Hello, please let it work.
I went out this week, including artificial intelligence in the legal profession and lighting breakfast at law firm Simmons & Simmons. It’s always good to gain insight into how AI is changing different sectors – in the law there is a beginning for discussion about how to assess staff contributions – isn’t the concept of billable time much more important? And what’s next? This is an evolving field, so please tell us how AI could change the concept of value and productivity in your sector: isabel.berwick@ft.com
Simmons & Simmons also commissioned interesting research from 500 legal directors of global companies, showing that over three-quarters (78%) of them “believe that human traits such as empathy and soft skills will become more important in the coming years.” Good news for humans 😍.
Learn why poetry makes you feel good in a rather dark world.
*STOP-PRESS NEWS🗞️FCA is not proceeding with proposed changes to regulated corporate diversity and inclusion rules. Non-financial fraud rules (i.e., bullying and harassment) are expected to be updated by the end of June this year.
How does poetry help leaders and soothe soul 😌
I am fascinated by the possibility that poetry (yes, poetry) can play a greater role in our working lives. Coaches who use texts as a tool for executive training courses ask business leaders to ask them to read and read poems aloud in front of their peers, bringing tears and raw emotions and the fear of having to act. Something dramatic 🎭.
Why is poetry such a powerful way to access our deepest emotions? And how can you help business leaders? We asked Deborah Alma, founder of Poetry Pharmacy, who asked the co-author of the rare book, “Poetry Business School,” published this week. Among them, Deborah and Mark Constantine, co-founders and CEOs of Lush, the Global Cosmetics Group, are working with business psychologist Kate Downey-Evans. Their aim is to show how poetry can help you in making decisions, dealing with failures and uncertainties and taking risks.
Deborah admits that business and poetry are not obvious pairings. “It’s very strange, clearly dissonant, a juxtaposition of ideas, business and poetry.” She changed her mind after working with Mark. The book states, “It can be that business like poetry is a vision of the future, a vision of doing things that haven’t happened yet. Businessmen like artists are more comfortable with risk and are more interested in communicating ideas, like artists.”
Before establishing a poetry pharmacy that prescribes poetry for individuals online, in a Shropshire store, Deborah traveled in vans across the UK as an emergency poet, distributing poets for those in need. She had many sessions at business meetings – there she got a deep emotional response. The process looks like this: “Poetry pharmacists ask rather strange questions, and after hearing them, they prescribe the appropriate poems, and almost every time people are more likely to cry and therefore more acceptable. And poetry speaks closely from one person to another.”
Deborah first met Mark when she was a finalist in the Small Business Awards scheme and he was a judge. They are in touch and the book also ponders whether to expand the poetry pharmacy to a London location, giving you a glimpse into email communications across a variety of business and life topics (she is at Rush Spa, Oxford Street).
I read a book one night – it’s warm, humane and packed with amazing poetry (you might expect). Notable and slightly unexpected chapters include “Business as a Nightclub.”
I asked Deborah what she thought about how poetry can help us all, not just our workplace leaders. “It’s a step away from the world for a while, and I think it’s really important to achieve a kind of middle space, a more thoughtful space to take a break. It takes you out of everything and then you can come back again.”
Deborah begins with a short poem that is prescribed for all of us in this uncertain and unstable moment: Sheamus Heaney’s Post Office. “It’s a little-known poem by him. The poet goes out and parks. There is a calm lake on one side and a rough sea on the other, and he’s in the middle. And it’s a great ratiophor in almost a frontier state, floating freely from almost a moment.” I already feel calm.
In a nutshell, poetry gives a different perspective. Try it next time you need to take a step back to see things clearly at work.
Do you want more? An alternative reset idea might be a craft session if you and your team like what you “do” to do. According to the well-created Alexandra Lunn, it puts everyone in a “flow state” and creates revenue streams for talented manufacturers.
Office Therapy
Thank you for answering last week’s question (my) about when and how to release him from sick work. Working from home made it easier to continue, even at lower intensity. But is that always desirable? Well, no – but there’s more to it, as outlined in working with Julia Nowicki, the program manager for Head Springs in Madrid. (Headspring is a joint business school/FT venture.)
“For me, it’s important to identify what drives out what keeps the need for rest and downtime and find the underlying reason for us to continue. Is it a fear of disappointing or disappointing others? Should we be perfect? We define ourselves and not? Or ultimately, the fear of not belonging or being loved?
“This is a great starting point for solving and thinking rationally. Another tool I’ve tried recently was to roam freely around the mind and say, “What is the worst thing that can happen if you allow yourself to rest?”
Send us the problem and dilemma: isabel.berwick@ft.com. It anonymizes everything appropriately.
Five Top Stories from the World of Work
Companies have failed to convince their staff the benefits of AI. AI is not used as much as you might imagine. There is a big message from a comprehensive analysis of available data on people using AI at Janina Konboye’s workplaces and what they can get from it.
What bankers and nursing home workers have in common: wages are the most unstable at the top and bottom of the income scale. For low wages, that’s stressful. Sarah O’Connor outlines the problems and some solutions.
The UK’s academic recession is in full swing. The Glen O’Hara opinion piece at Oxford Brooks University outlines the crisis in the university system and there is no clear path to solving it. Good readers will also comment.
What makes a good self-help book? The great book mentioned here is Philippa Perry’s “The Books You Want to Read” Rebecca Watson’s column also includes references to my weekly highlight Cate Blanchett’s hatred of Leaf Blower.
The Perera Weinberg Trial lifts the veil in a bitter feud between top bankers: it took ten years to go to court, but you can enjoy a lot with Suzeet Indip and Amelia Pollard’s battle over the “Rainmaker” investment bank.
One more thing. . .
I’ve spoken to many people this week about the big implications of the brutal Dei rollback in the US and beyond, but sometimes I am amazed that we haven’t talked about the same thing. No one has defined the meaning of Dei. The Atlantic Conor Friedersdorf takes this point and examines it appropriately. Dei has lost all meaning and is a clear and important reading about the lack of left and right communication in politics.
Notes from US workplace charters: 5 years after lockdown
Charter Editor-in-Chief Kevin Delaney highlights this week a new publication called United State Works (free to download) edited by Julia Hobbsbomb, released this week to mark the five years since the pandemic began.
Kevin says essays in collections by workplace researchers and company executives highlight that the underlying tensions in the workplace remain unresolved. In particular, many organizations still have the struggles surrounding flexibility, as employers want workers to be more physically present.
In an essay on the status of work in the US, Kevin suggests that a recession in the US could ease workers’ demand and further undermine the spread of four-day worker, subsidized childcare, or other human-centered approaches to management.
Before you log off. . .
I resisted seeing the AppletV+ shrink. This is because it’s annoying for people to evangelize about their favorite shows. Well, since we’ve hit both seasons and series 3 is being filmed, you can see why people love it. (Sorry, I didn’t trust you, friend 💐)
It’s a workplace drama that truly brings you to the broader circle of intertwined family and friends with about three psychotherapists who work with in Los Angeles. And the theme is dark – finding sadness, aging, finding purpose in life, dealing with serious illnesses – it is also very interesting. Bonus: If you grew up with Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford plays one of the leads here, but is still in a bad mood in the ’80s.
