Essays
"I’ve Done My Research." No, You Haven’t. You Just Googled It.
A short rant. Or a plea. Or both.
research
EME
Around the world, workers are quitting their jobs in record numbers
“Lockdown provided an opportunity to reflect – and help me realise what I want from work. I want a job that suits my life and means I’m not tied to a desk all day, every day. And if I don’t feel happy, I can just quit. There are more
EME
Here's why you are skeptical about empowerment
The principle: Humans crave independence and control so giving it to them at work should be a good thing. The caveat: As people feel increasingly autonomous, they can also become unmoored from others' needs, expectations and social norms. Research results: Managers who value being respected will respond to empowerment
EME
Paid vacation days per year per country
Source: Center for Economic and Policy Research
EME
Inclusion by any other name
I’m allergic to clichés and buzzwords. And this might be one of them. A research project reports this: The employees described inclusive leaders … as leaders who act in ways that demonstrate their values and communicate openly and honestly. They treat each employee as a unique individual, recognize each person’
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U.S. workers did not share in the growth of the economy of the last forty years
According to a recent study ((https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WRA516-1.html)), unlike the growth patterns in the 1950s and 1960s, the majority of full-time workers did not share in the economic growth of the last forty years. Had the income distributions of the three decades
EME
Creativity: it's about exploration v. exploitation
Meta-analysis of the research on creativity by Francesca Gino in the Harvard Business Review. The whole three-article series is good. Here’s a sample: Five ways in which managers can bolster creativity: 1. Hire for curiosity; 2. Model inquisitiveness; 3. Emphasize learning goals; 4. Let employees explore and
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Clayton Christensen 1952-2020
Clayton Christensen, a professor at the Harvard Business School, is best known for his theory of disruptive innovation, in which he warns large, established companies of the danger of becoming too good at what they do best. People who knew him personally speak of a fine human being. RIP You
EME
Your job might be killing you
There are 120,000 excess deaths per year attributed to ten workplace conditions and they cause approximately $190 billion in incremental health care costs. That makes the workplace the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. — higher than Alzheimer’s, higher than kidney disease. 1. Being unemployed sometimes
EME
What does work flexibility look like?
A meta-analysis of the existing research on flexibility identified the fundamental components: * Where we work, * When we work, and * How predetermined our schedule is. These component parts lead to six distinct types of flexibility: 1. Remote: “Work from anywhere” - Remote employees keep standard office hours but are location independent.
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Survey: Money not meaningful
About 62 percent of small-business employees think pay is better at larger companies (and 72 percent think benefits are better), but they stay at their jobs anyway, according to the survey of 474 employees at both large and small firms. Small-company workers cite a better working environment as
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Thomas Schelling - Nobel laureate by ricochet
An author who has had a significant influence on my work (before he won the Nobel prize!) by confirming that the observation of everyday events is a good (though not necessarily "academic") way to start. An excerpt from a paper published recently (in pdf format) on his approach: