Learn the Netflix model of high-performing teams

Erin Meyer explains the keeper test and how it can make or break a team.

  • There are numerous strategies for building and maintaining a high-performing team, but unfortunately they are not plug-and-play. What works for some companies will not necessarily work for others. Erin Meyer, co-author of No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, shares one alternative employed by one of the largest tech and media services companies in the world.
  • Instead of the 'Rank and Yank' method once used by GE, Meyer explains how Netflix managers use the 'keeper test' to determine if employees are crucial pieces of the larger team and are worth fighting to keep.
  • "An individual performance problem is a systemic problem that impacts the entire team," she says. This is a valuable lesson that could determine whether the team fails or whether an organization advances to the next level.
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How to use psychology to increase workplace productivity

Here are 5 ways to make your workplace better and your workforce happier.

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  • "Productivity of work isn't the responsibility of a worker yet of a manager," said famed management consultant Peter Drucker.
  • Psychology tells us again and again that emotionally intelligent leadership, which recognizes the humanity in others, is a driving force of productivity.
  • Here are 5 simple but effective ways to increase performance and make a positive impact in your workplace.
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Here's why narcissists become leaders, according to two psychologists

Psychologists W. Keith Campbell, (Ph.D.) and Carolyn Crist explain why narcissists rise to power and how to make sure your support is going to someone making effective, positive change.

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  • Pathological narcissism is rare. It impacts an estimated 1 percent of the population.
  • Narcissism is tied closely to leadership emergence, as narcissists tend to initially be confident, charismatic, and charming. Leadership is a natural goal for narcissists because it feeds their motivational goals of status, power, and attention.
  • Psychologists W. Keith Campbell, (Ph.D.) and Carolyn Crist explain why narcissists rise to power.
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Children know what makes a leader more than some adults

Even kids get that a real leader puts others' interests first.

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  • 5-year-olds recognize social hierarchies and are aware when others don't contribute their fair share.
  • Children of this age consider someone a leader only when they sacrifice toward achieving the common goal.
  • "Leaders" who take more than they give are considered unacceptable to young children.
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    Why school leadership and student critical thinking need a desperate do-over

    Educators have proven that they can "turn the aircraft carrier" when they need to, but the system needs to match their efforts.

    • For many people in the world, the idea that education is not changing at the same rate as the rest of the world became more apparent at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Grant Lichtman argues that the hierarchical systems that govern education and other organizations (military, political, business, etc.) don't work in times of rapid change, and thus need to be overhauled.
    • "What has started to replace that are vastly more distributed systems of leadership," Lichtman says. This results in more timely decision making and a more collaborative environment with more room to try new things, more freedom to fail, and the opportunity to take ownership of and learn from those failures.
    • Lichtman stresses that things like civil discourse and empathy should be made a priority in the curriculum. "We as educators and we as parents should be focusing enormous amounts of effort on helping our students to understand things like the nature of truth, objective reality, who to listen to, what is the difference between an expert and a person who just has a large social media feed?"
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