In this episode of The Experience Designers, we dive deep into the world of neurodiversity with Tina Squire, an expert in fostering neuro-inclusive environments. Tina shares her personal journey with ADHD and how it has fueled her passion for creating workspaces where neurodiverse individuals are not just accommodated, but truly celebrated. This ep…

In this episode, we’re joined by John Sills, managing partner at The Foundation and author of The Human Experience. John shares an incredible story of how a broken train in Switzerland became one of the most memorable customer experiences he’s ever had—and not because it went wrong, but because of how it was handled. Together, we dive into the hear…

In this episode, Elena Aylott shares her unique journey from executive assistant to Vice President of Global Communications and Employee Experience at Oriflame Cosmetics to founding her own company, The Aylott Group. She emphasizes the importance of trust, adaptability, and community-building within organizations. Key takeaways include the impact o…

We are used to leadership being hierarchical. Always talking about the tone from the top. But what happens when we share leadership and power throughout the organization? And challenge our current ways of working in the most profound ways? With Mette Aagaard we explore the benefits, guiding principles and biggest challenges of shifting our corporat…

We often talk about growth as some race to the top. A climb of the ladder, an improvement of our skills, but that narrative actually misses a core aspect of our evolution. Developing our ability to hold and make use of our new capacities. Nele is an organisational psychologist and coach who specialises in vertical development. We dive into what ver…

โดย Steve Usher

โดย Shani Persson

โดย Steve Usher

Performance and productivity are two important words in today’s work environment. And also, two charged words, because - what do they actually mean? Many of us will have experienced some kind of arbitrary, unfair, strange administrative process that attempts to evaluate the work that we do. With Linda, we take a scientific and neurological perspect…

What does a humanitarian business such as the British Red Cross do to ensure they’re also human-centric on the inside when creating an experience for their people? Well, they commit to a dedicated people experience team and start their journey of introducing a way of working that puts the employee at the heart of everything. Applying a human-centri…

The cognitive and rational mind dominates our conversation about performance in the workplace, but unlocking our full potential and abilities - and doing so sustainably over time - demands us to engage more than our brains. Only when we listen, learn to understand, and respond to the signals that our body sends us, are we able to actually enhance o…

The humble job interview. Did you know that the first offical job assessment was creating in 1921 by Thomas Edison who designed a written test to evaluate candidates' knowledge. Since then it’s safe to say, the interview has gone various developments. But at the core, it’s two humans coming together. Where so much is going on from a psychological, …

What distinguishes a well-functioning team from a friction-ridden one? How do we know what to spend time on as we start building a team? And what do we need to take ownership of as leaders and co-workers? With Eleni Jacobs we break down the concept of psychological safety and look at the conscious and unconscious dynamics that rule and create our t…

When was the last time you felt discomfort? Did you notice how you reacted? Was it subtle shifts in your body? Or major knee-jerk! How did it feel? What level of discomfort was it? 1 out of 10? 10 out of 10? Regardless of the situation. What's clear is we have a reaction. Sometimes subtle, other times more profound and impactful. This is where the …

Design is a buzzword for everything from products to customer- and employee experiences. But beyond that, it is a mindset and skill-set that requires dedicated practice both by individuals and organizations. With Andre Fangueiro we explore different facets of design, from individual behaviors to leadership, career development and organizational str…

As employee experience continues to evolve from buzzword to creating impact inside of organizations. I was curious to explore the world of customer experience. How did they go from buzzword to a discipline, business function and career choice? What learnings can we leverage for the EX evolution? How can we make better use of connecting these two si…

In this special episode Shani and Steve look back on their first year of running Wonder together and what it means to do life and business in a more human way. They share 10 big lessons they’ve learnt over the course of the year and the different facets of more human.โดย Steve Usher

In a quick-paced and demanding work environment, community is something many companies and individuals seek to build - to be less alone, to become more creative, to solve problems more effectively. With Anamaria Dorgo's unique voice and experience in community building, we explore what makes a good community. And how do we go about creating communi…

Theo Smith brings a unique lens to the workplace in the form of Neurodiversity. If you’re struggling to understand what this is or how it applies to your business - I promise you, it is relevant and already exists in your business. It’s just a matter of whether you understand it, are asking the right questions or prepared to adapt and evolve to it.…

