by LorraineSegal | Mar 26, 2010
Computer Engineer Barbie just arrived with lots of publicity, but does this signify the end of gender conflict and discrimination at work? True, Barbie has come a long way since she was programmed in 1992 to say “Math class is tough”, starting a firestorm of protest...
by LorraineSegal | Mar 12, 2010
Can fun be an effective motivator at work? It might, according to a recent psychology study reported by David DiSalvo. In the study, researchers first assessed participants as high or low achievers and then gave them a series of 5 computerized tests. Their computers...
by LorraineSegal | Feb 27, 2010
How do we change behavior at work for the better? A big corporation in Germany started a campaign they call The Fun Theory. They believe that “the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better is by making it fun to do.” They challenged creative people to...
by LorraineSegal | Feb 15, 2010
If you‘ve ever felt like your managers, co-workers or employees were acting like children, you may be right. For better or worse, many of our habitual patterns of communication and conflict in the workplace come from our families of origin. When people bring these...
by LorraineSegal | Feb 4, 2010
My clients and I often wish we could remake our co-workers and managers in our preferred image. But, the reality is that we generally have little or no control over the words and actions of others, even if there are negative consequences for us. So, I encourage my...
by LorraineSegal | Jan 24, 2010
Is resentment poisoning you at work? I have witnessed clients, parties in mediations, and colleagues filled with resentment toward a co-worker, supervisor, or employee. Sometimes these feelings persist for years, only expressed indirectly, with inevitably negative...
by LorraineSegal | Jan 13, 2010
Unrealistic attempts to control bosses, co-workers, or employees at meetings or individually can be huge sources of conflict in the workplace. When I recently saw this humorous title of a Gilmore Girls episode, Always a Godmother, Never a God, I thought of the...
by LorraineSegal | Jan 7, 2010
Are you constantly aiming for perfection at work? Well, please let that one go! When we strive to be perfect, we can become paralyzed and miss new ideas that could improve the workplace. I got great inspiration recently for the courage to make mistakes from an article...
by LorraineSegal | Dec 28, 2009
Do we see others at work as human, or do we fit them in a convenient slot based on their professional role or our hasty judgment of them? Assessing people in a sentence is simpler, but deceptive, because we miss a compassionate understanding of the (inevitable)...
by LorraineSegal | Dec 19, 2009
You say “hello”; I say “adios”. In the U.S., when we walk past someone we don’t know, what do we say? In a crowded urban environment, people tend to ignore each other entirely. But while walking in country neighborhoods, small towns, or in...
