How should we address climate change at work? Part 2 – let’s talk about it
In November I wrote the first of a two-part series looking at the climate crisis in a work context. It explored the psychological barriers that stop us even thinking about the subject and ended with a promise that next time I'd explore what we should actually do. It's taken me four months to reach the conclusion that I don't know. And actually, that's ok. Why would I know when everyone's situation is so different? But what I have realised is that we need to normalise talking about the climate at work. Having spoken to a lot of people who have ...
COVID-19: What will September bring?
It may be only the end of July but I'm turning my attention to September as I think it's worth planning for now. September has always had a feel of New Year, back to normal about it, but this year what kind of normal will it be? Even if you're going to keep working from home well into next year, as many organisations are planning to do, September is still likely to feel psychologically different. So whatever your working arrangements are likely to be, here are five things to consider: 1. Still Working From Home After four months, it's easy ...
COVID-19: What next? Who knows? Living with uncertainty
So here we are, tentatively venturing back out into the world and wondering what life will be like. There is no shortage of commentators predicting the business, societal and political changes which will result from the pandemic. I am not one of them. What I want to look at is how we handle the level of uncertainty we are facing. Here are six observations. 1. Predictability vs uncertainty One of the overlooked aspects of the pandemic is the weird juxtaposition of massive uncertainty alongside monotonous predictability. On the one hand, you know what your days are going to look ...
Should work be fun?
I nearly made this the last of my workplace myths series but couldn't decide which was the more prevailing myth. On the one hand, the prevalence of ping pong tables in office foyers suggests a contemporary expectation that work should be fun. On the other hand, I've met many a manager (often in finance, interestingly) who believes that, unless people are staring at a spreadsheet in total silence, they're not really working. So who's right? Well let's start at the beginning: What do we mean by 'fun'? I think what people are generally referring to is enjoying themselves at work ...
Myth #3: Experienced professionals don’t need managing
This is the third in my series on workplace myths - those pervasive beliefs that contain a grain of truth but may not be as applicable as you think. Some of you may be wondering why I'm considering this one as a myth at all. If you've suffered the horrors of a control freak micro-manager, you may long to be left alone to get on with the job. But for how long? When does that absence of management become a problem? Research from a recent conference suggests that, eventually, Absent Leadership really gets people down. Absent leadership is where someone occupies a ...
Think you understand the workplace? Five ways you’re probably wrong.
I like to keep up with psychology research. I feel it's part of my responsibility as a practising psychologist to have at least some idea of the latest findings. What's struck me recently is how often the research has confounded my thinking, suggesting something counter-intuitive. So here are five pieces of common sense, received wisdom about the workplace that recent psychological research suggests are wrong: 1. Leaders should embody their company's culture This is just obvious, isn't it? What could be worse than having a leader who's out of step with the culture of the organisation? Well in terms of ...
Why do people behave badly at work? Four drivers of bad behaviour
Imagine you see someone behaving badly at work - maybe doing something ethically questionable or taking their anger out on the trainee or not pulling their weight in a crisis. If you're like most people, you'll attribute that behaviour to some aspect of their character - he's dishonest, she's aggressive, they're lazy and so on - unless you know them and like them and then you'll say it's 'out of character'. The basic idea that behaviour is driven by character remains though. If it's us behaving badly, however, it's different. We're not like that, there were mitigating factors, we're not ...
Passing the baton – A succession planning guide
How do you hand on a business you’ve spent years nurturing? This is a challenge facing many business owners as they eventually accept that they cannot go on forever. This month I’ve teamed up with Peter Jenner, from William Battle Ltd, who specialises in business succession to compare his process-focused approach with my psychological perspective. Peter has a model which aims to plot a course for successful succession, which he envisages as concentric circles radiating out like ripples from the centre, though obviously there’s overlap between them. Aspirations Peter says: Everything starts with aspirations – yours and those of your likely ...
The great taboos. The legal and psychological ramifications of discussing politics and religion at work
“Never discuss religion or politics”. This sage advice has been around for at least a century. But in these days of Brexit and Trump, politics seems harder and harder to avoid and religion has got wrapped up in it in a way it hasn’t been – or at least not in the UK – for decades. So what happens when people’s strongly held views on these subjects spill over into work? This month, I’ve teamed up with employment law barrister, Joanne Sefton of Menzies Law, to look at both the psychological and the legal aspects of politics and religion at ...
The age of female leadership? – Why female leaders are perceived differently
Well isn't this interesting - women are taking over the world. We have a female Prime Minister, the most powerful politician in Europe is a woman and I can't be the only one fervently hoping that the next US president is a woman because the alternative is too ghastly to contemplate. But will things be any different? Do women bring different qualities to the job? Instinctively, it feels like they do, but is that true? Well the short answer is, we don't really know. The research is somewhat contradictory and it's a complex thing to assess. What is clear is that female leaders ...
