Susan Cain on the Power of Introverts

Hello to all of the introverts and extroverts in our class this semester! Take a few minutes to watch this TED talk by Susan Cain from 2012. Cain provides insights for all of us to consider in conjunction with our own Jung typology test results and our study of Liswood (2010). Enjoy!

Nonverbal Communication

Professor Amy Cuddy (Harvard Business School) offers some interesting insights and science on the power of nonverbal communication, not only in what it communicates to others, but to ourselves.

Our Individual Attributes

Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hi all. This week we have transitioned from our introduction to organizational behavior to diving into our first level of study: the individual. We have already taken two self-assessments, the individualism/collectivism self-assessment and the Jung typology test.

Thank you for your reflections on your Jung type. The website and our text both provide helpful information to interpret our results (we'll talk more about the IC self-assessment on Monday). As a group you are demonstrating very healthy critical thinking about assessment results. You are agreeing with the interpretation where it makes sense, and disagreeing where you have contrary data from your own experience. This will be an important habit to develop as we work through the semester.

None of the instruments or self-assessments we use this semester should be considered a definitive description of who you are; they do not define you. Rather, they should be used to shine some light and provide food for thought about our individual preferences and styles. Self-awareness is a key leadership attribute. We will employ these tools to build self-awareness, and facilitate choices about personal development. We'll also be using these tools to help us understand more about the impact of our personal styles and behaviors on those around us, and how that affects groups and organizational behavior.

Be sure to retain your results from this and future assessments as we will refer back to them throughout the semester, and you'll need them for your final paper.

By the way, here's an interesting tidbit from our Jung type indicator results: two-thirds of our class identified themselves as one of the extrovert types. Do some thinking over the weekend about the implications of this for our classroom interactions. We'll pick-up this question on Monday.

Until then, enjoy the weekend!

Motivating with Systems - DB Feedback

Hi all,

Our October 10 and 13 discussion boards transition us from thinking about motivation at the individual-level to thinking about how we can design organizational systems to promote the intrinsic motivation discussed in chapter five. Hackman and Oldham's (1980) job characteristics model (JCM) is only one of many theories that explores motivational characteristics of job design, but it is a particularly useful one. The JCM's five basic job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback from the job) remain central to discussions of job design and worker motivation today.

A key aspect of the JCM is the meaningfulness of work. Three of the five job characteristics identified by Hackman & Oldham (1980) contribute to experienced meaningfulness of one's work. Many of you effectively identified the lack of skill variety, task identity and task significance in Phil Stallings' job, noting that the exact opposite was true for the NUMMI workers. See Katie, Andrew B. and Greg's posts for very effective comparisons of the two cases using the JCM.

The best part of the JCM is it's practicality. It identifies aspects of job design that managers can take action to address without major investments in equipment or facilitates. Recall that the NUMMI plant continued to use much of the equipment used to assemble Chevrolets prior to the NUMMI joint venture. The difference was in job design and management style.

I've provided a link to JCM overview done for BUSA 340 last semester. While there are some references specific to that course, the video provides a more in-depth look at the model than that provided in our text. Take a few minutes watch it and learn a bit more about the model.

On Wednesday we shift from our discussion of the individual in the organization to a discussion of teams and groups. Enjoy your reading in Lencioni (2002); it's a fun, story-like read. See you in class for our first discussion of teams and trust.

Expectancy Theory & "Open Space"

Hi all,

Thanks for your contributions to our online discussion of the Kenny Moore & Keyspan case from Neubert (2014) chapter 5. A number of you had very strong posts fully responding to the case questions for discussion (see Ayanna, Katie, Andrew B., Ethan, Greg & Joe's posts for good examples).

I did want to highlight a very interesting and important conversation related to question 3: Would you be motivated by an Open Space meeting? Why or Why not. Many of you agree that you would. Tom provided an example of an open space-type meeting at his employer that he finds valuable. A number of the group, however, indicated that they would not find the structure of an open space meeting useful or valuable. Consistently this response came from the introverts among us (remember that I include myself in that group).