When we discuss communication we often end up speaking about strategies for talking to people, how we can convey information and create engagement, but we spend less time understanding how that interaction works and how different people both send and receive messages. Together with Josh Hammonds we try to decode different styles of communication an…

Our ability to collaborate and collaborate constructively is one of the key predictors of productivity, innovation and success overall. Working well together is not just a set of skills, it is also a mindset. Together with Jim Tamm we explore what Radical Collaboration means and dive into the capabilities we need in order to take radical responsibi…

Dieter Veldsmen is Chief Scientist - HR and Organizational Development at the Academy to Innovate HR based in the Netherlands means he’s perfectly positioned to share insights on the current trends and challenges. Together, we explore the increasing focus and need for more human-centricity, the shifts with labour unrest, and not being heard, result…

In environments aimed towards productivity and reaching goals, wellbeing can easily be perceived as a distraction. When in fact, our wellness sets the tone for our relationships, our creativity and our ability to contribute. Together with Teresa Clark, we explore different lenses of wellbeing, such as trust, feedback and creativity and how we can t…

Sally Winston from Qualtrics dives into the dynamic world of employee experience. We explore how employee listening has transformed from annual surveys to continuous insights, empowering organizations to make informed decisions on their time, resources, and budget. We also explore how employee experience evolves as a role and function in shaping th…

Change is often approached with toolkits, frameworks and curves, something that we try to break down into comprehensible pieces to control. Instead, we can choose a different route - seeing change as a mindset, a capability or a state of being. With Alex Budak we dive into the practices and skills we need to practice to live with and drive change i…

Building a people function inside of a scale-up business is a tricky ask. Everything is being created in the moment. Very little stays consistent, and things change constantly. In this episode you'll meet Linnea Bywall, Head of People at Alva Labs. We explore her journey from being employee number 14 to building out their people function, sharing t…

We talk a lot about how to create a meaningful life and strong connections and relationships, to increase our quality of life, but what happens to our needs and preferences when they are pushed to their extreme? When we know we are about to die do we choose any differently? With Carina, we explore her observations of people’s last wishes in palliat…

Today’s guest on Cover Stories with Chess Life is someone you might not have heard of yet, but I’m guessing that you will, and soon. FM Sandeep Sethuraman is the author of our March cover story on the K-12 Grade Championships, held last December in National Harbor, Maryland. Sandeep scored 6.5/7 to claim clear first in the 11th Grade Championship, …

The experience of work and life have long been treated as two separate experiences, but what happens when we think about work the same way we think about life? With Aga we dive into what corporate cultures look like that make space for us to be human and what is needed for a workplace to send positive ripples into our lives.…

Time to give up organizational charts, KPI’s, control and let go! Organize your company like a planetary system of circles. Let these circles self-organize and run the company. No hierarchy! Whilst your people play roles in these circles – your career doesn't go "up", it's about jumping through circles to constantly learn, contribute and grow.…

Feedback has become a core component of work-life and the way we collaborate, but from a growth- and advancement-perspective it might not be hitting the mark. With Eva Hamboldt we explore how our brains react to feedback, why it might not be the best solution and how we could choose to do feedback instead.…

We discuss the shifts and trends impacting the HR industry. The opportunities created both during and post COVID for the function itself. What prompted SAP to create a new HR model, how they've approached this redesign in order to add value to the organization in new ways.โดย Steve Usher

Today’s guest on "Cover Stories with Chess Life" is one of the authors of our January cover story on the 2022 U.S. Championships, and she is also — breaking news here — starting up a regular column for Chess Life. She is the woman with the purple hair, WGM Tatev Abrahamyan. Tatev began her chess journey at age eight in Armenia. After winning medals…

Today’s guest on Cover Stories with Chess Life is one of the authors of our December cover story on the 2022 FIDE Olympiad. She is our Women’s top board, WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova. Begim, as she is often called, was born in Uzbekistan, and saw chess success at a young age, winning the U12 bronze at the World Youth in 2011. After earning both he…

