Ep 34: Less Rage, More Sage: Learning from Your Feels

What if the secret to surviving career chaos isn’t more hustle—but smarter engineering?

In this eye-opening episode of Gen Mess with Tess, host Tess Brigham sits down with systems architect and organizational consultant Belle Walker, who reveals why most companies—and leaders—are fighting the wrong fires, and how “engineering thinking” can fundamentally change how we navigate the messiest parts of work and life.

Belle shares her unusual journey from a family of engineers to stage management and humanities, and ultimately, to designing scalable, human-centered organizational systems. She explains how her approach blends classic problem-solving with deep empathy—translating abstract chaos into actionable clarity. Belle and Tess dig into why the real friction in organizations isn’t just between people, but between the functions and systems behind them, and how leaders often overlook the root causes of workplace tension.

Key highlights include:

• Why "cleaning up the mess" starts with understanding what problems you’re actually solving (and what resources and constraints you have).
• The surprising pitfalls of cutting entry-level jobs for AI—and why new talent is essential for adaptability.
• The energy “budget” concept: how organizations and individuals ignore energy management at their peril, especially in the return-to-office push.
• How generational expectations shape workplace difficulties—especially for Millennials and Gen Z, and why asking for what you need isn’t entitlement.
• The reality behind organizational change: why progress always takes longer than it looks in books, movies, or a single sentence.

Tune in to uncover actionable strategies for bridging generational gaps, managing energy, and architecting workplace solutions that really work—plus, hear Belle’s take on parenting, the myth of innate genius, and her foolproof method for separating noise from necessity.

Episode Overview:

00:00 – Podcast intro & meet Belle Walker: organizational chaos vs. blueprints

00:04 – Belle’s origin story: engineering family, humanities leanings, Google, and finding the love of “building systems”

00:10 – What is engineering thinking? Problem setup vs. pure math

00:15 – Real-life chaos: Maps, autonomous vehicles, and the importance of communication

00:20 – Managing today’s workplace noise & energy budgets—satellites, commutes, and training

00:28 – Generational perspectives: Gen Z, Millennials ask for what they want, impacts on work culture

00:34 – AI’s impact on organizational jobs—pitfalls and policy mistakes

00:40 – Why leaders miss functional friction (security vs. usability, quick fixes vs. lasting change)

00:44 – Change takes time—why it always feels faster in hindsight

00:46 – Elder Millennials, COVID parenting, work-life transformations

00:52 – How to actually “clean up” the generational mess: leverage strengths, address gaps, solve the right problems

00:56 – Belle’s plug for her Friction to Function newsletter

00:57 – Tess wraps up: the power of problem-solving, empathy, and learning to live in the “mess”

Ready to see your workplace (and maybe your whole life) through a new lens? Hit play and join Tess and Belle as they engineer the way out of the Gen Mess!

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