The Elephant in the Org

The Fearless PX
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The "Elephant in the Org" podcast is a daring dive into the unspoken challenges and opportunities in organizational development, particularly in the realm of employee experience. Hosted by the team at The Fearless PX, we tackle the "elephants" in the room—those taboo or ignored topics—that are critical for creating psychologically safe and highly effective workplaces.

  1. Bonus Episode - Battery Hens, Bullshit & Burnout: HR’s 2025 “You’ve Got to Be F*cking Kidding Me” Year in Review

    6D AGO · BONUS

    Bonus Episode - Battery Hens, Bullshit & Burnout: HR’s 2025 “You’ve Got to Be F*cking Kidding Me” Year in Review

    Send us a text BONUS EPISODE — and somehow, our 75th. Your main event today is our conversation with Radhika Dutt, so if you only have time for one episode, go listen to her burn OKRs to the ground first. This bonus drop is the after-party. Now… for everyone still emotionally recovering from HR in 2025, here’s our annual debrief: Battery Hens, Bullshit & Burnout — HR’s 2025 “You’ve Got to Be F*cking Kidding Me” Year in Review. Danny, Marion, and Cacha look back at the most unhinged year HR has seen in decades — the RTO theatre, the DEI backlash, the AI delusion spiral, productivity cosplay, surveillance creep, and burnout so widespread it probably deserves its own ICD medical code. We also celebrate the 23 incredible guests who joined us across The Elephant in the Org and RethinkAbility — a full-on stampede of elephants whose honesty, humour, and humanity kept us going. If you’ve ever stared at a performance management template and thought, “I’m one KPI away from moving to the forest", this episode is your emotional support beverage. Happy Holidays! We will see you again in the new year!  Link to Show Notes 🐘 Connect with Us: 🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX 📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at elephant@thefearlesspx.com 🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here 🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin: 🐘Marion Anderson 🐘Danny Gluch 🐘Cacha Dora 💬 Like what you hear? Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light. 🎙️ About the Show The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024. Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work. 🎵 Music & Production Credits 🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros 🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX ✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson ⚠️ Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

    57 min
  2. 2025 – The Year We Fired OKRs — Radhika Dutt Brings the Matches

    6D AGO

    2025 – The Year We Fired OKRs — Radhika Dutt Brings the Matches

    Send us a text What if the problem isn’t how you set goals… but the fact you’re using goals at all? In this episode of The Elephant in the Org, we declare 2025 the year we fire OKRs — and we’ve brought exactly the right arsonist. Author, entrepreneur, and product leader Radhika Dutt joins Danny, Marion, and Cacha to explain why traditional goal-setting, targets, and OKRs were built for 1940s assembly lines, not modern, messy, knowledge work. Radhika, author of Radical Product Thinking and advisor to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, has seen it all: pivotitis, obsessive sales disorder, hypermetrisemia, and leaders who cling to targets while flying blind. Her verdict? Goals don’t simply “need better implementation” — they structurally push people to hide bad news, optimise vanity metrics, and suffocate innovation. So what’s the alternative? Puzzle-setting. Radhika walks us through OHLA — Objectives, Hypotheses, Learnings, Adaptations — a practical, psychologically safe, reality-based way to shift from “Did you hit the number?” to “What did we learn and how do we adapt?” OHLA is built for complex, creative work — not the spreadsheet theatre most orgs mistake for strategy. In this episode, we get into: Why OKRs and targets quietly sabotage truth-telling and innovationThe 1940s origin story of goal-setting (and why it no longer applies)How OHLA works in real organisations — and why it changes behaviourWhat leaders have to unlearn to stop demanding fake certaintyHow to build a bubble of psychological safety even inside a messy systemFull show notes Connect with Radhika: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/radhika-dutt/ 🌐 Radical Product Thinking: https://www.radicalproduct.com 📚 🐘 Connect with Us: 🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX 📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at elephant@thefearlesspx.com 🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here 🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin: 🐘Marion Anderson 🐘Danny Gluch 🐘Cacha Dora 💬 Like what you hear? Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light. 🎙️ About the Show The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024. Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work. 🎵 Music & Production Credits 🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros 🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX ✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson ⚠️ Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

    1h 1m
  3. “The HR Breakdown: Dr Jo Burrell on Why the Function That Fixes Everything Is Falling Apart.”

