3590 Posts Found

People who find meaning at work are happier, more productive, and more engaged. Four practical interventions can help make the search more likely to succeed.

Content: Article | Authors: Dan Cable, Freek Vermeulen | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Organizational Behavior

There are three elements to a culture: behaviors, systems, and practices, all guided by an overarching set of values. A great culture is what you get when all three of these are aligned, and line up with the organization’s espoused values. When gaps start to appear, that’s when you start to see problems — and see great employees leave.

Content: Quotation | Author: Melissa Daimler | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Culture, Organizational Behavior

When it comes to communicating, we tend to fall victim to two tendencies: We suffer from the “curse of knowledge,” and we explain things in ways that work best for us, not our audience.

Content: Quotation | Author: Matt Abrahams | Source: Stanford University | Subjects: Communication, Management, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

As a business shapes its public reputation, hidden conflicts can undermine its effectiveness.

Content: Article | Authors: Jeffrey Schwartz, Malcolm Thompson, Maud Lindley | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

Begin with the end in mind. I start each conversation with that saying. What is the result that we all want? If they don’t agree on that, then we’ve got bigger problems. But usually they will agree with that, it’s just that they have different approaches. If we can start an open, respectful dialogue, you usually can get to a resolution. There’s a great quote … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Todd Davis | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior, Teamwork

Do we default to the victor, where for us to feel like we’re winning always has to come at the expense of others? Does there always have to be a loser? On the opposite side of the spectrum, do we default to the martyr? Everybody else wins but at our expense, and we’ve just decided that’s our lot in life. To “think we, not me” … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Todd Davis | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

When it comes to praise, leaders of any type (be they managers, parents, or coaches) hold unique power. The actions they exalt become standards of success, while those they critique become standards of failure.
 
Too often, leaders praise the wrong things and leave good work unremarked upon. The effect is that the people over whom they hold influence (be they employees, children, or mentees) are more … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Adam Grant, Leah Fessle | Source: Quartz | Subjects: Human Resources, Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

A culture is simply the collection of beliefs on which people build their behavior. Learning organizations – Peter Senge’s term — classically focus on intellectually oriented issues such as knowledge and expertise. That’s plainly critical, but a true growth culture also focuses on deeper issues connected to how people feel, and how they behave as a result. In a growth culture, people build their … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Tony Schwartz | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Culture, Organizational Behavior

Senior managers may feel that crafting a story around the data is a pointless and laborious effort—that the facts alone are enough to initiate the desired change. Unfortunately, this opinion is based on the flawed notion that business decisions are solely based on logic and reason. A multitude of experiments from the field of behavioural economics clearly prove that emotion, not rational thinking, is what … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Eoin Whelan, Kieran Conboy, Seán Morris | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subject: Storytelling

Can anxiety be good for you? How do I start and end my talk? Graduate School of Business Lecturer Matt Abrahams shares what he knows about crafting meaningful presentations that make lasting impressions.

Content: Multimedia Content | Author: Matt Abrahams | Source: Stanford University | Subjects: Communication, Personal Development, Productivity / Work Tips

Most people choose not to take action because humans are very loss averse. We all want to minimize regret, and we tend to ascribe more regret to acting rather than failing to act. Failing to act doesn’t really feel like our fault. If you’re trying to be persuasive, you can anticipate this instinct. If you desire a particular outcome, make sure that your stakeholders need … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Tyler Odean | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior, Persuasion

Cognitive biases create our reality. The best we can do is accommodate and lean into them — we can’t escape them.

Content: Quotation | Author: Tyler Odean | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Communication, Decision Making, Management, Organizational Behavior

To make whatever you’re offering appeal to a human being, be aware that any information you put out there will be consumed through a comparative lens. If you don’t explicitly tell your audience which comparisons to make, they’ll make them on their own. And these automatic comparisons probably won’t be as flattering as the ones you’d choose for them.

Content: Quotation | Author: Tyler Odean | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Communication, Management, Organizational Behavior, Persuasion

It’s infinitely more difficult to persuade someone that they’re wrong than to persuade them that there’s new information that should change their minds. Any time you’re trying to convince someone to change their thinking, always frame it as an opportunity to be right going forward — not an admission of past error.

Content: Quotation | Author: Tyler Odean | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Communication, Management, Organizational Behavior, Persuasion

People will remember a totally random sample of the information you give them. It won’t be the best sample. It won’t be the summary you wish you could hand them. It’s a random set of data. Because they’ll remember random parts, you want to construct a message that — when sampled at any point — reinforces your argument and remains persuasive. Keep it to the … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Tyler Odean | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Communication, Management, Organizational Behavior, Persuasion

The reality is that visionaries like Steve Jobs haven’t been successful because they thought of something amazing and original out of thin air. Rather, they were gifted at constantly persuading many people to follow them on their journey to something amazing and original. To succeed, startup founders need to cultivate persuasion as a skill and habit. That’s how they’re going to get the funding, the … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Tyler Odean | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

If you speak to System II [thinking] (i.e. pose something complex enough that it requires reasoning), you’re asking to be doubted. Many of us have had the thought while listening to someone: “I don’t know why you’re wrong, but I still don’t believe you.” That’s System II doing its job. To persuade someone, you need to speak as much as you can to System I … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Tyler Odean | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior, Persuasion

To most leaders, the speed and flexibility that drive innovation lie at the opposite end of the spectrum from standardization and centralization, which promote efficiency and control risk. Not so. Rita Gunther McGrath’s research sheds light on agile organizations. Large companies that raise their income disproportionately, she found, have two main characteristics: they are innovative and experimental and can move quickly but also have consistent … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Mary Meaney, Scott Keller | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Change Management, Innovation, Management, Organizational Behavior

What we know—and what everyone needs to know—about the quest for equality.

Content: Article | Authors: Lareina Yee, Sandrine Devillard, Vivian Hunt | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Women in Business

Unlike other species, human beings are fundamentally designed to self-correct. In addition to enabling us to think clearly, choose precisely and act decisively, our intellect allows us to recalibrate. But we need to see the need for an update and our vision is often blurred by perception, blind spots and mental cobwebs. And therefore our perception of situations is often based on outdated beliefs and … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Himanshu Saxena | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Personal Development