In this episode, we pull back the curtain on the six categories of invisible work and show you how to spot them in your own calendar. You’ll learn why these unseen activities matter, how uneven loads create burnout risks, and a simple four-step scan to surface where your energy is really going.

References:

1) Sensemaking in Organizations: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/818257.Sensemaking_in_Organizations

2) Will AI Fix Work? Work Trend Index: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/will-ai-fix-work

3) Are You Taking on Too Many Non-Promotable Tasks? https://hbr.org/2022/04/are-you-taking-on-too-many-non-promotable-tasks

4) Being Glue: https://www.noidea.dog/glue

5) Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55339408-noise

6) Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63934894-creativity-inc-the-expanded-edition

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library.

In this episode, we dive into the hidden side of leadership, the work that never makes it to dashboards or OKRs but holds organisations together. From Karl Weick’s sensemaking to Linda Babcock’s research on non-promotable tasks, from Tanya Reilly’s “Being Glue” in engineering teams to Paul O’Neill’s safety-first turnaround at Alcoa, we explore how invisible work shapes trust, efficiency, and performance.

References:

1) Sensemaking in Organizations: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/818257.Sensemaking_in_Organizations

2) Will AI Fix Work? Work Trend Index: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/will-ai-fix-work

3) Are You Taking on Too Many Non-Promotable Tasks? https://hbr.org/2022/04/are-you-taking-on-too-many-non-promotable-tasks

4) Being Glue: https://www.noidea.dog/glue

5) Alcoa’s Core Values in Practice: Paul O’Neill’s Safety Focus: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=26838

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library.

In this weekly wrap-up episode, we stitch adaptability into a practical toolkit. From Monday’s distinction between flexibility, agility, and adaptability, to Tuesday’s litmus test, to Wednesday’s SLICE experimentation engine, Thursday’s levers of decision velocity and resource mobility, and Friday’s simple rules. You’ll walk away with a one-page adaptability playbook that helps you sense shifts, run disciplined experiments, move faster, free up resources, and guide decisions with clarity.

References:

1) Dynamic capabilities and strategic management: https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199708)18:7<509::AID-SMJ882>3.0.CO;2-Z

2) Dynamic capabilities as (workable) management systems theory: https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2017.75

3) Trustworthy online controlled experiments: A practical guide to A/B testing: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/trustworthy-online-controlled-experiments/

4) Simple Rules: How to thrive in a complex world: https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/Simple-Rules/9780544705203

5) Heuristic decision making: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120709-145346

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library

In this episode, Vishal unpacks why simple rules are a leader’s best weapon in complex systems. Backed by research, this episode shows how three to five crisp heuristics can outperform thick manuals and guide decisions without bottlenecks. From wildfire management’s legendary LCES rule set to corporate playbooks that focus on boundaries, priorities, and timing, you’ll learn how to design rules that travel fast, scale under stress, and stick in people’s heads when leaders aren’t in the room.

References:

1) Simple Rules for a Complex World. Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2012/09/simple-rules-for-a-complex-world

2) The best rules are simple, flexible and purposeful: https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2015/04/rules-simple-eisenhardt-042915

3) LCES — Lookouts, Communications, Escape Routes, Safety Zones: https://fs-prod-nwcg.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-06/lces-gleason.pdf

4) Fast and frugal forecasting: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2009.05.010

5) Ecological Rationality: Fast-and-Frugal Heuristics for Managerial Decision Making under Uncertainty: https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2018.0172

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library

In this episode, Vishal explores why adaptability fails without Decision Velocity and Resource Mobility. Backed by research and examples from Jeff Bezos and Piyush Gupta, this episode urges leaders to halve their “signal-to-decision” time and free up capital and talent for new bets. You’ll walk away with practical litmus tests and a simple one-pager to publish in your teams.

References:

1) DBS: Digital Transformation to Best Bank in the World: https://store.hbr.org/product/dbs-digital-transformation-to-best-bank-in-the-world/SMU816?srsltid=AfmBOopcxwtvJKsOiz8sJsmVjP3KS7DQFY6Tabz0tYRaQJE0ujCwp8Kz

2) Decision-making in the age of urgency: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/decision-making-in-the-age-of-urgency

3) How to make the bold strategy moves that matter: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/how-to-make-the-bold-strategy-moves-that-matter

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library

In this episode, Vishal introduces SLICE (Select, Learn, Implement, Chronicle, Expand) as a practical operating system for experimentation. This episode explores how adaptability comes from a repeatable rhythm of trustworthy experiments. You’ll hear how SLICE helps leaders build experimentation into their organisation’s DNA and makes innovation a habit.

References:

1) SLICE - Experimentation as an Operating System: https://medium.com/@vishalprasadin/slice-b1f1e7aa2aa4

2) Building a Culture of Experimentation: https://hbr.org/2020/03/building-a-culture-of-experimentation

3) The Discipline of Business Experimentation: https://hbr.org/2014/12/the-discipline-of-business-experimentation

4) Trustworthy Online Controlled Experiments: A Practical Guide to A/B Testing: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51635906-trustworthy-online-controlled-experiments

5) Learning from Jeff Bezos: Big winners pay for so many experiments: https://versionone.vc/learning-jeff-bezos-big-winners-pay-many-experiments/

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library

In this episode, Vishal unpacks adaptability through the lens of dynamic capabilities; sensing, seizing, and transforming. Drawing from strategy research and the real-world case of DBS Bank’s digital transformation, this episode breaks theory into a practical checklist: how to spot early signals before they erupt, convert them into committed bets, and rewire the organisation to sustain change. If you can answer the three checklist questions without hesitation, you’re running adaptability by design; if not, this is where you start.

References:

1) Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.640

2) Dynamic Capabilities: What Are They? https://sms.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/1097-0266%28200010/11%2921%3A10/11%3C1105%3A%3AAID-SMJ133%3E3.0.CO%3B2-E

3) DBS: Digital Transformation to Best Bank in the World: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/309/

4) Adaptability: The New Competitive Advantage: https://hbr.org/2011/07/adaptability-the-new-competitive-advantage

5) McKinsey & Company (2016). How Nimble Resource Allocation Can Double Your Company’s Value: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/how-nimble-resource-allocation-can-double-your-companys-value

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library

In Episode of The EnterpriseJoy Podcast, Vishal untangles three terms leaders often confuse; adaptability, agility, and flexibility. Drawing on research and real-world cases, he explains why flexibility is about range, agility is about pace, and adaptability is about evolution. You’ll hear how Netflix’s pivot to streaming wasn’t just agility in action, but true adaptability; a deliberate reconfiguration of its business model and culture. The episode leaves you with a practical challenge so you can stop solving the wrong problem and start leading with clarity.

References:

1) What Really Makes Factories Flexible? https://hbr.org/1995/07/what-really-makes-factories-flexible

2) Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.640

3) How Netflix Reinvented HR: https://hbr.org/2014/01/how-netflix-reinvented-hr

4) Adaptability: The New Competitive Advantage: https://hbr.org/2011/07/adaptability-the-new-competitive-advantage

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library