Over the holiday break, I read ‘The Demon-Haunted Book: Science as a Candle in the Dark’ by Carl Sagan. The book is not nearly as well-known as ‘Cosmos‘ but should be. It introduces the scientific method to non-scientists and provides advice on how to apply critical thinking. In Sagan’s words: What skeptical thinking boils down…
With the arrival of the holiday season comes the inevitable onslaught of television classics, including A Christmas Carol and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. While each are good movies in their own right, I wonder if the latter became a holiday staple largely based on the sheer number of times it has aired. Familiarity breeds…
Longtime readers of my blog know I find ideas for blogs everywhere, from psychology experiments to work events to the origin of words and phrases. Lately, however, books have become my primary source of inspiration. In fact, it’s not uncommon for me to have multiple blog ideas after reading a book. That was the case…
When we face complexity, we have a choice between a simple solution and a complex solution. Donald Sull Over the last few months, I made a dent in my book reading list and now have a sizable backlog of potential blogs. One book I particularly enjoyed was ‘Simple Rules: How to Thrive in a Complex…
Even though I’m an avid reader, I don’t make a dent in my reading backlog because new books arrive faster than I can read existing ones. I often ask people for recommendations or informal reviews when trying to decide what to read next. For that reason, I’ve never read ‘Mastery‘ by Robert Greene – too many…
Given that multiple research studies show only a small fraction of employees are engaged at work, I’ve spent a disproportionate amount of time talking to people about how leaders can empower employees and unlock their potential. Gary Hamel, co-founder of the Management Innovation eXchange (MIX), and I discussed these issues during a Maverick Hangout last…
If you think you’re having a bad day, you might want to consider the case of Dan Harris, a correspondent for ABC News, anchor for Nightline, and co-anchor for the weekend edition of Good Morning America. Ten years ago Harris had a panic attack during a routine live TV newscast – in front of millions…
A mentee of mine recently asked how she should confront a co-worker about a delicate situation. Her intentions were good but she was worried the conversation would quickly escalate – to the point the co-worker might lash out at her. What should she do? As the situation could have had legal ramifications, I encouraged her to…
During my career, I’ve run a variety of group exercises designed to identify ways we could improve group performance. Typically my teams can identify areas of improvement but believe the challenges are with other people, not themselves. They suffer from the bias blind spot. The bias blind spot is the cognitive bias of failing to…
When you ask someone to do something, be sure to include the statement that they are free to choose to do it or not. Adding this phrase doubles the likelihood they will do it. It’s an example of disruptive persuasion. Davis and Knowles demonstrated another simple persuasion method which they dubbed the disrupt-then-reframe technique. In…