Newsletter

Winter 2011

Paying it forward: How reciprocity really works and how you can create it in your organization
By Wayne Baker, University of Michigan, and Cheryl Baker, Humax Corporation

Reciprocity is a universal principle. It's critical for the social capital of organizations, productive communities of practice, and even the health of democracies and economies. It comes in two flavors. Direct reciprocity is simple: You help me, and I help you. Indirect reciprocity-you help me, and I pay it forward to someone else-is more powerful. It's the key to sharing knowledge, finding resources, solving problems and being innovative. More...


Positive Deviance for a Sustainable World
By Nardia Haigh, University of Massachusetts-Boston

The pursuit of sustainability has become a crucial concern for organizations. Companies have invested much to reduce their environmental impact and become good corporate citizens. This focus has produced significant outcomes, such as reduced pollution and an emphasis on corporate and social responsibility. However, large-scale social and environmental issues still abound, as social inequities persist and environmental systems continue to be eroded. More...
How to Introduce Yourself: The First Step in Positive Organizing
By Robert E. Quinn, University of Michigan

This morning I was at the gym. One of the other participants is a man who greets people warmly. Every comment he makes is upbeat. This morning I was watching him closely. A woman was standing nearby. She looked like she was new and uncomfortable. He walked up, extended his hand and said, "I am sorry I do not know your name." More...
The Energy Audit: A Tool for Restoration
By Gretchen Spreitzer, University of Michigan

"We cannot be happy if we expect to live all the time at the highest peak of intensity. Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony." - Thomas Merton
Over the last 20 years, we have seen a dramatic public and business interest in sustainability; however, much of the focus has been on its environmental and economic dimensions, and much less on the human dimension (Pfeffer, 2010). Certainly reducing waste and increasing focus on the natural environment are critical features of sustainability, but we also have to better understand the human dimension of sustainability, particularly in terms of energy and health. Like a battery, human energy can be depleted over time if not regularly recharged. Some even call the depletion of human energy a type of "energy crisis" that must not be ignored (Loehr & Schwartz, 2003). To this end, with Traci Grant, I have developed a tool that can be used to help people better manage their energy in their personal and professional endeavors. More...
Looking Back | Moving Ahead - POS Scholars Celebrate 10 years of POS
By Janet Max

We were thrilled to host Looking Back | Moving Ahead, the fifth conference of POS scholars in January 2011, as we kicked off the 10th year of the Center for POS. The conference celebrated 10 years of academic work in the field of POS, as well as the upcoming publication of the Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship. The conference brough together almost 90 of the world's leading scholars doing POS research, most of whom contributed to the Handbook of POS. The primary goals fo the conference were to summarize 10 years of research, share empirical findings, and help develop a research agenda for the future. A mixture of research presentations and group work, as well as "whtie space" for ad hoc discussions, energized the assembled community. More...


2010 Award for Best Paper in POS - The Call of the Wild
By Janet Max

The work leading to the publication of The Call of the Wild: Zookeepers, Callings, and the Double-Edged Sword of Deeply Meaningful Work "started on a whim," noted co-author Jeffrey Thompson in the keynote address he gave with co-author Stuart Bunderson. "It's the mos tplayful think I think either of us ever did... we thought... this is just for fun and maybe we'll learn something that will lead to other research." Instead, they crafted a paper that Center for POS faculty agreed was teh first choice for the 2010 Award for Best Paper in POS. Wayne Baker presented the award on January 7, 2011, in Ann Arbor, MI at Looking Back | Moving Ahead, the fifth conference of POS scholars. More...