A collection of narrated essays exploring the everyday drama, quiet rituals, and unspoken rules of work life.
Written and voiced by Al Morales, these pieces blend storytelling and reflection on organizational culture, leadership, and the evolving workplace.
Originally published on LinkedIn — now made to be heard.

The Unexpected Mentor

In Praise of The Office Lore

A Casual Job Interview

The Hidden Cost of Talented Tyrants

Gone with AI

Behind the Workplace Curtain

Your Career, According to the Machine

In this engaging conversation, Marc and Max reflect on their long-standing friendship and the journey of creating the iconic restaurant Buonanotte. They discuss the evolution of the restaurant industry, memorable celebrity encounters, and the importance of teamwork and partnerships in achieving success. The conversation highlights the lessons learned over the years and the impact of experience on their business endeavors, as well as the legacy of Buonanotte and its influence on future projects. In this engaging conversation, Max shares his journey in the restaurant industry, discussing the importance of team building, the challenges of opening new restaurants, and the impact of social media on dining experiences. He emphasizes the significance of passion, vision, and the ability to adapt in a constantly changing environment. Max also highlights the value of supporting local restaurants and offers insightful advice for aspiring restaurateurs.

Click here to learn more about Marc: https://www.justakidfromfallriver.com/

Click here to learn more about Max: https://www.facebook.com/MassimoMTL/

Building Your Team

In this episode, I share my experience working with Claudia, a Latina project leader whose management style initially seemed harsh but soon revealed surprising parallels with the way mothers guide their teenage children. Explore the lessons on authority, autonomy, and understanding in high-stakes corporate projects.

Between Authority and Autonomy

Medium: https://medium.com/@jsmith0475/your-meeting-notes-capture-everything-said-and-miss-everything-that-matters-b808fa928998
"Making Invisible Organizational Dynamics Visible," by Dr. Jerry A. Smith, argues that traditional analysis of meeting notes fails because it captures what was said but misses the invisible psychological and sociological forces that truly shape organizational decisions and lead to predictable failures. It identifies six key invisible forces, such as psychological safety, power dynamics, and emotional contagion, which determine outcomes but are typically unexamined. The text proposes a new approach that combines specialized depth psychology frameworks with AI to analyze meeting transcripts, making these unseen dynamics visible at scale to diagnose root causes like compliance masquerading as consensus or fundamental worldview conflicts. Ultimately, this technology shifts organizational learning from reactive to proactive, allowing leaders to intervene based on accurate, systemic understanding of team health and political terrain, although the author notes that visibility alone does not equal solving.

Your Meeting Notes Capture Everything Said — And Miss Everything That Matters

In-Depth Explorations of Neuroscience-Inspired Architectures Revolutionizing AI.

Hey, I’m Al Morales.
I read out my essays on work culture, leadership, and the strange beauty of office life.
Originally written for LinkedIn — now voiced here, one story at a time.

New tracks tagged #team dynamics