This weekend my daughter was a terror. On the one hand, that’s to be expected.  She’s 7.  On the other hand, every parent wants a perfect stress-free kid.  (And if you ever figure out how to get one, let me know!)  The problem is, in the moment it’s so hard to remember she’s 7, or that what she really needs is to learn the subtle difference in adult conversations verse kid conversations.  It’s frankly much easier to yell, get angry, or put her in timeout. I wish I ...

Sometimes the way to solve a problem isn’t what you’d expect.  In today’s culture, we’re often told that the solution to conflict is to focus on what the other person wants – and then to do that.  It’s all about listening to someone’s feelings (which, we’re told, are just as valid as yours.) If you can just empathize enough, if you can put yourself in their shoes, then you can fix the problem. And while there’s certainly a place for that type of thinking and action, conflict is ...

In today’s always connected world, rest often seems like the furthest thing from our minds.  But we just aren’t built to run indefinitely.  We need to take time to rest and recover.  Not only does rest and recovery give us the ability to produce higher quality work, it helps us not be such an emotional drain on our coworkers. People have a limited amount of psychological resources to withstand stress, uncertainty and to produce creative and unique works.  In other words, if you keep going back to the ...

Procrastination.  My own personal form of kryptonite.  Of course I’m not alone in that.  It’s the bane of college students, employees, and organizations around the world.  It seems to be part of the human condition.  Something that’s a fundamental experience we all share.  Regardless of our culture. I’ve tried everything to stop procrastinating.  But it always seems like I’m waiting until the last minute to get it done.  Of course over the years I’ve had to learn to procrastinate less.  I’ve learned that what worked in college doesn’t ...

Have you ever wanted to be more productive at work?  And yet when you get to work you find yourself unmotivated, distracted, and maybe even bored or tired? Well I have some news for you, the solution might be easier than you think, and it may have nothing to do with improving your organizational skills, time management abilities, or even professional talent.  Instead it might just depend on what you do on your way to work. Research has started to show that those fleeting emotions we feel (like when ...

We like to think that we’re in control.  That the choices we make are ours and ours alone.  But what if I told you that’s not really the case?  What if I told you simply making a choice in the past was enough to force you to make a different choice in the future? Would you believe me? In an experiment done by Ariely, Loewenstein, and Prelec (2003), that’s exactly what they found.  Our past choices influence our choices in the future.  They showed this by giving people a ...

There is a new controversy in Cincinnati, which is where I live.  Perhaps the word controversy is too strong.  But there is movement afoot on the "dissatisfied people of America" front.  Who are the?  Well if you read the news you will quickly discover that they are everyone. Let me explain... In Cincinnati a group of people who don't believe that a god exists have placed a billboard reading, "Don't believe in God? You are ...

A while back we discussed the benefits of Realistic Job Previews.  Well not everyone works in industry and hires employees.  Sometimes what we really need to do is bring in volunteers.  This is the case for churches, political campaigns, community outreach and a wide variety of other activities. As anyone who's lead volunteers knows, one of the hardest things to do is keep them motivated and committed.  Part of this challenge comes from the volunteers themselves.  They lead busy, hectic lives ...

Almost any position you apply for, whether it's for a corporation or a non-profit will include an interview.  Even most volunteer positions have some level of interview process.  This means that we all experience the interview process at least once in our life, if not many, many times. Research has said for years that the best way to conduct interviews is through a "structured interview."  A structured interview is simply one that asks the same questions to every applicant, has standardized scoring, and has questions that are job-relevant.  ...

Realistic Job Previews let candidates know the  job they are entering into may not be ideal for everyone.  For instance if you are hiring for an assembly line position, you don't want to talk about the benefits of community if the job is spent sitting in isolation.  Similarly if you're hiring for a sales position, you want incoming applicants to know that it takes a lot of networking and phone calls to do the job properly (as a self-confessed introvert, that's enough to keep ...