Uncompliant: The Podcast

About Uncompliant: The Podcast

Challenging how work is designed and exploring healthier human systems, organizational design, and the future of work. uncompliant.substack.com (https://uncompliant.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Jennifer Houle

Category

business · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

22 Dec 2025

Latest episode

14 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

8 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   14 Sept 2026

   Let’s Talk About PIPS, Baby

   This is a reading of the original Uncompliant Essay, available here (https://uncompliant.substack.com/p/lets-talk-about-pips-baby?r=3i4pjv). This has a few more things added to it than the essay does, including HR guidance on what to do if you find yourself in a PIPuation of your own. Get full access to Uncompliant at uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe (https://uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

2. 

   24 Aug 2026

   Trust & Governance

   Read the original essay here. (https://uncompliant.substack.com/p/human-systems-stewardship-trust-and?r=3i4pjv)Recommended Resources:1. Power Literacy Power literacy is the ability to see, name, and work with power as it actually operates through: relationships expertise identity credibility access to information proximity to decision-makers institutional protection Power literacy allows you to design reality-based systems instead of pretending everyone will politely fall in line. This is where stewardship begins: if you understand power, you understand the system. Recommended Reading: Julie Diamond: (https://diamondleadership.com/power-guide/)Power: A User’s Guide (https://diamondleadership.com/power-guide/) ← click here One of the clearest frameworks for understanding how power actually works. Especially helpful for distinguishing formal authority from the invisible dynamics that shape influence, credibility , conflict, and decision-making inside organizations. Key Takeaways from this work: Power changes perception, including your own. Power is relational, not just positional. Avoiding conversations about power does not make organizations less political. adrienne maree brown: (https://adriennemareebrown.net/book/emergent-strategy/)Emergent Strategy (https://adriennemareebrown.net/book/emergent-strategy/)← click here A powerful exploration of how systems adapt, evolve, and distribute intelligence. This work expands power literacy beyond hierarchy by examining participation, interdependence, decentralization, and how small interactions shape larger systemic patterns over time. Key Takeaways from this work: Small interactions shape larger systems. Decentralization creates resilience. Relationships are infrastructure. Sabrina Strings: (https://sabrinastrings.com/)Fearing the Black Body (https://sabrinastrings.com/) ← click here An essential examination of how race, identity, legitimacy, and social control shape perception and institutional treatment. Especially important for understanding that power is never experienced neutrally, and that organizational systems are always shaped by assumptions about whose bodies, voices, and behaviours are seen as credible, safe, or authoritative. Key Takeaways from this work: Standards of professionalism are socially constructed. Bodies are interpreted through power and history. Institutions reproduce social control through normalization. 2. Ethical governance Ethical governance asks: Who benefits? Who shoulders risk? Who gets protected? Who gets heard? Who gets to decide? Whose discomfort becomes acceptable collateral damage? Organizations optimize for speed, efficiency, and growth without interrogating the ethics of their decision-making structures. Ethical governance ensures people are not sacrificed for efficiency. Recommended Reading: Elinor Ostrom — (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIvmMRzcSvM)Governing the Commons (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIvmMRzcSvM) ← click here A foundational look at how groups can successfully govern shared systems without relying entirely on top-down control. Really useful for thinking about distributed stewardship, participation, and what makes governance feel legitimate instead of imposed. Key Takeaways from this work: Groups are often capable of governing themselves effectively. Legitimacy matters as much as enforcement. Local knowledge is critical to sustainable systems. Virginia Held — (https://voidnetwork.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/The-Ethics-of-Care-Personal-Political-and-Global-by-Virginia-Held.pdf)The Ethics of Care (https://voidnetwork.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/The-Ethics-of-Care-Personal-Political-and-Global-by-Virginia-Held.pdf) ← click here A very important challenge to traditional ethics models built mostly around rules, hierarchy, and detachment. This work reframes care, interdependence, and relational responsibility as serious structural and ethical considerations, not just personal values. Key Takeaways from this work: Relationships are not secondary to ethics; they are part of ethics. Neutrality is not always morally sufficient. Dependency and vulnerability are normal parts of human systems. Linda Tuhiwai Smith — (https://nycstandswithstandingrock.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/linda-tuhiwai-smith-decolonizing-methodologies-research-and-indigenous-peoples.pdf)Decolonizing Methodologies (https://nycstandswithstandingrock.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/linda-tuhiwai-smith-decolonizing-methodologies-research-and-indigenous-peoples.pdf) ← click here An essential read on how power shapes knowledge, legitimacy, and whose perspectives become normalized inside institutions. Especially valuable for questioning who gets to define “professionalism,” “neutrality,” and “best practice” in organizational systems. Key Takeaways from this work: Knowledge is never neutral. Research and institutional practices can reinforce power. Inclusion without structural change is limited. 