After more than 200 episodes, the oddly quirky and debatably successful sitcom “The Office” came to an end last week. Even for those who didn’t watch, it was clear that the premise of the show was to unearth the totally inappropriate goings-on in the workplace, leaving viewers gasping, “Did that just happen?”

I have personally [...]

Kicking, hitting, pushing, calling names — no, it’s not a 4-year-old kindergartner run amok, it’s the behavior of 44-year-old, (now former) Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice. Apparently Rice has been positively reinforced and rewarded for this type of behavior since preschool because people don’t develop lifestyle strategies overnight. In early April of this year, Rice [...]

I seem to have stirred the pot with my last post: “Results Only Work Environment: A Leadership Problem.” One comment in particular deserves my further comment and validation. It came, ironically, from the author of the book, Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: The Results-Only Revolution. My initial blog was written in response to [...]

A reader recently asked me to comment on Best Buy’s latest management announcement. You see, Best Buy has joined Yahoo in ending work at home as an effort to improve performance. (Read Yahoo! Wrong Problem; Wrong Solution.) Both companies would benefit from treating work at home, even when the job will permit it, as [...]

It’s not uncommon for executives to believe that they have a positive work culture, yet in reality, most still have problems typical of a negative reinforcement management style. The misinformed executive typically arrives at this conclusion because company performance is good, they are profitable and employee complaints are few. It is unfortunate that negative reinforcement [...]

A friend recently sent me an article by Plinio Granado titled, “9 Things That Will Disappear in Our Lifetime.” The list includes some obvious things including the post office, the check, newspaper, book and landline telephone — no surprises there. There were also a few that may not be obvious but are understandable: [...]

CEO Marissa Mayer has certainly created a firestorm of reaction with her decision to require all Yahoo employees to work from the office. Mayer knows infinitely more about IT than I will ever know, but I know a lot more about the laws of behavior than she will probably ever know. While I don’t want [...]

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated 148 years ago, yet millions of Americans honor his memory by visiting his memorial in Washington, D.C., every year. For many, Lincoln, our 16th president, remains an icon of leadership, a leadership that has been continually examined, most recently in Steven Spielberg’s award-winning film “Lincoln.”

In my book, Measure of [...]

If you’ve ever seen the movie “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray, you know it has less to do with the calendar date and Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog) than it does with the concept of changing non-productive habits one small step at a time. In the movie, Murray (a curmudgeon and a cad) wakes up to [...]

Earlier this month, I discussed the derisive style of Jillian Michaels, the yelling, pushy, abusive “coach” on “The Biggest Loser” television program. I noted that her aggressive, in-your-face approach to goad her charges to exercise and lose weight were mired in negative reinforcement, which drives avoidance behavior, promotes fear and doesn’t inspire optimal results. [...]