    DEC 3

    “The HR Breakdown: Dr Jo Burrell on Why the Function That Fixes Everything Is Falling Apart.”

    Send us a text The HR Breakdown: Dr Jo Burrell on Why the Function That Fixes Everything Is Falling Apart HR isn’t “a bit stressed.” HR isn’t “managing fine.” HR isn’t “designed to be everyone’s emotional shock absorber.” The latest data finally confirms what every HR human already knows in their bones: The profession responsible for everyone else’s wellbeing is quietly falling apart. In this raw, unfiltered, data-driven conversation, we sit down with Dr Jo Burrell — Clinical Psychologist, co-founder of Ultimate Resilience, and one of HR Magazine’s Most Influential Thinkers 2025 — to unpack her groundbreaking findings on HR mental wellbeing… and the systemic failures that put HR professionals at clinical levels of depression, anxiety, burnout, and moral injury. Jo walks us through the research, the human cost, and the emotional labour nobody sees. Then she introduces an actual solution: HR Supervision — the psychologically informed support model used in clinical professions that could finally make HR sustainable. If you work in HR, lead HR, or have ever forwarded a problem with the phrase “Can HR just handle this?”, this episode is your reality check. In This Episode The shocking stats from Jo’s HR Mental Wellbeing ReportWhy HR is experiencing clinical distress levelsThe moral injury of delivering decisions you didn’t makeHR as the organisational “junk drawer”Why employees blame HR instead of the actual decision-makersThe parentified-child → HR professional pipelineWhy self-care is not — and never will be — the solutionWhat HR Supervision is and why it mattersHow to build a psychologically safe workplace when HR is drowningDr Jo Burrell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jo-burrell-04901a96/ 2025 HR Mental Wellbeing Survey Report (Free Download): 📄 Full Show Notes Listen, subscribe, share If this episode made you feel seen, vindicated, or slightly ragey in a productive way, send it to another HR human who needs it. And l 🐘 Connect with Us: 🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX 📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at elephant@thefearlesspx.com 🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here 🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin: 🐘Marion Anderson 🐘Danny Gluch 🐘Cacha Dora 💬 Like what you hear? Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light. 🎙️ About the Show The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024. Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work. 🎵 Music & Production Credits 🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros 🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX ✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson ⚠️ Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

    56 min
  4. Free-Range Humans vs. Corporate Battery Hens — Michelle McDaid on Flexibility That Actually Works

    NOV 19

    Free-Range Humans vs. Corporate Battery Hens — Michelle McDaid on Flexibility That Actually Works

    Send us a text What happens when flexibility stops being a perk and becomes the backbone of inclusion, well-being, and high performance? In this episode, we sit down with Michelle McDaid, founder of The Leading Place and long-time engineering leader across FinTech and HR Tech, to unpack how trust, autonomy, and psychological safety reshape the modern workplace. Michelle brings over two decades of experience leading and scaling global distributed product development teams — most recently as Senior Director of Engineering at Workhuman, and previously at Fidelity Investments and AIB. Now, through The Leading Place, she helps organisations design flexible, people-centred cultures that actually work. A qualified coach and MSc candidate in Work & Organisational Behaviour at Dublin City University, Michelle is widely recognised for her leadership in DEIB, gender equity, and Women in STEM. She has championed ERGs, mentored underrepresented groups, completed the 30% Club Ireland Board Ready programme with Deloitte, and has been honoured as a finalist in the Everywoman in Technology Awards and the Diversity in Tech Awards. She was also named in DiverseIn’s 133 Women Who Change The World. 🔗 Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleamcdaid/ Together with Danny, Marion, and Cacha, Michelle digs into the truth about flexibility: Why it matters, who gets left behind when it’s taken away, and how brave leadership — not buzzwords — creates cultures where free-range humans thrive while battery-hen systems crumble. We explore: • Why flexibility is infrastructure, not a perk • The weaponisation of resilience • ADHD in women and the unseen cost of masking • Gender equity and the real state of DEIB • Trust as the starting point for performance • Psychological safety inside rigid systems • Courage vs. consistency in leadership • The future of flexible work — and why it’s about design, not location 🔥 Full Show Notes If you care about flexible work, inclusion, or building teams where people actually flourish, this episode will hit you right in the truth gland. 🐘 Connect with Us: 🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX 📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at elephant@thefearlesspx.com 🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here 🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin: 🐘Marion Anderson 🐘Danny Gluch 🐘Cacha Dora 💬 Like what you hear? Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light. 🎙️ About the Show The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024. Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work. 🎵 Music & Production Credits 🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros 🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX ✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson ⚠️ Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

