Minds at Work

Exploring the psychological forces at play while you work.

Ben Dattner is a workplace consultant, an industrial and organizational psychologist, and an adjunct professor at New York University. See full bio

September 26, 2009

360 degrees of credit and blame

As mentioned in earlier postings, credit and blame is at the heart of organizational psychology, for better or for worse. The "who, what, where, why, when, and how" of the assignment of positive regard or negative feedback in the workplace is a key driver of either productive or dysfunctional dynamics and performance at the individual, team, and organizational levels. Read More

June 30, 2009

Rationalizing your boss's rationalizations

Credit and blame are at the heart of organizational behavior. Over the years, issues of credit and blame have been among my clients' top concerns. When working well, credit and blame can enable individuals, teams, and entire organizations to confront reality and effectively move forward. Read More

June 20, 2009

Introducing a new interactive blog series: Credit and Blame at Work

Dear Readers,

I am pleased to launch a new interactive "series" on this blog: "Credit and Blame at Work".

I'm currently working on a book about credit and blame, and will give due credit to anyone who can post an interesting response or a helpful link in response to the topics that we will be exploring together.

Why credit and blame? Read More

April 22, 2009

Making the Most of Your Promotion

What's worse for your mental well being- being laid off or being promoted? Read More

March 28, 2009

The baggage we bring to work each day

Henry Ford reportedly once complained that all he wanted from a worker was a pair of hands, but that he had to deal with the whole person instead. Each of us brings our whole self to work each day, regardless of whether we have a chance to express and actualize ourselves in our jobs. Read More

March 25, 2009

Holding managers accountable for their hiring decisions

Imagine you're the CEO of a hypothetical mutual fund company with 10 different mutual funds and 40 managers of those funds. Now, imagine you didn't know which manager had bought which stocks. Absurd, right? Read More

March 23, 2009

Valid and invalid concerns about the validity of 360's

360 degree feedback is an increasingly popular tool for executive coaching and leadership development. An individual evaluates him or herself along some predetermined quantitative and qualitative dimensions, providing numerical ratings for the quantitative items and comments for the qualitative ones. Read More

March 20, 2009

Good feedback, bad feedback

In the current economic environment, it is crucial for individuals, teams and organizations to continuously improve their performance. Getting and giving useful performance feedback, whether through a formal performance appraisal system, or through less formal, more ad-hoc tools like Rypple, can help greatly. Read More

February 26, 2009

The unavoidable conspiracy in every workplace

Everyone has their own favorite indicators of the sorry state of our economy and the stress that it is causing. Some people point to empty restaurants in New York City, plunging condo prices in Miami, or lengthening unemployment lines. Others point to the growth in prescriptions for anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medications. Read More

February 17, 2009

Better interviewing through psychology

In these difficult economic times, many people are in transition and looking for new jobs. Even though employment interviews are often unreliable and invalid predictors of job performance, they remain the most common and most heavily weighted selection methodology for most employers. Read More

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