InformIT has an interesting article on recent research out of Wharton by Sigal Barsade and Lakshmi Ramarajan (“More than Job Demands or Personality, Lack of Organizational Respect Fuels Employee Burnout” Dec 8, 2006). Barsade and Ramarajan were especially interested in health care because many of the lower-level jobs in that industry tend to be difficult, and because a lot of …
High-Moders and Hierachies
Although I’ve been called away these past few weeks with a family emergency, I’ve been thinking about the points that Christine Baker of Requisite Development raises in her recent comments on “Writing a Level-3 CV” on the careers of high-moders. She points out that options today are greater for them than in the past: There is another point to make …
Power of Intrinsic Motivation
It’s the problem that management wants HR to solve: how do we get these people motivated to do what we want them to do. Even then I knew the answer: the only way to make someone do something that they don’t want to do is to coerce them. You make the reason for them doing it outside them.
There are other ways, of course, but they mean reframing the problem to be sensical to the person. And you have to give them a voice in their own life. Otherwise, you end up with non-motivated workers.
On Trust: Playing Iterative Prisoners’ Dilemma, Belief Raising Insurance Rates, and Competence
I’ve been thinking about Trust. That most elusive quality in our world and yet that which must underlie all our social worlds. I’ve also been reading some odd things this summer and thought that this would be a good time to put them down, in absolutely no particular order.
Structured Process vs. Drift: A Question of Worklevel?
Claudio Ciborra, who unfortunately died too early recently, left a rich quantity and breadth of writings on information systems from a sociological perspective. Here I look at one of thisClaudio Ciborra. 2002. “Design, Kairos and Affection“. From Managing as Designing: Position Papers [?], Cleveland: Case Western Reserve University. … if speed is the main characteristic of this activity, then in …
In Which We Announce Our Return From Summer Holidays
The Manasclerk Company, hosts of this blog, took some time off (as they are wont to do) this summer to do some analysis and other business-y stuff. Good that I don’t actually make any money off of this or I would have to care. I’m just glad to have this space back. Administratively, updates have been done to the various …
Signaling, Legitimacy and Reputation: Another Problem High-Potentials Must Overcome
Everything that you do, say and show signals information about you to others. This idea of Signaling comes from zoology / biology. It’s about how a fit male peacock (for example) lets potential mates know that he has the goods, moreso than others. The signal is his extensive plumage. The trick to signaling is that it has to cost you …
Revamping: Back Soon
The Manasclerk Company, the hosts of this blog, is undergoing a reboot. We’ll be back by the end of the summer. Enjoy the break.
!["Bessemer converter (iron into steel) Allegheny Ludlum Steel e Corp Brackenridge, Pa (LOC)" [crop]. Ca. 1940. Alfred T. Palmer via Library of Congress](https://i0.wp.com/www.manasclerk.com/wpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/1a35063u-Bessemer-converter-iron-into-steel-Allegheny-Ludlum-Steel-e-Corp-Brackenridge-Pa-LOC-1600x995.jpg?fit=862%2C536&ssl=1)
Use Time Spans Instead of “Strategic”, “Long-term”, “Short-term”, etc.
One thing that I have learned: never use the words “strategic” or “tactical”. Much less such terrors as “long-term” or “short-term”. The problem is that these are relative terms. What is strategic in one context is tactical in another.
How Standardization Creates Dis-Order
What happens when you move to standardization? In IT, we’re pushed to do single server loads, unified single-sign on systems, international PKI based Role Based Access Control, and all types of other forms of simplifying, rationalizing and standardizing. But no one ever stops to ask, Does standardizing in IT really make life easier? Not “no one” exactly. Because two researchers …