"That cartoon is a great example of someone else defining what became the cultural narrative more so than reality," Nadella told Stripe cofounder John Collison.
Have you noticed how even well-planned organizational changes can leave teams feeling scattered, resistant, or quietly overwhelmed? Our research with more than 1,000 workplaces has found that 'poor change management' is consistently the most frequent cause of burnout in workplaces right now. The problem isn't a lack of project plans. Organizations have those in abundance. The gap is neurological. Too much focus on timelines and deliverables while overlooking what uncertainty does to people's brains.
Everywhere I turn - podcasts, research calls, dinner conversations - people are talking about "toxic workplaces." The phrase has become ubiquitous; almost unavoidable. So I did what most researchers do when they're curious (or procrastinating): I Googled it. That led me to a chart showing the term's meteoric rise beginning in the early 2010s. The curve shoots upward like a fever.
Building great teams is not about hiring stars. Many leaders believe that building a high-performing team requires hiring star employees. However, intelligence, abilities, and personalities are poor predictors of how people behave in teams and what they can contribute to a team's success.