    1 hr
  5. Dan Smolen on WorkFit: Finding Joy in How We Work and Live

    NOV 5

    Dan Smolen on WorkFit: Finding Joy in How We Work and Live

    Send us a text What if “success” wasn’t someone else’s checklist—but a life that actually fits? In this uplifting, reflective conversation, Dan Smolen—Executive Producer & Host of What’s Your Work Fit? and fellow member of the Future of Work Alliance—joins Danny, Marion, and Cacha to explore how purpose, passion, and fit overlap (and don’t), why agency over your day matters, and how “soft eyes and soft ears” help us hear what truly lights us up. 📄 Full Show Notes We cover: What WorkFit really means—and how to find it in your lifeThe difference between purpose, passion, and fitReclaiming curiosity and joy after chasing others’ definitions of successChanneling pain into purpose (caregiving, identity, and advocacy)Why side hustles and “crazy-quilt” careers can restore autonomy and hopeTop takeaways: WorkFit isn’t a job; it’s a way of livingStop optimizing for other people’s expectationsAgency and joy are the real metrics of successLead with “soft eyes and soft ears”—stay open to signals and seasonalityThe future of work is hopeful when we design for fitConnect with Dan Smolen: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dansmolen/ • Substack: https://dansmolen.substack.com • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@whatsyourworkfit9441 • Email: dsmolen@dansmolen.com 🐘 Connect with Us: 🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX 📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at elephant@thefearlesspx.com 🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here 🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin: 🐘Marion Anderson 🐘Danny Gluch 🐘Cacha Dora 💬 Like what you hear? Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light. 🎙️ About the Show The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024. Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work. 🎵 Music & Production Credits 🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros 🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX ✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson ⚠️ Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

    57 min
  6. Crisis, Chaos, and Comms: Alison Arnot on Turning Panic Into Trust

    OCT 22

    Crisis, Chaos, and Comms: Alison Arnot on Turning Panic Into Trust

    Send us a text When crisis hits, clarity collapses — and HR is often left holding the mic. In this episode, Marion, Danny, and Cacha sit down with Alison Arnot, award-winning consultant, trainer, and author of Internal Communication in Times of Crisis: How to Secure Employee Trust, Support, and Advocacy in Crisis Situations. From her early-career baptism during the 2007 Glasgow Airport terror attack to decades guiding organizations through chaos, Alison shares what really happens when comms go quiet and people are left to fill in the blanks. She introduces her Seven S’s Framework — Surviving, Supporting, Sense-making, Stabilizing, Stimulating, Sustaining, and Strengthening — and explains how it helps teams move from panic to trust. Together, we explore how HR often becomes the crisis communications department by default, what psychological safety looks like when everything is on fire, and why connection—not control—is the cornerstone of any credible response. 🎧 Expect stories, strategies, and a few uncomfortable truths about leadership, silence, layoffs, and the human side of crisis. 🔗 Connect with Alison on LinkedIn 📘 Get Alison’s book from Kogan Page with code ALISONARNOT2025 for 25 % off. Link to Show Notes  🐘 Connect with Us: 🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX 📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at elephant@thefearlesspx.com 🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here 🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin: 🐘Marion Anderson 🐘Danny Gluch 🐘Cacha Dora 💬 Like what you hear? Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light. 🎙️ About the Show The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024. Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work. 🎵 Music & Production Credits 🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros 🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX ✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson ⚠️ Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

