think-piece
Culture Is Not a Destination
Most culture programs fail because they treat culture like a destination. It isn't. It's a gradient that shifts every day in small, mostly invisible ways. The question is which way it's drifting.
culture
think-piece
Your EAP Is a Waste of Money
Employee Assistance Programs have a 2-10% utilization rate. Not because employees don't need help, but because EAPs were designed for a version of stigma that no longer explains the problem.
think-piece
When Autonomy Backfires
Self-determination theory says autonomy drives motivation. But research shows that without clarity on direction and boundaries, autonomy creates anxiety, decision paralysis, and worse performance.
think-piece
When Transparency Backfires
Radical transparency sounds like good leadership. But research shows that certain types of openness actually reduce trust, increase anxiety, and make teams perform worse.
behavior-hack
Reverse Mentoring
When Jack Welch paired 500 senior leaders with junior employees to learn about the internet, he accidentally created one of the most effective tools for closing the generational knowledge gap.
think-piece
The Best Practices Trap
Best practices are survivorship bias with a PowerPoint deck. They tell you what worked for someone else in a context you'll never fully understand. Here's what to do instead.
research-drop
The Service Recovery Paradox
Customers who complain and get a great recovery become more loyal than customers who never had a problem. The same mechanism works inside organizations.
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.
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.