Emotion Science Simplified: Why Emotion at Work Is Messier (and More Political) Than You Think
Exploring Emotion Science. Numbers v Narratives.Â
Most emotion research at work falls into two camps. One counts emotions. The other listens to stories. And according to Stephen Fineman, only one of these truly captures the messy, human reality of how we feel at work.
In his paper “Appreciating Emotion at Work: Paradigm Tensions,” Fineman critiques the over-simplification of emotion in organisational science. He makes a passionate case for moving beyond tidy surveys and into the rich, political, uncomfortable truth of workplace emotion.
Two Ways to Study Emotion at Work
Fineman defines a key tension:
-
Essentialist approach: Emotions are seen as internal states inside individuals. Researchers try to measure them like any other variable through surveys, tests, and scores. This is where emotional intelligence and positive psychology usually sit.
-
Interpretivist approach: Emotions are shaped by the world around us, our culture, relationships, language, and power dynamics. Resea
...
I Used to Call It a Game. Here’s Why That’s No Longer Enough.
Why We’re Shifting the Language
When I first launched The Emotional Culture Deck back in 2017, I called it a tool. A game, even. Something that helped people discuss their feelings at work in a way that felt human, not forced.
And it worked. The simplicity of the deck helped teams open up. It got leaders listening. It made emotion a safe thing to talk about.
But over the years, something bigger happened.
People started using it again. And again. They built rituals around it. They used it to design culture. To lead teams. To manage change. To reshape stakeholder experiences.
They weren’t just playing a game. They were working a system.
Why It Matters Now
The more this work has spread, the clearer the pattern became.
The people creating real, lasting impact weren’t just using the deck as a one-off tool. They were using it to embed new ways of relating, leading, and designing how people feel at work.
The Emotional Culture Deck has gone beyond a deck of cards. It's still at the ...
Flipping Customer Experience: How Mel Howell Transformed Culture at BurgerFuel
What does it take to create an unforgettable customer experience?Â
For BurgerFuel, it wasn’t just about great food—it was about how customers feel the moment they step into a store. Leading this transformation was ECD Practitioner Mel Howell, who designed and delivered the largest-ever hybrid project for the Customer Experience & Emotional Culture Deck in the world.
In 2020, Mel launched a game-changing customer and employee experience programme across 50+ BurgerFuel stores in New Zealand. Her approach blended The Emotional Culture Deck with the Customer Experience Deck, helping store leaders design unique in-store cultures that drive customer engagement, employee satisfaction, and business success.Â
The Challenge: Creating Consistent Yet Unique Customer ExperiencesÂ
Post-COVID, BurgerFuel recognised that customer experience would be the key differentiator in a competitive hospitality market. But how do you create a customer experience that feels authentic, not scripted? And how do...
