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The Best Place to Work
Metadata
- Author: Ron Friedman
- ASIN: B00INIYFTS
- ISBN: 0399165592
- Pages: 354 pages
- Publication: December 2, 2014
- Publisher: TarcherPerigee; 1st edition (December 2, 2014)
- Reference: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00INIYFTS
- Kindle link
Highlights
professional advice on financial planning, elder — location: 137 ^ref-60740
Creating an extraordinary workplace can pay significant dividends. — location: 155 ^ref-44636
The Rock Island Islanders were holding open tryouts. — location: 222 ^ref-6853
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. — location: 567 ^ref-6885
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. — location: 1005 ^ref-4812
motion and regain the proficiency they once had — location: 1050 ^ref-28056
Creativity is just connecting things. — location: 1090 ^ref-40023
Would Google be nearly as profitable if its employees sat around — location: 1111 ^ref-24593
waiting for Larry Page and Sergey Brin to tell them what to do? — location: 1112 ^ref-34031
related argument can be made for the growing importance of maintaining a positive mood. — location: 1143 ^ref-61792
feeling irritable can have serious implications for performance. — location: 1144 ^ref-53891
Staying connected is addictive. — location: 1167 ^ref-59860
ongoing stress response in the brain. — location: 1169 ^ref-35076
Distract strategically. Exposing people to new and unexpected ideas makes them more creative. How do you put that insight to use? — location: 1246 ^ref-65057
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. — location: 2252 ^ref-22374
Your job is to ask questions and provide feedback, not steer the ship. — location: 2274 ^ref-40096
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. — location: 2341 ^ref-3331
When we feel accepted by those around us, we experience less stress, get better quality sleep, and recuperate more quickly from illness. — location: 2363 ^ref-55139
Grow people’s experience of competence and you’ll inevitably grow their engagement. — location: 2369 ^ref-34290
Being ignored is often more psychologically painful than being treated poorly. — location: 2382 ^ref-26022
we immerse ourselves in a world that offers instant feedback on our performance and a sense of accomplishment when we succeed. — location: 2385 ^ref-18139
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. — location: 2482 ^ref-6716
having a clear understanding of the goal we’re trying to achieve, and immediate feedback on our performance. — location: 2504 ^ref-6502
Chess, golf, and painting all fit this criteria and represent prototypical flow experiences. — location: 2505 ^ref-25218
progressive difficulty. — location: 2507 ^ref-58691
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. — location: 2508 ^ref-15394
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. — location: 2514 ^ref-2900
just beyond — location: 2517 ^ref-31595
Flow comes through growth, not stagnation. — location: 2518 ^ref-48637
asking employees to set a stretch goal every quarter and to develop a specific plan for achieving it. — location: 2519 ^ref-64075
When learning becomes part of our routine, we train ourselves to see new patterns and recognize important connections. — location: 2524 ^ref-53157
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. — location: 2527 ^ref-62860
It’s when our work becomes predictable that intellectual gridlock sets in and critical thinking stops. — location: 2529 ^ref-57912
psychological needs — location: 2534 ^ref-43431
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. — location: 2537 ^ref-39254
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? — location: 2557 ^ref-3920
in flow we always know what needs to be done. — location: 2574 ^ref-13868
To experience flow in our work we need clear objectives so that we know where to apply our energy. — location: 2576 ^ref-39204
It’s yet another thing video games do so well: provide players with a clear path forward. — location: 2577 ^ref-20574
identify their next move, peer-to-peer coaching can help sustain the conditions that keep us at our most engaged. — location: 2580 ^ref-60598
Engagement isn’t about the task; it’s about the conditions we build around it. — location: 2587 ^ref-17951
feed their need for competence by extending new challenges, rewarding learning, and increasing responsibility. — location: 2592 ^ref-12143
bewildered — location: 2656 ^ref-41499
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? — location: 2766 ^ref-55505
task channel — location: 2770 ^ref-15536
relationship channel. — location: 2770 ^ref-15937
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. — location: 2777 ^ref-62177
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. — location: 2781 ^ref-59150
Anytime you attend to people’s psychological need for connection, you have the potential of improving the quality of an exchange. — location: 2811 ^ref-41997
If you’re surrounded by people who are passionate and inspired, that’s likely to influence your experience. — location: 3033 ^ref-17560
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. — location: 3038 ^ref-62063
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. — location: 3179 ^ref-63320
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. — location: 3182 ^ref-14948
Distance yourself from colleagues with a negative influence. — location: 3195 ^ref-54249
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. — location: 3288 ^ref-19571
We instinctively use a person’s voice to reach conclusions about his character. — location: 3301 ^ref-41609
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. — location: 3315 ^ref-10473
we tend to assume that warmth and competence are inversely related. — location: 3339 ^ref-16147
Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with a supervisor. What steps did you take to resolve the conflict? — location: 3452 ^ref-17629
Tell me about a time when you led a group. Describe what you did and — location: 3453 ^ref-26428
how that reflects your leadership style. — location: 3454 ^ref-23893
Past behavior is a strong predictor of future behavior, which is why learning how a candidate handled a particular situation can be useful. — location: 3456 ^ref-24435
Suppose we land Project X and I assign you as the lead. How would you go about approaching the project? — location: 3460 ^ref-35743
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? — location: 3461 ^ref-38847
