Working/Broken
Welcome to Working/Broken with Nick Richtsmeier and Brad Farris. Every episode, we examine a trend, bias, or hot topic affecting business leaders and ask the question: Is it working? Or is it broken?
Much of what is broken in the world impacts our business and our leadership. We can’t fix all that, but we can learn to respond and lead differently. Business leaders have been hard-wired and trained to chase trends, follow conventional wisdom, and find any way possible to simplify the endless list of hard decisions they have to make.
So the ecosystem of “hacks” and “best practices” fills to overflowing, leaving you at a loss for a sorting mechanism: What applies to you? Where have bias or assumptions skewed the gurus? What actually applies to you?
The spectrum of what’s working and what’s broken isn’t fixed. It’s custom. To not just your situation, but you as a leader and what you’re bringing to the table. And while you try to follow the rules given to you, part of the magic of succeeding in leadership is knowing what’s for you and what isn’t.
So come join us. We’re gonna laugh. We’re gonna challenge. We’re gonna wrestle. Together.
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Nick Richtsmeier is a catalyst for change in organizations that rely on trust to deliver their services. If your advisory, education, or professional services firm needs to accelerate growth, visit CultureCraft.com to find out how he can craft a growth strategy that’s made for you.
Brad Farris coaches leaders of creative professional firms to become the people they need to be to lead the agency they aspire to grow. Find out more at AnchorAdvisors.com
You can find additional resources at WorkingBroken.com.
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Working/Broken
Should Jobs Still Require Degrees?
On this episode, we tackle a longstanding battle that has nearly boiled over: the role of college in career-preparation. Or, more specifically, why do hiring managers still require degrees for new roles? And should they?
The old biases persist: many hiring managers still view a degree as a shorthand for maturity, responsibility, and readiness. But with roles evolving fast and the shelf life of job-specific skills shrinking, is that shortcut doing more harm than good?
In the end, Brad and Nick are do what they always do, plunging us into the fundamental question of what higher ed's job is and should be in a functioning society... and is this a functioning society at all?
Together, they explore:
- Why “entry-level” doesn’t mean what it used to
- How automation and AI are softening the bottom of the job market
- The tension between hiring for the current role vs. hiring for a path
- The challenge of finding people who can evolve with the organization
- Whether freelance might be a better fit than full-time in many cases
- How the university system became a cultural scapegoat—and what we lose when we misunderstand it
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Have a business topic you want us to decide if it's working or broken? Have a question about the episode? You can email us at podcast@culturecraft.com.
