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Psychology

Change; Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution

 

This book is about persistence and change in human affairs. It analyzes how problems arise, how they are perpetuated, and how they are resolved. The book gives some insights into why common sense solutions often fail and unreasonable solutions work. A common theme is that an attempted solution to a problem is often the real problem. Two types of changes are described: First-order change (change within a given system) and Second-order change (changes of the system). Three classes of causes of problems (simplifications, the utopia syndrome, and paradox) are due to not properly dealing with these two types of changes. Methods to develop second-order changes include focusing on the attempted solutions, ask
"what," not "why," and reframe the problem. A four-step problem solving procedure is presented to implement these approaches. Numerous examples and tactics using this approach are presented.

The Design of Everyday Things


Norman uses principles from cognitive psychology to emphasize that many errors come from poor design of processes and products. He defines errors into two categories: Slips result from automatic behavior, when subconscious actions that are intended to satisfy our goals get waylaid en route. Slips are easy to detect and are usually small, irritating problems. Mistakes result from conscious deliberations. Mistakes are usually major with severe consequences. The book gives many examples from business and everyday life on the existence of poor design and how it troubles all of us as humans. Norman makes the point that we are going to make "slips." After all, the mental processes that produce slips are the same processes that allow us to connect seemingly unrelated ideas and create something new. The author makes the point that these cognitive processes can be aided by better design to eliminate errors. Mistakes are made from deliberate actions. Many times mistakes are founded on poor information that was supplied to support a goal. The mistakes are made in support of the established goal and are sometimes difficult to discover or understand. After all, the actions made sense for the established goal.

No Contest: The Case Against Competition

 

This book presents a compelling case against competition, while presenting arguments in favor of cooperation as a guiding principle. Kohn patiently and thoroughly shows that much of the prevailing thought about the presumed benefits of competition are not based in fact. The book cites dozens of studies to support the view that competition does little good, and is actually often harmful. This book is certain to challenge deeply held views of many in the American mainstream, particularly in business.

Psychology for Leaders: Using Motivation, Conflict, and Power to Manage More Effectively

 

This book uses a number of recent business events and case studies to help leaders relate important ideas from psychology to leading their
organizations. The authors attempt to incorporate principles of motivation, recognition, trust, stress, and communication from psychology into a
leader's everyday work. Today's leaders are told to move away from command-and-control, rigid, fragmented organizations. This book provides
some ideas from psychology to help this transition. The five parts of the books are:
 

  1. Psychology for Successful Leading

  2. Forging a Common Direction

  3. Working Together

  4. Making Use of Problems and Barriers

  5. Becoming Leaders

Danger in the Comfort Zone: From Boardroom to Mailroom -- How to Break the Entitlement Habit That's Killing American Business

 

This book suggests that many Americans in general are too comfortable to do their jobs effectively. The author claims that this is at the root of the productivity crisis that is affecting American business. The book is centered on a model that shows organizations in a state of entitlement, earning, or fear. Very specific techniques are offered to balance risk and complacency in organizations. The aim of the book is to present a new perspective on the causes of ailing productivity. The author describe three different psychological states in organizations: Entitlement, Fear, and Earning. These states can be applied to organizations, parts of organizations, and to individuals. Later chapters give specific suggestions for moving away from
entitlement and fear to get to earning. A new employment contract for earning is proposed. Chapter 10 applies the author's model at a personal level.

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

 

What is the best way for people to deal with their differences? This book provides a step-by-step strategy for developing a mutually acceptable agreement when there is conflict. It is based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project and is applicable to business, family, and other communities. The authors have provided an organized framework to consider and utilize some ideas that we have all experienced. Some of the key
ideas in the strategy are:
 

  1. Separate the people from the problem;

  2. Focus on interests, not positions;

  3. Cooperate to develop options that satisfy both parties;

  4. Refuse to play by rules that do not promote cooperation.

Driving Fear Out of the Workplace: Creating the High-Trust, High-Performance Organization

 

Restore Creativity and Trust to Your Workplace

Much has changed since Driving Fear Out of the Workplace first made the undiscussable discussable back in 1991. Advances in technology, new employee/employer relations, and the corporate push to optimize intellectual capital have introduced a host of new workplace anxieties that, left unaddressed, can seriously inhibit individual performance and cripple a company's ability to compete. Which is why, in this revised edition, authors Ryan and Oestreich revisit their original, best-selling work to confront the fears that permeate today's organizations--so that they can become the high-trust, high-performance organizations of tomorrow. This insightful book digs deeply into the root causes of fear and the pervasive 'flu of mistrust'
that weakens motivation and commitment.


