#books #Kindle-Highlights ### The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace Author: Ron Friedman Amazon-store: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00INIYFTS ![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71IOpzyYZ2L._SY160.jpg) URL: [![](Kindle%20Your%20Notes%20and%20Highlights/71IOpzyYZ2L._SY160.jpg)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00INIYFTS) --- Creating an extraordinary workplace can pay significant dividends. --- Yellow highlight | Page: 28 When the task we’re doing requires precision and minimizing mistakes, the enhanced sensitivity can benefit performance, but when our work involves creative thinking, total silence can be surprisingly detrimental. *#lessonlearned: Lavorare o meno in silezio... dipende dal task. Se bisogna fare un lavoro creativo, allora ha senso lavorare in silezione, altrimenti musica piu' ritmata e' preferibile.* --- Yellow highlight | Page: 60 Most of us have come across research showing that exercise improves mood. Recent studies have found that a regular workout regimen is an even more powerful mood elevator than prescription antidepressants. What’s less well known, however, is the profound impact exercise has on learning, memory, and creativity. *#lessonlearned: Fare esercizio aiuta la memoria, migliora le capacità di apprendimento, e la creatività* --- Yellow highlight | Page: 66 Note | Page: 66 #lessonlearned **Creativity is just connecting things.** --- Yellow highlight | Page: 67 Note | Page: 67 Would Google be nearly as profitable if its employees sat around --- Yellow highlight | Page: 67 Note | Page: 67 waiting for Larry Page and Sergey Brin to tell them what to do? --- Yellow highlight | Page: 69 Note | Page: 69 related argument can be made for the growing importance of maintaining a positive mood. --- Yellow highlight | Page: 70 Note | Page: 70 feeling irritable can have serious implications for performance. --- Yellow highlight | Page: 71 Note | Page: 71 Staying connected is addictive. --- Yellow highlight | Page: 71 Note | Page: 71 ongoing stress response in the brain. --- Yellow highlight | Page: 77 Note | Page: 77 Distract strategically. Exposing people to new and unexpected ideas makes them more creative. How do you put that insight to use? --- Yellow highlight | Page: 151 Note | Page: 151 granting employees the flexibility to determine their own schedule is likely to do far more to improve workplace performance by enhancing intrinsic motivation, communicating trust, and boosting employee loyalty. --- Yellow highlight | Page: 152 Note | Page: 152 Your job is to ask questions and provide feedback, not steer the ship. *Note: Il lavoro del supervisore non e' quello di tirare la carretta, ma dare feedback e soprattutto fare domande!!!* we continuously yearn for more. The reason? It’s because a rise in income really does make us happier. It’s just that the initial thrill doesn’t last. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 157 When we feel accepted by those around us, we experience less stress, get better quality sleep, and recuperate more quickly from illness. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 159 Grow people’s experience of competence and you’ll inevitably grow their engagement. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 159 Being ignored is often more psychologically painful than being treated poorly. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 160 we immerse ourselves in a world that offers instant feedback on our performance and a sense of accomplishment when we succeed. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 160 we are happier pursuing long-term rather than short-term goals. We also feel better when our goals center on benefiting others instead of ourselves. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 167 having a clear understanding of the goal we’re trying to achieve, and immediate feedback on our performance. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 169 Chess, golf, and painting all fit this criteria and represent prototypical flow experiences. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 169 progressive difficulty. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 169 If the tasks we’re engaged in are too simple, we get bored. And if we find ourselves in situations that are too far beyond our skill level, we get overwhelmed. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 169 To create opportunities for flow in the workplace, we need to find the sweet spot that lies just beyond our current abilities. It’s when we’re stretching our skills and building our expertise that we are at our most engaged. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 169 just beyond [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 170 Flow comes through growth, not stagnation. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 170 asking employees to set a stretch goal every quarter and to develop a specific plan for achieving it. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 170 When learning becomes part of our routine, we train ourselves to see new patterns and recognize important connections. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 170 Acquiring new information increases our production of dopamine, which improves our mood and heightens our interest in related activities. It makes everything we do more interesting. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 170 It’s when our work becomes predictable that intellectual gridlock sets in and critical thinking stops. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 171 psychological needs [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 171 it’s not for the reasons we might expect. After an athlete reaches a certain level of expertise, the primary value of having a coach isn’t in receiving explicit instructions or even the discipline that a coach can provide. It’s in the coach’s ability to observe the athletes’ performance objectively and direct their attention to elements of their game that they are simply too close to appreciate. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 171 What would success look like on this project? What are some steps you’re considering taking? Who could you talk to who’s tackled a similar project? What can you do to chunk this project into manageable steps? [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 173 in flow we always know what needs to be done. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 174 To experience flow in our work we need clear objectives so that we know where to apply our energy. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 174 It’s yet another thing video games do so well: provide players with a clear path forward. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 174 identify their next move, peer-to-peer coaching can help sustain the conditions that keep us at our most engaged. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 174 Engagement isn’t about the task; it’s about the conditions we build around it. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 175 feed their need for competence by extending new challenges, rewarding learning, and increasing responsibility. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 175 bewildered [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 180 What do you do when a conversation is spiraling out of control? When you’ve tried all the reflective listening you can muster and the other person still isn’t willing to budge? How do you get the conversation back on track? [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 187 task channel [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 188 relationship channel. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 188 It’s at this point, Suchman argues, that our task-focused disagreement becomes contaminated with concerns about our relationship. And when that happens, things escalate. Fast. