“Jennifer, I’m so fed up with these two guys! I have told them – again and again -- they have to stop going to the mat on every little thing. I gave them your articles on how to give feedback to a coworker and how...
“I can’t wait to see what HR is going to do with this.” The other day, I overheard someone wonder aloud what HR was going to do in response to particularly troublesome behavior by a group of managers. As an anthropologist of company cultures, I see this...
This may be the shortest article I’ve ever shared with you. The fastest way to figure out who’s in power is… Are you ready for this? It’s humor. Noticing the dynamics around humor is a failsafe way to figure out the power structure of almost any group of...
It happens to nearly everyone at least once. You find yourself working for an ineffective boss whose issues impact you and your team. While it’s certainly disappointing, it doesn’t have to be an unstoppable force of destruction. There are three mistakes I see talented professionals make...
Since it's the last two weeks of August and everyone's out of the office, I thought those of us who are working could have some fun with language. Gain an edge over your slacking, vacationing colleagues with the proper use of these commonly butchered terms: When referring...
Working relationships can be a minefield, especially when a relationship that’s generally good starts to go bad. I’m not talking about severe wrongs of the lawsuit variety here. I’m referring to the myriad injuries we inflict on one another, often without realizing it. These injuries can...
“How do I get my peers to speed up decision-making?” “How can I get the rest of the C-suite to agree to my recommendations for strategic investment? What worked at my old company isn’t working here. No one will commit.” “How can I get these people on...
Two weekends ago, Kirk gamely agreed to go shopping with me. While he doesn’t exactly live for the excitement of waiting for me while I’m in a dressing room, he’s a good sport. We headed up to the Fourth Street shopping area in Berkeley. The first...
I bet if I asked, you could rattle off dozens of examples of people who caused great harm from being drunk on power. It makes for great movies and it arguably was responsible for triggering the Great Recession. But I see a different and equally destructive...
Many corporate holiday parties are among the weirdest hybrids of work and play that I have ever experienced. Few companies are able to seamlessly blend the two, so the parties become a veritable minefield in which if you perform well, absolutely no one will remember...