Make Work Work

Transform your workplace with 5 simple daily practices that reduce burnout, boost engagement, and drive sustainable organizational success—no complex programs or HR mandates required.

Employee burnout is at record levels. Thousands of leadership books promise solutions, but existing advice doesn't stick—it's too complicated, it's hard to implement, or it gets dumped on HR teams who lack the power to change how work actually gets done. And as AI tools reshape workflows and hybrid work becomes the norm, leaders face even more pressure to provide clarity, support, and stability. They need something different: practical daily habits they can start tomorrow that create real, lasting change.

This book cuts through the noise with 5 essential practices every manager, executive, and CEO can turn into habits that spread throughout their organization like a positive virus:

• Recognize good work immediately
• Help your team daily
• Be genuinely curious about people
• Insist on cocreation
• Be the change

These are simple, repeatable actions leaders can weave into their existing routines starting today—actions that support people across in-person, hybrid, and increasingly AI-supported workplaces. Because supporting employees isn't just the right thing to do—it builds stronger, more profitable organizations.Deborah Lovich is a Managing Director and Senior Partner in the Boston office of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and a future-of-work fellow in BCG's Henderson Institute. Her TED talk on the future of work has been viewed over 2 million views, and she speaks at 30–40 major industry events annually. Lovich has published extensively in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, and Fortune, and she is a sought-after media expert for The New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg, and NPR.Foreword by Hubert Joly, former chairman and CEO of Best Buy