The Healthy Workplace Nudge

Chapter 17Haven in a Heartless World: The Promise of a Good Workplace

Jack Hess, the executive director for CivicLab in Columbus, Indiana, works with communities across the country to tackle complex topics like improving education or revitalizing communities. But Jack knows what most leaders know: integrating the needs and preferences of multiple stakeholders is a minefield. Everyone at that table carries agendas, assumptions, hot buttons, pet programs, and grievances that compete against all the others.

That's why Jack's work provides a framework for creating collective success. Part of his secret is a simple exercise of overlapping circles called “The Acorn and the Oak.” We used this exercise in our first summit at the Mayo Clinic to arrive at a common understanding of where to begin.

The acorn is crucial. It is the seed; without it, oaks would have no future. Therefore, the acorn lies in the center circle; it is the one thing that is essential. The second ring includes necessary ingredients to the growth of the acorn: air, water, soil, and sunlight. The third ring includes supporting factors: fertilizer, pruning, etc. In other words, this exercise finds agreement on the one essential thing. Everything else must exist in support of the “acorn.”

Figure 17.1 Acorn and Oak Exercise.

So, for the purpose of this book, the “acorn” of the workplace is the happy and healthy employee. ...