Should your employees work from home? In the office? In a hybrid arrangement? From Italy? Switzerland? Botswana?

Apparently, the modern workplace has become less about where you work and more about how many countries you can name when asking for permission to work remotely.

In this episode of Biz-Souls, Rona Lewis and Jeffrey Hansler wade into one of the workplace’s favorite arguments remote versus hybrid versus in-person work. And naturally, they don't exactly leave the subject where they found it.

Because the real question is whether they're engaged in the work at all.

The conversation takes a surprisingly human turn. Remote workers can be productive. They can be highly engaged. They can also be lonely.

The discussion gets into the difference between engagement and well-being, the importance of connection and mentoring, the difficulty of managing and coaching remotely, and the increasingly strange idea that an employee's physical location is somehow a better measure of performance than whether they actually get the job done.

Rona and Jeffrey agree on one simple management philosophy, ‘We don't care when or where you work if you get the work done, the numbers work, and you're happy.’

Imagine that and then imagine liking, sharing, following, and subscribing to Biz-Souls.

Because the conversation then wanders - because this is Biz-Souls - into robotics, AI, repetitive work, changing jobs, education, the future of entry-level positions, and why the next generation may need to become something of a Renaissance employee: someone with multiple skills, curiosity, adaptability and the ability to do more than one thing well.

If machines can handle the repetitive, mind-numbing work, perhaps humans get more opportunities to do work requiring creativity, judgment, variety and actual thinking. Of course, that assumes we know how to manage humans once they're allowed to think.

That's where this episode gets especially interesting because flexibility isn't automatically engagement. Remote isn't automatically better. In-office isn't automatically better. Hybrid isn't some magical workplace unicorn.

And giving someone permission to work from Iceland doesn't necessarily solve the problem if they spend the entire day staring at a laptop wondering whether anyone remembers they exist. The bigger challenge for leaders is figuring out what makes people productive, connected, challenged, curious and engaged.

Stop asking if employees are working, and start asking if they are engaged, productive, learning, and connected.

Related Biz-Souls Episodes:

Episode 158: Return to Office or Not!

• https://open.spotify.com/episode/

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFA1Dgw7P3Y

Episode 178: Beyond Borders — Talent, Travel & Global Business

• https://biz-souls.com/

Episode 147: Discover the Future of Work

• https://biz-souls.com/listen-now/

Episode 159: White Collar Jobs on the Chopping Block!

• https://biz-souls.com/listen-now/

Episode 180: Besting AI With Soul

• https://open.spotify.com/episode/22f04196-7020-4241-887a-12fc540ab810

• https://www.youtube.com/@biz-souls3926

Episode 167: From Ikigai to AI — Surviving the Modern Madness

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq1W_EExVfU

#BizSouls #RemoteWork #HybridWork #FutureOfWork #WorkplaceCulture #EmployeeEngagement #Leadership #Management #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #WorkplaceWellbeing #EmployeeExperience #Productivity #WorkplaceInnovation #HumanCenteredLeadership #TalentDevelopment #LearningAndDevelopment #OrganizationalDevelopment #WorkFromAnywhere #RonaLewis #JeffreyHansler

Welcome to Biz-Souls, where two people sit down to talk about business and somehow end up discussing the WNBA, soap operas, hockey fights, social media, dictatorships, Canadian violence, Hollywood explosions, potato chips, and Jeffrey’s apparently magnificent legs.

Basically, a normal episode of Biz-Souls.

This time, Rona and Jeffrey tackle ‘the business of outrage’ and the uncomfortable possibility that outrage has become one of the most successful products in the modern attention economy.

It starts with the media frenzy surrounding the WNBA, Caitlin Clark, Sophia Cunningham and all the apparent ‘us versus them’ drama. Is the league deliberately creating controversy? Not necessarily. But the media certainly knows conflict gets attention. And attention, as we all know, is where the money lives. The hosts point out that WNBA viewership has been soaring, raising a deliciously awkward question: if outrage works, why would anyone in the attention business stop selling it?

And then the conversation gets considerably more complicated, because this isn't just about sports.

Rona and Jeffrey wonder whether we're becoming so accustomed to outrage, violence and sensationalism that yesterday's shocking event barely registers today. So, turn up the volume. The conflict gets bigger. The explosions get louder. The body count gets higher. Hollywood does it. Social media does it. News media does it. And all of this seems to be affecting people in a terrible way.

The episode takes the particularly interesting turn when the hosts ask whether social media is actually influencing behavior rather than simply showing us more of the behavior that has always existed.

And that's where the Biz-Souls prescription arrives: Critical thinking.

Before sharing the outrage, ask why you're being shown it. Before jumping into the fight, ask what happens next. Before believing the headline, ask whether there's another explanation. And perhaps most importantly, ask whether history has anything useful to say about the brilliant new idea currently screaming at you through your phone.