    53 min
  7. Want Inclusive Workplaces? Listen Up — and Hire Paul

    OCT 8

    Want Inclusive Workplaces? Listen Up — and Hire Paul

    Send us a text Want Inclusive Workplaces? Listen Up — and #HirePaul This special episode of The Elephant in the Org isn’t just a conversation — it’s a call to action. Meet Paul Meyer, a Deaf HR professional and inclusion advocate with extensive experience in talent acquisition, onboarding, and culture building. Paul has spent his career helping organizations make work truly inclusive, from hiring practices to day-to-day communication and leadership behavior. We recorded this as our first fully accessible episode, featuring live ASL interpretation (Rebecca Davis) and CART captions (Annie Hargett, AH Real Time Captions). The audio version includes a full written transcript, and you can access the ASL + CC video via the YouTube link below. 🎥 Watch the accessible video version on YouTube → https://youtu.be/2fGpnCNUi1o 👉 Paul is actively job-seeking. Listen, learn, and help us #HirePaul. In this episode: Why “culture is communication”How to build accessible onboarding that worksWhy AI captions aren’t yet a reasonable accommodationPractical team habits that build belongingWhat HR can learn from lived experience Connect & Support: 🔗 Connect with Paul on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmeyerpm/ 💼 Share open roles or referrals 📣 Spread the word: #HirePaul #ElephantInclusive Credits Hosted by Marion Anderson & Danny Gluch Guest: Paul Meyer ASL: Rebecca Davis CART: Annie Hargett, AH Real Time Captions Collaboration: Greer Procich, Rethinkability Link to Show Notes 🐘 Connect with Us: 🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX 📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at elephant@thefearlesspx.com 🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here 🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin: 🐘Marion Anderson 🐘Danny Gluch 🐘Cacha Dora 💬 Like what you hear? Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light. 🎙️ About the Show The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024. Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work. 🎵 Music & Production Credits 🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros 🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX ✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson ⚠️ Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

    1h 12m
  8. From Grief to Advocacy: Don Ryan on Suicide, Empathy, and Healing at Work

    SEP 24

    From Grief to Advocacy: Don Ryan on Suicide, Empathy, and Healing at Work

    Send us a text Episode Description: ⚠️ Trigger Warning: Suicide, grief, and trauma. In this deeply human episode of The Elephant in the Org, we confront one of the hardest workplace conversations: suicide, loss, and mental health at work. Our guest, Don Ryan — author of The Secret Struggle: Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One and veteran social worker — brings both professional expertise and personal experience, having lost three close family members to suicide. Together with Marion, Danny, and Cacha, Don explores: Why grief can’t be treated as a “policy issue” with one-size-fits-all leave.Equity vs. equality in crisis support — and why flexibility matters more than fairness.How peers often notice warning signs first, and what leaders can do about it.The role of postvention: planning before tragedy strikes.The long-term impact of grief on trust, performance, and psychological safety.Top Takeaways: Grief doesn’t end after a week of leave — it changes people for the long term.Psychological safety depends on trust built before a crisis hits.Empathy and equity are essential leadership skills, not “nice to haves.”Workplaces need a toolbox of supports, not blanket policies.Guest Bio: Don Ryan manages violence-reduction programs for Hennepin County, MN, and co-coordinates a veteran-specific suicide-prevention initiative. He is the author of The Secret Struggle: Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One (2024), written to help others feel seen, heard, and less alone. 🔗 Connect with Don: LinkedIn | thesecretstruggle.com Link to Shownotes Resources: If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out: U.S.: Dial 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline)U.K./ROI: Samaritans 116 123Canada: Talk Suicide Canada 1-833-456-4566Australia: Lifeline 13 11 14🌍 Global directory: findahelpline.comBecause grief doesn’t clock out — and silence in the workplace is never the answer. 🐘 Connect with Us: 🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX 📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at elephant@thefearlesspx.com 🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here 🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin: 🐘Marion Anderson 🐘Danny Gluch 🐘Cacha Dora 💬 Like what you hear? Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light. 🎙️ About the Show The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024. Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work. 🎵 Music & Production Credits 🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros 🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX ✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson ⚠️ Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

    54 min
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About

The "Elephant in the Org" podcast is a daring dive into the unspoken challenges and opportunities in organizational development, particularly in the realm of employee experience. Hosted by the team at The Fearless PX, we tackle the "elephants" in the room—those taboo or ignored topics—that are critical for creating psychologically safe and highly effective workplaces.

Information

  • Creator
    The Fearless PX
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    75
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 The Elephant in the Org
  • Show Website
    The Elephant in the Org