Articles
Research is a conversation between specialists. Researchers have their own languages and value systems. Many times they write for each other – not for a general audience, or even researchers from another discipline.
That’s where talented journalists can offer an important service. They do the research interpretation for us. If they are accurate, they can make the findings accessible and usable. However, if they are inaccurate, they take us off track, sometimes way off track.
One way to investigate the evidence is to invest in an online subscription to Harvard Business Review, where researchers write for a professional audience. You can read a few articles each month for free, but with an online subscription you have access to their archives and as many articles as you like.
The articles listed below that are not from HBR might require a little more hunting, but if Google can’t find them online, a good research librarian can help you find them.
Here are some favorites. Keep your eye on the publication dates and historical context as you read.
- Amabile T. How to Kill Creativity. Harvard Business Review: September-October 1998.
- Argyris C. Good Communication that Blocks Learning. Harvard Business Review: July-August 1994.
- Fullan M. Choosing the Wrong Drivers for Whole System Reform. Centre for Strategic Education. April 2011.
- Hackman R, Oldham G. Motivation through the Design of Work: Test of a Theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance. 1976; 16:250-259.
- Herzberg F. One more Time: How do you Motivate Employees? Harvard Business Review: January 2003 (edited from the original, published in 1968).
- Keller S, Aiken C. The Inconvenient Truth About Change Management: Why It Isn’t Working and What to Do About It. McKinsey & Company Quarterly. 2009.
- Kelloway EK, Day A. Building Healthy Workplaces: What We Know So Far. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science. Oct 2005; 37(4):223-235.
- Meyerson D. Radical Change the Quiet Way. Harvard Business Review: October 2001.
- Smith M, Sainfort P. A Balance Theory of Job Design for Stress Reduction. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics. 1989; 4:67-79.
Books
These books are written for an educated lay-audience. Some are easier to read than others.
If I were able to only recommend one, it would be Leading Teams by Richard Hackman.
- Amabile T and Kramer S. The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work. New York: Harvard Business Review Press; 2011.
- Brown B. Daring Greatly: How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent and lead. New York: Gotham Books; 2012.
- Frost P. Toxic Emotions at Work. Boston: Harvard Business School Press; 2007.
- Greenblatt E. Restore Yourself: The antidote for professional exhaustion. Los Angeles: Execu-Care Press; 2009.
- Hackman R. Leading Teams: Setting the stage for group performances. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation; 2002.
- Kegan R, Lahey L. How The Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work. San Francisco: Jossey Bass; 2001.
- Kohn A. Punished by Rewards: The trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, A’s, praise, and other bribes. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company; 1993.
- Maslach C. Burnout: The Cost of Caring. Cambridge: Malor Books; 2003.
- Pfeffer J. Dying for a Paycheck: How Modern Management Harms Employee Health and Company Performance – and What We Can Do About It. New York: Harper-Collins; 2018.
- Salpolsky R. Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. New York: St. Martin’s Press; 2004.
- Seligman M. Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. New York: Free Press; 2011.
- Seligman M. Learned Optimism: How to change your mind and your life. New York: Vintage Books; 2006.
Online Resources
Here are some of my favorites.
- National Geographic documentary. Stress: Portrait of a Killer. 2008.
- Positive Psychology information and online tests from the University of Pennsylvania.
- Watch Brene Brown’s TedX video “The Power of Vulnerability.”
You might explore some forgiveness websites:
