How to be a Corporate Changemaker, and Why You Don’t Need All the Answers to Make a Difference

How can we bring our values and sense of purpose to work in ways that make a difference? It’s time to reframe the idea of what employees can do to address societal issues from inside the organization.

This week we celebrate a new book from Aspen’s?Nancy McGaw,?Making Work Matter,?written to guide innovators on the path to positive change at work.?How can we find unseen opportunities, reframe problems, ask meaningful questions, build momentum, and collaborate to promote action from within a corporation??Read on!

Spotlight: Why I Wrote “Making Work Matter”

In?this essay, Nancy McGaw discusses the motivation driving her new book Making Work Matter and how she hopes it will help others:?

“I believe there are many people today who also want more from their work than a paycheck. They aspire to use their skills and the platform of business to tackle some of society’s toughest challenges—from climate change to economic inequality to building more inclusive cultures at work.?

My book is intended for those who are eager to innovate so that their companies can become better social and environmental stewards—in ways big and small, both locally and globally.”

News Roundup

1. The Unexpected Upsides of Letting Employees Define Their Jobs?(MIT Sloan Management Review: Benjamin Laker, Stefania Mariano) What are the benefits of empowered workers?
2. In Praise of Middle Managers?(The New York Times: David Brooks) It’s not just managers: What positive perspectives can all employees bring to their work, regardless of position? Also see?Alison Taylor on the Business of Ethics for Leaders.
3. Can Intrapreneurship Help Close the Racial Wealth Gap??(Knowledge at Wharton: Angie Basiouny) Can intrapreneurship help circumvent barriers to participation in ways that benefit both employers and workers?
4. Microsoft Employees Spent Years Fighting the Tech Giant’s Oil Ties. Now, They’re Speaking Out.?(Grist: Maddie Stone)?When is internal action effective, and what can workers do if it isn’t?
5. The Moloch Trap of Environmental Problems?(Sustainability by Numbers: Hannah Ritchie) How can reframing challenging problems help innovators find creative, often cooperative, solutions that move beyond zero-sum games?

Also on Our Radar

What else caught our attention this week?

• Long Covid at Work: A Manager’s Guide
• The unexpected origins of Vietnamese nail salons.
• Dr. Joy Buolamwini on Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines?

One for the Road

Thanks for reading, forwarding and following. Until next week!

— The Business & Society Program