Most of us view work as a kind of economic transaction: people exchange labor for financial compensation. Depending on the job, increased quantity of labor (number of hours) or increased quality of labor (bonus or promotion) results in increased compensation. However, there is an increasing amount of research that shows that we are motivated not…
Although I’m a native English speaker, I’m fascinated by other languages and how communication varies by culture. I’ve previously blogged that differences in languages seem to shape our thoughts without us realizing it and might be responsible for cultural differences. For example, directionally-challenged individuals might not do well in Pormpuraaw, a remote Aboriginal community in…
I don’t like acronyms because they get in the way of clear communication. Unfortunately, I work in an industry that loves them. Even my best marketers have the irresistible urge to turn every project, every product, and every position into an acronym. There are so many acronyms that no one can keep them straight. Here…
While popular wisdom is that any publicity is good publicity, academic research has largely shown negative word of mouth hurts company brand and sales. For example, negative movie reviews decrease box office receipts to the point that Hollywood pundits believe that it is “almost impossible to recover from bad buzz.” As a specific example, Viacom Chairman…
Sometimes you have to think outside the camel. At a recent management offsite, I adopted the phrase “Think different, act different” as a rallying cry for the team. I was trying to emphasize the dangers of group think so I reminded them of the story of ten monkeys in the cage. I didn’t just want…
Lake Superior State University released its 36th annual “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness”. The list is based on more than 1,000 submissions on their Web site. The winners (losers?) include the Sarah Palin-coined word “refudiate” and the popular online terms “viral” and “fail.” LSSU’s complete list…
There is an old saying that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It’s a catchy phrase that might be true. Researchers have shown that power – even artificial power – causes people to change their behavior. Stanford Professor Deborah Gruenfeld describes, When people feel powerful, they stop trying to ‘control themselves.’ What we think…
A year after blogging that Halloween metrics can be scary, there is some good news from the National Retail Federation. The NRF reports that American consumers will spend an average of $66.28 on Halloween in 2010, up from last year’s $56.31 and about the same as 2007 and 2008. Even though Halloween didn’t become a commercial…
We all use language to express our thoughts but does language influence culture? Research suggests inherent structures in languages shape our thoughts without us realizing it. In fact, differences in languages seem to impact how people act and interpret their surroundings. Psychology professor Lera Boroditsky provides some fascinating examples in a Wall Street Journal article…
Stanford University management professor Bob Sutton has written extensively about the impact of bad bosses in the workplace. I blogged about his book “The No Asshole Rule” and have been using his litmus test ‘Do people feel more or less energized after they talk to you?’ as guidance since I first heard him describe it….