The Good (Work)Place
The Good Place has been an enjoyable show, since it first made it’s surprising debut on NBC. It is a weird sell, a half-hour of comedy and philosophy, where the characters are dead and in hell. Much of it is a workplace sitcom, not surprising since it comes from the mind of Mike Schur, a veteran of The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn 99. The show made a decision to create a podcast, hosted by Marc Evan Jackson to give fans a look behind the scenes. There’s plenty of backstage magic explained, like how the special effects are accomplished, but what’s really interesting is the way in which it reveals the gears: the business of creating the show is itself a workplace. That may seem obvious after a quick thought, but this particular workplace is revealed, through the podcast, to reflect the following culture and values: an extraordinarily supportive, creative, kind workplace, and the outcome of that, a quality production that’s won a slew of awards, as well as a devoted fan following. In every episode, the guests, who are all coworkers, marvel at how great it is to work on the show, and how great it is to work with each other.
Why Is This Important?
The stress of a poor workplace can literally kill you, which is reason enough. It results in high turnover, absenteeism, and presesnteeism, which is when people show up but do as little work as possible, because they’re miserable. They spend their time walking on eggshells, trying to figure out how to survive, coping with their own heightened anxiety, and working on their resumes to get the hell out. Reverse that, build a kind culture, and employees stay, quality stays high, replicability in future teams is ensured, loyalty is built, and the energy, focus, and attention of everyone is committed to the purpose of the business. Schur has been proving this matters project after project. Behind The Good Place, teaching us what goodness means, is The Good (Work)Place, living out what goodness looks like.
Top Down
There are a couple of themes The Good Place podcast reveals over and over about the show as a workplace. One is that the values of the show are good ones, and that they are top-down, meaning that showrunner Mike Schur has created a place people love to work. Schur says that since he was invited by the network to do what he wanted based on the success of Brooklyn 99 and Parks & Recreation, he felt a huge responsibility to do something good. At the end of each episode, Jackson asks the guests, “what’s good?” Set designer Camille Bratkowski replies “it’s working with a great bunch of people every day. It’s a joy to come in. There is a “no jerks” rule. Writers Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan observe that the show has “the highest level of empathy in any comedy room” and that Schur “knows how to find the things that everyone is really good at, and everyone’s really special.” Writer Megan Amran, who worked with Mike at Parks & Recreation, which she called “a lovely experience,” agreed to work on The Good Place sight unseen. “I was contacted by him, ‘hey do you want to work for my new show’ and I was just like, yup. No idea what it was called, what it was about, I 100% trust you.” Jackson replies, “That makes a great deal of sense to me, and to anyone who has worked with him before.” Writer Joe Mande says “I feel like every day I get to work and wonder am I in heaven, did I already make it?”
Ask Questions. Have A Vision.
From the beginning, Schur established six basic rules for the project. Every narrative decision must make use of them. They range from “is it funny?” to “does the episode ask and answer an ethical question?” but while these rules are critical to creating a consistent product, what’s important for the workplace is that this vision was created, organized and communicated effectively. There are charts and graphs worked on as a group constantly. There are more questions instead of directives, making the vision is inclusive and inviting. Everybody understands the purpose: shoot quickly, make it feel big, on time, on budget, and funny.
Execution
When asked by Jackson about the pressure doing a show with such unusual premise, with millions of dollars and plot construction that sometimes feels like Wile E. Coyote “making bridge while he’s crossing it,” Schur de-escalates the sense of panic. “Look, chances for failure are roughly equal no matter what kind of show you’re doing. It’s about execution. Greg Daniels on the office used to say, ‘The idea isn’t the thing, the execution is the thing.’ Anything will suck if it’s not executed properly. As far as money budget, risk, to me the risk is the same no matter what your idea is. It’s about execution…what you’re presenting and why you’re presenting it matters moment to moment, and it matters in the macro and the micro…Always think about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it and who you’re doing it for, and make sure you’re properly doing it for those people in that scenario.”
