
Boss Class 6 - Incentivising: Into the upside down
04/28/25 • 29 min
The Economist's Andrew Palmer asks how companies motivate employees to do their best work. He hears from Patty McCord, Netflix’s former head of HR, and Zeynep Ton, author of "The Case for Good Jobs". Sir John Timpson, a British retail boss, preaches the virtues of "upside down management". And Andrew learns how to write a good purpose statement.
Boss Class season one is free for a limited time. Season two will appear weekly starting May 12th. To hear new episodes, subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.
https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus
If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.
The Economist's Andrew Palmer asks how companies motivate employees to do their best work. He hears from Patty McCord, Netflix’s former head of HR, and Zeynep Ton, author of "The Case for Good Jobs". Sir John Timpson, a British retail boss, preaches the virtues of "upside down management". And Andrew learns how to write a good purpose statement.
Boss Class season one is free for a limited time. Season two will appear weekly starting May 12th. To hear new episodes, subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.
https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus
If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.
Previous Episode

Boss Class 5 - Meetings: The clown car
What if all the meetings in your calendar disappeared overnight? Tia Silas, Chief HR Officer of Shopify, an e-commerce firm, tells Andrew Palmer what happened when they tried just that. Claire Hughes-Johnson, a former COO of Stripe, offers a practical guide to running meetings. And we eavesdrop on the weekly meeting at The Economist, with lessons from Zanny Minton Beddoes, our editor-in-chief, on how she encourages constructive debate.
Boss Class season one is free for a limited time. Season two will appear weekly starting May 12th. To hear new episodes, subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.
https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus
If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.
Next Episode

Boss Class 7 - Managing yourself: Human factors
The Economist’s Andrew Palmer seeks advice on managing your cognitive load, your career path and the changes that generative AI could bring. He gets tips from Cal Newport, an author and professor of computer science, on how to carve out time away from email; from Jeffery Pfeffer, of Stanford Graduate School of Business, on how to accumulate power; and from Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn's co-founder, on how to get ready for the era of AI.
Boss Class season one is free for a limited time. Season two will appear weekly starting May 12th. To hear new episodes, subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.
https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus
If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/boss-class-from-the-economist-298407/boss-class-6-incentivising-into-the-upside-down-45636466"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to boss class 6 - incentivising: into the upside down on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy