# data[].attributes.headline
Employee Upskilling Is Vital in Rapidly Evolving Job Market

# data[].attributes.subject
Employee Upskilling Is Vital in Rapidly Evolving Job Market

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Employee Upskilling Is Vital in Rapidly Evolving Job Market

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Demand for new skills is growing. Yet organizations don’t adequately encourage employee upskilling. Three actions resolve this challenge.

# data[].attributes.headline
A Neuroscientist Who Taught Rats to Drive Explains How Anticipating Fun Can Enrich Human Life

# data[].attributes.subject
A Neuroscientist Who Taught Rats to Drive Explains How Anticipating Fun Can Enrich Human Life

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Analysis by Kelly Lambert, The Conversation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
I’m a neuroscientist who taught rats to drive − their joy suggests how anticipating fun can enrich human life | CNN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We crafted our first rodent car from a plastic cereal container. After trial and error, my colleagues and I found that rats could learn to drive forward by grasping a small wire that acted like a gas pedal. Before long, they were steering with surprising precision to reach a Froot Loop treat.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How To Fail Faster -- And Why You Should

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Iterations create positive autocatalytic feedback loops, which builds a momentum that can catapult into a huge social phenomenon or innovation. In a fast changing world, it’s much more effective to iterate fast on good-enough solutions and learning, producing extraordinarily complex global patterns.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
ARCHIVED CONTENT: As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date each article was posted or last reviewed. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
Follow me on Twitter @srinipillay

Have you ever found yourself listening to something really boring, then wafting off into your own mind, your hand scribbling random things on a piece of paper in front of you? Whether it's a conference call or a tedious lecture, being all ears can be a challenge when your hands want to be a part of the moment. Nobody is immune to this either. Even American presidents have found themselves sketching away: 26 of 44 American Presidents doodled, from Theodore Roosevelt, who doodled animals and children, to Ronald Reagan, who doodled cowboys and football players, and John F. Kennedy, who doodled dominoes. Traditionally, we have thought of these doodles as a sign of distraction - an indication that your mind was not where it was supposed to be. Yet, recent research has shown that doodling is not an enemy of attention; it may in fact be a friend.

Doodling and memory

In 2009, psychologist Jackie Andrade asked 40 people to monitor a 2-½ minute dull and rambling voice mail message. Half of the group doodled while they did this (they shaded in a shape), and the other half did not. They were not aware that their memories would be tested after the call. Surprisingly, when both groups were asked to recall details from the call, those that doodled were better at paying attention to the message and recalling the details. They recalled 29% more information!

While there are no definitive reasons for why this occurred, we are learning more about how this can happen. When you're bored, your fight-or-flight system will do all that it can to rally and stay alert. Doodling (a form of fidgeting) may be a last-ditch attempt at staying awake and attentive. Doodling keeps you from falling asleep, or simply staring blankly when your brain has already turned off. The permission to "free-draw" keeps your brain online just a little while longer.

In addition, paying continuous attention places a strain on the brain, and doodling may be just the break your brain needs to keep attending without losing total interest. A report on the learning styles of medical students (who generally have to absorb large amounts of information) indicated that even they may find doodling helpful, as long as they limit the time they do it. A simple 30-minute doodle helps them remember information, fills in gaps in their thinking, and provides a much-needed reprieve from the loads of information they must wade through.

Doodling for stress relief and improved focus

Spontaneous drawings may also relieve psychological distress, making it easier to attend to things. We like to make sense of our lives by making up coherent stories, but sometimes there are gaps that cannot be filled, no matter how hard we try. Doodles fill these gaps, possibly by activating the brain's " time travel machine," allowing it to find lost puzzle pieces of memories, bringing them to the present, and making the picture of our lives more whole again. With this greater sense of self and meaning, we may be able to feel more relaxed and concentrate more.

Although doodles may look like a scribble, random words that make no sense, or a partial face that suddenly becomes something extraterrestrial, they are not quite as random as we might think. Dr. Robert Burns, the former director of the Institute for Human Development at the University of Seattle, uses doodles to diagnose the emotional problems of his patients. He believes that doodles can reveal what is going on in the unconscious. He asserts that, in the same way that EEG leads transmit brain activity to a piece of paper, your hand also does the same. Many other doodle researchers would agree.