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 188 It helped protect us from oncoming predators and kept us alive long enough to reproduce. But in today’s workplace, an involuntary fear response can interfere with our ability to work collaboratively with others. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 188 Anytime you attend to people’s psychological need for connection, you have the potential of improving the quality of an exchange. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 190 If you’re surrounded by people who are passionate and inspired, that’s likely to influence your experience. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 206 And finally, our colleagues don’t just have an impact on our emotional experience. They influence how successful we are at doing our job. Motivation is about more than just feeling. It’s about goals, effort, and persistence. Catching someone’s positive motivation changes our approach, which often leads to better results. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 206 Maintaining a positive emotional tone, by exercising, getting enough sleep, and taking time to emotionally disconnect, won’t just help sustain your psychological health. It will also help you get the most out of your team. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 216 Acknowledging employees for their hard work is vital to keeping them engaged, but that doesn’t mean that every positive behavior should be recognized the same way. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 216 Distance yourself from colleagues with a negative influence. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 218 Good-looking people are perceived as more intelligent, competent, and qualified than their less attractive colleagues, despite not being objectively better at any of these things. The more attractive the employees, the more likely they are to be hired, promoted, and retained when someone needs to be let go. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 227 We instinctively use a person’s voice to reach conclusions about his character. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 227 Men with lower voices actually are bigger and stronger (as well as higher in testosterone) than their high-pitched counterparts. Their voices convey an audible cue of their size. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 228 we tend to assume that warmth and competence are inversely related. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 230 Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with a supervisor. What steps did you take to resolve the conflict? [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 238 Tell me about a time when you led a group. Describe what you did and [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 238 how that reflects your leadership style. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 238 Past behavior is a strong predictor of future behavior, which is why learning how a candidate handled a particular situation can be useful. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 239 Suppose we land Project X and I assign you as the lead. How would you go about approaching the project? [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 239 Say you’re about to go on a sales presentation for Company Y. What sort of research would you do to prepare for your meeting? [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 239 Note taking during interviews also draws our attention to a candidate’s actual performance, minimizing the influence of false expectations. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 239 The company’s leadership correctly recognizes that the more settings you use to evaluate a candidate, the more accurately you can assess their true personality. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 239 Only after impressions are shared privately should you enter into a group discussion. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 240 If hiring the right employee were simply a matter of identifying the most competent candidate, we would not need interviews. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 240 And the reason we don’t is that there’s more to finding the right candidate than technical ability. There’s their personality, their attitude, and the feeling we get when we’re in their company. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 240 What can you tell me about your experience at your current (or previous) job? [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 241 Asking candidates to describe past experiences is one way of uncovering their emotional outlook. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 241 Teach me something I don’t know. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 241 One marker of a challenging personality is the tendency to describe oneself as a victim. The more people view themselves as victims, the easier it is for them to shirk personal responsibility for their circumstances. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 242 Another emotional red flag: sarcasm. While the occasional biting comment can spark a good laugh, frequent sarcasm tends to reflect dissatisfaction, which may be rooted in what some psychologists believe is anger and hostility. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 242 negative humor is often used to help people feel superior in situations where they perceive they have little control. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 242 For a growing number of organizations, cultural fit has become an important priority when reaching hiring decisions. Rather than simply selecting employees who have the necessary skills, companies like Zappos are now looking to ensure that new hires share common values before bringing them onboard. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 243 the more we have in common with our colleagues, the less likely we are to encounter a fresh perspective. This can be especially problematic when the work we do requires innovative thinking. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 244 Rather it was by motivating veteran team members to reexamine their assumptions and process data more carefully. Which is the very thing they neglected to do when everyone in their group was similar. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 244 When the work itself is simple and creative thinking is rarely required, establishing a homogenous workforce has its [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 244 advantages. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 244 But as an organization matures, too much similarity can actually backfire. Replicating employees isn’t ideal—especially [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 244 The glue that keeps the pieces together can also keep them stuck in place. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 245 Pride is the pleasurable feeling we get when we reflect upon achieving a socially desirable outcome, one that elevates our standing within our group. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 251 As social animals, we long to be viewed positively. It’s because being valued by others brings with it significant evolutionary advantages: more attention, greater influence, access to important resources. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 251 Pride and shame serve as emotional guideposts that tell us whether we’re succeeding at socially valued objectives. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 251 The more team members know about their organization’s past achievements, the more pride they can take in belonging to the group. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 254 When we feel like we belong to [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 254 an organization with a storied tradition, it boosts our perceived status and elevates our connection to the team. