Good Work : Transform Your Work from the Inside Out.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Page, Kathryn.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Work environment.

Organizational change.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (227 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Newark : John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2026.

Summary:

What if work could be the solution to wellbeing rather than the problem?We're facing an epidemic of burnout, loneliness and quiet despair at work -- not because people are weak, but because our systems are stretched and outdated.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

About the author

Foreword

Prologue

Introduction: What if good work was treated as a universal right not a privilege?

Good work as a right

Why this book and why now?

The kids are not alright

About this book

Part I The case for good work

Chapter 1 What if work was the solution to wellbeing?

Maybe you've lived this yourself

Beyond motivation: Work as health

Good work protects

bad work harms

Measuring good work

A call to lead

The principles of good work

Chapter 2 What if thriving at work mattered as much as GDP in our economies?

Measuring thriving at a societal level

Measuring the human side of progress

What's work got to do with it?

Where do we go from here?

Part II Me

Chapter 3 What if pausing was the new productivity?

When Dallas ate my passport

Are you a human being or a human doing?

Let me introduce you to your brain

Sounds easy right?

When the coach meditates, the team follows

The space between

Own your impact

Punctuating your day

When mindfulness isn't enough

Chapter 4 What if performance was measured by energy not hours?

The myth of pushing through

Recovery is the other half of performance

Effort recovery: The science you never knew you needed but really, really do

The effort-recovery model

The discipline of recovery

Putting it into practice

Recovery ripples

Recovery as a system design issue

Chapter 5 What if mental health was pursued through challenge not comfort?

From fine to fully functioning

What is languishing? And why does it matter?

Why feeling good isn't always enough

Becoming who we're meant to be

Positive mental health as a renewable resource

Putting it into practice: How to shift from fine to fully functioning

Job crafting.

Practical ways to job craft (starting tomorrow)

Reconnect with meaning

Practical meaning-makers:

Use your strengths

Create the conditions for your own and others' growth

Chapter 6 What if meaning was the missing metric in modern work?

Rethinking success

When the first mountain isn't enough

Why it matters

Purpose fuels resilience

Purpose sharpens decisions

Purpose inspires others

Finding your why

Track your sparks

Write it down

Test it out loud

Connect it to your day job

Check in with yourself

Call out others' purpose

Part III We

Chapter 7 What if workplaces became communities of connection and mattering?

The science of loneliness: What it is and why it matters

Connection and mental health

Connection is not just about having people around you - it's about mattering

The social buffering effect: Moderating the impact of stress

The protective power of community at work

How work can become a source of community and connection

Small things, big difference

Notice connection together

Protect space to feel it

Allow and offer support

Create a culture of being seen

Chapter 8 What if we all had permission to challenge each other and still belong?

What is that feeling?

The cost of silence

From silence to safety: What does it take?

Safety can be slippery

Balancing expectation and care

Comfort does not necessarily equal safety

Where to start

Ask better questions and then be ready to listen and respond

Be predictable when things go wrong

Model help-seeking, not just capability

Check your rituals

Create team norms - together

Chapter 9 What if we built teams that worked in rhythm, not overdrive?

What is flow?

Flow at work is rarely solo

It's all about balance

What collective flow really is

Why it matters.

Case study: Penfolds - all in

Launch with collective ambition

Create a 'stop doing' list

Make workloads and decisions visible

Audit strengths and integrate skills

Build rituals for recalibration

Practice collective mindfulness

Chapter 10 What if every leader could integrate both challenge and care?

The power of the 'and'

Active jobs: Where challenge meets care

The role of leadership

Balancing head and heart

Oops, I missed the moment

Part IV Us

Chapter 11 What if jobs were designed to unleash energy not output?

Motivation: What it is and why it matters

Motivation, wellbeing and mental health

Work design: The hidden lever for good work

De-mystifying work design

Tips for applying SMART at different levels

Applying SMART within your own role

Applying SMART within your team (or with your peers)

Embedding work design into systems of work

Build it into strategy, not side projects

Use SMART in decision-making

Make job audits routine

Empower leaders to co-design with their teams

Embed work design into leadership development

Track energy, not just output

Chapter 12 What if our first response to stress was to fix work, not the worker?

What is workplace stress?

Stress vs stressors

Job stress = the response to work-related stressors

Psychological health and safety: fixing the work

When systems break people

The integrated approach as the backbone of prevention

An integrated approach in practice

Putting it into practice: Fixing work, not the worker

Step 1: Name the stressor, not just the stress

Step 2: Run a 'work check', not a wellbeing check

Step 3: Treat job demands and resources like a balance sheet

Step 4: Use the hierarchy of controls, like you would for physical safety.

Step 5: Make 'raising concerns' safe, normal, and effective

Step 6: Put in a safety net before people hit the wall

Step 7: Build a rhythm of review, not a one off intervention

Chapter 13 What if work and life flowed with true agility across roles and stages?

Autonomy at work

The promise and the pitfalls

So how do we design it into systems?

Understand the regulatory and legal landscape

Start small, dream big

Design it into the work

Commit to sustainable workload and working hours

Train and trust managers

Everyday flexibility

What the future asks of us

Chapter 14 What if every system was built for the person least likely to belong?

What inclusion really means

When equity meets leadership

The business case for inclusion

From principle to policy and practice

Power and resistance

Final thoughts

Chapter 15 What if recovery at work was the standard, not the exception?

Anna's story

Why early intervention and response matters

Creating recovery-enabled workplaces

Getting in early

Where it can go wrong

Why stigma still stops us before we start

The role of staying at work in recovery

From burnout to breakthrough

Stretching our thinking for the future

Conclusion: What if the future arrived early?

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Notes

EULA.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Part of the metadata in this record was created by AI, based on the text of the resource.

ISBN:

1-394-39624-4

1-394-39625-2

9781394396245