The Value of Values for Teams
Groups are the default human working unit. For most sorts of jobs, people tend to cooperate and collaborate to get the work done. Even when the job doesn’t need collaboration we still prefer to do it in proximity with others – think brew clubs or cruise ships. When the job requires cooperation, people are selected […]
Ed Sheeran Is Not Lorde: The Fungibility Fallacy
If you went to a concert to see Lorde and instead Ed Sheeran emerged on stage, you might be pleased to see him, but disappointed because Ed Sheeran is not Lorde and is never going to do the version of Green Light you thought you’d be watching. The fact that Ed Sheeran is not Lorde demonstrates the economic principle […]
How to Work With Innovation Killers
Although we live in an age that glorifies innovation, there is a big difference between theoretically advocating for it and being able (or willing) to actually implement it. None of this is really new. From Schumpeter’s classic definition of innovation as “creative destruction” to recent portrayals of innovators as disruptors or constructive nonconformist, we have […]
Self-Awareness in the Age of Individualism
Academics and businesspeople agree that self-awareness is a key aspect of improving performance. Studies show that without it, people tend to be closed-off to feedback, difficult to coach, overestimate capabilities, and ultimately struggle to build and maintain high performing teams. Conversely, awareness of one’s own behavioral tendencies facilitates leadership effectiveness. As it’s generally understood that self-awareness is essential […]
Leadership Lessons From Muhammad Ali
Professional sports often illustrate important psychological and life principles, even for the world of business. Traditionally, discussions on leadership tend to focus on team sports, but occasionally individual athletes emerge who can teach us a great deal about leadership, too. Here are some lessons from the extraordinary Muhammad Ali: 1) Morality is antisocial: True leadership […]
The Economy of Human Nature
Adam Smith, author of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (aka The Wealth of Nations), is considered the father of modern economics. Since its publication in 1776, The Wealth of Nations has influenced virtually all modern economists and, to some extent, much of western philosophy. Smith argued that unregulated competition engenders unbridled, self-interested behavior […]
The HPI Turns 3…Million!
Hogan’s status as a global innovator in personality assessment is nothing new. In 1998, after administering the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) in more traditional formats for years, we were the first test publisher to develop a web-based assessment platform. After we fully integrated the system to score HPI results for personnel selection and employee development in 2001, […]
Chats From China: Cross Cultural Questions
China is home to over half a million foreigners, many of whom are here for business. Multinational corporations doing business in China, as well as Chinese companies who are going global, all face questions regarding talent within a multicultural setting. As a Hogan representative in China, I frequently field questions about personality in a multicultural […]
Losing sight of the individual in group development programs
I often come across articles focused on development efforts for women and millennials. These two demographics – gender and age – are treated as key considerations in employee development program design. The thought seems to be that if organizations could only figure out how to develop women and young professionals, they could solve myriad talent […]
Star performers vs. Effective Team Performance
Written by Dr. Robert Hogan and Dr. Kimberly Nei In a fascinating and counter-intuitive paper, two Harvard economists (Housman and Minor) suggest that it makes better financial sense not to hire toxic workers than to hire star performers. Toxic workers engage in theft, property damage, sexual harassment, and workplace violence and destroy the culture of the workplace. […]