--Terrence E. Deal and M. K. Key, authors of Corporate Celebration: Play, Purpose, and Passion at Work
You'll discover:
* How fear prevents people from doing their best
* How fear operates in organizations

 

How to build business relationships without fear...and much more!


This work is a timely antidote to the insecurities of workers faced with the pervasive push toward leaner, meaner organizations.

The Behavior-Based Safety Process: Managing Involvement for an Injury-Free Culture

 

This book provides an approach to implementing a safety process that is consistent with the philosophies and methods of quality management. The approach has its theoretical foundation in behavioral psychology. The focus is on continuous improvement in safety performance. The behavior-based approach uses operational definitions, measurement, charting, employee involvement, and feedback mechanism that are familiar to quality improvement practitioners. Chapter 2 includes a good overview of the psychological theories (behavior versus attitude, antecedents and consequences).

Social Psychology

 

This text continues to set the standard by which other social psychology texts are judged. The organisation moves the student through the study of how people think, influence, and relate, including a balance of basic research and applied material for the course, as well as a multicultural emphasis throughout.

Why Work: Motivating and Leading the New Generation

 

This book is about what motivates people to work. It is based on a simple questionnaire given to over three thousand people in eight different organizations. Maccoby argues that Maslow's hierarchy of needs is not a useful model for today's organizations. He groups people into five different social character types (expert, helper, defender, innovator, self-developer) and discusses how to motivate each. He describes eight "value drives": survival, relatedness, pleasure, information, mastery, play, dignity, and meaning, and provides four managerial motivational tools: responsibilities, rewards, reasons, relationships. The book has a good chapter on leadership for today's companies.

Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss what Matters Most

 

Difficult Conversations follows the work from the Harvard Negotiation Project entitled, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury (1991).  The book is divided into three major sections; 1) The Problem, 2) Shift to a Learning Stance and 3) Create a Learning Conversation.  The book begins with the Problem by sorting out three conversations; 1) What happened conversation, 2) The Feelings Conversation and 3) The Identity Conversation. As we address the problem in communication we are advised to state what happened from all vantage points, our feelings and the feelings of others and finally acknowledging the impact on our own identity. The book goes on to discuss how to shift from blame to learning and provides methods to help the reader achieve the transition. The examples and stories also help to bring the concepts and methods to life.

Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ


Goldman’s book is divided into five sections. The first section deals with “The Emotional Brain.” Here Goldman gives some background on “emotions.” The second section discusses the importance of Emotional Intelligence vs IQ. IQ has been considered the leading determinant of success. Goldman challenges this idea in his chapter entitled, “When Smart is Dumb.” Part Three discusses issues related to application of the
theory of emotional intelligence. Part Four, “Windows of Opportunity,” start with the family and discusses opportunities for relearning approaches to one another. Part five is entitled, “Emotional Literacy.” This section discusses the costs of emotional illiteracy and begins the process of schooling the emotions. From Amazon.com, the following quote sizes up Goldman’s plea: “People who possess high emotional intelligence are the people who truly succeed in work as well as play, building flourishing careers and lasting, meaningful relationships. Because emotional intelligence isn't fixed at birth, Goleman outlines how adults as well as parents of young children can sow the seeds.”

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

 

The book focuses on quality of life. The author is a psychologist who has spent the last 25 years studying the times in life when people are actually enjoying their experience. He calls these experiences "flow" - a state of concentration where we are absorbed in an activity. When we experience flow, we feel strong, alert, in control without effort, not self-conscious, and at the peak of our abilities. This book describes how this pleasurable state can be controlled and not just left to chance. A flow experience will include some or all of the following components: confronting tasks we have a chance of completing, ability to concentrate, clear goals, immediate feedback, free from worry about everyday issues, a sense of control over our actions, no concern for self, altered sense of time. This book is a great introduction to a growing area of psychology.

Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes, Revised 25th Anniversary Edition

 

William Bridges discusses change at the personal level in this book. He discusses three phases of change (taken from the back cover):
 

  • Endings: Recognize endings as opportunities as well as losses, and even celebrate them with rituals designed to open new doors.

  • The Neutral Zone: In this seemingly unproductive “time-out,” we feel disconnected from the past and emotionally unconnected to the present. The most frightening stage of transition, the Neutral Zone is really an important time for reorientation.

  • The New Beginning: A successful transition requires more than persevering: it means launching new priorities. Understand the external and internal signs that point the way to your future.