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 254 Political and religious leaders often weave historical events into major speeches, building a sense of connection to the past before laying out their vision for the future. It’s an effective rhetorical technique. Invoking a group’s history gives listeners the sense that they are part of something bigger and makes membership feel more meaningful. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 254 Note: Alla base della religione Which is why it makes sense to invest in educating new employees about a company’s history, to install visual displays in the workspace that highlight past achievements, and to use the occasional speech to remind existing team members of how far they’ve come. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 254 In order for workplace pride to emerge, you need a clear understanding of what makes it distinctive. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 255 organizations that have an explicit point of differentiation are at an advantage when it comes to fostering group pride. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 255 groups: a devotion to improving the lives of others. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 255 A final ingredient of pride-inducing groups: making each member feel like their contributions are valued. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 257 Each one of us matters. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 257 One way of making employees feel like their contributions matter at work is by helping them develop a sense of ownership. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 257 Another way of helping employees feel like their contributions matter is by expressing appreciation directly to their families. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 258 Studies show that when employees receive an unearned job title, they do experience an immediate boost in satisfaction—exactly as we would expect. Their elevated status even leads to a brief uptick in performance. But it doesn’t last. After a short interval, something funny happens. They grow dissatisfied and their job performance slides. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 260 Starbucks has baristas, Apple has geniuses, and Subway has sandwich artists. Technically they’re all customer service workers—but that’s not the way their organizations want employees or customers viewing these roles. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 261 The titles highlight that these positions require knowledge and specialized skills. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 261 Creative job titles can certainly attract attention and build enthusiasm for a role, particularly among younger, less experienced employees. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 261 Psychologists argue that pride comes in two forms: the positive, achievement-oriented pride we’ve discussed until this point, known as authentic pride; and a darker, more narcissistic version, called hubristic pride. It’s this latter version that Dante referred to as the most lethal of the seven deadly sins. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 262 “Those who glorify themselves have no merit; those who are proud of themselves do not last.” [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 262 When our pride is authentic, we don’t feel the need to boast, act cocky, or show off. We become more confident and altruistic, growing our status not by dominating others but by sharing our knowledge and earning others’ respect. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 262 Research shows that people who score higher on measures of hubristic pride tend to be less cooperative, more aggressive, and ironically, more prone to experiencing shame. They are also more likely to rely on force and intimidation as strategies for building their status, which complicates their relationships and causes them to be disliked. What leads people to experience authentic versus hubristic pride? [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 262 On the one hand, you might think, “I got promoted because I am talented.” Or you might say, “I got promoted because I’ve worked hard to keep up on the latest industry trends.” [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 263 The second interpretation—I’ve worked hard—implies the opposite: Namely, that success is a matter of effort, not ability. Here, you’ve earned that promotion because of a specific course of action that you chose to implement. From this perspective, your success is a direct result of your hard work. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 263 the one that’s grounded in the belief that success is about what you do, not who you are—that fosters genuine pride. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 263 it’s as if by convincing others of our virtues we hope to simultaneously diminish our own insecurity. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 263 What this research suggests is that the way they talk about their team’s victory can have a powerful impact on the type of pride that’s experienced. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 264 The more pride people take in who they are, the less focused they are on the behaviors that actually help them succeed. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 264 For employees to feel pride in their workplace, they need to believe that their organization makes them look smart, accomplished, or giving. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 264 it’s tempting to focus all of your attention on what’s next. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 265 Publicize ownership. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 265 Requiring people to attach their name to their work leads them to feel more connected to their product, and enables them to experience a greater sense of pride when they succeed. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 265 ask them how they managed to be so effective. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 265 A 2010 study spanning 120 countries found that, internationally, 84 percent of employees are disengaged at work. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 267 How do you get employees engaged in their work? By providing opportunities for them to experience autonomy, competence, and relatedness on a daily basis. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 270 That can mean creating a variety of settings within an office, or it can mean allowing them the option of occasionally working from home, a coffee shop, or the beach. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 270 Some of our best contributions come when we’re away from our desks, distracting ourselves and allowing disparate ideas to meld. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 272 When we fulfill employees’ needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, when we allow them to leverage the full breadth of their mental capacity, when we provide them with the flexibility to succeed in both their personal and professional lives, we achieve more than an extraordinary workplace. [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 274 “The only reason people agree to have children,” he declared with unwavering certainty, “is that they’re too naive to appreciate what they’re really getting themselves into.” [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 275 people will read the statistics, but they’ll remember the stories” and “perhaps you could mention a few action items at the end of each chapter”) [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 276 To my parents, who don’t quite understand what I do, but have remained quiet anyway; [[Yellow highlight]] Page: 278