Future managers and leaders, this is an important point. Not everybody will be motivated to contribute in a large group setting such as Moore's open space model. This goes back to the difference in type that we saw in our class when we took the Jung Typology Test. It also relates back to Liswood's (2010) encouragement to us as managers that "the silent have something to say". As managers and leaders we need to find forums that gives voice to everybody in the organization. Also recall that Liswood identified responsibilities for both managers and individual contributors in the quest for the silent to be heard. Her chapter 7 provides tips for both. Expectancy theory may provide us with an additional tool.

Recall that expectancy theory is characterized by the consideration of the following questions:

Neubert (2014) Figure 5.2 (p. 101)

Neubert helps us reframe these questions in the sustainable approach, shifting them from the personal focus defined in the original model, to a group or other-focused approach. What if we as managers, leaders and individual contributors asked these questions instead (from Neubert, 2014, chapter 5):

• Can we achieve the goal together as a group? (expectancy)
• What is in it for the group? (instrumentality)
• What value is the achievement to the group? (valence)

Perhaps reframing our thinking of expectancy theory in this way can challenge us as managers and leaders to risk finding new ways to open up discussions to involve everybody, both the ready-to-speak and the quiet. And for individual contributors perhaps these "us" centered questions can begin to reframe our thinking about the challenges associated with large group discussion and contributions. It is not so much about me the individual and my personal style, but rather about what we can accomplish together as a group, and my role/responsibility to contribute to that group achievement.

What do you think? Can approaching the question of participation/contribution from the sustainable perspective begin to change what individual and group discussion looks like in an organization?

Intro to Diversity & Inclusion

Hi all.

Thanks for your observations and thoughts on the first three chapters of The Loudest Duck (Liswood, 2010). This is one of my favorite texts discussing diversity in the workplace. Liswood does a great job making accessible a sensitive subject with sometimes disturbing implications, using terms that enable us to have important conversations without feeling threatened.

This accessible language is also one of the challenges reading Liswood; we have to be clear about her terms. You demonstrated a solid understanding of her basic terms and concepts in today's discussion board posts. When speaking of "Noah's Ark", we have to be clear that Liswood is not referring to our friend in Genesis, but is using the ark as a metaphor for a particular approach to diversity/inclusion. the same is true for her use of elephants, mice, and grandmas.

Liswood provides a nice summary of these concepts in the video below. Watch an 8.5 minute section from time marker 35:30 to 44:00 for a useful overview and some additional context from the author herself. (Here's the URL if the link fails: http://youtu.be/u_S6C8WjxZU?t=35m30s)

Click here to go to Liswood video clip

We'll pick this conversation up on Monday using Carol's story (posted on Blackboard) to explore the meaning and importance of diversity and inclusion in today's workplace. Please come to class having read Carol's story and prepared to discuss the questions posted on Blackboard.

See you then!

Sept 5 Online Class Feedback

Greetings OB friends!

Thanks for today's interesting discussion, making connections between the topics of vocation and conventional/sustainable OB (Neubert & Dyck, 2014).

First let me commend you on the almost unanimously insightful comments regarding vocation as service and business as service. This is significant. As you launch your own businesses after graduation or work with others in an existing business, operating from this perspective will have significant impact on the business and people management decisions you make. Service is a much different purpose for a business than making a profit. As Van Duzer notes in Why Business Matters to God, a business must make a profit. But for those who see business as a form of vocation and therefore as service to others, profit is not the driving force behind every decision.

Several of you then take this discussion to the next level, making connections between business as vocation/service and Neubert and Dyck's (2014) conventional/sustainable OB concepts. Do a search for posts by Ayanna, Julianne, Ethan and Greg for some particularly thoughtful consideration of the connections between these concepts.

Check out Andrew B's posts this week as well. Andrew begins to shine a light down the practical application road. Sustainable OB and management are all well and good in the classroom, but what happens in real life? Can a company be started and run purely from the sustainable OB/management perspective? What happens in an economic downturn? Whose interests should prevail? All important questions with no easy answers. We'll continue to explore these issues as future business managers and leaders throughout the semester.

See you on Monday for our discussion of Neubert & Dyck (2014) chapter 2 (see the class prep instructions on Blackboard). Until then, enjoy the weekend!