41 Posts found for Author: Robert I. Sutton

Recently, Bob Sutton posted a list of 12 Things Good Bosses Believe. Now he’s following up by delving into each one of them. This post is about the third belief: “Having ambitious and well-defined goals is important, but it is useless to think about them much. My job is to focus on the small wins that enable my people to make a little progress every … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

To do the right thing, a leader needs to understand what it takes to do things right, and to make sure they actually get done.

Content: Quotation | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management

Recently, Bob Sutton posted a list of 12 Things Good Bosses Believe. Now he’s following up by delving into each one of them. This post is about the second belief: “My success — and that of my people — depends largely on my being the master of obvious and mundane things, not on magical, obscure, or breakthrough ideas or methods.”

Content: Article | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Leadership, Management

Robert Sutton has come to conclude that all the technique and behavior coaching in the world won’t make a boss great if that boss doesn’t also have a certain mindset. His readings of peer-reviewed studies, plus his more idiosyncratic experience studying and consulting to managers in many settings, have led him to identify some key beliefs that are held by the best bosses — and … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

A big reason every generation thinks that its solutions are new is because it thinks its challenges are brand new. People can’t quite bring themselves to believe that managers of the past faced remarkably similar problems, found frustration and satisfaction in similar sources, and came up with similar solutions.

Content: Quotation | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subject: Management

One of the root problems with business schools is that too many are infected with assumptions that reinforce and bring out the worst in human-beings. In particular, the logic and discipline of economics usually rules the roost at business schools.

Editor’s Note: The comments add as much or more value as the article itself.

Content: Article | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) | Subjects: Economics, Ethics

Management guru Bob Sutton, citing research by Gary Latham, has found a simple solution for stopping employee theft.

Content: Article | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior

There is a stream of research — which economists routinely ignore, reject, or are unable to process — that shows self-interest is not hardwired but is in fact a social norm that gets stronger or weaker depending on the assumptions that people hold about their own behavior and those around them.

Content: Quotation | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) | Subjects: Economics, Organizational Behavior

Bob Sutton discusses the questionable value of books about how to build great companies.

Content: Article | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Subjects: Management, Trends / Analysis

When cutbacks are necessary, can a good boss do right by the company’s finances and by its staff? Some pain is probably unavoidable, but Stanford management science and engineering Professor Bob Sutton says that psychological and organization theory research suggests clear ways to handle such situations with a minimum of harm to the people and company involved.

Content: Article | Authors: David Orenstein, Robert I. Sutton | Source: BNET | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Management expert Robert Sutton shares lessons on handling layoffs and teams in crisis.

Content: Multimedia Content | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Human Resources

Who’d have thought fighting with each other would be good for employees? Or that ignoring superiors would be a wise business practice? Sutton, consultant and professor at the Stanford Engineering School, advocates taking a nontraditional approach to innovation and management in this quirky business manual. He advises taking unorthodox actions, suggesting managers should forget the past, especially successes; hire people who make them uncomfortable and … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Much sociological research suggests that the desire to avoid embarrassment, to maintain an acceptable public image, might be an even more powerful motive for human behavior than financial incentives. Organizations seeking to galvanize people to action—getting them to embrace new ideas or stimulating the personal initiative that often fuels innovation—should take this research…to heart.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Hayagreeva Rao, Robert I. Sutton | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Change Management, Organizational Behavior

Nasty people don\’t just make others feel miserable; they create economic problems for their companies. A book excerpt.

Content: Related Content | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior

Bob Sutton employs his signature frankness to discuss whether the bad behavior of workplace bullies and jerks should be tolerated in the name of success. While referencing such famous assholes as Steve Jobs of Apple or Hall of Fame baseball player Ty Cobb, Sutton debates the value of getting results with a strategic temper tantrum.

Content: Article | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: ChangeThis | Subject: Organizational Behavior

Leaders have far less control over organizations than people believe, but they can be more effective if they understand leadership myths and use them to their institutions’ advantage.

Content: Article | Authors: Jeffrey Pfeffer, Robert I. Sutton | Source: Stanford University | Subjects: Leadership, Organizational Behavior

Creativity involves evolving something new from the present ideas and perspectives. It requires seeing and conceptualizing things from newer, unexplored perspectives. Fostering an atmosphere of creativity at the workplace requires implementation of unconventional rules and practices. Creativity is ubiquitous but hidden. In such a scenario, application of uncommon practices helps uncover cutting edge ideas and perspectives. The paper examines these issues and discusses the management … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Innovation, Organizational Behavior

The best organizations have the best talent…Financial incentives drive company performance…Firms must change or die. Popular axioms like these drive business decisions every day. Yet too much common management “wisdom” isn’t wise at all but, instead, flawed knowledge based on “best practices” that are actually poor, incomplete, or outright obsolete. Worse, legions of managers use this dubious knowledge to make decisions that are hazardous to … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Authors: Jeffrey Pfeffer, Robert I. Sutton | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

If it’s not if you win but how you play the game, then playing – or working – with humour and an upbeat, positive attitude is surely the right way to play. Besides, these are the teams that usually win.

Content: Article | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subject: Innovation

The rational rules of management don’t apply when it comes to fostering creative types. In this Harvard Business Review excerpt, the author explains why you should, among other things, encourage creative workers to defy superiors.

Content: Article | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Management