Build It

Why do most people dread Monday mornings, even in supposedly thriving organizations? In Build It: The Rebel Playbook for World-Class Employee Engagement, Glenn Elliott and Debra Corey argue that our workplaces have become detached from basic human principles—and that to fix them, we have to rebel against outdated management practices. They believe the future of work depends on leaders and HR professionals daring to break the rules that keep employees disengaged, mistrustful, and uninspired.

This book presents a radical yet practical approach to transforming company culture through what the authors call the Engagement Bridge™: a ten-part model designed to help leaders connect their people to purpose, trust, and meaning. Far from a theoretical framework, the bridge is assembled from real practices drawn from companies around the world—“rebel” organizations that outperform competitors by treating people as adults and making engagement a conscious strategy, not an afterthought.

The Engagement Crisis

Elliott and Corey begin with a startling truth: despite decades of talk about engagement, most people still feel disconnected at work. Surveys from Gallup and others show that only about 30% of employees are engaged, while 70% remain disengaged or apathetic. Yet the data are clear—engaged organizations enjoy twice the stock market performance, more innovation, and lower turnover. The problem isn’t a lack of evidence; it’s that traditional corporate systems are fundamentally disengaging. “We’ve known for over a hundred years that treating people better gets better business results,” the authors remind us.

So why doesn’t every company do it? The authors argue we’ve built policies based on the belief that employees can’t be trusted. We measure attendance instead of contribution, create pay systems that breed jealousy, and communicate so little that cynicism fills the gaps. Elliott and Corey declare that there’s only one solution: stop tweaking the edges and start rebelling—fundamentally redesigning how we treat people at work.

The Bridge Between People and Purpose

The Engagement Bridge™ model serves as both a blueprint and mindset. It’s composed of ten interlocking elements—ranging from leadership and communication to job design and wellbeing—that together create a thriving culture. The authors emphasize this interplay: you can’t separate leadership from communication or recognition from visibility. Culture emerges from how all these parts connect. The bridge is a guide, not a step-by-step manual; it helps organizations assess where they stand and which beams to strengthen first.

• Connecting elements: Open & Honest Communication, Purpose Mission & Values, Leadership, Management, Job Design, Learning, and Recognition.
• Underpinning elements: Pay & Benefits, Workspace, and Wellbeing, which serve as the ‘rocks’ stabilizing the whole structure.

Culture, they argue, is not an abstract thing you “have”—it’s the product of everyday decisions by leaders and managers. Every policy either reinforces or undermines engagement. Culture sits at the top of the bridge, the outcome of all those inputs.

The Rebel Ethos

Elliott and Corey’s “rebel” framing is deliberate. They claim that improving engagement requires resisting the comfortable, conventional HR script. Rebels don’t accept old assumptions like “people are lazy” or “we need more control.” Instead, they believe in radical trust—giving employees the information, autonomy, and context to make good decisions for themselves and the business. Real engagement comes when employees understand the organization’s goals, see how their role contributes, and choose to care about the company’s success.

Throughout the book, stories from companies like Netflix, Google, BrewDog, LinkedIn, Adobe, and Atlassian illustrate what rebellion looks like in practice. These examples—called “plays”—show that engagement isn’t about perks or slogans, but about fairness, authenticity, and meaning. Netflix’s “no brilliant jerks” policy and slack’s empathetic value statements illustrate how culture and values must be lived, not laminated.

Why This Matters Now

In a world of accelerating change and competition, companies need their people on their side like never before. Technology has flattened hierarchies, democratized information, and exposed toxic cultures on platforms like Glassdoor. Leaders no longer just answer to their bosses—they must also earn the consent of their teams. As the authors put it, “Leaders used to be hired and fired by their bosses. Now they can be rejected by the people they lead.”

The “rebelution,” as Glenn and Debra call it, is not about being reckless but human. They remind us that the best engagement strategies resemble childhood lessons: tell the truth, admit mistakes, be kind, and treat people the way you’d like to be treated. Building a better place to work isn’t about inventing new jargon like “employee experience” or “organizational health.” It’s about returning to these timeless principles with courage and consistency.

