Work For Humans

This is the third in a series of episodes with world-leading product management experts about how we might build product management best practices into team leadership.

Alex Komoroske spent years as either a Product Manager or Director of Product Management for platforms that most of us use every day: Chrome, Google Maps, Google Earth, and others. He then went on to lead corporate strategy at Stripe, another platform \most of us use every day. While at Google, Alex wrote an internal how-to called “Practical PM Stuff” that many Google PMs referred to as the Product Managers Bible. It covered everything from basics like how to answer an email to esoterica like the difference between complexity and ambiguity or how Schelling points form in organizations.

In this episode, Dart and Alex discuss:
- Work as an ecosystem, not a machine
- Indirect influence over direct control
- How frameworks can kill creativity
- The role of product management in work design
- How companies stifle innovation
- The power of riding momentum
- Managers as curators, not controllers
- Balancing autonomy and structure
- Why great ideas bypass leadership
- And other topics...
Alex Komoroske is a product leader and systems thinker who specializes in platforms and ecosystems. Alex is known for his "Gardening Platforms" approach, which encourages guiding ecosystems toward greatness instead of controlling them. Now Co-CEO of Common Tools, he continues to explore how technology and organizations evolve.
Resources Mentioned:
Finite and Infinite Games, by James Carse: https://www.amazon.com/Finite-Infinite-Games-James-Carse/dp/1476731713

The Stacy Barton conversation about Disney storytelling and work. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/immersive-experience-design-how-to-use-story-to-design/id1612743401?i=1000599527522

The Marty Cagan conversation about product management and work https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-design-products-people-love-principles-and/id1612743401?i=1000668997003

The David Obstfeld conversation about brokering social networks and work https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/social-networks-the-1-predictor-of-economic/id1612743401?i=1000677462011

Connect with Alex:
Website: https://www.komoroske.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-komoroske-6597336/
Twitter: https://x.com/komorama

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.

Lucy Adams, a seasoned HR leader, has held senior roles in major organizations, including her recent position as HR Director at the BBC. Despite her success, she grew increasingly frustrated by HR’s one-size-fits-all approach, which treated all employees under the same rigid policies. Determined to find a fresh perspective, Lucy founded Disruptive HR, an innovative HR agency that inspires leaders and HR professionals to approach their roles with renewed vision and energy.
Lucy Adams is a keynote speaker, author, and founder and CEO of Disruptive HR. She guides HR teams and leaders from some of the world’s top brands, speaking at events for Pepsico, HSBC, Google, and Emirates, among others.
In this episode, Dart and Lucy discuss:
- Challenging forces acting on the heads of talent/CPOs
- Lucy’s experience appearing before a congressional hearing
- Emerging disruptions in HR
- The EACH model (Employees as Adults, Consumers, and Human Beings)
- 3 major benefits of the consumerization of the workplace
- Differences between equity and equality at work
- Humanizing performance management
- And other topics...
Lucy Adams is the founder and CEO of Disruptive HR, an agency on a mission to inspire leaders and HR professionals to approach their roles with renewed vision and energy. After working in high-level HR roles across sectors, including the Director of HR at BBC, Lucy wanted to help companies seek new ways to tackle old problems. She now guides HR teams and leaders from some of the world’s top brands, speaking at events for Pepsico, HSBC, Google, Emirates, and many others.
Lucy’s latest best-selling book, HR Disrupted, discusses innovative approaches to transform traditional HR practices, challenge outdated norms, and adopt people-centered strategies to engage and empower employees in a rapidly changing workplace.
Resources mentioned:
HR Disrupted, by Lucy Adams: https://www.amazon.com/HR-Disrupted-time-something-different/dp/1910056502
The Problem with Change, by Ashley Goodall: https://www.amazon.com/Problem-Change-Essential-Nature-Performance/dp/0316560278
Connect with Lucy:
www.DisruptiveHR.com

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.

According to Gartner Research, work friction costs employees 1.9 extra hours of work per day on routine tasks. For a company with 10,000 employees, that translates to a staggering loss of $78.4M annually. From excessive meetings to inefficient workplace processes, Christophe Martel is actively investigating the underlying causes of employee dissatisfaction. Armed with data-driven strategies, he's determined to implement lasting solutions.
Christophe Martel is a seasoned business leader with over three decades of experience. He is the co-founder and CEO of FOUNT Global, Inc., a company that assists organizations worldwide to identify and mitigate work friction, fostering improved outcomes for employees and companies alike.
In this episode, Dart and Christophe discuss:
- How Christophe’s career led him to co-found FOUNT
- The types of work friction and their company impact
- The difference between work friction and organizational friction
- Who is responsible for the sites of friction
- The data-driven model behind FOUNT
- Using first-person experiences to solve large-scale business problems
- And other topics...
Christophe Martel is the co-founder and CEO of FOUNT Global, Inc., a SaaS company that helps global organizations reduce work friction and improve employee experiences. With over three decades of experience as a business leader, Christophe has spent his career exploring the employee experience across four continents. Through FOUNT, he helps companies identify the root causes of employee dissatisfaction and prioritize solutions within company environments.
Prior to founding FOUNT, Christophe was president and co-founder of TI People, a company dedicated to human-centered design backed by data-driven methodologies. He is also the former chief HR Officer of CEB, a global research and advisory company acquired by Gartner in 2017. Currently, Christophe serves as a Board Member for Executive Networks, where he continues to share his expertise in organizational leadership and development.
Resources mentioned:
www.getfount.com
Connect with Christophe:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cxpmartel/

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.

