think-piece
Stop Buying Ping Pong Tables
Companies spend billions on perks that don't move engagement, retention, or performance. The research points to three things employees actually want, and none of them are free snacks.
culture
research-drop
The Towel Experiment
Robert Cialdini placed a simple sign in hotel rooms: "75% of guests in this room reused their towels." Reuse rates jumped 26%. The sign cost nothing. The mechanism is social proof.
think-piece
The Dark Side of Psychological Safety
Psychological safety is the most cited concept in modern management. But without accountability, it produces comfortable teams that never improve. Safety needs a counterweight.
think-piece
Open Offices Failed
We ran a twenty-year experiment on open offices. The data is in. Face-to-face interaction dropped. Email increased. Collaboration decreased. Time to admit it didn't work.
think-piece
Stop Building Culture
Most culture initiatives add programs, events, values statements. But the best cultures aren't built through addition. They emerge when you subtract the friction that prevents good behavior.
research-drop
The Alignment Gap Is Growing
Mentions of misalignment in employee feedback rose 149% year over year. The problem isn't engagement. It's that people are engaged in different directions.
think-piece
Your Annual Survey Is a Rearview Mirror
Annual engagement surveys tell you what people felt six months ago. By the time you act, the disengaged have already left and the engaged have started questioning. What if the timing is the problem?
think-piece
Stop Measuring Engagement
Your engagement survey isn't measuring engagement. It's measuring how people feel about answering engagement surveys.