In the Arena series
Ep 8: No boss, no problem. How employees thrive without managers. | Todd Rose and Evan Baehr

The Great Workplace Delusion: Why Everything You Think About Work is Wrong

Arena Hall
Copy
About the Episode

What if I told you we've been getting work completely wrong for the past century? My guest Todd Rose, Harvard researcher turned maverick CEO, has uncovered a shocking truth: there's a massive gap between what people actually want from work and what everyone thinks they want. Even crazier? The largest tomato processor in America figured this out decades ago.

At Morning Star Co., there are no bosses, no titles, and workers design their own jobs. The result? Twenty years of crushing it with double-digit growth. Sound impossible? That's exactly what Todd Rose's research on "Collective Illusions" exposes - the lies we tell ourselves about work, success, and the American Dream.

This episode will blow up everything you thought you knew about what people want from their careers. We'll go inside Morning Star's radical experiment in self-management, unpack why prestigious jobs don't actually make people happy, and reveal what the future of work really looks like.

This isn't just another conversation about remote work or four-day weeks. It's about the fundamental transformation happening right under our noses - one that could finally deliver on the promise of work that actually matters.

No timid souls here - this one's going to make you rethink everything you thought you knew about success.

Read More

More Episodes

Ep 1: Johns Hopkins expert says psychedelic medicine can solve our mental health crisis | Dr. Matthew Johnson and Evan Baehr

Could long-misunderstood psychedelics be the key to revolutionizing mental health treatment and addiction recovery?

Ep 2: How food and Pharma are destroying American competitiveness, one human at a time | Dr. Casey Means and Evan Baehr

Could a 'McDonald's for healthy food' help solve America's metabolic health crisis?

Ep 3: Revolutionizing energy: The battery breakthrough that could supercharge our future | Justin Briggs and Evan Baehr

Could a new kind of battery revolutionize electric vehicles and help solve our energy storage challenges?

Ep 1: Johns Hopkins expert says psychedelic medicine can solve our mental health crisis | Dr. Matthew Johnson and Evan Baehr

Could long-misunderstood psychedelics be the key to revolutionizing mental health treatment and addiction recovery?

Ep 2: How food and Pharma are destroying American competitiveness, one human at a time | Dr. Casey Means and Evan Baehr

Could a 'McDonald's for healthy food' help solve America's metabolic health crisis?

Ep 3: Revolutionizing energy: The battery breakthrough that could supercharge our future | Justin Briggs and Evan Baehr

Could a new kind of battery revolutionize electric vehicles and help solve our energy storage challenges?

Ep 4: The marketing of suburbia was a lie. Here’s how we can fix it. | June Williamson & Ellen Dunham-Jones with Evan Baehr

America's dying malls and vacant strip centers hold the key to solving our housing crisis - if we're bold enough to reimagine them.

Ep 5. Why does everything look the same? The key to a new type of building | Andrew Staniforth and Evan Baehr

Reinventing how we build: Why the solution to our housing crisis might come from a Boeing assembly line

Ep 6: AI is shifting the workforce constantly. Here’s how you can keep up. | Gautam Tambay and Evan Baehr

Your parents had 1-2 jobs their entire life. You'll have 15. And that college degree you're paying for? It might be obsolete before you finish paying it off.

Ep 9: The cure for cancer is early detection. AI makes this easier. | Emi Gal and Evan Baehr

The 30-Minute Full Body Scan That Could Change Everything: AI Meets Cancer Detection

Ep 10: How new tech is shaping warfare | Gabe Dominocielo and Evan Baehr

Thought our military tech was the world's best? China's building for 2030 while we're stuck funding battleships from 1996 - but a new wave of defense startups is changing that game.

Ep 11: Rethinking global supply chains for a post-pandemic world | Jack Buffington and Evan Baehr

Globalization is great for the consumer– it keeps prices low and quality and variety high. But what weaknesses does our global supply chain have?