270. Is flexible work actually fair? PLUS! Corporate politics, motivating Gen X and the truth about learning styles

2026-01-27

Download

Welcome back to Truth, Lies & Work — the podcast where behavioural science meets real working life. This week, we’re asking a simple question with uncomfortable answers: who really gets flexibility, who’s trusted around AI, and what psychology myths are still shaping work decisions? 🔥 Stories covered 1. Who actually gets flexible work — and why Leanne introduces a new term this week: i-deals — short for idiosyncratic deals. These are personalised, one-to-one flexibility arrangements negotiated privately between employees an...

Welcome back to Truth, Lies & Work — the podcast where behavioural science meets real working life.

This week, we’re asking a simple question with uncomfortable answers: who really gets flexibility, who’s trusted around AI, and what psychology myths are still shaping work decisions?

🔥 Stories covered

1. Who actually gets flexible work — and why

Leanne introduces a new term this week: i-deals — short for idiosyncratic deals. These are personalised, one-to-one flexibility arrangements negotiated privately between employees and managers.

📄 Research source:
https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/joop.70084

2. When corporate politics becomes the real job

Al brings a thread from X this week by an account called IT_Unprofessional, written by an IT Director earning around $280k a year. He describes what he calls a “corporate survival guide” — not about technical excellence, but about navigating power, perception and incentives.

3. Why banks are hiring behavioural scientists for AI roles

After one of the toughest recruitment years since 2008, UK financial services firms are hiring again — and not just technologists.

The concern isn’t AI failure. It’s human behaviour around AI — over-trust, automation bias, and quiet deference to systems that sound confident but may be wrong.

🔗 Reporting:
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/banks-ai-experts-worried-misuse-5HjdRJS_2/

🔥 Truth or Lie💬

People learn better when teaching matches their learning style

Visual learner. Auditory learner. Kinaesthetic learner. The idea is everywhere.

Leanne breaks down decades of evidence and explains:

Preferences exist
Enjoyment increases when preferences are met
Learning outcomes do not reliably improve

The verdict: Lie.
What matters is the material, not the learner label. And learning that feels harder is often more effective.

Workplace Surgery

This week we tackle:

How to motivate a team nearing retirement without patronising them
What to do when a career coach crosses ethical lines
Whether employee NPS is a meaningful measure of engagement

We explore motivation, power, boundaries and what good evidence actually supports.

🎧 Coming up Thursday

We’re joined by Gemma Ruse and Xavier Sheriff, co-founders of Studio XAG, to talk about building a people-first agency, becoming a B Corp, and what it’s really like running a business with the person you’re married to.

💬 Connect with Truth, Lies & Work