Rework

Business rhetoric is rife with the language of war—there's constant talk of conquering markets and dominating the competition. These tropes indicate a dangerous way of thinking that can have real consequences, intended or not, on human behavior. In this episode, two professors share their research on the impact of violent rhetoric on business ethics, and a member of Basecamp's Support team talks about communication techniques that get us out of the mentality that everything is a zero-sum game.

Show Notes

The Brigham Young/Utah "Holy War" game is so famous it gets its own Wikipedia entry - 00:03

Steve Jobs' quote about going "thermonuclear" against Android was first revealed in Walter Isaacson's biography - 1:18

Joshua Gubler's website - 1:49

David Wood's website - 1:57

Joshua Gubler and David's research, conducted with Nathan Kalmoe of George Washington University, was published in the Journal of Business Ethics in September 2015 - 3:20

Planet Money did a story about The Art of War's popularity in business culture - 9:33

If you have anxiety about late-stage capitalism like Wailin does, you should read this article by Alexis Madrigal - 11:08

The Center for Nonviolent Communication - 13:07

Check out Elizabeth's previous appearance on Rework - 13:25

What is Rework?

A podcast by 37signals about the better way to work and run your business. Hosted by Kimberly Rhodes, the Rework podcast features the co-founders of 37signals (the makers of Basecamp and Hey), Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson sharing their unique perspective on business and entrepreneurship.