Tuesday Reading

… it’s really not an option  Reflection is about “careful thought.”  Jennifer Porter, leadership and team development coach, says that “the kind of reflection that is really valuable to leaders is more nuanced than just ‘careful thought’.”  The most useful reflection involves the conscious considerations and analysis of beliefs and actions for the purpose of learning.”  […]

. . .  to help you avoid your biases Today’s Tuesday Reading turns again to focus on another aspect of bias, how to keep our minds from falling for bad advice.   In the March 6, 2018 Tuesday Reading Biases, we noted that an individual’s personal cognitive biases can be helpful and adaptive, and also that they may […]

. . . Between Work and the Rest of Your Life Many of us have a difficult time of putting down our work to turn to the rest of our lives – time with family and friends, attending sports or other activities our children participate in, taking a walk in the woods, …  It’s a […]

Today, in the United States some four out of every five individuals age 5 and older have some type of cell phone.  And, most of these have sufficient functionality to be called smartphones.  This is in stark contrast to the time when I was growing up in a small rural southeast Texas town.  Then and […]

Sometimes we need to react fast, automatically.  For example, as we see a large truck speeding towards us as we are standing in the edge of the street waiting for a traffic light to change.  Or, as we observe the subtle cues of a very dissatisfied client.  And, at a different time, we may find […]

Steven Westlund is the author of today’s Tuesday Reading.  He is the Director of Enterprise Applications Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.  His essay first appeared as a leadership program reflection earlier this year.  [Steve may be reached at [email protected].]   A few weekends ago, my wife and I watched Alexandra Dean’s documentary, Bombshell: the Hedy Lamarr […]

… “If you have a brain, you’re biased.”1    The Cambridge English Dictionary defines bias as a “personal opinion that influences your judgment.”  We all have such personal opinions.   Cognitive biases2, 3 are systematic deviations from the norm as individuals create their own “subjective social reality” based on their perception of the information they are receiving from […]

… my team is a safe place for interpersonal risk taking   Early this decade Google was focused on building the perfect team.  Even earlier, the company had endeavored to capture large quantities of data about employees and how they worked.  They knew, for example, how frequently particular people ate together (more productive people had larger […]

… men and women can both be “victims” and “perpetrators”   Turn on the radio or television, read a magazine or newspaper, surf the web.  You’ll likely hear or see a story about sexual harassment or assault or mischief on the part of someone in power – a broadcast personage, a media executive, a politician, […]

Brian McDonald is the author of today’s Tuesday Reading. He is the president of MOR Associates an organization he founded in 1983 based on the belief that many organizations do not maximize the contribution most people want to make at work. More recently, he has led the development of the MOR family of leadership programs.   During […]