Series overview
Degrees of Freedom is a video series from All Turtles and mmhmm. CEO Phil Libin and science & tech journalist Brittney Gallagher dive into the evolving ecosystem that is distributed or out-of-office work—from radical new approaches to hiring to the worldwide redistribution of opportunity. Join Phil and Brittney as they talk to people at the forefront of forging the new world of work.
Episode 1: Degrees of Freedom
Air Date: May 12, 2022
In the inaugural episode, Phil Libin lays out the communication hierarchy for this out-of-office world and defines exactly what distributed work is—because it isn’t just working from home. Phil lays out why he thinks that many more people will soon "work where you can have the best job, and live where you can have the best life."
Episode 2: Crucible Moments
Air Date: May 19, 2022
Guests: Roelof Botha, Senior Steward, Sequoia Capital; Tammy Sun, CEO Carrot Fertility
Phil and Brittney discuss the pandemic as the downfall of the (once) beloved office. Phil is joined by Sequoia Capital’s Senior Steward Roelof Botha who defines the pandemic as a “crucible moment”. Phil is also joined by Carrot Fertility’s CEO Tammy Sun to discuss how her company became fully-distributed.
Episode 3: The Return to Office Debate
Air Date: May 26, 2022
Guests: Roelof Botha, Senior Steward, Sequoia Capital; Tammy Sun, CEO, Carrot Fertility; Joanna Miller, Lead of Learning & Development, Asana; Lydia Jett, Managing Partner, Americas, SoftBank Vision Fund
Not everyone is ready to return to the office. In this episode Phil talks to several business leaders about what their companies are doing instead. Brittney also interviews some knowledge workers (defined as “people who work from laptops”), who each have different takes about returning to the office.
Episode 4: The Rise of Virtual Trust Part I
Air Date: Jun 2, 2022
Guests: Joanna Miller, Lead of Learning & Development, Asana; Tammy Sun, CEO, Carrot Fertility; Lydia Jett, Managing Partner, Americas, SoftBank Vision Fund
Trust is generally thought of as something that is earned, but in the out-of-office world, guests explore what trust-by-default might look like—what it means to trust, how you hire when you haven’t met in-person, and how you can continue to build trust over video.
Episode 5: The Rise of Virtual Trust Part II
Air Date: Jun 9, 2022
Guests: Joanna Miller, Lead of Learning & Development, Asana; Tammy Sun, CEO, Carrot Fertility
In this episode, Phil and Brittney continue to explore trust in the out-of-office world: performance vs. impact, how you can tell if you're doing well in this out-of-office world, and how you can measure performance.
Episode 6 - A Redistribution of Opportunity
Air Date: Jun 16, 2022
Guests: Lydia Jett, Managing Partner, Americas, SoftBank Vision Fund
Working out-of-office has ignited a redistribution of opportunity. Not only can you hire from anywhere, but you can also hire from a much larger pool of talent. In this episode, Phil and Brittney explore how opportunity wasn’t evenly distributed when you had to commute to an office, especially for caregivers and working parents.
Episode 7 - Work/Life Integration
Air Date: Jun 29, 2022
Guests: Roelof Botha, Senior Steward, Sequoia Capital; Joanna Miller, Lead of Learning & Development, Asana; Lydia Jett, Managing Partner, Americas, SoftBank Vision Fund; Tammy Sun, CEO, Carrot Fertility
In this episode, Brittney and Phil introduce the concept of work-life integration. Phil talks to Roelof Botha about getting asynchronous communication right, Tammy Sun extols the virtues of sprint and recovery cycles, and Joanna Miller elaborates on recharging and work sabbaticals. To close out the show, Lauren Aldredge, winner of the United Airlines “Your Shot to Fly” award, describes how a year of international travel has given her a new take on work-life integration.
Episode 8 - Out-of-Office Culture
Air Date: Jul 21, 2022
Guests: Jessica Collier, CEO, Spot & Co-founder, All Turtles; Joanna Miller, Lead of Learning & Development, Asana
The out-of-office world poses new challenges. Phil is joined by Jessica Collier to discuss how hiring from anywhere isn’t a panacea, and Joanna Miller talks about how you can cultivate a sense of belonging. To close out the show, Brittney interviews mmhmm's Andrew Owen and Brandy Sampson about how the weekly All Hands video has become key to fostering community in a distributed world.
Episode 9 - Distributed Education
Air Date: Aug 17, 2022
Guests: Enrique Dans, Professor of Innovation IE Business School, Madrid; Matthew Waller, Dean of the Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, Lily Racassi and Jose Torres, Students, Walton College of Business.
The once sharp divisions between in-person and online teaching in higher education are blurring. Guest host Rebekah Maggor, Artistic Director at mmhmm and former director of the Program in Speaking and Learning at Harvard University, interviews Phil on lessons he learned from co-teaching a “fully distributed” course at the Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas. Phil and co-teacher Dean Matthew Waller also talk with Enrique Dans, Professor of Innovation at IE Business School in Madrid, about the integration of digital technology as a way to support flexibility for all students, whether they’re campus-based or distance learners.
Episode 10 - What Next?
Air Date: Sep 1, 2022
Guest: Joanna Miller, Lead of Learning & Development, Asana
This is the final episode of season 1. We open with a conversation about companies using distributed work as a perk to retain employees as the economy shifts rather than treating it as the norm. Joanna Miller talks to Phil about the role of the company and how that is evolving. Phil and Brittney discuss high-trust and low-trust companies and how this could be a better way of framing the conversation around distributed work. We close out with some predictions.
The team
Phil Libin, Host
Brittney Gallagher, Co-Host & Executive Producer
Rebekah Maggor, Co-Executive Producer
Paul Nadjmabadi, Creative Director, Video
Leah Webster, Producer
Jessica Williams, Producer
Gloria Lu, Project Manager
Peter Kemme, Motion Graphics Designer
Alejandro Rodriguez, Brand Design
Christine Foote, Marketing
Rosie Cogill, PR & Communications
Mary Pendleton, Social Media Manager
Madeleine Dalton, Social Media Coordinator
This post was last updated on August 22, 2022.