In short, Build It challenges you to lead an authentic, transparent, and trust-based workplace revolution. Over the following chapters, Elliott and Corey show how to rebuild ownership, meaning, and humanity into every layer of the organization—from how you design jobs and recognize effort to how you shape learning, wellbeing, and leadership itself. Think of it as both manifesto and toolbox for anyone ready to reject disengaging traditions and construct a workplace worth caring about.

According to Elliott and Corey, the foundation of all engagement is trust, and trust is impossible without open and honest communication. Yet, as the authors note, most companies lie every day—through euphemisms, omissions, and half-truths. We lie during interviews, we lie in performance reviews, we even lie in our corporate mission statements. These lies are built into contracts and HR policies that treat people as potential risks, not partners. The result is an ‘us and them’ culture that blocks emotional investment.

Relearning the Basics of Honesty

The authors compare corporate honesty to the rules we were taught as children: tell the truth, admit when you’ve done wrong, and listen more than you speak. In workplaces, these habits are often replaced with bureaucratic caution designed to avoid lawsuits or embarrassment. Patty McCord, Netflix’s former Chief Talent Officer, is quoted warning that HR often wastes massive emotional capital protecting the company from theoretical risks that rarely occur—while breeding mistrust in the process.

Instead, Glenn and Debra encourage “defaulting to transparency.” That means communicating as much as you safely can, as early as you can. Secrecy should be the exception, not the norm. They tell a vivid story from Reward Gateway, where they refused to use settlement agreements that prevented them from explaining why someone left. “Every time you cover up a departure,” Glenn says, “you destroy trust with your people.” Fear thrives in a vacuum; honesty, in contrast, builds stability.

From Top-Down to Two-Way

True communication isn’t just about broadcasting corporate news—it’s also about listening and encouraging feedback. Citing the “Iceberg of Ignorance” study by Sidney Yoshida, they remind us that top executives know only 4% of front-line problems. That means insights—along with warning signs—stay hidden. Great companies tackle this by flattening communication channels, using tools like Slack, Yammer, and open meetings where anyone can question leadership decisions.

When CEOs adopt a “shut up and listen” mindset, as at HSBC’s “Exchange” forums, employees become problem-solvers, not passive recipients. The authors cite examples like Wistia’s “Show and Tell” ritual, where anyone can present their work weekly, transforming information into shared learning. These cultural rhythms create transparency not just upward but sideways, weaving what they call “lateral transparency” across teams.

Communicating with Heart

The best communicators, the authors argue, combine clarity with humanity. Corporate speak kills engagement because it sounds robotic. Instead, you should write like you’re talking to one person—honest, warm, empathetic. They recommend preemptively including hard questions (“Doesn’t this contradict what we said last quarter?”) to demonstrate authenticity. And be prepared to repeat messages across multiple channels; as they warn, “The greatest enemy of communication is the illusion that it has occurred.”

“Be as open with your people as you can, as early as you can. Employees are much more likely to go to bat for something they understand.” —Helen Craik, Reward Gateway cofounder

By transforming communication from a defensive act into a daily practice of candor, you don’t just share information—you build alignment, empathy, and shared purpose. In an age when “the building knows the truth anyway,” transparency isn’t risky; silence is.

An organization’s purpose is not a marketing slogan—it’s the emotional glue that unites people. Elliott and Corey show that a clear mission and lived values give employees something bigger than profit to connect to. Every great company, they argue, answers three questions: What are we trying to achieve? (Mission), Why does it matter? (Purpose), and How will we behave along the way? (Values).

Living, Not Laminating, Values

The authors distinguish between “poster values” and “practiced values.” Many companies invent bland platitudes like “Integrity” and “Teamwork” that no one remembers. But rebel organizations codify behaviors that are authentic and distinctive. Netflix’s values—such as “Courage,” “Judgment,” and “No brilliant jerks”—define real expectations. Slack’s quirky, empathy-driven values set it apart from other Silicon Valley firms obsessed with speed and disruption. Amazon embeds its fourteen “Leadership Principles” into every hiring and promotion decision, ensuring consistency.

The crucial step isn’t creating values—it’s enforcing them. The authors insist that companies must hire, promote, and fire based on their values. When organizations tolerate “high-performing jerks,” employees stop believing anything leadership says. Glenn’s advice: “Always fire brilliant jerks.”