3. Decision Hygiene Decision hygiene is the discipline of making clear, consistent, explainable, defensible, and traceable decisions. No, not every decision requires consensus, but when people can’t understand how decisions are made, they fill in the gaps themselves. Decision hygiene reduces confusion, politics, and unnecessary ambiguity when the stakes are high. It reduces ambiguity about how to operate and makes accountability more sustainable. Recommended Reading: James C. Scott — (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_Like_a_State)Seeing Like a State (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_Like_a_State) ← click here A fascinating look into what happens when institutions oversimplify human systems in the name of efficiency, control, or legibility. Especially useful for understanding how well-intentioned systems can fail when they ignore local knowledge, complexity, and lived reality. Key Takeaways from this work: Systems often fail when they prioritize efficiency over reality. Local knowledge is frequently undervalued. Efficiency can become a form of blindness. Annie Duke — (https://www.annieduke.com/thinking-in-bets/)Thinking in Bets (https://www.annieduke.com/thinking-in-bets/) ← click here A highly accessible look at decision-making in uncertain times. Really valuable for thinking about how organizations can make clearer, more accountable decisions without pretending certainty exists where it doesn’t. Key Takeaways from this work: Good decisions do not guarantee good outcomes. Certainty is often performative. Psychological safety improves decision quality. 4. Collective Intelligence Facilitation Most organizations misunderstand collaboration by equating it with participation, but participation without structure just reproduces existing power dynamics. Think about all of the team strategy meetings you’ve attended: The loudest voices dominate The fastest thinkers override the reflective ones hierarchy resurfaces Consensus becomes performative (do I actually agree with this outcome, or am I just nodding along because it’s easier or because I’m overstimulated?) Collective intelligence requires design, and intentional decisions about: How information is gathered How input is weighted How disagreement transpires How participation influences outcomes Recommended Reading: MG Taylor methodologies (ValueWeb, Scan–Focus–Act) (https://legacy.mgtaylor.com/mgtaylor/glasbead/SFA.htm) ← click here A systems-based approach to collaboration, facilitation, and collective problem-solving that treats participation as something that must be intentionally designed, not just “strongly encouraged.” Especially useful for understanding how groups can navigate complexity, integrate diverse perspectives, and make decisions without chaos or reverting back to hierarchy. Key Takeaways from this work: Participation must be intentionally designed. Diverse perspectives improve system intelligence. Groups need mechanisms to navigate complexity. Priya Parker — (https://www.priyaparker.com/)The Art of Gathering (https://www.priyaparker.com/) ← click here An exploration of how structure, intention, and facilitation shape the quality of group interaction. Really valuable for understanding that meaningful participation doesn’t happen automatically just because people are invited into the room. Key Takeaways from this work: The quality of a gathering is shaped long before people enter the room. Inclusion without structure often reproduces dominance. Clear boundaries create better participation. 5. Distributive justice. Distributive justice examines how opportunity, reward, burden, flexibility, visibility, and recognition are allocated within a system. Most organizations default to fairness, as in everyone receives the same, but that practice actually reinforces inequity when starting conditions are unequal. What would allocation look like if we accounted for reality instead of pretending everyone experiences the system equally? Without this literacy, systems reproduce harm. Recommended Reading: Iris Marion Young — (https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvcm4g4q)Justice and the Politics of Difference (https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvcm4g4q) ← click here A foundational challenge to the idea that fairness simply means treating everyone the same. Really important for understanding how institutions can unintentionally reproduce inequity when they ignore differences in power, identity, access, and lived experience. Key Takeaways from this work: Treating everyone the same does not automatically produce fairness. Structural injustice is often reproduced through ordinary processes. Representation matters because lived experience shapes understanding. Amartya Sen — (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Idea_of_Justice)The Idea of Justice (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Idea_of_Justice) ← click here An exploration of justice that focuses less on abstract perfection and more on how real people actually experience systems and opportunity in practice. Especially useful for thinking about fairness as something grounded in human realities, not just policies or intentions. Key Takeaways from this work: Justice should be evaluated through lived outcomes, not just ideal theory. Human capability matters more than formal equality alone. Progress does not require perfect systems. Get full access to Uncompliant at uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe (https://uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