Find the People and Treat Them Well
Those hiring for the show keep their minds open to possibilities and potential. For writers, Schur “asked no common questions. I was looking for people who were intellectually curious, more so than experience, or a particular kind of writing, or a kind of credit, or philosophy background. The fun of this show in the writers room is just asking a bunch of questions, and if you’re not intellectually curious, it’s not fun to ask questions and try to find the answers…Many were people I’d worked with before, but the people I hired that I hadn’t worked with before, the commonality they were interested in poking around and ask questions and try to learn the answers.” When it comes to auditioning actors, the casting director was told the priorities, and to be fine with close enough. “Better to find someone ticking most of the boxes, we’ll work with the rest.” Schur has developed a positive cycle through his long-game perspective. He keeps actor’s auditions in in a folder called “Good for Something” and contacts them for other characters and other shows as he goes along. “All you can hope for…is that there are people who care about what’s being made.”
Remove the Ego
During the course of the podcast, multiple guests, especially writers and directors, give credit to others. Megan Amran, when asked about a specific moment in an episode she served as head writer on says, “I try not to take credit for things because we all take credit for everything together as a room. The workflow for the writers is collective writing, with everyone pitching ideas that is eventually organized by the head writer overseen by Schur.David Miller, director of photography, calls this value out, “Best thing is Mike asks for ideas. It doesn’t matter if the idea is from a writer, a producer, an actor, or crew. The best idea wins.” Guest director Trent O’Donnell says the “cast and crew are too good. You’re not going to break it. I just want to value add wherever I can.” Research from the O.C. Tanner Institute finds a correlation between award-winning projects and people “talking to and asking questions from other people who may not be in their inner circle.” None of this is by accident. The values of kindness, appreciation, trust and safety build connection, and connection leads to better ideas.
Kindness Builds Trust
In his article Kindness: The Future of Management, Gaël Chatelain “Kindness is not just some niece concept embraced by do-gooders. It’s a way to spark fundamental organizational change, boost company performance, and should be a guiding principle for all managers.” The Good Place workplace does this in a number of ways. Jackson tells the story of his audition for a lead role in Brooklyn 99, when he was not selected. His manager related the news by reading an incredibly kind thank-you note Schur had written, saying that Jackson could not have done anything different or better, but it just wasn’t a good fit for this particular character. Thank-you notes are rarely sent, in the entertainment, or any other industry. Those that work on the show model a check-in rather than reprimand technique. Ideas are not only solicited from everyone working on the project, but they are also honored. Every joke that is selected comes from a pile that were rejected. Schur does not waste this work. Rather than refer to the unselected ideas as a “scrap heap” as other creative workplaces do, Schur collects these ideas and calls the collection the “candy bag.” Language matters, and attention to language makes a huge difference. This seemingly small change builds safety, goodwill and trust. And it pays off. As authors William Baker and Michael O’Malley find in their book Leading with Kindness, kindly managed people work harder and better, lifting profits. Special effects master David Niednogle, whose background is blockbuster movie hits, when asked “what’s good?” replies, “the freedom to be creative with trust [from Mike].” Coworkers frequently talk about how working on the show has made them more compassionate human beings. Actress Jameela Jamil says the show has led her to become merciful towards angry people, understanding that they may be coming from a place of pain. You don’t have to be friends, but you don’t need to be unkind.
Appreciation
Every podcast ends with the question, “what’s good?” but most guests don’t wait for it in order to appreciate their coworkers. Not a single episode lacks spoken gratitude and appreciation for each other. The marquee-name actors Ted Danson and Kristen Bell compliment each other, the directors, their fellow actors, the writers, and the crew. The writers give each other credit for jokes, plots, and writing. Set designers thank their teams, and the directors; writing partners tell each other how much they mean to one another. They lift each other up, and make each other want to do better, and as Adam Grant writes in Give & Take, the law of reciprocity works exactly like this. According to O.C. Tanner Institute, employees find recognition more inspiring for reaching towards great result than anything else. Jackson sums it up: “it’s not a sign of weakness to say something nice about somebody. It makes the world better. It’s sort of that wishful thinking, or positive affirmation thing that the person will be better for having been told that they’re good.”
Results
Imagine getting up every day, doing work you were trusted to do, getting credit and appreciation from others in the organization, and being fully safe and supported by your managers and boss. Imagine how focused you could get on a clear, shared goal. Imagine how willing you’d be to devote your time, cognition, skills, and training to that goal. Nothing that Mike Schur does when creating and managing his projects should be extraordinary, but because so few leaders bother, or are willing to, The Good (Work)Place stands out brilliantly.
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