People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts

 

Bolton’s book is dedicated to helping people communicate better with mutual respect. The book not only presents useful theory but methods to enhance skills for communicating, resolving disputes and collaborative problem solving. The book is valuable to the reader for the skills presented related to listening, assertion, conflict-resolution, and collaborative problem solving. The book provides valuable techniques for listening and improving the way we relate to people at work and at home

Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types

 

People are different from each other, and no amount of getting after them is going to change them.  Nor is there any reason to change them, because the differences are probably good, not bad.”  Using the Keirsey Temperament Sorter questionnaire, the individual can gain insight into their personality tendencies and begin a dialogue with others concerning differences.  Professor Keirsey is a long time clinical psychologist of the gestalt-field-systems school. After 30 years of treating hundreds of …problems, Dr. Keirsey now challenges the reader to “Abandon the Pygmalion project,” that endless and fruitless attempt to change the Other into a carbon copy of Oneself.  Keirsey adopted the theory of Psychological Types of Carl Jung and the pioneering method of measuring type of Isabel Myers in 1955 and ever since has adapted his clinical practice to the perspective of Jung-Myers typology.  This book provides a useful vocabulary and phraseology for applying the Jung-Myers concepts of type.

The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us

 

Professors of Psychology Chabris and Simons write about six everyday illusions of perception and thought, including the beliefs that: we pay attention more than we do, our memories are more detailed than they are, confident people are competent people, we know more than we actually do, and our brains have reserves of power that are easy to unlock. Through a host of studies, anecdotes, and logic, the authors debunk conventional wisdom about the workings of the mind and what "experts" really know (or don't). Presented almost as a response to Malcolm Gladwell's blink, the books pay special attention to "the illusion of knowledge" and the danger of basing decision-making, in areas such as investing, on short-term information; in the authors' view, careful analysis of assumed truths is preferred over quick, intuitive thinking. Chabris and Simons are not against intuition, "...but we don't think it should be exalted above analysis without good evidence that it is truly superior." ~ Publishers Weekly (The DVDs are available here: http://viscog.com/)

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High

 

"What a profound and timely book! Here is the cure for arguments and misunderstandings; for mediocrity and frustration. This book offers a wealth of principles and skills that will dramatically improve your career, your organization, and your relationships." Stephen R. Covey

Foreword by Stephen R. Covey, Author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

"Most books make promises. This one delivers. These skills have not only helped us to change the culture of our company, but have also generated new techniques for working together in ways that enabled us to win the largest contract in our industry's history."--Dain M. Hancock, President, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics

A powerful, seven-step approach to handling difficult conversations with confidence and skill

"Crucial" conversations are interpersonal exchanges at work or at home that we dread having but know we cannot avoid. How do you say what needs to be said while avoiding an argument with a boss, child, or relationship partner? Crucial Conversations offers readers a proven seven-point strategy for achieving their goals in all those emotionally, psychologically, or legally charged situations that can arise in their
professional and personal lives. Based on the authors' highly popular DialogueSmart training seminars, the techniques are geared toward getting people to lower their defenses, creating mutual respect and understanding, increasing emotional safety, and encouraging freedom of expression. Among other things, readers also learn about the four main factors that characterize crucial conversations, and they get a
powerful six-minute mastery technique that prepares them to work through any high impact situation with confidence.

VitalSmarts is home to multiple training offerings, including Crucial Conversations®, Crucial Confrontations™, and Influencer Training™. Each course improves key organizational outcomes by focusing on high-leverage skills and strategies. The VitalSmarts authors have written three New York Times bestsellers, Influencer, Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations. VitalSmarts also offers on-site consulting, research, executive team development, and speaking engagements. www.vitalsmarts.com

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

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Influence, the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say "yes"—and how to apply these understandings. Dr. Robert Cialdini is the seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion. His thirty-five years of rigorous, evidence-based research along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior has resulted in this highly acclaimed book.

You'll learn the six universal principles, how to use them to become a skilled persuader—and how to defend yourself against them. Perfect for people in all walks of life, the principles of Influence will move you toward profound personal change and act as a driving force for your success.

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Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

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Influence, the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say "yes"—and how to apply these understandings. Dr. Robert Cialdini is the seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion. His thirty-five years of rigorous, evidence-based research along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior has resulted in this highly acclaimed book.

You'll learn the six universal principles, how to use them to become a skilled persuader—and how to defend yourself against them. Perfect for people in all walks of life, the principles of Influence will move you toward profound personal change and act as a driving force for your success.

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Summary of ‘Pre-Suasion'


The #1 best-selling summary of Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini. Get all the valuable insights from the original book and save yourself 4 hours of reading time.

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