Within social justice, those most impacted by design often find themselves left out of the design process. After witnessing power struggles between the oppressed and their surroundings, design practitioner Lesley-Ann Noel identified the need for co-designing within a system to create the most productive and equitable outcome.
Lesley-Ann Noel is a university professor at North Carolina State University, author of Design Social Change, and a design practitioner specializing in equity, social justice, and marginalized groups in design research. She has a background in industrial design, an MBA from the University of the West Indies, and a PhD in Design from North Carolina State University.
In this episode, Dart and Lesley-Ann discuss:
- The importance of co-designing with those affected by a system
- 3 levels of awareness inherent to an effective design process
- Finding power in different aspects of one’s identity
- Why designers must recognize their positionality
- Using anger and intense emotions as design tools
- What materials create social change
- The duality of the oppressed and the oppressor
- The essential “recipes” to change the world
- And other topics...
Lesley-Ann Noel is a university professor at North Carolina State University, an author, and a design practitioner with a focus on equity, social justice, and the experiences of marginalized groups in design research. Her work focuses on the realms of social innovation, education, and public health, as showcased in her latest book, Design Social Change.
Before joining North Carolina State University, Lesley-Ann was the Associate Director of Design Thinking for Social Impact at Tulane University. She was also a lecturer at Stanford University and the University of the West Indies. Lesley-Ann holds a BA in Industrial Design from the Universidade Federal do Paraná, an MBA from the University of the West Indies, and a PhD in Design from North Carolina State University. She is co-chair of the Pluriversal Design Special Interest Group of the Design Research Society and a co-editor of “The Black Experience in Design.”
Resources mentioned:
Design Social Change, by Lesley-Ann Noel: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Social-Change-Challenge-Stanford/dp/1984858149
Connect with Lesley-Ann:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesleyannnoel/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lesleyannnoel/
https://dschool.stanford.edu/book-collections/design-social-change

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.

In just three years, Darius Mirshahzadeh went from being a one-man show to having the 40th fastest-growing private company in the U.S. He was a 28-year-old CEO who brought his dream to life... until it hit him.
He hated his company, and it was his fault.
Darius realized that his organization didn’t reflect his core values, making limitless scale impossible. His journey to create a company grounded in core values resulted in Glassdoor ranking him the number nine CEO in America for small and medium-sized businesses. Now, having exited his company, Darius helps other companies scale to 8 and 9-figures using the principles he discovered.
Darius Mirshahzadeh is an author, entrepreneur, and expert in scaling businesses. Within three years of founding Twin Capital Mortgage, he grew it from one employee to 150 employees with a 2500%+ revenue growth. His new book, The Core Value Equation, discusses how to use core values to create limitless scale and build an unbeatable organization.
In this episode, Dart and Darius discuss:
- Darius’ new book, The Core Value Equation
- Designing company values
- Whether or not employees must share company values
- Core values as the language of accountability within an organization
- Measuring employee efficacy and engagement
- When polarization in business is a good thing
- Finding your calling
- And other topics...
Darius Mirshahzadeh is an author, entrepreneur, and expert in scaling businesses to eight and nine figures. Within three years of founding his first company, Twin Capital Mortgage, he grew it to have 2500%+ revenue growth and reach #40 on the Inc. 5000 rankings. By focusing on core values and honesty within a company, Darius was ranked #9 by Glassdoor’s Ranked CEOs in America for small to medium businesses. His new book, The Core Value Equation, discusses how to use core values to create a limitless scale and build an optimal organization.
Darius participated in the Birthing of Giants at MIT and the Gathering of Titans at MIT, was a TEDx curator, and graduated from the world-renowned Stagen Integral Leadership Program. His six core values are happiness, love, passion, curiosity, creativity, and balance.
Resources Mentioned:
The Core Value Equation, by Darius Mirshahzadeh: https://www.amazon.com/Core-Value-Equation-Framework-Limitless/dp/1544506708
Bain & Company’s eNPS: https://www.netpromotersystem.com/about/employee-nps/
Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement Survey: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/356063/gallup-q12-employee-engagement-survey.aspx
Connect with Darius:
https://therealdarius.com/
The Greatness Machine podcast

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.