each other like regular human beings.

Best Practices Aren't Always Best

In this section, the speaker discusses how "best practices" are not always best practices and how we don't measure them.

Best Practices

• "Best practices" usually means copying what everybody else does.

• We don't measure "best practices."

Your Employees Are Adults

In this section, the speaker talks about how employees are adults and should be treated as such.

Employee Treatment

• Systems have been created that treat people like they're children.

• Employees are fully formed adults who come to work every day with rent payments, obligations, and a desire to create a difference in the world.

• If we start with the assumption that everybody comes to work to do an amazing job, we'd be surprised at what we get.

Management's Job Is To Build Great Teams

In this section, the speaker discusses how management's job is not to control people but rather build great teams.

Building Great Teams

• When managers build great teams, they've done amazing stuff.

• Customers are really happy when great teams are built.

• Metrics that matter include customer satisfaction rather than metrics such as coming to work on time or following rules.

People Want To Do Work That Means Something

In this section, the speaker talks about how people want to do work that means something and how careers are journeys.

Meaningful Work

• People want to do work that means something.

• After they do it, they should be free to move on.

• Careers are journeys, and nobody wants to do the same thing for 60 years.

• Companies should be great places to be from so that everyone who leaves becomes an ambassador for not only your product but also who you are and how you operate.

Everyone In Your Company Should Understand The Business

In this section, the speaker discusses how everyone in a company should understand the business.

Understanding The Business

• The most important thing we can teach employees is how our business works.

• Collaborative companies that constantly teach each other what they do, what matters to them, what they measure, and what goodness looks like are innovative and agile.

Everyone In Your Company Should Be Able To Handle The Truth

In this section, the speaker talks about feedback and how people can hear anything if it's true.

Feedback

• Giving feedback is hard because people don't practice.

• Humans can hear anything if it's true.

• Feedback should be thought of as telling people the truth about what they're doing right and wrong in the moment when they're doing it.

Your Company Needs To Live Out Its Values

In this section, the speaker discusses how companies need to live out their values.

Living Out Values

• Leaders need to live out their values by being examples of them.

• People can't be what they can't see.

• Companies say they're here for equality but then proudly pound their chest because they've achieved 30% representation of women on an executive team.

All Start-Up Ideas Are Stupid

In this section, the speaker talks about how all start-up ideas are stupid.

Start-Up Ideas

• All start-up ideas are stupid.

• If they were reasonable, somebody else would have already been doing them.

Embracing Change

In this section, the speaker talks about how everything is changing and how we need to embrace it in order to have more fun.

The Exciting World of Change

• "Everything's changed, all bets are off. We were running as fast as we can to the right, and now we'll take a hard left."

• The world is constantly changing and evolving.

• By embracing change and getting excited about it, we can have more fun.