Personal Growth — September 9, 2011

Management, Motivation & Darwin

Looking to explain a new leadership model he saw gaining traction, organizational behavior expert Paul Lawrence found inspiration and answers in Darwin's The Descent of Man.

bigthinkeditor

What’s the Latest Development?

Organizational behavior expert Paul Lawrence’s Renewed Darwinian (RD) Theory of Human Behavior posits that we are all motivated by four drives: to acquire (to obtain things necessary to ensure continuity and reproductive success); to defend (to ensure what is acquired is not lost); to comprehend (to understand the world around us); and to bond (to connect and relate to others).

What’s the Big Idea?

Harvard researchers surveyed hundreds of employees as a test of Lawrence’s theory, finding not only did the four drives explain “60 percent of employees’ variance on motivational indicators,” but that if just one drive went unaddressed, it pulled down employee satisfaction in all other categories. The best results came when all four drives were fulfilled simultaneously.

Collage of classical art suggesting a theme related to somatic markers.

Business

How “somatic markers” can transform your decision-making

Ditch the old brain vs. heart assumptions, and instead think about a heart-led brain.

A black and white image of a bunch of spheres, symbolizing the multiverse concept discussed by scientists.

Starts With A Bang

How logic and reasoning can fail as scientific tools

In logic, 'reductio ad absurdum' shows how flawed arguments fall apart. Our absurd Universe, however, often defies our intuitive reasoning.

A wooden sign indicating "assisted migration rep 2" in a pine forest under a clear blue sky.

Life

Moving trees north to save the forests

As the world warms, trees in forests such as those in Minnesota will no longer be adapted to their local climates. That’s where assisted migration comes in.

Historical map illustration depicting a planned city layout with a circular central area and radiating streets.

Strange Maps

Ohio’s Circleville ditched the grid system. Then it got squared.

A small Ohio town tried to escape America’s addiction to rectangular grids. It didn’t last long.

Bullet Cluster separation mass gravity x-ray lensing

Starts With A Bang

Flagship NASA space telescope faces a penny-pinching death

NASA's only flagship X-ray telescope ever, Chandra, still works and has no planned successor. So why does the President want to kill it?

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Personal Growth

9/11 Leadership Lessons

What this NYC Fire chief learned from his experience at the World Trade Center on 9/11, how it has affected his command style and the importance of the five Cs.