Average Joes and Josephines
Ever read an article in the local paper that gives fairly categorical advice about how to exercise, eat, sleep, relax, or whatever? I read them all the time, in everything from the most…
Mechanics and Behavior
We’re a combination of levers; that’s how we move.
Paul Vanderburgh, U. of Dayton Physiologist; Quoted in NY Times, November 5, 2012 (“Why Women Can’t Do Pull Ups”)
Is man a machine?…
Breaking Bad: A Lesson in Creativity For the Workplace
On the heels of the series finale of Breaking Bad, I heard a radio interview on NPR’s show “Fresh Air.” The host was interviewing Peter Gould and Thomas Schnauz, part of the writing team for…
Remaining Conscious of Behavior
“What we need to do is to start work upon psychology, making behavior, not consciousness, the objective point of our attack.”
– John B. Watson, Psychology 1913
In this the 100th anniversary…
Be Careful What You Read
Be Careful What You Read : Can it be that only some people like positive reinforcement? The older I get, the more half-truths and unsupported declarations bug me. Nowhere is this more evident…
Shades of Pink
A friend recently sent me an article from the NY Times by Bruce Feiler (Train a Parent, Spare a Child). The title is quite fitting since it is the parents who create the environment…
Justin Bieber, Senior Leaders and “Yes-Men”
Recently I heard Charles Barkley on ESPN radio, but he wasn't talking basketball. He was talking about Justin Bieber and how Bieber’s life is gradually unraveling. It’s been a slow shaping process…
Building Reinforcement Into Your Work
Managers can’t be everywhere all the time. So an important part of providing positive reinforcement to keep desired behaviors going is to build it into the work. This is referred to as natural…
Getting New Employees Game Ready
The start of the school year is my favorite time of the year because it marks the start of the college football season. While college freshmen have plenty of adjustments to make, freshmen football…
Rank and Yank and Other Business Nonsense
When will they learn? I wrote my book Oops! 13 management practices that waste time and money in 2009 and the one that has caught the most attention is Performance Appraisal. An article by Will…
5 Tips for Improving Your Effectiveness as a Coach
There is always a lot of buzz surrounding leaders– what makes an effective one, are they born or made, and why do some transform into bad bosses. Yet the most common trending topic today seems…
The Behavioral Minute: The Secret to Listening
Behavior is all around us: the good and the bad. Yet so often the actions and reactions of others go by without thought. In support of our quest to bring the science of behavior to the masses,…
The Story of What We Do
My team has managed to distill what ADI does into 90 seconds. No small feat! I hope you’ll watch and enjoy. Let us know what you think in the comments section.
The Royal Baby: Does Gender Matter When it Comes to Leadership and Ethics?
Update: It’s been announced that the Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to a Baby boy.
The UK government has changed the 300-year-old laws on royal succession to ensure that a first born…
My Two Cents About Money As a Motivator, Once Again
Let me start this by saying that I am a fan of Clark Howard, the consumer empowerment guru. However, he just wrote a piece titled, “What makes workers happiest? It’s not money!”. I think…
1984 May Be Closer Than You Think
I received an unsolicited email from a company that is selling software that they say “can reveal to you (SIC) what your employees do during business hours. It reminded me of George Orwell’s popular…
When is Enough, Enough in Education?
On NPR this week I heard a report of a study on teacher education in the US. The study evaluated over 1400 colleges of education and found that 7 out of 10 are doing a poor job in teaching…
J.C. Penney Provides OOPS #14
Can you believe it! J.C. Penney hired a therapist to help employees cope with the firing of former CEO Ron Johnson. I need to add this to my next edition of OOPS: 13 Management Practices that Waste…