Last Week's Best

I came across lots of interesting blog posts and links in the past week:

1. One 'Bad Apple' Really Can Kill the Company
2. Detoxing Your Team
3. The Burden of Dealing with Poor Performers: Wear and Tear on the Supervisory Efficacy and Job Satisfaction
4. Top ten reasons managers become great
5. How about giving your Boss a Performance Review?
6. Bully boss or victim?
7. New research sheds light on bullying in the workplace
8. Five Sources of Interpersonal Conflict in the Workplace – Part V – Mindset
9. Leadership’s Future: Education And American Idol
10. Is Your Team Diverse Or Just Look It?
11. Pressure, panic and productivity
12. Pay for Performance and the Business Week 50
13. From Strategic Planning to Strategic Conversations
14. What should I do with my life now?
15. 10 Lessons For Life
16. Can You Finish This Sentence: "...Teach a Man to Fish, He..."? I Betcha Can't...
17. Four Ways To Spot Reduced Trust
18. 3 Key Questions for HR
19. Are Goals Evil? Here's my favourite insight from the post:

"My company previously used performance reviews that looked at “soft” skills only. We found through analysis that we could basically determine what an employee’s score would be by knowing who their supervisor was. The score was a reflection of the supervisor, not the employee."

You may also check out the original study. Here's the gist of it:

"In this article, we argue that the beneficial effects of goal setting have been overstated and that systematic harm caused by goal setting has been largely ignored. We identify specific side effects associated with goal setting, including a narrow focus that neglects non-goal areas, a rise in unethical behavior, distorted risk preferences, corrosion of organizational culture, and reduced intrinsic motivation."

I am waiting impatiently for the released of the 2008 Public Service Employee Survey results. More than four months have elapsed since the survey was administered and it appears it will take another month to get the results. Hum... If you want to know how I feel about this, check out this video.

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