3. 

   17 Aug 2026

   "We're Like Family" Might be the Truest Thing You'll Hear at Work

   You can read the original post here. (https://uncompliant.substack.com/p/were-like-family-might-be-the-truest?r=3i4pjv) Get full access to Uncompliant at uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe (https://uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

4. 

   11 Aug 2026

   The End of Human Resources

   Read the full piece here (https://uncompliant.substack.com/p/the-end-of-hr?r=3i4pjv). The Bolt CEO reference can be found here (https://hrexecutive.com/hr-is-the-wrong-energy-bolt-ceo-defends-eliminating-the-entire-department/). Uncompliant is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Uncompliant at uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe (https://uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

5. 

   1 Aug 2026

   When It’s Your Job to End Someone Else’s

   Read the original, unpaywalled essay HERE. (https://uncompliant.substack.com/p/when-its-your-job-to-end-someone?r=3i4pjv) Uncompliant is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Uncompliant at uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe (https://uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

6. 

   30 Jul 2026

   Is the 4-Day Work Week a Magic Bullet?

   This is the narrated version of an Uncompliant essay. If you’d rather read than listen, you can find the original article here: Is the 4-Day Work Week a Magic Bullet? (https://open.substack.com/pub/uncompliant/p/is-the-4-day-work-week-a-magic-bullet?r=3i4pjv&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web) Instead of debating whether work should happen over four days or five, what if we questioned why we continue measuring knowledge work in hours at all? Get full access to Uncompliant at uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe (https://uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

7. 

   7 Jul 2026

   Systems Thinking for Future-Ready Organizations

   Last month, I was asked to present a webinar to HR professionals on what it means for organizations to be future-ready from a Human Resources perspective. To me, that means exploring the underlying systems that shape organizational performance, decision-making, and human outcomes. After the session, it occurred to me that many of the ideas explored in the webinar are the same ones I write about on Uncompliant, so I decided to re-record the content and make it available here. In this webinar, I introduce systems thinking as a practical framework for understanding how organizations actually function, and cover: * Why symptoms like burnout, slow decision-making, and poor communication are often systemic rather than individual problems. * Core systems thinking concepts, including feedback loops, unintended consequences, interdependence, and delayed effects. * How systems thinking complements design thinking to create better organizational experiences. * Why Human Resources has a unique vantage point for identifying structural issues before they become people problems. * What distinguishes future-ready organizations from traditional operating models. * Real-world examples of organizations that improved outcomes by redesigning systems instead of trying to fix people. * Practical ways leaders, HR professionals, and organizational practitioners can begin applying systems thinking in their own work. Whether you’re leading teams, designing organizations, advising clients, or simply trying to make sense of increasingly complex workplaces, this session offers a practical introduction to seeing organizations through a systems lens. Get full access to Uncompliant at uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe (https://uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

8. 