Note taking during interviews also draws our attention to a candidate’s actual performance, minimizing the influence of false expectations. — location: 3464 ^ref-50528
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. — location: 3468 ^ref-799
Only after impressions are shared privately should you enter into a group discussion. — location: 3472 ^ref-38275
If hiring the right employee were simply a matter of identifying the most competent candidate, we would not need interviews. — location: 3478 ^ref-32857
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. — location: 3481 ^ref-36033
What can you tell me about your experience at your current (or previous) job? — location: 3489 ^ref-10852
Asking candidates to describe past experiences is one way of uncovering their emotional outlook. — location: 3494 ^ref-15723
Teach me something I don’t know. — location: 3496 ^ref-22616
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. — location: 3503 ^ref-64382
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. — location: 3506 ^ref-46617
negative humor is often used to help people feel superior in situations where they perceive they have little control. — location: 3510 ^ref-23590
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. — location: 3519 ^ref-39272
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. — location: 3529 ^ref-14857
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. — location: 3534 ^ref-10855
When the work itself is simple and creative thinking is rarely required, establishing a homogenous workforce has its — location: 3537 ^ref-13512
advantages. — location: 3538 ^ref-55632
But as an organization matures, too much similarity can actually backfire. Replicating employees isn’t ideal—especially — location: 3542 ^ref-1178
The glue that keeps the pieces together can also keep them stuck in place. — location: 3544 ^ref-22005
Pride is the pleasurable feeling we get when we reflect upon achieving a socially desirable outcome, one that elevates our standing within our group. — location: 3623 ^ref-17539
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. — location: 3624 ^ref-61565
Pride and shame serve as emotional guideposts that tell us whether we’re succeeding at socially valued objectives. — location: 3629 ^ref-7844
The more team members know about their organization’s past achievements, the more pride they can take in belonging to the group. — location: 3665 ^ref-7220
When we feel like we belong to — location: 3666 ^ref-26319
an organization with a storied tradition, it boosts our perceived status and elevates our connection to the team. — location: 3667 ^ref-63602
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. — location: 3668 ^ref-9773
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. — location: 3674 ^ref-14485
In order for workplace pride to emerge, you need a clear understanding of what makes it distinctive. — location: 3683 ^ref-17632
organizations that have an explicit point of differentiation are at an advantage when it comes to fostering group pride. — location: 3684 ^ref-57861
groups: a devotion to improving the lives of others. — location: 3689 ^ref-49008
A final ingredient of pride-inducing groups: making each member feel like their contributions are valued. — location: 3712 ^ref-22803
Each one of us matters. — location: 3714 ^ref-9286
One way of making employees feel like their contributions matter at work is by helping them develop a sense of ownership. — location: 3714 ^ref-54800
Another way of helping employees feel like their contributions matter is by expressing appreciation directly to their families. — location: 3722 ^ref-41587
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. — location: 3757 ^ref-12153
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. — location: 3772 ^ref-54110
The titles highlight that these positions require knowledge and specialized skills. — location: 3774 ^ref-14044
Creative job titles can certainly attract attention and build enthusiasm for a role, particularly among younger, less experienced employees. — location: 3779 ^ref-28943
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. — location: 3787 ^ref-51499
“Those who glorify themselves have no merit; those who are proud of themselves do not last.” — location: 3790 ^ref-43642
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. — location: 3791 ^ref-18400
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? — location: 3794 ^ref-9497
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.” — location: 3798 ^ref-37466
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. — location: 3802 ^ref-11790
the one that’s grounded in the belief that success is about what you do, not who you are—that fosters genuine pride. — location: 3805 ^ref-54501
it’s as if by convincing others of our virtues we hope to simultaneously diminish our own insecurity. — location: 3808 ^ref-6117
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. — location: 3810 ^ref-64308
The more pride people take in who they are, the less focused they are on the behaviors that actually help them succeed. — location: 3816 ^ref-47205
For employees to feel pride in their workplace, they need to believe that their organization makes them look smart, accomplished, or giving. — location: 3819 ^ref-13008
it’s tempting to focus all of your attention on what’s next. — location: 3824 ^ref-1198
Publicize ownership. — location: 3826 ^ref-51707
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. — location: 3828 ^ref-36233
ask them how they managed to be so effective. — location: 3837 ^ref-1341
A 2010 study spanning 120 countries found that, internationally, 84 percent of employees are disengaged at work. — location: 3852 ^ref-20193
How do you get employees engaged in their work? By providing opportunities for them to experience autonomy, competence, and relatedness on a daily basis. — location: 3885 ^ref-65297
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. — location: 3889 ^ref-19738
Some of our best contributions come when we’re away from our desks, distracting ourselves and allowing disparate ideas to meld. — location: 3913 ^ref-19009
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. — location: 3942 ^ref-33908
“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.” — location: 3946 ^ref-50904
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”) — location: 3972 ^ref-16339
To my parents, who don’t quite understand what I do, but have remained quiet anyway; — location: 3975 ^ref-46204