The Underdog Effect: Bringing the Best Out of the Worst

It's likely you've either worked in a customer facing role or you've been the customer; we imagine for many of you it's both. So then, when service is given with a smile, who benefits most, the employee or the customer? Dan and Akin squeeze some interesting findings that question who's in need of training.  - Research Paper: 'Why Does Service with a Smile Make Employees Happy? A Social Interaction Model' by Eugene Kim and David Yoon

Ahead of their time, researchers in 2010 began looking into the costs and benefits of working from home - for organisations and employees. Dan and Akin recently got their hands on the research; join them as they give the findings a good squeeze.  - Research Paper: 'Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment' by Nicholas Bloom, James Liang, John Roberts and Zhichun Jenny Ying

It can be concerning when abusive leadership towards employees is accepted and supported by victims of toxicity. Dan and Akin squeeze research that looks into why this happens and the role played by the perceived quality of the relationship, self-blame and guilt.  - Research Paper: 'When Victims Help their Abusive Supervisors: The Role of LMX, Self-Blame and Guilt' by Christian Tröster and Niels Van Quaquebeke

A longer-lasting approach to creating psychological safety is emerging, and it requires leaders to display more vulnerability. Rather than continuously soliciting feedback, this new approach suggests leaders share previous feedback they've received. Listen in as Dan and Akin make sense of "feedback-sharing" and its discovered benefits.  - Research Paper: 'Taking Your Team Behind the Curtain: The Effects of Leader Feedback-Sharing and Feedback-Seeking on Team Psychological Safety' by Constantinos Coutifaris and Adam Grant

Peculiar things happen when people doubt our capabilities; their doubts can have a strengthening or weakening effect on our performance. Dan and Akin squeeze exciting research about the conditions that turn underdogs into overachievers.  - Research Paper: 'The Underdog Effect: When Low Expectations Increase Performance' by Samir Nurmohamed

Dominant leaders work toward getting what they want, even if it's at the expense of others. This attitude has a ripple effect, creating negative environments in which more people adopt a zero-sum game mindset: in order to gain, someone else must lose. Join Dan and Akin as they squeeze the findings of the brand new research paper.  - Research Paper: 'The Impact of Leader Dominance on Employees' Zero-Sum Mindset and Helping Behaviour' By Niro Sivanathan and Hemant Kakkar

This time-tested leadership method doesn't always produce the desired results. Dan and Akin discuss why, and what to keep in my when adopting this approach.  - Research Paper: 'Leading by Example: The Case of Leader OCB' by Tal Yaffe and Ronit Kark

Diversity, if treated like an independent factor, falls short of effecting innovation when employee involvement is low. Dan and Akin discuss some of the challenges researchers face when attempting to apply science to this social issue.  - Research Paper: 'Diversity and organizational innovation: The role of employee involvement' by Yang Yang and Alison M. Konrad

Reciprocity is the dish of the day as Dan and Akin chew on research out of Stanford which questions why employee loyalty and effort is sometimes not reciprocated by employers - and, as it turns out, colleagues too.    - Research Paper: 'How “Organization” Can Weaken the Norm of Reciprocity: The Effects of Attributions for Favors and a Calculative Mindset' by Peter Belmi and Jeffrey Pfeffer

Does it seem risky to be yourself at a job interview or on a first date? Turns out the riskier approach is trying to be what we think others want us to be. Dan and Akin squeeze research that weighs the benefits of authenticity against catering to the needs of others.  - Research Paper: 'To be or not to be your authentic self? Catering to others’ preferences hinders performance' by Francesca Gino, Ovul Sezer and Laura Huang