   22 Dec 2025

   December is an HR Stress Test

   If you’ve been reading Uncompliant long enough, you’ll know I believe that organizations are living systems. In the winter, this becomes harder to ignore. Energy levels drop, and the emotional, mental, and sometimes physical effort required to keep things running becomes much more` visible. And though not everyone celebrates the holidays associated with the winter season, and not every organization slows down, something changes collectively anyway. It’s as though the entire year accumulates in people’s bodies and nervous systems, and the environment they work in either adapts to that reality or their limits get exposed. That’s what makes this time of year such a useful moment to pay attention. Organizational culture doesn’t show up only when people are well-rested and operating with surplus energy. It’s when people are depleted, and patience is thinner, that core values stop being aspirational and become operational. You can see it in who is allowed to slow down and who gets stuck absorbing the overflow. It shows up in how leaders respond to visible fatigue, and whether they create space for rest or ramp up control. What the holiday season often reveals is whether an organization has been designed with recovery in mind, or whether recovery is something individuals are expected to negotiate for themselves at personal cost. Every living system relies on cycles of exertion and recovery. Outside of work, we accept this without debate. Instead of being endlessly stripped, fields are left fallow so soil can regenerate. Forests rely on dormancy, slower seasons, and even decay to replenish nutrients and make new growth possible. Bodies rebuild strength during rest, not effort, and nervous systems require downtime to recover after prolonged stress. We know that many animals instinctively conserve energy in the winter, moving between periods of intensity and long stretches of rest, migration, or hibernation so that life can continue. In many Indigenous teachings, winter is not framed as absence or inactivity, but as a vital season of stillness, reflection, and renewal; a time when life pulls inward in order to sustain itself over the long term. Work systems are no different. When organizations don’t design for rest, the cost of recovery is high. People take sick days when they’re exhausted, not ill. They become disengaged as a means of self-preservation. They straight-up leave roles, jobs, and companies they once cared about. It’s a predictable response to systems that have no mechanism to relieve pressure. And even when organizations try to make room for rest, they often do so at the individual level, without changing the pace or expectations of the system itself. Rest is allowed, likely even encouraged, but the work continues, and the pressure simply lands on whoever else is available. This is where the difference between individual rest and collective rest matters. When an entire system slows together, rest actually functions as rest. No one returns to a backlog that just kept growing while they were away. The system pauses, recalibrates, and resumes together, carrying less stress and baggage into the new year. That kind of rest is not always feasible, and it won’t look the same in every organization. But the principle still holds; systems recover best when recovery is shared, visible, and designed. Some organizations already understand this, and it shows up as building in slower periods, resisting unnecessary urgency, and normalizing collective downtime in ways that don’t penalize people for participating. In those environments, December doesn’t feel stressful or chaotic; it becomes a moment to look forward to, and there’s a sense that the system knows how to carry people through a lower-energy season without demanding that they override themselves to keep everything from collapsing. This is culture by design. Culture shaped by pace, boundaries, decision rights, and an assumption that energy isn’t endless. It’s an understanding that culture isn’t proven only during peak performance or high morale, but also when energy is low, and decisions still need to be made with care, judgment, and respect for human limits. For HR professionals, December is a moment to observe your company culture. Pay attention to what the system asks of people when they have less to give, and whether it knows how to slow down without breaking. These observations reveal whether your organization has mechanisms to release pressure or relies on people to absorb it until something inevitably gives. A lack of systemic rest shows up as burnout, attrition, disengagement…all issues the organization will eventually scratch their head at. But just as depleted soil stops yielding, work systems that ignore recovery create their own failure points. Slowing down, or even shutting down in December, shouldn’t break an organization. It’s simply a gift that reveals how well it’s designed to sustain human beings over time. As we move into the final weeks of 2025, consider whether rest lives in your organization by design. And when energy runs low, what does your system ask people to do next? **************************** This is the last post of 2025. Thank you for six amazing months of Uncompliant! I’ve had an absolute blast, and hope that you’ve found value. I want to make sure you’re getting what you need from these posts, so if you have a moment, please let me know what you’d like to see on Uncompliant in 2026: * real workplace situations, decoded * HR & workplace systems critiques & redesign * real, operational leadership guidance * tools, exercises & frameworks for managers and HR folks wanting something immediately applicable * reader-submitted, real-world HR Q&As (anonymous, of course) * interviews with HR professionals Or something not listed here. Leave your thoughts in the comments, or reply to this email to share your suggestions. And if you’re interested in collaborating on a post, I’m always open to it! The more dismantling workplace systems, the merrier ;) Jen Get full access to Uncompliant at uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe (https://uncompliant.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

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