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When Work Has Meaning, The Culture Changes

Great Leadership By Dan

This was seen in a study called the Hawthorne Effect , which was run by Elton Mayo at Western Electric’s Hawthorne Works factory, outside of Chicago, IL, in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. The purpose of the study was to analyze the effects of workplace conditions on individual productivity. Embrace it and enjoy it!

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When Clinicians Know They’re Being Watched, Patients Fare Better

Harvard Business Review

The “Hawthorne effect,” as it is now known, has been well-documented in social science : individuals, typically research subjects, actively change their behavior when they know they are being observed and monitored. Creating more quiet work spaces that facilitate focus on clinical tasks may also be effective.

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Uber Shows How Not to Apply Behavioral Economics

Harvard Business Review

When I read the piece, it reminded me of a question executives often ask me when I talk to them about the benefits of behavioral economics or give them examples of how they could use it in their own organizations: “Aren’t you afraid it will be used with ill intent? following the introduction of checklists.