Designing for Meaning

Mission provides motivation by connecting daily work to a larger narrative. For example, Bruce Poon Tip’s G Adventures reframed its travel business around five simple values—Love, Lead, Embrace, Create, Do. These weren’t abstract—they guided decisions, customer policies, and company rituals. When an employee questioned whether keeping non-refundable deposits matched the firm’s “Do the right thing” ethos, they changed the policy entirely.

Similarly, Interface Carpets embedded environmental purpose (“Mission Zero”) into every process, reenergizing staff after the founder’s death. At Discovery Communications, purpose cascaded into volunteerism—employees across the globe take part in “Impact Day,” linking work with contribution. These examples illustrate how purpose becomes a compass for culture.

Values also evolve as companies grow. CarTrawler’s HOPES framework (Humility, Ownership, Passion, Enthusiasm, Smart Collaboration) replaced youthful irreverence with mature accountability as the company scaled. The lesson: values should adapt while remaining authentic.

“Like fingerprints, no two companies should have the same values. They’re most powerful when one-of-a-kind.” —Glenn Elliott & Debra Corey

The ultimate test of values, they argue, is whether employees can use them to make better decisions. When employees quote company values in meetings or challenge leaders who deviate from them, culture has become real. Purpose and mission give direction; values ensure you arrive there with integrity.

The world has changed: hierarchy no longer guarantees authority. Elliott and Corey describe a shift from “leadership by command” to “leadership by consent.” Thanks to transparency tools like Glassdoor, employees now hold enormous power to judge and publicize company behavior. In this new reality, leaders don’t just answer to boards—they answer to their people.

Trust and the Transparent CEO

Rebel leaders build trust through visibility and consistency. They understand that their job is not to control but to serve. Spencer Rascoff at Zillow responded personally to over 70 employee reviews on Glassdoor, showing active listening. Satya Nadella at Microsoft redefined leadership as service—“Management is here to serve the workers.” These leaders model openness and vulnerability, rejecting the “corner office privilege” that separates them from their teams.

High-engagement CEOs also own three things: the company’s vision, its culture, and its results. A clear, ambitious vision excites people; culture provides the how; results sustain credibility. Without performance, engagement turns to empty cheerleading. The interplay of trust and accountability defines leadership in the modern era.

Humanity Over Perfection

Millennials, the authors note, don’t expect flawless leaders—they expect human ones. Leaders who admit mistakes and act with empathy build deeper connection. Examples abound: VaynerMedia’s Chief Heart Officer Claude Silver holds one-on-one “whiteboard sessions” helping employees find personal missions; Halfords’ retail leaders practice “clarity, praise, strengths, and genuine concern.” These models show that emotional intelligence isn’t soft—it’s strategic.

When trust runs deep, companies gain “cultural adaptability”—the ability to change rapidly because employees believe leadership is honest and aligned with their interests. The authors remind us: great leadership is inseparable from great culture.

“Leaders used to be hired and fired by their bosses. Now they can be rejected by the people they lead.” —Glenn Elliott

Ultimately, rebel leadership is a covenant, not a contract. The rebel leader earns consent daily by communicating authentically, modeling values, and empowering their people to act. When employees trust their leaders, they don’t just follow—they create.

If leadership sets the tone, management enforces the rhythm. Elliott and Corey insist that middle managers have extraordinary power to make or break culture. Yet, too often, they are handcuffed by outdated policies created to protect the company rather than empower employees. The authors argue it’s time to bring humanity back to management.

Authenticity Over Control

Typical employee handbooks read like legal disclaimers. They warn of what not to do, assume bad intent, and use corporate jargon that alienates. Glenn cites rewriting Reward Gateway’s U.S. contract—removing harsh clauses like probationary periods and limited severance—to align with its value “Be Human.” The result? Greater trust and alignment. Managers must ensure that what leadership says matches what policy does—otherwise culture becomes hypocritical.