Self-leadership has made a name for itself during the transition into hybrid work, and not always in the best way. With Mia and Malin we explore what self-leadership is and how it can be a tool for us to “bring our full selves to work”. And we talk about misconceptions around self-leadership - what it is NOT - and how we as leaders and co-workers t…

Today’s guest on "Cover Stories with Chess Life" is our first returning guest. He’s the man with the fancy hat: Grandmaster Elshan Moradiabadi. Elshan is the author of our November cover story on the 2022 U.S. Open, where, after a thrilling Armageddon match with GM Aleksey Sorokin, he finished second on tiebreaks. As the highest finishing American …

โดย Steve Usher

We know the brain is made for survival, but are we good at using its potential to grow and change? With Maria, we lean in to explore how we can help our brains create new pathways and change both our own capabilities, self-awareness and even how we experience life.โดย Shani Persson

With the current exploration and re-definition of work, a lot of deeply engrained concepts around hierarchy, collaboration and culture are up for question. Imran Rehman offers an angle of community and leadership that can help us create a true sense of diversity and belonging.โดย Steve Usher

โดย Steve Usher

My guest on this special edition of Cover Stories is Caroline King, the photographer who shot our July cover photo of the 2022 National High School Championship, which was held in Memphis in April. Caroline — the sister of previous guest Alex King, the author of our July cover story on the High School — was on-site in Memphis, taking some of the be…

Today’s guest on Cover Stories is the author of our July cover story on the 2022 National High School Championship, which was held in Memphis in April. He is also the author of a series on the Tarrasch defense that will wrap in our August issue, and he has written quite a few pieces for US Chess publications in these past few years. Newly minted FM…

Our bonus Candidates preview is out! Chess Life and Chess Life Online editor John Hartmann chats with GM Jacob Aagaard about the Candidates, Magnus Carlsen possibly not playing in the next World Championship, the new tiebreak regulations, and why Sergey Karjakin may or may not have deserved a red card. Aagaard will be doing daily annotations for ou…

Vjekoslav (“Vjeko”) Nemec is a Croatian candidate master, and the main proprietor of the chess website chessentials.com. When I put out the call on Twitter for an author to write about the Grand Prix for our June issue, Vjeko put himself forward, and after a bit of investigation, I was happy to hand him the project. Vjeko’s story in chess begins, a…

This month's guest on Cover Stories with Chess Life is... me. John is the author of our May 2022 cover story on the 2022 Spring Classic. He also wrote about Jamie Foxx's games with Jude Acers in New Orleans, and he also contributed his semi-regular "In the News" column. John Hartmann is the editor of Chess Life and Chess Life Online. He was named t…

Today’s guest on "Cover Stories with Chess Life" is well known to American chess fans. He’s the man with the fancy hat: Grandmaster Elshan Moradiabadi. Elshan is the author of our April cover story on the Tata Steel tournament earlier this year, won by Magnus Carlsen. Instead of a traditional, blow-by-blow account, Elshan’s analysis focused on the …

Today’s guest on Cover Stories is a man in demand. By my count Harold Scott is making his third podcast recording today. He has been a guest on Evan Rabin’s Premier Chess Podcast along with GM Joel Benjamin, a feat that he repeated in a joint appearance with Ben Johnson and the Perpetual Chess Podcast. But today it’s just him. Harold is the author …

Yes, it's January. And yes, this is the December edition of Cover Stories. (Look for the January EP soon!) GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is the author of our December cover story, “My American Tour,” which discusses his victory at the 2021 Sinquefield Cup and his second place finish at the 9LX (or 960) tournament directly afterwards. We’ve been trying …

Today’s guest on Cover Stories with Chess Life is the author of our November 2021 cover story on the U.S. Open, which he won with a dominating performance and score of 8½/9. More recently, he finished in shared fourth through sixth place at the 2021 U.S. Championship, his +1 score leaving him just a half-point outside the playoff won by GM Wesley S…

Today’s guest on Cover Stories with Chess Life is the author of our September cover story on the Prague Chess Festival and, as of the September 2021 FIDE rating list, the 26th ranked player in the world. The winner of the 2018 U.S. Championship and a stalwart on American international teams, Grandmaster Sam Shankland has already, at age 29, done al…