The hottest Organizational Behavior Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Business Topics

The Employee’s Dilemma

peoplefirstengineering • 7 implied HN points • 08 Jan 25
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. When employees feel supported by their company, they're more motivated to do great work. But if the company doesn't keep its promises, employees might just do the bare minimum.
  2. This situation can lead to what's called the 'Employee's Dilemma,' where both the worker and the employer end up not trusting each other, creating a sad work environment.
  3. To break this cycle of unhappiness, companies need to build trust and show they care. If they do, it can improve the workplace for everyone.

#5: Cool-climate oceanside

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 59 implied HN points • 04 Dec 19
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. The uncertainty mindset means understanding that the future is unpredictable. It allows a person to remain open to new information and possibilities.
  2. Mindsets influence how we think and act. A flexible mindset helps us adapt to changes and can lead to new opportunities for growth.
  3. Leaders can encourage an uncertainty mindset in their teams. This involves being honest about uncertainty and helping employees feel comfortable navigating it.

Bless: One of the most underestimated roles of a leader

DruGroup • 19 implied HN points • 24 Aug 21
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Leaders play a big role in blessing others' ideas. When you give your support, it helps people feel confident to move forward with their plans.
  2. Sometimes people come to leaders seeking permission to proceed. By giving your approval, you empower them to act and take on new challenges.
  3. Leaders can protect those they support by standing up for them. This shows others that you believe in their work and helps keep them focused on their goals.

#16: Working for an uncertain future

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 39 implied HN points • 19 Feb 20
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Organizations often stick to old hiring methods that don't fit today's changing world. This can be a problem because roles aren't always clear or stable.
  2. A better approach is 'negotiated joining', where new hires help shape their roles through small tests. This makes it easier for them to adapt when situations change.
  3. Flexible organizations are like willows that bend and adapt, rather than rigid oaks. They can adjust better to uncertainties and continue to thrive.

#13: Revelation and discovery

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 39 implied HN points • 29 Jan 20
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Uncertainty can either be forced on you or something you look for yourself. Knowing this helps you manage how you respond to it.
  2. It's important to take action when faced with unexpected uncertainty. Doing something can help you regain control and find new paths.
  3. When you decide to explore uncertainty on purpose, make sure you have a way to pull back if it gets overwhelming. This could be a mentor or a checklist to guide you.
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#48: How to design remote work

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 19 implied HN points • 30 Sep 20
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Teams should have flexible roles that can change and adapt over time. This helps employees fit their work to their growing skills and the team's needs.
  2. Regularly evaluate each team's work through small, low-stake tests. This makes it easy for team members to show their abilities and helps build stronger connections.
  3. It's important to accept that some remote meetings might seem inefficient. They allow teams to grow together and can lead to better collaboration.

Corporate culture starts at the top

Klement on Investing • 2 implied HN points • 16 Dec 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Leadership sets the culture of a company. If managers are good, employees will stay, but bad managers drive people away.
  2. High employee turnover often means poor corporate culture. People leave bad work environments, showing how they really feel about their jobs.
  3. Companies with staggered boards tend to have worse cultures. This setup allows old board members to stay, making it hard for shareholders to demand changes.

The Scrum Survival Guide: How to Make Scrum Work (Maybe)

Rethinking Software • 2 HN points • 21 Sep 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Using longer sprints can give teams more freedom and reduce stress over estimating work. It allows developers to manage tasks more effectively without getting stuck on details.
  2. It's important for developers to have control over their meetings and tools. Letting developers run their own stand-ups and choose simple tools can improve efficiency and morale.
  3. Teams should focus on collaboration and flexibility. Allowing for specialization in tasks and removing unnecessary management roles can lead to better job satisfaction and productivity.

The Surprising Ways Employees React to Advice

Voohy Leadership Insights • 0 implied HN points • 25 Jul 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Unsolicited advice is often seen negatively because people might think the giver is showing off. It's better to wait for someone to ask before sharing your thoughts.
  2. When people ask for advice, they view it more positively. They believe the advisor really wants to help, which makes them more likely to use the advice effectively.
  3. Creating a trusting environment where it's okay to ask for help is important. Managers should encourage open communication to ensure people feel safe seeking advice.

How 'Illegitimate tasks' add to work stress

Voohy Leadership Insights • 0 implied HN points • 18 Jul 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Illegitimate tasks are extra work that employees feel is outside their regular duties. Doing these tasks can cause stress and make people feel unappreciated.
  2. Studies show that these tasks can lead to lower self-esteem and higher feelings of burnout over time. They can harm an employee's sense of professional identity.
  3. Leaders should be clear about job roles and the reasons for assigning tasks. Communicating well can help reduce the stress from these illegitimate tasks.

Strategies for different uncertainties

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 0 implied HN points • 14 Feb 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Organizations struggle to handle uncertainty despite it being crucial for success. They need clear ways to think and act when facing unknowns.
  2. Even those who understand uncertainty need tools to persuade others in their organization to engage with it effectively.
  3. Different types of not-knowing exist, and recognizing these differences helps organizations make better decisions and adapt more easily.

A team, not a family

Tech Ramblings • 0 implied HN points • 04 Jun 23
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. A team focuses on winning and achieving goals, not personal relationships. Everyone works together towards the same objective.
  2. Team members have different strengths and may need different levels of support to reach their potential. It's important to help each other perform at their best.
  3. The leader of the team is responsible for its success. If the team isn't performing well, the leader must reflect on their decisions and make necessary changes.