How should we address climate change at work? Part 2 – let’s talk about it
In November I wrote the first of a two-part series looking at the climate crisis in a work context. It explored the psychological barriers that stop us even thinking about the subject and ended with a promise that next time I'd explore what we should actually do. It's taken me four months to reach the conclusion that I don't know. And actually, that's ok. Why would I know when everyone's situation is so different? But what I have realised is that we need to normalise talking about the climate at work. Having spoken to a lot of people who have ...
COVID-19: What will September bring?
It may be only the end of July but I'm turning my attention to September as I think it's worth planning for now. September has always had a feel of New Year, back to normal about it, but this year what kind of normal will it be? Even if you're going to keep working from home well into next year, as many organisations are planning to do, September is still likely to feel psychologically different. So whatever your working arrangements are likely to be, here are five things to consider: 1. Still Working From Home After four months, it's easy ...
COVID-19: What next? Who knows? Living with uncertainty
So here we are, tentatively venturing back out into the world and wondering what life will be like. There is no shortage of commentators predicting the business, societal and political changes which will result from the pandemic. I am not one of them. What I want to look at is how we handle the level of uncertainty we are facing. Here are six observations. 1. Predictability vs uncertainty One of the overlooked aspects of the pandemic is the weird juxtaposition of massive uncertainty alongside monotonous predictability. On the one hand, you know what your days are going to look ...
Should work be fun?
I nearly made this the last of my workplace myths series but couldn't decide which was the more prevailing myth. On the one hand, the prevalence of ping pong tables in office foyers suggests a contemporary expectation that work should be fun. On the other hand, I've met many a manager (often in finance, interestingly) who believes that, unless people are staring at a spreadsheet in total silence, they're not really working. So who's right? Well let's start at the beginning: What do we mean by 'fun'? I think what people are generally referring to is enjoying themselves at work ...
Myth #3: Experienced professionals don’t need managing
This is the third in my series on workplace myths - those pervasive beliefs that contain a grain of truth but may not be as applicable as you think. Some of you may be wondering why I'm considering this one as a myth at all. If you've suffered the horrors of a control freak micro-manager, you may long to be left alone to get on with the job. But for how long? When does that absence of management become a problem? Research from a recent conference suggests that, eventually, Absent Leadership really gets people down. Absent leadership is where someone occupies a ...
Think you understand the workplace? Five ways you’re probably wrong.
I like to keep up with psychology research. I feel it's part of my responsibility as a practising psychologist to have at least some idea of the latest findings. What's struck me recently is how often the research has confounded my thinking, suggesting something counter-intuitive. So here are five pieces of common sense, received wisdom about the workplace that recent psychological research suggests are wrong: 1. Leaders should embody their company's culture This is just obvious, isn't it? What could be worse than having a leader who's out of step with the culture of the organisation? Well in terms of ...
Why do people behave badly at work? Four drivers of bad behaviour
Imagine you see someone behaving badly at work - maybe doing something ethically questionable or taking their anger out on the trainee or not pulling their weight in a crisis. If you're like most people, you'll attribute that behaviour to some aspect of their character - he's dishonest, she's aggressive, they're lazy and so on - unless you know them and like them and then you'll say it's 'out of character'. The basic idea that behaviour is driven by character remains though. If it's us behaving badly, however, it's different. We're not like that, there were mitigating factors, we're not ...
Passing the baton – A succession planning guide
How do you hand on a business you’ve spent years nurturing? This is a challenge facing many business owners as they eventually accept that they cannot go on forever. This month I’ve teamed up with Peter Jenner, from William Battle Ltd, who specialises in business succession to compare his process-focused approach with my psychological perspective. Peter has a model which aims to plot a course for successful succession, which he envisages as concentric circles radiating out like ripples from the centre, though obviously there’s overlap between them. Aspirations Peter says: Everything starts with aspirations – yours and those of your likely ...
The great taboos. The legal and psychological ramifications of discussing politics and religion at work
“Never discuss religion or politics”. This sage advice has been around for at least a century. But in these days of Brexit and Trump, politics seems harder and harder to avoid and religion has got wrapped up in it in a way it hasn’t been – or at least not in the UK – for decades. So what happens when people’s strongly held views on these subjects spill over into work? This month, I’ve teamed up with employment law barrister, Joanne Sefton of Menzies Law, to look at both the psychological and the legal aspects of politics and religion at ...
The age of female leadership? – Why female leaders are perceived differently
Well isn't this interesting - women are taking over the world. We have a female Prime Minister, the most powerful politician in Europe is a woman and I can't be the only one fervently hoping that the next US president is a woman because the alternative is too ghastly to contemplate. But will things be any different? Do women bring different qualities to the job? Instinctively, it feels like they do, but is that true? Well the short answer is, we don't really know. The research is somewhat contradictory and it's a complex thing to assess. What is clear is that female leaders ...
