Squiggly Careers

Are you a "track everything" person or a "just do the thing" person? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from the world of gamification — and have a genuinely fun debate about whether it actually works for your career.

Helen comes in as a convert (she gamifies her sleep, her deep sleep, her exercise, her steps, and possibly her vegetables). Sarah comes in as a sceptic. What unfolds is an honest, practical exploration of when gamification helps, when it doesn't, and how to design a game that works for you — not one that makes you feel judged by an app.

🎯 What You'll Learn

– What gamification actually is and why it taps into some very human motivations

– Four games you could play at work right now — from your to-do list to your energy, relationships and learning

– Why the question to ask of any game is: does this make me feel more capable, or just more compliant?

– How teams can play together without it turning into an uncomfortable competition

– The rules of the game: how to design your own two-week experiment

📚 Resources Mentioned

The Big Think

Tim Harford's newsletter

Squiggly Careers Skills Sprints

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: [email protected]

Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools

2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints

3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools

4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if mentoring had nothing to do with seniority — and everything to do with strengths? In this Squiggly Shortcut, Sarah makes the case for a more inclusive, more accessible approach to mentoring that every team can make happen straight away.

🎯 What You'll Learn

– Why strengths-based mentoring is more useful than traditional senior-to-junior mentoring

– Three ways to make it work: one way, two way (strengths swapping), and one to many

– How to make your ask for mentoring specific, easy to say yes to, and genuinely flattering to receive

– Why building a spreadsheet of team strengths could be one of the most useful things your team does this year

📚 Resources Mentioned

Episode 122 — How to make your strengths show up and stand out 

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: [email protected]

Need some more squiggly career support?

Download our free career tools

Sign up for our Skills Sprints

Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools

Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When did you last draw something at work? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from the science of drawing — and make a surprisingly strong case for why picking up a pen (or a Post-it® Note) could be one of the most useful things you do this week.

From boosting your mood to supercharging your memory, drawing does things for your brain that writing simply can't. Helen and Sarah put this to the test live, working through four drawing exercises — some just for you, some brilliant for teams — including how you're feeling about work this week, a strength you want to make stronger, your confidence gremlins, and your dream work day.Want to see Helen and Sarah's drawings for yourself? Make sure you're signed up to the Squiggly Careers Newsletter — we'll be sharing them there.This episode is brought to you in partnership with Post-it® Brand. If today's episode sparked an idea, stick it down — find out where to buy Post-it® products at go.3M.com/squiggly

🎯 What You'll Learn

– Why drawing beats writing for memory and mood — and the research behind it– Four drawing exercises to try by yourself or with your team– Why "I'm not a good drawer" is the one thing that should never hold you back– How drawing someone else's dream day can tell you more about their values than almost any other team exercise

📚 Resources Mentioned

Squiggly Careers on YouTube (watch the drawings in action)Squiggly Careers on SpotifyFor questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: [email protected]

Need some more squiggly career support?

Download our free career tools

1. Sign up for our Skills Sprints

2. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools

3. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you get people to actually listen — and say yes — more often? In this Squiggly Shortcut, Helen shares three simple, research-backed ways to become more influential at work. Whether you're trying to get an idea across, shift an outcome, or build stronger working relationships, this episode will give you practical things you can do both in the moment and over time.

🎯 What You'll Learn

Why mirroring language (not just body language) is a subtle but powerful way to build connection– How likability works as a persuasion tool — and why it's less about being smiley and more about genuinely listening– Why reciprocity is a long game, and how to think about what you have to give

📚 Resources Mentioned

Influence with Robert CialdiniFor questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: [email protected]

Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools

2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints

3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools

4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it actually take to go from good to great at work — and is "mastery" even the right word for it?

In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from The Big Think's collection of articles on mastery, and make it feel a lot more relevant to everyday squiggly careers than the word itself might suggest.

They explore two big ideas: how to master your response to tricky situations (think: the passive aggressive Canva comment, the "I'll just do it" default, or the unexpected tears in a meeting), and how to master your ability to succeed — including how elite athletes think about risk and failure in a way that's surprisingly useful for anyone with an ambitious goal.

🎯 What You'll Learn

How to move from a default response to a deliberate decision — and why that space in between is everything– What elite athletes do differently when things go wrong (and how to apply it to your own goals)– Why naming your version of success — and stress-testing the risks — makes you more likely to actually get there– How to reframe failure as a data point rather than a verdict on you

📚 Resources Mentioned

The Big Think newsletter

The Big Think — Mastery collection

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: [email protected]

Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools

2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints

3. Sign up for our Squiggly

Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices