The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace

Participants in the “loss aversion” group started registering some unusal cardiovascular cativity… their bodies were reacting as if they were under attack (1)… When people ar ein an avoidance mindset, they work for longer periods, which can lead to a more productive output… however, they also had to exert more mental energy and overestimate the difficulty of the task (2) – page 18
Nurses in close groups don’t actually perform more errors – they simply report more of them… when the conseuqnces of reporting failrue are too severe, employees avoid acknowledging mistakes altogther (3) – page 19
Participants in rooms with taller ceilings were sigifcantly better at finding connections between unrelated objects (4)… Background noise can actually imrpove our performance… we process information more abstractly, which can enhance creativity (5) – pages 27-28
Working in a cubicle can be mentally draining, psycholigcally stressful, and phsyiologically harmful. Being subejct co constant disruption, hgih noise levls, and a lack fo personal space elvates our anxiety levleand raises our blood pressure, which takes a toll on the body’s immune system (6) – page 32
The pleasure cents fo the brain light up when we’re viewing landscapes, especially when their vantage point is one of refuge (7) – page 34
Employees who sit near w indow are better at staying on task, show greater ientesrt in their work, and report more lotalyty ot their company… when call center employees are placed near a window, they generate an additional $3,000 of productivity per year… the amount of sunlight can predict employee satisfaction… Employees whose offices have windows sleep 46 minutes more power night… Assigning participants to rooms with plants led ot better pfoerfmance (8) – pages 35-36
Employees use the quality of an office envirnoment to draw inferencse about the competence of the organization’s leaders (9) – page 38
When we’re distracted from an acitivy in which we are fulyl immersed, it takes twenty minutes to regain previous momentum (10) – page 43
A 32 percent increase in performance among people who were allowed to customize their offices, compared to those whose offices were kept bare… employees who don’t eprsonalize their offices are the ones who are least happy (11) – page 44
When employees exercised during lunch, a majority reported interacting morw ith colleagues, managing their time better, and meeting deadlines more effectively (12) – page 64
The less that employees detach psychologically during off horus, the hgiher their emtoinal exhaustion in twleve months’ time (13) – page 71
Happy people tend to be more effective at their jobs (14) – page 82
On the job rewards are more motivating than cash rewards of identical value (15) – page 85
When we’re exposed to positive scenets, we tend to become happier and we don’t know why… webcome more hlepful, less competiive, and show greater generosity… stores that spray pleasing scents are rated as more colroful, cheerful, modern, and hgier quality (16) – page 91
Extremely happy people lagged in income and education… Those with the biggest paychecks and highest academic degrees were slgihtly dissatisfied (17) – page 96
Friends outperformed acquantances on both tasks… friends were more commited, show better communciation, offered positive encournagement, and evaluated ideas more critically… feeling a connection with collegaesu can motivate employees to work harder because they don’t want ot let down their friends (18)… Employees with better firendhips tend to stay on with their company for longer periods of time (19) – page 103
The lonelier employees felt at the start of the study, the weaker their perfrmance at the study’s conclusion (20) – page 105
The strongest predictor of friends staying close for many years was the elvel of similarity when friends first met (21) – page 108
What turned people from friends into best friends was sharing problems form one’s personal, home, and work life with each other (22) – page 112
When we experience a rus of adreanline in the company of others, we like htem more and find them more attractive (23) – page 117
When we feel supported by our colleagues, we are less likely to edxperience hallenign events as stressful… when we believe that thos around us ar eavaibale ot provide support, we tend to be healtheri (24)… Recognizing setbacks can draw employees together… Poeple who disclsoe a painful event publcitly tend to feel better (25) – pages 122-123
People are less liekly to cheat when there is a possiblity others ll gossup about their actns… nearly two thirs of conversations contain some elvement of gossip (26) – page 125
Therapists who try to persuade htier clieints by talking more and offering more advice tend ot have lower success rate (27)… Smokers who are shown graphic warnings about tobacco are more resolute to continue smoking (28)… The less autonomous workers feel, the more liekly they are to cnside taking another job (29) – pages 144-145
Once you take people’social status into account, salary had zero effect on happiness (30) – page 158
We feel better when our goals center on helping others rather than oursleves (31) – page 167
Families that sued their physician tended ot believe that their physiican didn’t undesrstand htem. They felt ignored, devalued, and desreted… The doctors hadn’t failed as physicians, they failed as communicators (32)… It’s not the way a car salesman speaks that matters, it’s how hwe listens… the more he listened, the more liekly they were to buy (33)… The higher the finanical advisers socredas listeneres, the better their clients rated them on quality, trust, and satisfiaction, making htem more liekly to invest in the future… better lsitenrs also repreted greater sales (34)… Speaking abilities alone offer a surprisngly incoplete picture of an employee’s infleucne in the iwrkplace… only when high verbal ability is cuopled with strong listening skills are employees able to receive high marks for being influential (35)… – pages 181-185
Avoiding judgment, taknig a slow approach, and expressing empathy are key aspects of hostage negotiation and counseling (36) – pages 194-195
Among those who had overheard a highly unomvitaed participant, the average number of puzzles sovler was 12.8… among those who had overheard a hgihly motivted partcipant, performance was 37.5 percent better, with 17.6 puzzles solved (37) – page 206
On average, the person with lower status is more liekly to copy the person with higher status (38) – page 210
Companies with narcissistic leaders make signifcantly more volatile business decisions (39) – page 213
Warm and trusting CEOS ve more cheosive leaderhsip teams. Intelletually curiosu CEOs have teams that are flexible and toelrant of risk. Anxious CEOs have tams that are gernalyl unqilling ot hcange hti attidues andeliefs, evn in resposne to new evdience… the more cohesive, optimsitic, and flexible the management team, the more money they tended to make (40) – page 214
When hiring, we can’t help but favor those who remind us of ourselves (41)… If an interviewer has already awarded several positive assessments, they are less likely to recommend a cndidate who appears later on (42) – page 229
People draw inferences about onedimension from the other, especially when they lack sufficient informaton to adjust their veiws (43) – page 230
After the interview was revealed to be fake, 81 percent of applicants admitted to lying (44) – page 232
Referred hires outperform those who thet their jobs through more formal channels… referre highers also stay longer (45) – page 235
When we make a personal sacrifice for something, we value it more (46) – page 237
Canddiates who have had positive workplace expeirnece sin the past ar eliekly to conitnue tohave positive expeirence sin the futr, while candaidates who were disgruntled in ropgius jobs are liekly to conintue to fin dfault in their next position (47) – page 241
While homogenous teams felt more confident in their dcisions, it was the diverse teams that perfomred best… it was by motivating team mebrs to reaexamine their assumptions more carefully… when the work is devoid of creative thinking, a homogenous wokrforce has its advantage… exposing people to more viewpoints can lead to innovation (48) – page 244
Pride is associated with greater employee loyalty and reduced ineterest in looking for other jobs… the more glowingly employees dsecribe their company, the stronge rhte organization’s reptuation with futre hires nad clients… the experience of pride leads people to persevere longer on challenging tasks… Salespoeple who report pride are more motivated, put in more effort, and show better results… Proud employees are more likely to help their colleageus and improve the organization (49) – page 249
Fans are more significantly more leiekly ot wear a team’s paraphenila safter a team is victorious… after the election, McCain signs vanished relatively quickly, while Obama supporters displayed their signs for an additional 5 days (50) – page 252
When employees receive a higher job title, they begin to feel unN/Aaid and grow dissatisfied (51) – page 260

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