Nervous About Taking a Risk? Write a List of Pros and Cons.

Summary.   

In a series of experiments, the authors find that people are able to overcome their fear of rejection by considering both the pros and cons of what they want. While past research (and intuition) suggest that people approach a prospect if they think about the positives of achieving it, this research shows that considering the negatives as well provides a powerful boost by making the prospect of failing to get it less threatening.

Often in life we reach a crossroads where we risk rejection. We want to ask for a promotion, for example, or negotiate the terms of a new job, or even ask someone out on a date. But sometimes the risk of rejection feels too great, and some people elect to not even try. Instead they let the job opportunity pass by, the date go unmade, the raise unoffered. The impact of this can be staggering; lost opportunities pile up and compound. What if there were a way to make rejection less scary?

There is. Ambivalence.

Our new research shows that generating both pros and cons (i.e., generating ambivalence) can actually make people more likely to risk rejection. The reason is simple; generating pros and cons makes the prospect of failing to get it feel less threatening..

Complete Article at HBR

 

How to Motivate Your Team When People Keep Quitting

Summary.   

When teammates leave, it can have a ripple effect. How can you help mitigate further attrition and keep everyone motivated and engaged when someone else quits? The authors offer six strategies: 1) Create certainty for your team wherever you can 2)  Solicit feedback to assess individual and collective capacity. 3) Enable autonomy. 4) Give your team permission to push back. 5) Shield your team. 6) Create connection.

Maintaining good morale and engagement is part and parcel of strong leadership. When you have turnover on your team, it is especially imperative that you take measures to keep your team positive and motivated. Research has shown that, due to social contagion, when a coworker quits, it can spread to affect other employees’ quitting behavior. That is, when one person leaves your team, it increases the likelihood that others will do the same.

Given this, here are six strategies to keep your team motivated when someone quits:

Create terra firma.

The human brain was not built for the amount of uncertainty we are facing at work and in our lives, write social psychologist Heidi Grant and the Chief Learning Officer for EY Americas Tal Goldhamer. With ever-changing shifts in the business landscape, customer and employee expectations, work arrangements, and an unclear end to the pandemic, it can feel like the ground is continually shifting underneath our feet. This uncertainty produces a threat state in the brain, which can result in decreased motivation, cooperation, self-control, and overall well-being. Turnover on your team only adds to this threat state.

To counter this, create certainty for your team wherever you can. If you have no plans to leave the company, make that clear. You might say, “Just so you know, I don’t have any plans to leave. I will be here for you.”

Or, if your team is looking for clarity on the company’s strategic direction and you have questions about it as well, instead of saying something like “I’m sure we’ll find out soon,” provide process certainty by informing your team of your plan to seek the answer and a specific date by when you’ll get back to them.

This will help create more solid ground and a sense of stability for your team members..

Complete Article at HBR

 

Empathy Rules

 

Summary.   

Sociologist Emile Durkheim coined the phrase anomie to describe a destabilized and destabilizing state when rules and rule givers lose legitimacy. It’s what we feel when we face a virus that plays by one set of rules, politicians who play by another, and a professional life that proceeds independent of each — and when we face all of this in social isolation. Empathy can help us navigate this period of anomie. The author outlines four practices, which she calls “empathy rules,” that can help us cut across the divisions in our lives and build a sense of community.

In August 2021, my employer, MIT, announced that all instruction, without exception, would be in person, with vaccination and regular testing. In context, I found this anxiety-provoking. As soon as I took a Covid test, I was cleared to teach, even though I wouldn’t get my results until the next day. The protocol was designed not to protect individuals but to prevent community spread. Students would wear face coverings; my classrooms were a jumble of surgical masks and makeshift bandanas. Faculty were asked to teach without masks, a directive everyone seemed to ignore.

But those rules were only for MIT. The week after MIT began classes, I gave the freshman convocation address at Boston College. There, I was told, no masks were allowed on campus. I lectured by Zoom, my electronic presence an affront.

So it was, across offices and industries, corporations and legal jurisdictions — a patchwork of hygiene and work protocols, each fiefdom declaring its reality.

Complete Article at HBR

What Ford and Tesla's Digital Presence Can Teach Us

Ford and Tesla's web designs can give lessons as to why no brand can afford to ignore its digital presence.

From clothing to big-ticket technology items to vehicles, more than 87% of buyer journeys now start online, according to Salesforce. Still, so many legacy brands continue to underinvest in their online presence, even as they spend tremendous amounts on above-the-line (ATL) advertising (think TV ads, magazine ads and billboards). As CEO of a global digital agency, I see this often — large corporations that are too slow to recognize and capitalize on new opportunities, even moves as basic as creating an effective website. Take Ford: Once a pioneer in the auto industry, the manufacturer has kept its focus on ATL, even as younger and more dynamic brands like Tesla started eating into its market share by appealing to digitally-accustomed consumers.  

I recently compared Ford and Tesla websites to analyze how well they understand online audiences — in the process of examining messaging, user flow and UI/UX design — and some of its key points are explored below. The most fundamental takeaway, however, is that no brand, big or small, can afford to ignore its digital presence

A quick look at today’s car buyer 

2020 research from the tech journalism/report aggregator DataReportal indicates that “the average American spends 7 hours and 11 minutes looking at a screen every day,” which is just over the global average. Pandemic-related home-based work and lockdowns will likely have added to this already amazing number.

Complete Article at Entrepreneur India