work – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Working for You Isn’t Working for Me: The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss

By Scott J. Pearson | May 27, 2024May 27, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Although I write a lot of book reviews, I usually don’t review psychology-related books because their value is so subjective. The things that are most valuable to me as a worker in a non-psychological enterprise aren’t necessarily valuable to everyone else. Thus, I have a hard time ascertaining a psychology-related book’s general worth. However, this book is an exception. Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster offer workplace advice that pertains to almost everyone. They investigate dealing…

The Motivation to Work by Frederick Herzberg

By Scott J. Pearson | October 14, 2023October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

This classic study from 1959 describes, better than everyone else why modern men work beyond economic subsistence. Because it focuses only on men, it’s limited in a gender-diverse workplace, but because it studies two diverse occupations – accountants and engineers – it remains fairly generalizable. It concludes that the main reason people dislike their workplace is mismanaged environmental factors. But it also concludes that managing environmental factors properly does not positively motivate people to work.…

Management-Business Psychology

A Theory of Human Motivation

By Scott J. Pearson | October 11, 2023October 12, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

This foundational 1943 paper about human motivation and work deserves to be read in its original form, accessible here. Many textbooks provide a good summary of AH Maslow’s theory of human motivation around needs, but Maslow’s original work describes a more complex picture. For example, he does not describe a linear progression as lower needs become met. Instead, he paints a picture where multiple motivations often play off each other, where higher motives mingle with…

Leadership Management-Business Writing-Communication

Simply Said: Communicating Better at Work & Beyond

By Scott J. Pearson | August 18, 2023September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Communications form an essential skill of leadership. To be a leader, people have to follow you. For people to follow you, they first must appreciate your vision, articulated in words, and then see them followed up with actions. This is true both in the workplace and in social life. In this book, Jay Sullivan aims to provide practical and simple insights to help us achieve these goals. In the first half of the book, Sullivan’s…

Management-Business Society

How to Be an Inclusive Leader: Your Role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone Can Thrive

By Scott J. Pearson | August 26, 2022August 26, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI, for short) were thrust towards the focal center of the workplace recently in the United States. Not only has white supremacy become more vocal, but well-reported events, such as the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the Charleston Nine, irrefutably show that America is still overcoming systemic racism. Our racial struggles were not all settled with the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. One place of multifaceted struggle is…

Psychology

Chained to the Desk: A Guidebook for Workaholics, Their Parents & Children, & the Clinicians who Treat Them

By Scott J. Pearson | June 8, 2022June 8, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Connotations of the term “workaholic” often involves two countervailing nuances: a positive one that appreciates the value of hard work and a negative one that points out a neglect of personal issues. Many of us in the United States, with all our appreciation of a Protestant work ethic, can suffer from this disease – yes, disease. It can cause pain in the worker along with pain and loneliness in their immediate family (partners and children).…