Our Agile Tales Podcast
I host the Our Agile Tales podcast with my colleague, Mun-Wai Chung. We interview a number of people that are changing the ways of working in areas like finance and HR, as well as in industries like healthcare, oil and gas, and the like.
The ten most recent episodes are below. They are available on major podcasting sites. You can click on the icons below to subscribe to your desired platform.
Our Agile Tales
Once upon a time, in an agile land, we navigate corporate levels and political waters to transform the business to be adaptable to this forever changing world. We are excited to share with you our agile journey. Enjoy our tales as we weave our stories together, sometimes with others, on our podcasts.
Welcome to our Agile Tales as we continue our conversations with Rich Sheridan, founder, CEO, and chief storyteller at Menlo Innovations.
Aside from founding and leading Menlo Innovations, Rich is also the author of the best-selling books Joy Inc. and Chief Joy Officer, which argue that joy is essential to productivity and profitability in the workplace. Rich recounts his journey from early programming success and a rapid rise to VP to feeling despondent amid chaotic, late, over-budget software delivery, which sparked a search for better ways to organize people.
In this episode, Rich explains Menlo’s “High Tech Anthropology,” a patented term for designers who study end users in their native environments to learn workflows and vocabulary, aiming to end “human suffering” caused by technology and create software that delights without manuals or training. He shares examples of widespread frustration with systems such as electronic medical records and ERP systems, then revisits the Langley vs. Wright brothers story to highlight purpose-driven discovery. He then presents an airplane model for organizations: lift of human energy over the weight of bureaucracy, and thrust of purpose over the drag of fear, emphasizing clarity, completing meaningful work, reducing meeting load, taking action through experiments, and eliminating fear-based management.
- 00:00 Welcome to Our Agile Tales
- 01:46 High Tech Anthropology Explained
- 04:30 Designing for Real Users
- 06:59 Why Software Causes Suffering
- 09:14 Wright Brothers Purpose Story
- 14:23 Airplane Model for Organizations
- 16:44 Lift Human Energy at Work
- 19:09 Meetings and Bureaucracy Trap
- 22:17 Drag of Fear Leadership
- 24:39 Closing and Next Episode
About Rich Sheridan
Rich Sheridan is the CEO and Chief Storyteller at Menlo Innovations and the best-selling author of Joy Inc. and Chief Joy Officer. He has spent years traveling across four continents and nearly 20 countries, helping organizations rethink not just how they work but also what it feels like to be part of them. His core message is simple: joy isn’t optional—it’s essential to productivity, profitability, and real team energy.
Rich’s ideas have been featured in Forbes, Inc., NPR, and Harvard Business Review. What sets him apart is that he’s been living these principles for over 20 years at Menlo, the company he co-founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan—now known worldwide for its uniquely joyful culture.
Follow Rich Sheridan at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menloprez
You can check out Menlo Innovations' tours and workshops at: https://menloinnovations.com/tours-and-workshops
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Visit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about