It seems then that if you're struggling to concentrate, find yourself stuck or feeling "incomplete," a time-limited doodle expedition could be just the thing you are looking for. It will likely activate your brain's "unfocus" circuits, give your "focus" circuits a break, and allow you to more creatively and tirelessly solve a problem at hand.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The "thinking" benefits of doodling - Harvard Health Blog

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ARCHIVED CONTENT: As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date each article was posted or last reviewed. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Big Impact of a Small Hobby (Published 2020)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Drawing mundane things like my dish rack had helped me survive job loss. Could it be helping me through the coronavirus?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When the news is stressful and anxiety is high, the best managers adopt a more flexible and thoughtful leadership style. There are a few strategies emotionally fluent leaders can use to help their teams navigate the emotional ups and downs of a distracting news cycle: 1) Avoid anxious fixing; 2) give non-update updates; 3) provide a clear path forward; 4) prepare for your team’s emotions; and 5) plan for a dip in productivity.

# data[].attributes.headline
Nasty Behavior Spreads Much Faster Than Nice Behavior

# data[].attributes.subject
Nasty Behavior Spreads Much Faster Than Nice Behavior

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We are living in a world full of assholes. To be sure: There are no census figures to back this up, no national registry from which to draw statistics, but one need only look at the headlines to see that the asshole population has not only grown in recent years but also spawned some new and rather alarming mutants. I mean, Martin Shkreli? Travis Kalanick? PewDiePie?

"You can make the argument that we are living in Peak Asshole," says Robert Sutton, a Stanford professor who, as the author of the iconic 2007 book The No Asshole Rule, is perhaps the world's leading expert on the species. According to Sutton, the problem of "disrespectful, demeaning, and downright mean-spirited behavior" is "worse than ever," which, while it may be bad news for humanity, is good news for The Asshole Survival Guide, the book Sutton came to New York to promote. And he has a point, citing the recent "fiascoes" at Uber and Fox News as examples of "assholes running wild." Then, of course, there's "the degeneration of American political discourse," as Sutton delicately puts it. We are sitting, on a Monday afternoon in mid-September, in what may arguably be the red-hot center of an Asshole Heat Map, if one existed: the pink, veined lobby at the base of the colossal penis that is Trump Tower.

Sutton is not a Trump supporter, but, sipping an iced tea from the building's beleaguered Starbucks, he is hesitant to outright label Trump an asshole, although his definition ("a person who leaves people feeling demeaned, deenergized, and disrespected"), he agrees, "certainly applies." But Sutton doesn't want to be, you know, an asshole: "Most of politics is everybody calling everybody else assholes." And assholism, after all, is contagious. "Nasty behavior spreads much faster than nice behavior, unfortunately," Sutton says. As he points out in his book, research shows that even a "single exposure" to negative behavior, like receipt of an insulting email, can turn a person into a "carrier." "Literally like a common cold," he adds. Similarly, when the president calls his detractors "haters and losers" in a tweet, when the wallpaper of life is made up of faces that belong to certified assholes like Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, Don Jr., etc., etc., ad infinitum, it most likely has a trickle-down effect. "The more assholes you're around, the more asshole-y you get." But there are other factors that have led to this explosion of assholes, Sutton points out, everything from heat and crowding to imbalances in power and the wealth gap. "The research says that when we're in those situations, there's envy going up, and sort of disdain goes down." Research also shows that technology has increased the "asshole problem," as Sutton puts it, because people are much more likely to be mean if they don't have to make eye contact. And because technology has created the expectation for things to happen faster, and at all hours of the day, hurriedness and sleep deprivation have become major factors.

"That's the other thing with him," Sutton says, lowering his voice in reference to the insomniac-in-chief, as though he might be swarmed by a team of guys in MAGA caps any minute, although the only people in evidence are European tourists. "Sleep deprivation is one of the most reliable ways to put someone in a bad mood. So maybe he should only be allowed to tweet after he was certified that he had eight hours of sleep three nights in a row."

Sutton wasn't always "the Asshole Guy," as he somewhat reluctantly calls himself. As a psychologist, he has always focused on the expression of emotion in the workplace. But in the course of working in academia among tenured professors, and in talking to his wife, who spent time as a litigator at a large firm, the subject of assholes naturally came up. And back in 2003, when a friend at Harvard Business Review approached him about contributing to its "Breakthrough Ideas" feature, he said he had one idea but he wasn't sure it was a breakthrough - assholes having been around since the dawn of man - and the journal probably wouldn't print it. It did. When the article came out, Sutton received an "incredible storm of emails," he says. This may have had something to do with the fact that 2004 was also a banner year for assholes, with the Iraq War and the Martha Stewart trial in the news and Fahrenheit 9/11 and Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ in theaters, but in any case, interest was sufficient that, when Sutton finished a long book about "evidence-based management," he turned back to the subject for The No Asshole Rule.

Nasty behavior spreads much faster than nice behavior, unfortunately.

