How to Fix Dissatisfaction at Work: A Conversation with Adam Grant
Disgruntlement isn’t limited to postal workers. We’ve all felt disillusioned or dissatisfied at work at one time or another. Luckily, there are ways to turn it around. The Savvy Psychologist talks with bestselling author and organizational psychologist Adam Grant about how to spark a turnaround.
Ellen Hendriksen, PhD
Listen
How to Fix Dissatisfaction at Work: A Conversation with Adam Grant
Every one of us has felt disillusioned at work at some time or another. But sometimes that disillusionment drags on and on, slouching toward who knows where. According to a worldwide Gallup poll, only 15% of the world’s one billion full-time workers feel engaged at work. That means a whopping 85% of us are disengaged, disgruntled, or dissatisfied. How to turn this around? Who better to ask than organizational psychologist extraordinaire Adam Grant?
Adam Grant is an expert on how we can find motivation and meaning, and lead more generous and creative lives. As a popular TED speaker and the New York Times bestselling author of three books that have sold over a million copies, he has helped Google, the NBA, and the U.S. Army improve life at work. Adam has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for six straight years, and has been recognized as one of Fortune’s 40 under 40 and the world’s 10 most influential management thinkers. He’s also a former magician and junior Olympic springboard diver.
If that wasn’t enough, Adam recently started the second season of his excellent podcast WorkLife and I’m delighted to talk to him about it in today’s episode of Savvy Psychologist. The show takes you inside some of the world’s most unusual workplaces to discover the keys to better work. You’ll never see your job the same way again. Season Two launched a couple weeks ago, so check it out, subscribe, and I dare you not to binge-listen to catch up on all the great episodes.
Just click the player above to hear our conversation!
In this episode, you will learn:
-
What disgruntlement at work really means and how to harness it for success
-
The four options we have when you’re dissatisfied
-
How to rally when we feel dissatisfied at work
-
Why to ask for advice rather than help
-
How feeling unappreciated at work affects us, and how to turn it around
-
When gratitude journaling is effective, and when it’s not
-
How to instill values of concern for others in our kids
-
The mismatch between what we want for our kids and what our kids think we want
-
The optimal time to turn things around at work
-
The last word on creativity and why it took an outsider to recognize the genius of Seinfeld
Photo courtesy of the WorkLife Media team.
About the Author
Dr. Ellen Hendriksen was the host of the Savvy Psychologist podcast from 2014 to 2019. She is a clinical psychologist at Boston University’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CARD). She earned her Ph.D. at UCLA and completed her training at Harvard Medical School. Her scientifically-based, zero-judgment approach is regularly featured in Psychology Today, Scientific American, The Huffington Post, and many other media outlets. Her debut book, HOW TO BE YOURSELF: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety, was published in March 2018.