The hosts also admit something refreshingly human: they've gotten things wrong, jumped onto trends and been susceptible to the same forces they're talking about. Because apparently even professional commentators occasionally discover that the internet has opinions. Lots of them. And then, because this is Biz-Souls, the solution to the outrage economy apparently involves being polite, wearing dresses, abandoning hoodies and flip-flops, and possibly putting Jeffrey in a kilt permanently.

Whether this is critical thinking or not that’s your call.

The bigger takeaway, though, is serious. If outrage becomes normal, outrage has to keep escalating to get our attention. What shocked us yesterday becomes background noise today, which means tomorrow needs to be even louder.

Until eventually we're all sitting around covered in metaphorical fake blood wondering, ‘Was that supposed to upset me?’

So, tune in, think critically, question the algorithm, and remember…

Just because it is on the internet doesn't mean it is true.

Still like, follow, share, and subscribe.

Related Biz-Souls Episodes:

Episode 201: Bayes, Brains, and the Breakdown of Internet Illusion**

• https://open.spotify.com/episode/13dd3134-f399-48e8-bd34-1c7027fe191e

• https://www.youtube.com/@biz-souls3926

Episode 151: Bias in the Media

• https://www.youtube.com/@biz-souls3926

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20151%20Bias%20in%20the%20Media

Episode 126: The Truth About Lying

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20126%20The%20Truth%20About%20Lying

• https://www.youtube.com/@biz-souls3926

Episode 139: Play for Better Living!

• https://open.spotify.com/episode/5EOyx44QYvEkrzE6Fg6fA8

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdUd8cU1JXg

Episode 125: How to Retrain Your Brain with Kelley Raleigh

• https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Sl8zVZB6Jx5DMHg8lN9aH

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA4P9HvbKVI

There are two kinds of people in the world: people who walk into a movie theater and order a reasonable amount of popcorn… and people who look at the largest bucket and think, ‘Well, obviously.’

Welcome back to Biz-Souls, where Rona Lewis and Jeffrey Hansler once again set out to discuss business and somehow end up questioning our entire relationship with capitalism, marketing, food portions, critical thinking, influencers, subscriptions, and whether a human being really needs a Coke large enough to require its own zip code.

This week, we're talking about the decoy effect’, the sneaky little psychological trick that makes the bigger choice suddenly look like the smart option: Small $4, Medium $6, and Large $6.50. Well, hell. We’re getting the large one.

Never mind that you only wanted a drink. Never mind that the large holds enough liquid to hydrate a small village. The pricing structure has spoken, and we are now entrepreneurs in the beverage acquisition business.

As the episode explains, the decoy effect works by changing how we perceive the choices in front of us. Add an option that makes another option look like a better deal, and suddenly we're not making the decision we originally intended to make. We're making the decision the menu quietly encouraged us to make.

And once Rona and Jeffrey get rolling, the conversation gets considerably bigger than popcorn.

They explore how the same basic principles of influence show up in fast food, movie theaters, cars, coffee shops, Costco, subscription pricing, software packages, AI services, bundling, social media and the increasingly impressive number of ways companies can convince us that we desperately need something we weren't even thinking about five minutes ago. Then comes the bigger question: ‘Has the manipulation aspect of marketing gotten out of control?’

That's where things get interesting. The conversation moves from pricing psychology into the broader issue of how people are influenced by advertising, political messaging, social media, influencers, news and the constant stream of information competing for our attention. The hosts argue about where accountability belongs and come back to one increasingly important skill, critical thinking.

And yes, Jeffrey has opinions – which seem to have taken over his perspective. Rona, meanwhile, demonstrates the ancient Biz-Souls survival technique of waiting until Jeffrey runs out of gas.

There is also a particularly entertaining detour into portion sizes and the American obsession with bigger. Our drinks aren't the only things that have experienced a growth strategy. Bananas, tomatoes, restaurant portions and popcorn have all apparently attended the same business seminar, If Bigger Is Better, Why Stop There?

The real takeaway, though, isn't ‘don't buy the large’, it’s ‘take back your ability to choose’.

And with any decision, please enjoy your popcorn. You earned it.

Related Biz-Souls Episodes:

Episode 201: Bayes, Brains, and the Breakdown of Internet Illusion

• https://open.spotify.com/episode/5EOyx44QYvEkrzE6Fg6fA8

• https://www.youtube.com/@biz-souls3926

Episode 227: Confidence vs. Intelligence: Why the Loudest Person Isn’t Always the Smartest

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20227

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+227+Confidence+vs+Intelligence

Episode 180: Besting AI With Soul

• https://open.spotify.com/search/Biz-Souls%20Episode%20180%20Besting%20AI%20With%20Soul

• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Biz-Souls+Episode+180+Besting+AI+With+Soul

Episode 125: How to Retrain Your Brain with Kelley Raleigh

• https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Sl8zVZB6Jx5DMHg8lN9aH

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA4P9HvbKVI

Episode 139: Play for Better Living! Why Play Makes Every Life Better

• https://open.spotify.com/episode/5EOyx44QYvEkrzE6Fg6fA8

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdUd8cU1JXg