The book was a best seller, and its titular coinage has since sunk into the lexicon. Today, a company that doesn't at least claim to have a "no asshole rule" would be as odd as a person who doesn't have, well, an asshole, although it does not seem to have had much of an effect on their proliferation. Sutton is frequently approached by people touting the rule who are clearly assholes. "It's even worse when they say they have it and they're assholes, because then, as I say, they're assholes and hypocrites," says Sutton, noting that in the decade since, the breadth of academic literature focusing on "all things asshole" has expanded considerably. "It's a real growth group," he says. Now there's Berkeley professor Geoffrey Nunberg's Ascent of the A-Word; Assholes: A Theory, by University of California professor Aaron James; Dacher Keltner's The Power Paradox; and Sutton's friend Adam Grant's Give and Take.

Again, there's no data proving that this academic boomlet is indicative of a worldwide increase in assholes, but studies in related areas, like workplace bullying, suggest it's possible, and Sutton himself was soon drawn back to the topic. It may, he allows, have something to do with his increased exposure to the growing tech industry through his work at Stanford, where he co-founded the Technology Ventures Program, which puts him in contact with many present, past, and future employees of Silicon Valley tech companies. "We produce a lot of those bros who become assholes, unfortunately," he says, although finance and health care also rank high on the list of professions in which "power differences and time pressure and fatigue" combine to create toxic environments. His favorite strategy for coping with assholes comes from a Stanford administrator whose equanimity Sutton always admired. "I never could figure out why he was so serene in the face of certain assholes, especially in particular a petty tyrant we have in our midst. But what he does is he pretends when people are nasty that he's a doctor who specializes in studying assholism. And he says to himself, 'Oh, what a fascinating subject or specimen. I can't believe how lucky I am to see this close up,' which is funny, because I guess that's partly who I am." He also likes a strategy he calls "time travel": "Think about it like it's tonight and you're looking back at it, and it won't seem so bad."

Although the new book seems exceptionally well timed, Sutton finished writing before the election, and he notes in it that he doesn't buy into the adage that assholes finish first. The presence of a major-league asshole in the Oval Office would seem to prove him wrong, but Sutton stands by this theory. "The evidence generally is that when you treat people badly, the only time it really seems to work is if you're in a zero-sum game and it's a shorter-term game," he explains. "And my perspective is that even if you're in the zero-sum game, where the assholes get ahead, there's all this negative carnage. The people around them, their physical and mental health and personal relationships, they all suffer. And I don't want to go to Trump too much, but God, look how many people he's gone through." In the long run, he concludes, "people who treat each other with some civility generally do better."

But what about when the long run is, you know, long? It could always be worse, Sutton says, as we step on the escalator that will take us down through the tower's pink innards, back into the breathable New York City air. "One thing I could say about Trump is that the duration of it is really long, but there's some that are even longer," he says. For example: "I'm with all these colleagues that are all tenured, and Stanford has no mandatory retirement," he points out. "So when I'm with an asshole, all I can do is hope."

*This article appears in the September 18, 2017, issue of New York Magazine.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
This Stanford Professor Has a Theory on Why 2017 Is Filled With Jerks

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
According to Robert Sutton, the problem of "disrespectful, demeaning, and downright mean-spirited behavior" is "worse than ever."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
James Rhee: The value of kindness at work | TED Talk

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kindness can go a long way when it comes to reshaping a business. Having saved a fashion company from the brink of bankruptcy, entrepreneur James Rhee shares the value of investing in a culture of compassion at work -- and shows why we should all lead with our hearts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Welcome to the "Am I a Jerk at Work?" quiz! Each question is designed to assess how you would respond to a series of tricky, hypothetical workplace situations. At the end, you'll find out whether you're a Conniving Trickster, Classic Jerk, just Going Through the Motions-or have been an Ideal Coworker all along.

It can also be fun to take these quizzes from the perspective of someone else at work (how would your boss respond to these questions?). And if you're really bold, have your coworkers take it as if they were you. It can be a great way to see how others at work perceive you.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to the "Am I a Jerk at Work?" quiz! Each question is designed to assess how you would respond to a series of tricky, hypothetical workplace situations. At the end, you'll find out whether you're a Conniving Trickster, Classic Jerk, just Going Through the Motions-or have been an Ideal Coworker all along.

# data[].attributes.headline
Courteney Cox Has 3 Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs. Number 1? "Have a No Asshole Policy"

# data[].attributes.subject
Courteney Cox Has 3 Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs. Number 1? "Have a No Asshole Policy"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Courteney Cox Has 3 Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs. Number 1? ‘Have a No Asshole Policy’

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At the 2024 Inc. 5000 Conference, the ‘Friends’ actress and Homecourt founder offered frank advice to her fellow entrepreneurs.

