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About four months ago I moved to very rural Devon and adopted one of the world's weirdest hybrid working patterns 🏡 For three weeks of the month, we work from home in Devon 🚆 For one week of the month, we get the train to London and spend time doing in person meetings and with the team in the office The world gets so caught up in binary debates like "full time office versus full time remote" that we forget the majority of people want something in the middle For me, I get the best of both worlds - a week of in person collaboration, connection, and energy, followed by time in the countryside and enough space to have our own home office It wouldn't be for everyone, but I love it We all thrive in totally different working environments, and binary debates don't account for that In person connection is so important, but it doesn't need to be every day Each company will have a perfect blend (ours at Flexa is one day per month) and if companies are clear and transparent about their balance of in person and remote working, then they'll find the employees that want to work in that way too There is no right or wrong answer, but there is a right way to hire: transparently 💎 #HybridWorking #FlexibleWorking #FutureOfWork

Did you know that most people believe they're less biased than their peers? That belief itself is a perfect example of #ConfirmationBias at work. Confirmation bias refers to the fact that we are better able to hear and remember information that confirms what we already think compared to information that challenges those beliefs. If that sounds abstract, let’s look at a real-world risk of confirmation bias. When I was young, newspapers, TV and radio were the only sources of news and many aimed to provide balanced reporting in order to appeal to wide audiences. Most people watched the same national news broadcasts, creating common information grounds despite political differences. Today's digital platforms have fundamentally changed this dynamic by providing unlimited content choices without editorial oversight, allowing users to find like-minded perspectives and easily avoid information that challenges their views. This fragmentation is amplified by personalisation algorithms that learn your preferences and serve more of the same content. A 2021 study found that platforms with stronger content curation (like Facebook and X) create more pronounced "digital echo chambers" than those with user-controlled feeds. As Cass Sunstein observed, these echo chambers lead to "group polarization" - when like-minded people discuss issues, their views become more extreme due to: 👉 A narrower range of news sources leading to information blind spots 👉 Reinforcing beliefs independent of factual accuracy 👉 Limiting exposure to different views and perspectives In other words, the current digital media landscape plays directly into our confirmation bias by allowing us to choose individualised news that delivers information congruent with our existing beliefs, feeding polarisation and eroding social cohesion. This is ironic because confirmation bias may have developed in humans in order to promote social cohesion. For early humans, survival depended on strong group bonds. Cooperation improved chances of finding food, defending against threats, and raising offspring. However, maintaining group unity required agreement on shared beliefs, values, and norms. If individuals constantly questioned group beliefs, it could lead to division and conflict, reducing the group’s survival chances. Confirmation bias helped support social cohesion by 👉 Strengthening group identity by reinforcing a shared worldview and creating a sense of belonging and trust 👉 Reducing social friction by filtering out information that could challenge the group’s beliefs and lead to tension and instability 👉 Promoting cooperation as people who believe in their group’s values are more likely to defend and support one another In other words, confirmation bias is a fundamental part of human cognition that has far-reaching implications for us as individuals and as a society. My colleague Dr. Paul Penn has a great video if you have a few minutes and want to learn more (link below).

HOT TAKE: Benefits in the workplace are designed to KEEP you longer at work! I had a spicy debate 🌶️ on the recent episode of Realistic Happiness with Abdul Ahad (TEDx Speaker) who had very strong opinions about work-life balance and that work is purely transactional, and shouldn't be anything more. What do you think? Are workplace benefits to help us with our mental health, or to keep us at work for longer? 🤔 If you want to listen during your lunchbreak or your commute home & open your mind to workplace happiness, listen in the link below: https://lnkd.in/eRd-TBks

We need to celebrate masculinity—not brand it as toxic. 💪 Boys need to see that strength, leadership, and ambition can be forces for good. But too often, they’re told they’re the problem. Half of UK kids grow up in homes with only one parent, many without a consistent male role model. That vacuum gets filled by figures like Andrew Tate. 🚩 Young men, are facing worse prospects than generations before them—economically, emotionally, and socially. We’ve lifted girls up (rightly), but haven’t built positive pathways for boys. It’s time to give them role models worth following and futures worth fighting for. 👦🏽✨ The question of what masculinity should mean is a huge talking point right now – and constantly on the minds of boys who are trying to figure out their place in the world.

“The Ilona Effect”, according to Bristol Bears: 📈 103% increase in match attendance 📲 300% social media growth 👕 Nearly 300 Maher shirts sold 🏟️ 9,240 fans at a record-breaking fixture 👩💻 Women 25-35 are now the biggest audience Ilona Maher’s impact on the sports industry is undeniable. Just the thought of being able to watch her on the pitch drives all figures up: match attendance, merch sales, social media engagement... But there’s another side to this, and please spare a few seconds to think about it: what if Ilona isn’t on the pitch? What if Lucy Bronze or Mary Earps MBE can’t play? As women’s sport continues to rise, we need to look after their health so they can continue to play week in, week out, season after season. How do we do that? We create a system designed for women, where everyone is educated about the female body. We’re finally starting to get the data proving the business case for investing in women’s sport.  We’ve known all along: everyone wants to watch women’s sports. Fans show up, buy shirts, flood social media. Brands invest. Young girls watch and believe they belong in the game. The impact is massive. But if we want the Ilona Effect to spread -  we need to do our part now. We need long-term investment, proper coaching, and real education on female physiology so athletes can stay in the game and perform at their best. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it… Investing in female health isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do. #TheIlonaEffect #WomenInSport #FemaleAthlete reposted from Bristol Bears Insta