You don't have to fix what failed you. You can build what frees you.

In this episode of How We Future, Lisa Kay Solomon and Nilofer Merchant talk about Nilofer’s new book, Our Best Work, and why to question the invisible norms that are limiting the way we work and lead.

Nilofer argues that many of the ways we measure work today focus on what has already happened—revenue, productivity, efficiency—rather than the leading indicators that tell us whether we’re actually doing the work needed to create a better future.

In this conversation, Lisa and Nilofer explore:

• Expanding our definition of intelligence to include intuition, context, synthesis, vulnerability, and the unique perspectives each person brings.
• The difference between actually helping people grow or simply making ourselves feel helpful.
• Building trust through integrity, where our actions consistently match our words.
• Walking toward the unknown without needing to know the entire path ahead.

What are you spending your energy trying to fix that you could instead imagine and begin building differently?

Links from the episode:

• Nilofer’s newest book, Our Best Work
• Explore Nilofer’s work on her website
• Nilofer’s “Sitting Is the Smoking of Our Generation” TED Talk

Follow How We Future:

• Lisa Kay Solomon on LinkedIn
• @lisakaysolomon on Instagram
• @howwefuture on TikTok
• howwefuture.substack.com

Want to contact us? Email hello@howwefuture.com

What if you can become your best self by changing the situation around you?

In our season 4 finale of How We Future, Lisa Kay Solomon talks with psychologist, University of Pennsylvania professor, and author Angela Duckworth about her new book, Situated, and the powerful role our environments, relationships, and circumstances play in shaping what we think, feel, and do.

Angela’s previous book, Grit, explores how to leverage our inner qualities. Now, she’s examining the “outside game”: the mentors, peers, teams, spaces, and systems that can help us thrive.

Listen to the full episode to learn strategies for changing your environment, building supportive relationships, making behavior change easier, and using your agency to create better conditions for yourself and others.

Lisa and Angela talk about:

• Angela’s three-box model for changing behavior
• Why changing your environment can be smarter than relying on willpower
• What Michael Phelps and Jerry Seinfeld teach us about situational agency

And as always, we’d love to hear from you: What’s one part of your situation you could change to make the future you want a little easier to reach?

Links from the episode:

• Learn more about Angela on her website
• Buy Angela’s new book, Situated
• Man’s Search For Meaning by Victor Frankel

Follow How We Future:

• Lisa Kay Solomon on LinkedIn
• @lisakaysolomon on Instagram
• @howwefuture on TikTok
• howwefuture.substack.com

Want to contact us? Email hello@howwefuture.com

Your career doesn’t have to follow a straight line to have a clear purpose.

Lisa talks with Jennifer Dulski on this week’s episode of How We Future. Jennifer is an entrepreneur, Stanford Business School Professor, and author of Purposeful.

Jennifer’s own career has taken her from teaching and nonprofits to Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Change.org, and her current company, Rising Team. But what all these roles have in common is that Jennifer has been devoting her life to amplifying the potential in other people.

Together, Lisa and Jennifer explore what it means to build a purposeful life and career, how to make an impact even when you feel too small to make a difference, and why sometimes the best career strategy is simply to just add value.

They also get into what Jennifer learned as a college crew coxswain about leading teams, knowing when to push and when to ease up, adapting to different people’s motivations, and being willing to “take one for the team.”

In this episode, we explore:

• Finding the thread of purpose across a winding career
• Why high expectations + support can help people reach their potential
• How teaching can make you a better learner and leader

And because the future of leadership is changing fast, Jennifer shares how she’s experimenting with AI to help people practice difficult conversations. You won’t want to miss this episode.

Links from the episode:

• Purposeful by Jennifer Dulski
• Jen’s company, Rising Team
• How We Future featuring Coach John Tanner

Follow How We Future:

• Lisa Kay Solomon on LinkedIn
• @lisakaysolomon on Instagram
• @howwefuture on TikTok
• howwefuture.substack.com

Want to contact us? Email hello@howwefuture.com