Charlie GilkeyEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

It seems the creator economy is booming. Or is it? And what even is the creator economy?? Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TechTalk are quite happy to advertise the ways they support creators with features and advice. Their aspirational creator hubs give the distinct impression that becoming a creator is akin to getting paid to be yourself. But that said, when Kate Tyson told me that she doesn’t think the creator economy should exist but that she couldn’t put that in writing, I told her she was wrong—about not being able to put that in writing. Turns out, our mutual friend Charlie Gilkey had told her the same thing. So I arranged a meeting of the minds. Today's episode is Part 1 of 2 of that conversation. We get into who a creator is, how the creator economy really works, why we value what we value, and how platforms distort the market for our creative work. Footnotes : Kate Tyson: Whiskey Fridays (podcast), Wanderings (on Substack) and Wanderwell Consulting Charlie Gilkey: Productive Flourishing and Better Team Habits " Millions work as content creators. In official records, they barely exist. " by Taylor Lorenz and Drew Harwell on The Washington Post " Digital sharecropping " by Nicholas Carr " Preferential attachment " via Wikipedia " You Gotta Be in it to Win It " by Collin Brooke Capital Is Dead: Is This Something Worse? by McKenzie Wark "' Wait, I think you're platform-pilled '" by Tara McMullin Cory Doctorow on ' enshittification ' and platforms being ' too big to care ' The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour (00:00) - Welcome to the unwieldy conversation hour (01:15) - "I don't think the creator economy should exist" (04:53) - "People are getting confused about... am I marketing? Am I just being an artist?" (06:56) - Who is a creator? And are you one? (11:56) - What is digital sharecropping? (15:39) - What's the difference between art and content? (18:29) - "The point of making content is to get an outcome" (20:35) - Platforms run on preferential attachment (22:45) - Creator economy? Try Vector Economy. (29:03) - "To be successful in the creator economy long term, you have to become a synthesist" (31:04) - "We've created virtual social goods" (34:39) - "Feeding the algo" (39:03) - The "third elephant in the room" (42:07) - "It also distorts what we're creating" (44:36) - Conclusion: pay close attention (47:59) - Credits ★ Support this podcast ★

There are rules you know about—and rules you don't. Some rules are written down—and other rules are "just the way things are." And there are rules that make things clear to everyone—and rules that exclude through their lack of clarity. Charlie Gilkey is on a mission to bring those unclear rules and unspoken agreements out in the open and improve the way we work in the process. His new book, Team Habits: How Small Changes Lead to Extraordinary Results , is both a treatise on better work and a detailed manual for achieving it. In this episode, I talk with Charlie about how what seems obvious often isn't—and how that negatively impacts our work environments. We also talk about how to start changing things for the better. This episode is one part of my longer conversation with Charlie! You'll hear more from him in my upcoming series, Strange New Work . Coming in September! Footnotes : Team Habits by Charlie Gilkey Get the Better Team Habits newsletter on Substack More about Charlie and the team at Productive Flourishing The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker " White Supremacy Culture Characteristics " by Tema Okun Every episode of What Works is also published in essay form and delivered in my newsletter: whatworks.fyi Work with me : I’m teaching a 12-week training program for coaches, managers, consultants, and guides of all kinds starting in September. The program is called Work In Practice , and it’s a deep dive into the social, political, and economic systems that impact what we believe about work. Love What Works? Support the show and help me reach more people with assumption-busting ideas about work, business, and culture by becoming a Premium Subscriber . For just $7 per month, you get access to bonus episodes, full-length interviews, and quarterly workshops—including August 24's Breaking the Self-Sabotage Cycle. ★ Support this podcast ★

The tables are turned in this episode, as Andrea J. Lee puts me in the spotlight. The questionnaire becomes the questioned . This one is coming right after I started sharing more of my thoughts on race, identity, equality and justice. So, a good bit of the conversation focuses on how we might show up as our full selves in our work. If you find yourself at a loss for how to engage with the world, while still doing your work, you might find some useful ideas in here. And yes, it’s really weird to create the intro for your own interview - I’m just saying, we live in interesting times! Ready? Let’s do this! Key Takeaways: [1:03] Thank you to SaneBox.com for sponsoring episode #100. [2:06] Charlie introduces Andrea J. Lee, who interviews him on this episode. [3:01] Andrea joined us on episode #91, which resulted in her volunteering to this reverse podcast interview. [4:24] What does it mean to be A Creative Giant, in the times we are in? [7:59] Charlie shares his internal processes and the idea of creative constipation. [10:36] The external and internal outcomes of the discourse Charlie is creating around social change. [15:31] Charlie’s social media responses indicate he has touched a nerve on how to have discourse. [16:26] How lack of dialogue gets us in no-win positions. [19:32] The discourse about discourse is one of the most opaque things we have. How is Charlie’s background as a soldier influencing his approach? [23:47] There are the harms we cause by doing things, and there are the harms we cause by not doing things. [27:16] The fundamental and weird aspects of Humanity. [29:23] Getting stuck in epic goals. [32:11] What does Charlie think about the Language Police? [40:51] How do we expand these great ideas? How do we go ‘there’ ? [46:55] How to lean into gathering, rather than isolating; and how to flourish in creative partnerships. [52:55] Charlie’s final thoughts on this episode’s topic! Mentioned in This Episode: SaneBox.com/Giant www.facebook.com/groups/PFCampfire/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe