Ideas Inspired By Research, My Values, and Quirks

In gearing up for my next book, Good Boss, Bad Boss, I am putting together a list "12 Things that Good Bosses Believe," which you will soon see discussed here at Psychology Today. In the process, I took two or three ideas from a list of "15 Things I Believe" that has been on my personal blog for a long time -- these are ideasgrounded in peer-reviewed research and insights from some of my most inspiring colleages, and are also shaped by my values and biases.

I decided that it was a good time to update and expand that list, as I have not changed much in the last couple years. So I now have a new list, "17 Things I Believe," which you can see on my personal blog and is listed below. As always, I would love your comments, and as this is a pretty big change, if you have ideas about items you might add (or subtract) if it was your list, or that you think I should add or subtract, I would love to hear your reactions. Here it is (and note that #17 has no link):

1. Sometimes the best management is no management at all -- first do no harm!

2. Indifference is as important as passion.

3. In organizational life, you can have influence over others or you can have freedom from others, but you can't have both at the same time.

4. Saying smart things and giving smart answers are important. Learning to listen to others and to ask smart questions is more important.

5. You get what you expect from people. This is especially true when it comes to selfish behavior; unvarnished self-interest is a learned social norm, not an unwavering feature of human behavior.

6. Avoid pompous jerks whenever possible. They not only can make you feel bad about yourself, chances are that you will eventually start acting like them.

7. The best test of a person's character is how he or she treats those with less power.

8. Err on the side of optimism and positive energy in all things.

9. It is good to ask yourself, do I have enough? Do you really need more money, power, prestige, or stuff?

10. Anyone can learn to be creative, it just takes a lot of practice and little confidence

11. "Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."

12. If you are an expert, seek-out novices or experts in other fields. If you are a novice, seek out experts.

13. Sutton's Law: “If you think that you have a new idea, you are wrong. Someone else probably already had it. This idea isn’t original either; I stole it from someone else”

14. "Am I a success or a failure?" is not a very useful question

15. The world would be a better place if people slept more and took more naps

16. Strive for simplicity and competence, but embrace the confusion and messiness along the way.

17. Jimmy Maloney is right, work is an overrated activity

P.S. Follow me on Twitter at work_matters.