Rodger Dean Duncan's Blog, page 6

Your Workplace: Happiness Is As Happiness Does

We live in a world of constant change. “Adapt or die” is really not an overstatement of what’s required to stay resilient and grow as individuals and as organizations.

The secret, if it can even be called that, is to infuse our workplace systems—and humanity itself—with happiness.

Jenn Lim has made this pursuit her life’s work. She’s CEO of a company called Delivering Happiness that she co-founded with Tony Hsieh, the late CEO of Zappos.com. The company’s purpose is to champion science-based hap...

Work Wearing You Out? Speed Up By Slowing Down

It’s probably safe to say that most of us like to be productive. We may have different ideas about what “productive” looks like, but we nevertheless like to get stuff done.

And regardless of where we may land on the efficiency-effectiveness continuum, most of us like the idea of getting our “stuff” done in less time and with less effort.

Joe Sanok is right there with us. And he’s devoted much of his career to researching imaginative ways to make our work more fulfilling, more satisfying and—yes—...

Power? You Likely Have More Than You Think

In this age—and every age—“power” seems to be at the center of politics, social movements, commerce, finance, education, and virtually every other facet of our civilization.

As the saying goes—power is neither good nor evil, but its user makes it so.

Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro certainly embrace that view, and they’ve invested much of their careers studying the use and abuse of power. Julie teaches organizational behavior and social innovation at the Harvard Business School, and Tiziana...

Are You Sparked? Find the Work That Fits You Best

What kind of work is absolutely the best fit for you?

It’s a good question, especially since you’ll likely spend the majority of your adult life doing it.

What are the consequences of doing work that produces a paycheck but doesn’t really offer the challenge and fulfillment you’d like to have?

And how can you even know what the “best fit” is for you?

Jonathan Fields can help.

Drawing on years of research, experimentation, more than 25 million data points generated from more than half a million p...

A Key to Better Leadership: Make It, Don’t Fake It

In today’s workplace, there’s arguably more pressure than ever for leaders to succeed.

The arena is crammed full of challenges:

Investors often demand quarterly gains rather than long-term growth.

Customers clamor for newer, better, and cheaper products and services.

Employees lobby for flexible hours, higher pay, and other benefits that can jeopardize profits.

Activists agitate for social causes where, regardless of which position leaders take, some constituency is bound to be offended.

It’s a ...

Can You Influence Others? Your Self-Perception Matters

In today’s hyper-partisan environment, fueled by social media blasts that—let’s be honest—don’t exactly bring out the best in people—it’s sometimes hard to find a public conversation that’s civil.

And the discord isn’t confined to the airwaves and the Internet. Some of the bad “persuasion” habits can be found in the workplace and even at family dinner tables.

South African cleric Desmond Tutu offered some helpful advice: “Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument.”

Effective relationships wi...

Reset: Rethink, Reconsider, Reimagine the Workplace

Peter Drucker seemed to have a knack for simplifying the profound. He said, “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence, it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”

How prescient. What insight could be more appropriate for the times we are experiencing?

Although there are hopeful signs that the world of work is beginning to settle down, daily headlines still give us reason to wonder: What will the “new normal” really look like? Was remote work just an emergency measure, or is it ...

Trust: How To Earn It, Keep It, and Assess It in Others

It’s often said—and rightly so—that trust is earned when actions meet words.

That simple formula is painfully obvious when political “leaders” try to camouflage their incompetence and/or duplicity with circuitous talking points. It’s obvious in divorce court testimony. It’s obvious in customer complaints about poor products and shoddy service.

Like it or not, our world operates on trust. A typical consumer may share credit card numbers and other confidential data with dozens of businesses. Faceb...

Reclaim Your Life: Escape the False God of Busyness

Like most people these days, I place premium value on my time.

Call me strange, but occasionally I find myself recalling a favorite quote from Henry David Thoreau, the 19th century naturalist best known for his reflections on simple living. Thoreau warned against trivializing human activity when he said, “As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.”

That’s one of those pithy sayings that can be misconstrued. Was Thoreau suggesting that every minute of every day be crammed full of activi...

How ‘Energizers’ Boost Everyone on the Team

If you think people respond best to leaders they perceive as virtuous, you’re right.

If you assume virtuous behaviors are contagious, you’re right again.

Dr. Kim Cameron has research findings to prove it.

He’s professor of management and organizations and cofounder of the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan. And he’s invested decades in studying leadership behaviors—especially behaviors that directly influence individual and organizational performance.

Dr. Cameron is ...