# data[].attributes.headline
How the Best Workplaces Hacked Company Culture

# data[].attributes.subject
How the Best Workplaces Hacked Company Culture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How the Best Workplaces Hacked Company Culture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In its eighth edition, the Best Workplaces list showcases the best in employee benefits and workplace culture despite widespread engagement woes.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Future of Corporate Learning & Employee Engagement: Why Traditional Training Is Dead

# data[].attributes.subject
The Future of Corporate Learning & Employee Engagement: Why Traditional Training Is Dead

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Future Of Corporate Learning And Employee Engagement: Why Traditional Training Is Dead

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From gamification to personalized AI-driven experiences, discover how innovative approaches are transforming employee engagement and development in the post-pandemic era.

# data[].attributes.headline
How AI Is Revolutionizing Customer Experience

# data[].attributes.subject
How AI Is Revolutionizing Customer Experience

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How AI Is Revolutionizing Customer Experience

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Businesses that embrace proactive, AI-driven service models will have a competitive advantage in customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

# data[].attributes.headline
When You're Told You're Not Strategic Enough

# data[].attributes.subject
When You're Told You're Not Strategic Enough

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Being told you're not strategic enough can be frustrating. If your strategy isn't seen and understood, it's as if it doesn't exist at all. By making your strategy visible and easy to understand through storytelling, leveraging existing frameworks, and ensuring ongoing communication with stakeholders, you can shift perceptions, align your team with long-term goals, and be recognized for your strategic approach. Crises and day-to-day pressures should not get in the way of your strategic thinking; instead, use these moments to demonstrate your foresight and ability to connect immediate actions to the bigger picture. When the strategy is seen, understood, and actionable, success follows.

Jason, a tech executive and client of mine, had been recruited by a company to lead a major initiative. One year into his role, one thing was apparent in his last few meetings with the CEO: He doubted Jason's fit in the post. These fears materialized when the CEO bluntly told him, "I don't think you're strategic enough." This surprised Jason because he was recruited precisely because of his strategic mindset and approach. When he asked for more specific feedback, the CEO couldn't give him a straight answer.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
When You're Told You're Not Strategic Enough

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Being told you're not strategic enough can be frustrating. If your strategy isn't seen and understood, it's as if it doesn't exist at all. By making your strategy visible and easy to understand through storytelling, leveraging existing frameworks, and ensuring ongoing communication with stakeholders, you can shift perceptions, align your team with long-term goals, and be recognized for your strategic approach.

# data[].attributes.headline
6 Essential Leadership Skills - and How to Develop Them

# data[].attributes.subject
6 Essential Leadership Skills - and How to Develop Them

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The way we work has changed - and so has leadership. Leaders are under new pressures to perform at higher levels and adapt quickly to changing demands. In this article, the author shares advice from three leadership experts and outlines the six skills leaders need to succeed: 1) emotional aperture; 2) adaptive communication; 3) flexible thinking; 4) perspective seeking, taking, and coordinating; 5) strategic disruption skills; and 6) resilient self-awareness. Developing these six key leadership skills isn't just about your personal growth, it's about shaping the future of work and inspiring those around you.

The way we work has changed - and so has leadership.

Rebecca Knight is a journalist who writes about all things related to the changing nature of careers and the workplace. Her essays and reported stories have been featured in The Boston Globe, Business Insider, The New York Times, BBC, and The Christian Science Monitor. She was shortlisted as a Reuters Institute Fellow at Oxford University in 2023. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade as an editor and reporter at the Financial Times in New York, London, and Boston.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
6 Essential Leadership Skills - and How to Develop Them

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The way we work has changed - and so has leadership. Leaders are under new pressures to perform at higher levels and adapt quickly to changing demands. In this article, the author shares advice from three leadership experts and outlines the six skills leaders need to succeed: 1) emotional aperture; 2) adaptive communication; 3) flexible thinking; 4) perspective seeking, taking, and coordinating; 5) strategic disruption skills; and 6) resilient self-awareness.

# data[].attributes.headline
How to Work for a Boss Who Always Changes Their Mind

# data[].attributes.subject
How to Work for a Boss Who Always Changes Their Mind

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Work for a Boss Who Always Changes Their Mind

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Working for a leader who always changes their mind is a maddening yet common experience. When the strategy is perpetually changing, it’s challenging to be enthusiastic about the strategy du jour. When rework is viewed as inevitable, high effort is difficult to justify. A leader who constantly changes their mind will often leave behind an emotional wake of resentment. While you can’t control your boss’s behavior, five strategies can help you decrease the number of unwelcome pivots.