Working Out Loud: Why Bother!?

What's Working Out Loud?

Ever heard of Work Out Loud Week? If you are into hashtags, it was #WOLweek.


Working out loud, as I understand it, is a movement that:

  1. Arose from the frustration with the extremely siloed way in which organizations work and learn. Something simply not sustainable in a VUCA world. We need a diversity of viewpoints to bear upon the tasks we take up.
  2. Is a rebellion against people protecting their work till it is perfect and then sharing it. We are all a work in progress, and the sooner we accept that others can contribute to the perfection we are trying to reach, the faster we will grow and learn.
  3. Is an opportunity to make your work visible in a manner that might connect with someone else, and help them as well.  I am huge fan of serendipity and click moments that allow us to make connections we never thought possible.

That said, I am myself getting started on this journey so let me point you to an expert who literally wrote the book,  John Stepper, who has this to say on #WOL:

“When you work out loud, you ask yourself: What am I trying to accomplish? Who can help me? How can I contribute to those people and deepen our relationship?”

There Are Five Elements Of Working Out Loud:

  1. Being Purposeful
  2. Building a social network
  3. Leading with generosity
  4. Making you and your work visible
  5. Improving yourself and others

So in that spirit, here is something I am working on right now: A downloadable, easy-to-read curated resource to allow people to start their storytelling journey.

To Answer The Three Questions:

  1. What am I trying to do? I am trying to make it easier for people to connect with the storytelling capability, because it is a key transformational skill for leaders today.
  2. Who can help me? Maybe you ! Perhaps you can tell me if the content is looking intersting to you.
  3. How will it contribute & deepen relationships? I am hoping it will spark a conversation and allow us to form a community that wants to connect on this topic.

Go ahead and use the three questions to start working out loud!

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Tanvi Gautam

Dr. Tanvi Gautam, Founder Leadershift Inc, is an internationally renowned speaker, consultant and facilitator on topics of leadership, change management and diversity. She has been quoted/published in forums such as Harvard Business Review, Forbes, BBC world news, Singapore Business Review, Economic Times and many others.

This post was first published on Tanvi Linkedin Blog and has been reposted on Connected Women with the permission of the author. 

Edited by: Michelle Sarthou
Image credit: Pexels


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