Rituals for Work

How do the world’s most innovative teams stay connected, creative, and resilient? They don’t just rely on meetings, metrics, or perks—they build rituals. We created a practical, actionable guide to help team design rituals that enhance the employee experience.

Rituals for Work is a guide to designing workplace rituals that inspire belonging, boost creativity, and drive meaningful change. Written by myself and Margaret Hagan, as designers and researchers studying organizational behavior, this book explores how small but intentional actions can reinforce culture, spark collaboration, and make work more engaging.

This book is filled with real-world examples from companies like Amazon, Pinterest, and Flipboard, showing how rituals help teams navigate transitions, strengthen bonds, and build a culture that fosters creativity and innovation.

The book organizes workplace rituals into five key areas that reflect the natural cycles of work:

• Transitions: Developing rituals that help teams and individuals manage change, whether it’s welcoming a new hire, wrapping up a project, or handling organizational shifts.
• Community and bonding: Creating rituals that strengthen trust and psychological safety, making teams more cohesive and resilient.
• Performance: Establishing rituals that help employees stay focused, motivated, and accountable in their daily work.
• Creativity and innovation: Building rituals that encourage experimentation, ideation, and problem-solving, making innovation a habit rather than an occasional breakthrough.
• Conflict resolution: Introducing rituals that help teams address disagreements constructively and build a culture of honest communication.

Rituals for Work provides practical tools for designing rituals that fit any team or organization. One example featured in the book is Pinterest’s "Brainstorming Walks," where teams take meetings outdoors to encourage fresh perspectives. Another is Amazon’s "Working Backwards" ritual, where teams start projects by writing a mock press release to clarify their vision and objectives before any work begins. Flipboard's "Hack Weeks" allow employees to break away from daily tasks and work on passion projects, fostering cross-team collaboration and creative problem-solving.

Gratitude Circles, another featured ritual, help teams build a culture of appreciation by setting aside time for members to recognize each other’s contributions. The Transition Reflection ritual is designed for teams to mark the end of a project, allowing them to celebrate wins, extract lessons, and set intentions for the future.

Fast Company, The New York Times, and 99U have all highlighted the insights from this book, particularly in how rituals can enhance team creativity and workplace culture. A Fast Company article titled "5 Rituals That Spark Creativity at Pinterest, Flipboard, and Amazon" explores how intentional practices help teams break out of rigid thinking patterns and cultivate innovation.

Work is evolving, and traditional management tactics are falling short in an era of rapid change. Whether you’re a team leader, HR professional, startup founder, or creative strategist, Rituals for Work provides a framework to build a more engaged, connected, and productive workplace. It offers a new way to think about shaping culture, where small moments have a big impact.

Rituals for Work is more than a book—it's a toolkit for reimagining how we work. Through intentional rituals, organizations can build stronger connections, embrace change, and thrive amid complexity.