Your job as a CEO: Hire and Fire

Tech Ramblings • 0 implied HN points • 12 Mar 23
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Hiring is really tough because it's hard to know if a candidate has the right skills, work ethic, or fits into the company's culture. The best employees often show curiosity and a willingness to learn, which are more important than just having the right experience.
  2. Firing someone is not about difficulty; it’s about the emotional pain it causes. It’s important to handle it with care since it can be distressing for everyone involved and can help the affected employee move on to a better opportunity.
  3. Keeping your team lean is crucial for a company to run efficiently. If there are underperformers, it's better to let them go to ensure the company can move faster and be more productive, while also remembering not to cut too many key employees.

Return to office: why the leadership pushes workers to come back

Respectful Leadership • 0 implied HN points • 30 Oct 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Leaders want workers back in the office because they learn from them. Being in person helps managers understand their team's skills and insights better.
  2. Social connections at work are important. When people chat in the office, it builds team spirit and loyalty that can be hard to maintain when working from home.
  3. Body language matters for communication. Managers find it easier to assess a worker's attitude and commitment when they can see them all day rather than just during short video calls.

🐿️ Synecdoche - The Insanely Profitable Tech Newsletter

Squirrel Squadron Substack • 0 implied HN points • 20 Nov 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Using synecdoche, or referring to a whole group by a part of it, can make communication more engaging and memorable. It helps in keeping language lively and can simplify complex ideas.
  2. Rewarding the whole team for their collective achievements is often more effective than just acknowledging individual stars. This promotes collaboration which is crucial for success.
  3. Traditional performance metrics and individual incentives can hinder teamwork. Instead, focusing on the overall outcomes and celebrating collective efforts can lead to better alignment and cooperation.

🐿️ Keep Hot Food Hot… - The Insanely Profitable Tech Newsletter

Squirrel Squadron Substack • 0 implied HN points • 09 Feb 26
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Short, catchy phrases repeated often stick in people’s heads and change how they act.
  2. Repeating the same message across channels and meetings turns it into an internalized habit—keep at it until people start begging you to stop.
  3. Repetition is a powerful influence tool that can be used for good or ill, so use it intentionally and ethically to reinforce important behaviors.

Can Your Culture Sustain Your Company?

Build To Scale • 0 implied HN points • 13 Feb 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. As a startup grows from implicit to explicit culture, clarity in company values is crucial for smooth operations.
  2. Transitioning to an explicit culture around 30-50 employees helps new hires integrate effectively.
  3. Setting clear values and priorities helps prevent internal conflicts and maintain company coherence as it scales.

The Jelly of the Month Club

The Radar • 0 implied HN points • 28 Dec 23
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Recognize and reward employees with monetary gestures instead of empty symbols like donuts, t-shirts, or pizza parties.
  2. Employees deserve fair recognition and appreciation for their contributions to the company.
  3. By properly acknowledging employees' efforts and value, companies can increase job satisfaction, reduce turnover costs, and boost overall performance.

We Are Not Family

The Radar • 0 implied HN points • 13 Sep 23
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Organizations are not families - they don't operate in the same way. While workplace bonds may feel strong, the dynamics are different.
  2. Leaders should avoid likening professional settings to families to prevent manipulation. Loyalty in a work setting should be earned, not assumed like in a family.
  3. Work decisions can have lasting effects on trust within an organization. Actions that prioritize business interests over personal connections can lead to disillusionment.

A good boss is the hardest to find

Stateless Machine • 0 implied HN points • 11 Jul 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Having a good boss is harder than having good coworkers because you usually only have one boss. With colleagues, you can mix and match different relationships, but there’s less room to do that with your boss.
  2. Relationships with peers often feel like a trade-off. You help each other out, creating a sense of teamwork, while the boss-employee relationship can lack that mutual support.
  3. A boss may not have strong incentives to be a great leader. They prioritize their own goals, which may not align with making you happy, so it can be tough to expect them to act like a supportive figure.

Hard Conway's Law

Space chimp life • 0 implied HN points • 20 Apr 23
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Organizations reflect their communication styles in the code they produce. This means that how teams talk and work together can directly affect the quality and structure of their software.
  2. Business logic is crucial for both organizations and their code. It acts like a backbone that guides decisions and processes, similar to DNA in living organisms.
  3. We can improve how our institutions work by better understanding and reshaping this business logic. By combining manual processes with systematic coding, we can create more effective and responsive organizations.

How Do High-Performing Teams Manage Conflict?

Voohy Leadership Insights • 0 implied HN points • 08 Sep 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. High-performing teams focus on the content of conversations instead of how it’s delivered. This helps them get to the heart of issues without getting hung up on different communication styles.
  2. Successful teams openly discuss why they assign tasks to each member. This clarity helps everyone understand their roles and ensures work is balanced and fair.
  3. These teams proactively manage conflicts by anticipating potential disagreements. They set clear expectations and encourage open communication to lower the chances of issues escalating.

The Quiet Power of Humble Leadership

Voohy Leadership Insights • 0 implied HN points • 31 Aug 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. Humble leaders are open about their mistakes and limitations. This honesty helps build trust with their team and encourages a culture of learning.
  2. They celebrate their team members' strengths and contributions, which boosts morale and fosters collaboration. Giving genuine praise is key to creating a positive atmosphere.
  3. Humble leaders listen to others and are willing to adapt based on feedback. This willingness to learn makes their teams more engaged and adaptable to change.

Emotional and Social Competencies for New Managers

Voohy Leadership Insights • 0 implied HN points • 17 Aug 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior
  1. New managers need to build emotional and social skills since they shift from technical tasks to managing people. It’s important to understand that their success depends on how they relate to their team.
  2. Many new managers initially feel unsure and frustrated as they learn their new roles. Over time, they realize that managing emotions and supporting their team is a key part of being effective.
  3. Organizations should help identify potential managers early and provide leadership training to all employees. Mentorship can also play a big role in helping new managers grow their skills.