At Work with The Ready

In this miniseries, we’re exploring Depthfinding—an easy-to-grasp framework designed to help leaders and teams solve their gnarliest cross-functional challenges.

This week, Rodney and Sam look at the Sky—the external forces like market shifts, technological disruptions, and political changes that shape your organization. While most companies are comfortable staying heads-down in the day-to-day, failing to look outward creates costly blind spots that lead to org debt, misaligned strategy, and even existential risk.

Cultivating a regular practice of looking up and outward is the key to successfully meeting this moment—and all the ones to come.

Download the Depthfinding guide to get the template and examples of how to use it.

Want to learn more about Depthfinding? Head here: theready.com/depthfinding

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Mentioned references:

• lido deck
• Deep River potato chips
• the giant Snickers
• "building the bridge to the next thing" - dual transformation
• Kodak's digital revolution moment
• the Information age
• "op rhythm": BNW Ep. 118
• "Liberating Structures": BNW Ep. 49 with Keith McCandless
• Critical Uncertainties
• red team
• "essential intent": BNW Ep. 90 with Greg McKeown

This episode's theme music is Yaggadang by BG & Coyote Radio.

Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of Coupe Studios.

In this miniseries, we’re exploring Depthfinding—an easy-to-grasp framework designed to help leaders and teams solve their gnarliest cross-functional challenges.

This week, Rodney and Sam dive into one of the most pivotal (and misunderstood) aspects of the framework: stewardship. Depthfinding is built on the idea that organizations are like oceans, not aquariums. That means leaders have to show up in an entirely new way—not as a boss, a hero, or a disciplinarian, but as someone responsible for the ongoing health of a complex system.

Embracing stewardship can be an uphill battle thanks to the ghosts of leadership past and the inner work required to show up well in complexity. But when facing down uncertainty, building the conditions for resilience and learning to steward across each Depthfinding zone offers a new way forward.

Get the PDF Rodney and Sam talk about in this episode

Download the Depthfinding guide to get the template and examples of how to use it.

Want to learn more about Depthfinding? Head here: theready.com/depthfinding

--------------------------------

Want future of work insights and experiments you can try delivered to your inbox? Sign up here.

Follow us on your favorite platforms for more org design nerdery:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram

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Mentioned references:

• "Intelligence vs information age"
• Jack Welch
• Model T assembly line efficiency gains
• Henry Ford quote about hands: The Future of Management, by Gary Hamel
• connection between Gantt chart and slavery
• Frederick Winslow Taylor
• MRI study about how power impacts your brain
• Employee Owned Trust (EOT)

00:00 Intro + Check-In: What is an underrated condiment?

03:46 Stewardship is how to put Depthfinding into action

08:32 Leadership ghosts of the industrial age: Henry Ford and the org chart

15:10 Leadership ghosts of the information age: Jack Welch and cult of personality

20:11 De-centering leaders and re-centering the organization for the future

23:50 Stewardship in the Midnight Zone playbook

28:13 Leaders modeling Midnight Zone moves is critical

30:29 Stewardship in the Twilight Zone playbook

35:46 Stewardship in the Sunshine Zone playbook

38:13 Stewardship in the Sky playbook

43:40 Wrap up: Leave us a review and share this episode with your colleagues!

This episode's theme music is Yaggadang by BG & Coyote Radio.

Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of Coupe Studios.

In this miniseries, we’re exploring Depthfinding—an easy-to-grasp framework designed to help leaders and teams solve their gnarliest cross-functional challenges.

This week, Rodney and Sam step into the Twilight Zone—the often-overlooked but deeply influential space where teams navigate the “how” of work—the “how” of collaborating, meeting, deciding, and experimenting. Many organizations put all or most of their focus on visible outputs and assets, but the rubber meets the road in the Twilight Zone. It’s the organizational depth where strategy actually gets executed—which means it’s worthy of more than a passing glance.

When an important initiative stalls out, when teams side-eye change, when a leadership team’s decisions never translate into clear and meaningful action, it’s time to investigate the Twilight Zone. Leaders who want real progress—not just compliance—must foster cross-functional collaboration and create space for meaningful iteration. Because strategy isn’t about what’s declared. It’s about what actually happens.

Download the Depthfinding guide to get the template and examples of how to use it.

Want to learn more about Depthfinding? Head here: theready.com/depthfinding

--------------------------------

Want future of work insights and experiments you can try delivered to your inbox? Sign up here.

Follow us on your favorite platforms for more org design nerdery:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram

--------------------------------

Mentioned references:

• Twilight Zone, tv show
• layers of the ocean
• sea anemone
• The Mom Test, book by Rob Fitzpatrick
• Liberating Structures: BNW Ep. 49 with Keith McCandless
• "IDM" (Integrated Decision Making): BNW Ep. 43

This episode's theme music is Yaggadang by BG & Coyote Radio.

Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of Coupe Studios.

The workplace is a wealth of knowledge. Each member of an organization is a master in their own specialized field, and in the 21st-century workplace, we're often exchanging knowledge, teaching and learning by equal measure. But in a future where self-management is key, how do we ensure this is done in a healthy way?

In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans discuss how to cultivate mastery in a world of knowledge workers.

Mentioned references:

• Second Empire/Mansard roof
• Baroque revival
• "Yehudi's episode": BNW Ep. 42 with Yehudi Meshchaninov
• "Mastery episode of Ready for Anything": BNW Ep. 31
• Dr. Akilah Cadet
• Chapter or community of practice / The Spotify model
• The Dunning-Kruger Effect

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

What's it like to onboard at a company where you don't have a boss? In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk to The Ready member Alastair Steward about his experience onboarding at the company, the concept of a "prologue," and how to situate yourself effectively in a self-managed organization.

You can find Alastair here on LinkedIn.

Mentioned references:

• "Oculus boxing game"
• imposter syndrome
• "adjacent possibles"
• "safe to try"
• "participatory governance": BNW Ep. 43
• "authority": BNW Ep. 22
• Shu Ha Ri
• "mastery": BNW Ep. 31
• "OS Coffee": BNW Ep. 144

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com