‘Behavior 101’ Articles

Newer Entries »

Bonuses don’t work? It’s Elementary, Dear Watson

June 2nd, 2009

1 Comment »

I read an article from the New Zealand Herald by Simon Caulkin (3.16.09) that caused me to alternate between depression and excitement. The title of the article is: Bonuses boost performance? Sorry, but it’s the very opposite.

My depression comes form the fact that it is just more evidence that people like Mr. Caulkin don’t have even an elementary understanding of behavior — how to get behavior and how to sustain it. The excitement is that because our business is about helping business people understand and apply the science of behavior to change the way the world works. His article tells me that there is a lot of business yet to be done. (more…)

Behavior 101, Incentives, Positive Reinforcement

Is Management Broken?

May 26th, 2009

1 Comment »

In an article in Fortune Magazine (May 11, 2009) called, How Business Can Stand Tall Again, David Gergen quotes Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic as saying that the cause of today’s economic crisis is “failed leadership.” Gergen says that public scandals and other management behavior of the last few years have destroyed the trust between leaders and other employees in organizations. In order to restore American business as something to be admired and copied by the rest of the world, he says, trust has to be rebuilt. One of the things he suggests as a means of rebuilding trust is, “Embrace the concept of corporate management becoming a true profession.”

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, professions involve the application of specialized knowledge of a subject, field, or science to fee-paying clientele. What is the specialized knowledge or science on which managers base their day to day decisions? What kind of answers do you think I would get from most managers to the following questions, “What are the standards against which you evaluate management effectiveness?” “What is your management process?” Or “Explain the science behind your management”. (more…)

Behavior 101, Culture "Change", Leadership

“We Are Lost, But We Are Making Good Time”

May 18th, 2009

1 Comment »

In a USA article about GM’s decision to close 15 plants for 9 weeks, Stephen Spivey, a senior auto analyst for the research company of Frost main_assembly_conveyor& Sullivan is quoted as saying, “Production has to be slashed to match the sales trend.” My reaction: What a novel idea! Why have they only decided to do that at this point in time? GM has been losing money since 2005. One would think that matching production to demand would be one of the first things that a company would do when sales drop. (more…)

Behavior 101, Positive Reinforcement

Ask Aubrey: Behavior of the Ages

May 14th, 2009

2 Comments »

A blogger up for a new postition recently posed this question to Aubrey:   How would you advise approaching and managing a new staff that could possibly be older than you?  Aubrey’s Answer (more…)

Ask Aubrey, Behavior 101, Positive Reinforcement

When Will They Ever Learn?

April 27th, 2009

No Comments »

I was recently reading a paper on “grade inflation” published by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.  It states that “In the face of acknowledged grade inflation, the Princeton University faculty limited the percentage of A’s a department could give: no more than 35% of students in any class can receive an A.” 

This kind of stuff drives me crazy!  Why is it that the symbol of academic excellence is in short supply in high schools and universities?  (more…)

Behavior 101, Incentives

Speak of the Devil

March 16th, 2009

No Comments »

In OOPS! , mergers and acquisitions is one of the 13 management practices that waste time and money. In a Business Week article, Drug Mergers: Killers for Research by Catherine Arnst she quotes Dr. Joseph Schlessinger, Department Head of Yale’s School of medicine who sold his company to Pharmacia in 1999. Arnst quotes him, “Until the merger is completed, everyone in the labs of Wyeth and Pfizer and Merck and Schering-Plough will stop doing anything except talking about ‘what is going to happen to me?’ They are going to stop producing for a long, long time,” he says.

This is the classic problem that I wrote about in the book. How much will it cost these companies to have professional researchers sitting on their hands for a day, a week, a month? If they are talking about what might happen in the future rather than concentrating on their research, who else in the company will be affected? Eventually, most. You can bet that the competition is not sitting on their hands. (more…)

Behavior 101, Mergers & Acquisitions

Knowledge of Behavior Is Never Irrelevant

March 4th, 2009

8 Comments »

Can you believe it, they have me blogging. At age 73, no less. Hey, behavior changes. I have just read Growing Up Digital the latest book by Don Tapscott. He talks a lot about the NetGeneration, ages 11-31. The book is written for people older than 31 because those younger than 31 have grown up digital. They don’t need to be told about it—they are it.

(more…)

Behavior 101

Newer Entries »