Why Do People Become Whistleblowers?

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Listening to one of our latest episodes on Breaking the Fever—our podcast in partnership with Preventable Surprises—I was struck by the acuity of one remark in particular. It was about the mind of a whistleblower, the motivations and…

Are You My New Boss?

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Our plans, hopes, dreams, and even day-to-day expectations are in fact pinned not to our jobs, themselves, but to those who oversee us doing them. A client recently came to me with a suspicion. Even after a workshop that ironed out most…

Is a Weak Compliance Program Worse Than No Program?

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Many years ago I was asked by a prospective client if I could design a “C minus” (i.e., just barely passing) compliance program for them. I responded that, for various reasons, by aiming for a C minus they were likely to end up with…

The Seahawks’ Psychologist Explains How Leaders Can Unlock Team Potential

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"A workplace that recognizes the humanity of the individual rather than seeing someone as a replaceable cog in a machine inspires that workforce to explore the edges of their potential.” With football season officially underway, even without…

The NBA and Why Deep Listening, Authentic Introspection, and Transformative Empowerment Matter

Turning a basketball court into a polling place, and using a game not solely to entertain but to increase awareness that voting is a means to justice, are the types of out-of-the-box thinking that can break the deadlock of the status quo. When…

The Gray Rhino Trump Ignored and Still Tries to Hide

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As the gray rhino of COVID-19 continues to spotlight the fatal incompetence of the Trump Administration and pummel the U.S., the more abstract gray rhino of climate change keeps goading humanity to coordinate a respectable response. Perhaps…

Are Jerks More Likely to Have Workplace Power?

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If it were true that disagreeable people had an edge, it would, to some degree, make the challenge of creating an ethical culture harder since leadership is crucial to fostering an ethical climate. I admit it. In the last several years or…

Conflicts of Interest in a Post-Trump Era

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Donald Trump has averaged 2.5 conflicts of interest during each day of his presidency. In a classic Watergate-era Doonesbury, Mark asks a rhetorical question. Is it fair to judge the ethicality of the White House based solely on the various…

The Popular, Bad Arguments Against Stakeholder Capitalism

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Words can easily be used as weapons to turn an intelligent nuanced debate into a caricature, thereby dismissing it from further evolution. The gentlemen do protest too much, we think—with apologies to William Shakespeare for abusing his…

Bob Frank’s Legacy as a Teacher, Behavioral Economist, Economic Naturalist, and Author

“Speaking selfishly as a social psychologist, I will say that Bob Frank is a social psychologist masquerading as an economist,” says Thomas Gilovich, Frank’s friend and research collaborator. In 1966, when Robert H. Frank arrived…