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I recently got an email from – let’s call him Paul – a manager updating me on his attempts to interrupt the “high priority” manipulation that is so prevalent in organizations. Turns out he is becoming increasingly successful everywhere except with his boss. Apparently Paul’s boss doesn’t realize how he is undermining himself. Here is what Continue reading Is Demanding “Now” Undermining Leadership? If you want to increase satisfaction at work, talk about the things people like. If you want to increase dissatisfaction, talk about what makes them unhappy. I recently talked to a manager – let’s call him Roy – whose company had completed a series of employee satisfaction surveys. It turns out that although Roy’s unit scored Continue reading Conversations Can Lower Satisfaction Why don’t people perform the way we expect them to? Perhaps you have asked yourself this question, or participated in a discussion with others related to it. Although there are many answers that could be provided, one that has recently caught my attention is the role of common ground. I was recently at a holiday dinner Continue reading Common Ground and Performance Don’t risk being held to account for things you don’t know about. Take the time to find out what people really expect you to do, and what they expect you to deliver. If they don’t tell you, ask. I recently had a conversation with a manager who was disturbed by her inability to meet the Continue reading Convert Expectations into Agreements I recently read The Things People Say, a column by staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert for The New Yorker in which she reviews Cass R. Sunstein’s book “On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done.” In the article, Kolbert talks about how, and why, in the face of the quadrillions of Continue reading Listening to the “Other” Side While flying home from a weekend visit with my son in Houston, Texas, I got a flash of insight into why it is so difficult to train managers to be more effective. I was reading “The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making” when I realized managers make a fundamental error in their understanding of what Continue reading The Fundamental Error in Managing Others If you read my earlier post on Incentives Don’t Work, then you know that Dan Pink’s TED video raises some interesting questions about incentives. In particular, he raises questions about the role of external incentives and their impact on non-routine, creative, or innovative work performance. His point is well made. Research has long known that Continue reading Incentives Don’t Work? Part II On September 29, I started my MBA class on Leading and Managing Change in Organizations. Unlike my prior classes, this is a mix of working professional and fulltime students. One of the questions I asked them was “What’s important to you? What do you really want out of this class?” Although there were a variety of Continue reading Motivating Others Is Easy IF You Stop Trying To One of the most frequent complaints I hear from managers has to do with accountability: “No one is accountable for that”, “Things would work a whole lot better if people were accountable”, “We need more accountability around here.” I agree, accountability is missing and most organizations could definitely use more of it. Unfortunately, managers are Continue reading We Are Looking in the Wrong Place for Accountability Laurie and I recently wrote a piece on “good promises” for Net Speed Fast Tracks. They provide training resources for organizations and have many great people, like Margaret Wheatley, provide material for them and their clients. The article was based on one of our newsletter articles in which we talk about what it takes to Continue reading Good Promises – Read and Hear |
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