The Myth of the Permanent Job

Elliott challenges a sacred corporate belief: that jobs are permanent. In truth, all roles are temporary, as company needs evolve. Pretending otherwise leads to disappointment and dishonesty. Instead of clinging to “family that doesn’t fire” myths (popularized by authors like Simon Sinek), rebel companies focus on creating great places to be from, not just to stay. Netflix’s Patty McCord—whose philosophy deeply informs this book—urges leaders to treat employees as adults navigating evolving career “tours of duty,” not lifelong pledges.

Managing With Equality and Trust

Rebel managers assume that most people are good and trustworthy, designing policies for the many, not the few. That means simplifying approvals, sharing information, and aligning decisions with company values. The authors urge managers to ditch outdated “best practices” like annual performance reviews—an echo of Gap Inc.’s shift to continuous “Grow, Perform, Succeed” touchpoints. Management isn’t about grading; it’s about coaching forward.

By reframing management as partnership rather than policing, organizations tap into loyalty based on respect, not fear. The rebel manager’s mantra: write fewer rules, have more conversations, and treat adults like adults.

Bad job design, say Elliott and Corey, can sabotage any engagement strategy. Many roles are accidental—collections of tasks with no thought given to fulfillment or meaning. The authors urge you to start asking simple but profound questions: How will someone feel doing this job? Will they know if they’ve had a good day? Does it let them grow?

From Factory Legacy to Freedom

Our modern work structure still echoes the factory system invented by Adam Smith, which traded pride for efficiency. Workers became cogs rather than creators. But humans need autonomy, challenge, and purpose to stay engaged. Without them, both boredom and burnout creep in.

Balancing Demand and Control

Elliott reframes job design around two axes: demand and control. Roles low in both are dull; roles high in demand but low in control cause stress; but roles high in both produce the “sweet spot” where people thrive. The goal is to increase autonomy and accountability—freedom with responsibility.

Practical Plays

Atlassian’s “ShipIt” hackathons show how innovation can be built into everyday work—24 hours of free-form creativity yields both joy and breakthroughs (like the birth of JIRA Service Desk). Valve Corporation’s “Flatland,” where desks have wheels and there are no managers, illustrates extremes of autonomy. And Crawford & Company redesigned insurance roles through “systems thinking,” cutting settlement times by 40% while doubling engagement. Even assigning engineers permanent product ownership instead of rotation boosted accountability and recognition.

“Designing great jobs means creating a culture of trust over approval, of freedom over process.” —Glenn Elliott

Job design, the authors show, is the ultimate act of respect. When people own meaningful outcomes rather than mechanical tasks, they experience work as craft—not compliance.

Elliott jokes that true wellbeing requires more than “free bananas.” His point: most companies focus on surface perks, not structural health. Today’s burnout crisis demands an integrated approach that treats physical, financial, and mental wellbeing as inseparable.

An Integrated Model

Physical wellbeing includes exercise and diet programs, but also safe, humane workloads. Mental wellbeing addresses stress and psychological safety. Financial wellbeing—often ignored—is crucial: money worries are among the biggest workplace distractions. Travis Perkins PLC mapped financial ‘life stages’ and tailored support from debt education to retirement savings, improving retention and engagement.

The Flexible Work Revolution

Technology has blurred home and work boundaries, yet most firms still treat flexibility as a privilege. Rebels, the authors say, turn it into an expectation. They flip the default: instead of employees begging for flexibility, managers must justify denying it. Boston Consulting Group’s “PTO” experiment—Protect Time Off—proved that scheduling predictable downtime actually improved client results and retention. Mutual flexibility, not overwork, drives sustainable performance.

Beyond Perks: Making It Personal

Meaningful wellbeing programs meet diverse needs: LinkedIn’s PerkUp! lets employees spend an annual allowance on whatever restores them—whether yoga or dog-sitting. GreatCall offers “Meaningful Days,” paid time for personal fulfillment. American Express trains managers as wellbeing champions, while Weebly’s “Wanderlust” sabbaticals prevent burnout through adventure.

Elliott concludes that wellbeing is no longer a “nice to do.” It’s a performance strategy—an investment in judgment, creativity, and resilience. When people are exhausted, innovation dies first.

“We used to do wellbeing to be nice. Now we must do it to survive.” —Glenn Elliott

The rebel approach to wellbeing treats employees as whole humans. By removing friction, allowing flexibility, and designing support that aligns with real lives, companies build cultures that last.