The future of work is here*

*What Works is critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and subversive culture-making for humans navigating the 21st-century economy
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New Year’s resolutions? No, thank you. Radically rethink the way you set goals:

The Latest

What Works for the Holidays

Photo by Alexander Grey on UnsplashIt's Thanksgiving week here in the US, and before you know it, it'll be time for all the other end-of-year holidays.I'm working on some behind-the-scenes stuff this week, but I thought I'd pop in with a little roundup of essays (and...

Seeing Software

Photo by Josh Calabrese on UnsplashI hate project management software. Despise it. Refuse to use it—and if I can help it, even look at it. This does not endear me to people in my life who are more traditionally organized and process-driven.That includes my dear...

Who Do You Mean ‘We?’

Photo by Kyle Ryan on UnsplashWe is an incredibly economical and efficient little word with massive implications.In just two letters, it can express “You and I are the same,” or “You and I are in the same group,” or “You and I are in this...

What Works Podcast with Tara McMullin

Think Differently about Work, Culture, and the Economy

It’s easy to lose your way in the 21st-century economy. The world of work and business is changing so rapidly that you might be focusing more on how to keep up than how to live a meaningful life. What Works is a podcast for entrepreneurs, independent workers, and employees who don’t want to lose themselves to the whims of late-stage capitalism. Tara offers a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to the discourse around business, work, and personal growth.

A Radical New Approach to Goal-Setting

What Works: A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal-Setting

Nuanced, rigorous exploration. What Works is a thought-provoking antidote to the overhyped productivity narratives keeping us stuck in shame and validation spirals. This book, and Tara’s oeuvre more broadly, serves as a brilliant guide for emphasizing presence and process over rigid metrics and external markers of success. A rich, hearty meal for the mind, I was only sad to put this book down when it ended.”

— Jenny Blake, podcaster and author of Free Time, Pivot, and Life After College

What Works: A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal-Setting by Tara McMullin

Humane Business

People Are Systems, Too

People Are Systems, Too

Doing business in a capitalist economy has a way of turning people into users, clicks, page views, and targets. As business owners with more data at our fingertips than we know what to do with, we reduce relational questions to math problems and automations. What’s...

Future of Work

Culture & Economy

Mindset & Identity

The Inertia Of Optimism

The Inertia Of Optimism

Entrepreneurs tend to be optimists.  And that optimism inspires persistence and creative thinking—two key traits of success. But entrepreneurial optimism can also lead to sticking with an idea or a venture longer than is beneficial. Every new creative...

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