The Best Place to Work

Zusatztext 69420038 Informationen zum Autor Ron Friedman, Ph.D. , is an award-winning psychologist who writes for the Harvard Business Review , Fast Company , Forbes , Entrepreneur , and CNN . He is the founder of ignite80, a consulting firm that helps smart leaders build thriving workplaces, and frequently delivers keynotes and trainings on the science of workplace excellence. To learn more about his work, visit ignite80.com. Klappentext For readers of Malcolm Gladwell, Daniel Pink, and Freakonomics, comes a captivating and surprising journey through the science of workplace excellence. Why do successful companies reward failure? What can casinos teach us about building a happy workplace? How do you design an office that enhances both attention to detail and creativity? In The Best Place to Work, award-winning psychologist Ron Friedman, Ph.D. uses the latest research from the fields of motivation, creativity, behavioral economics, neuroscience, and management to reveal what really makes us successful at work. Combining powerful stories with cutting edge findings, Friedman shows leaders at every level how they can use scientifically-proven techniques to promote smarter thinking, greater innovation, and stronger performance. Among the many surprising insights, Friedman explains how learning to think like a hostage negotiator can help you diffuse a workplace argument, why placing a fish bowl near your desk can elevate your thinking, and how incorporating strategic distractions into your schedule can help you reach smarter decisions. Along the way, the book introduces the inventor who created the cubicle, the president who brought down the world's most dangerous criminal, and the teenager who single-handedly transformed professional tennis-vivid stories that offer unexpected revelations on achieving workplace excellence. Brimming with counterintuitive insights and actionable recommendations, The Best Place to Work offers employees and executives alike game-changing advice for working smarter and turning any organization-regardless of its size, budgets, or ambitions-into an extraordinary workplace. INTRODUCTION A Tale of Two Menus Near the heart of Silicon Valley, just a few miles south of the San Francisco Bay, sits an enchanting Indian restaurant called Baadal. It is run by Irfan Dama, an animated chef of forty-one, who designs three-course meals that alternate daily. Baadal is his first restaurant. Yet by all accounts, it is a colossal success. Within just days of opening, reservations were nearly impossible to secure. Unlike more traditional Indian restaurants, Chef Dama's menus aim to demystify meals that often intimidate novice diners, by listing every ingredient included in a dish. The restaurant's decor also provides a range of dining experiences, from quiet booths surrounded by sheer curtains to open-space tables to a rousing Bollywood-themed room intended for group celebrations. There's one other thing that's different about Irfan Dama's restaurant: It doesn't charge customers a penny. In fact, anyone who's had the good fortune of sampling Baadal's world-class cuisine has done so for free. Baadal is owned by Google. It is one of the thirty gourmet restaurants that cater to employees at the company's Mountain View headquarters, known as the Googleplex. At Google, eating is serious business. Every meal brings with it the opportunity to try over two hundred artisan-crafted dishes. Among the more recent offerings: roast quail, steak tartare, lobster bisque, black cod with parsley pesto and bread crumbs, and porcini-encrusted grass-fed beef. For lighter eaters, there is a salad bar, a noodle bar, a cheese and charcuterie bar, crudité platters, and seasonal sous vide vegetables. Between meals, Googlers are invited to visit one...

An INC. Magazine Best Business Book of the Year
 
"An excellent book." 
–Booklist
 
“A must-read”
–Library Journal (starred review)
 
“What a gem! Enough that it’s a thorough, practical manual for optimizing relationships and work environments, based on new and solid research in human behavior—but it's a surprising, witty, well-written, and wonderfully engaging read.”
–David Allen, author of Getting Things Done*

• “We've lost our way. In this stunning book, Ron Friedman helps us get back on track, exploring not only what work is for, but how we can leap forward and become more human, more alive and more effective.”
  –Seth Godin, author of Lynchpin and The Icarus Deception

  “In The Best Place to Work, Ron Friedman examines the factors that take a company from ordinary to extraordinary. The stories in this book . . . pack powerful, research-based lessons for better leadership in the workplace. Friedman’s findings are often surprisingly counterintuitive, yet always convincing.”
  –Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and To Sell Is Human*

• “The Best Place to Work is an engaging journey through the latest science of improving the quality of life in organizations. Psychologist Ron Friedman examines how to unleash creativity, boost motivation, and offer rewards and recognition that bring people together rather than driving them apart.”
  –Adam Grant, Wharton professor and author of Originals and Give and Take*
• “A contemporary classic. Dr. Friedman’s new book offers a highly original guide to creating exceptional workplaces based on cross-field academic research and superb examples from real companies. You won’t find these insights elsewhere.”
  –Marshall Goldsmith, author of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There            
   
  "I love this book! It's smart, fun to read, interesting, clear, and practical. We're all owners of our workplaces, and this is our owner's manual. Following Ron's advice is easy and will pay huge dividends for you and the people with whom you work."
  –Peter Bregman, author of 18 Minutes
   
  “An eye-opening, highly-readable, and practical guide to improving the way we work. No matter what you do for a living, this book will change the way you see your workplace.”
  –Richard Wiseman, author of 59 Seconds: Think a Little Change a Lot 
   
  “In The Best Place to Work, Ron Friedman brings together decades of psychological research into a package that offers organizations concrete advice to improve the well-being of workers and the quality of work. Much of the advice is eye-opening. I'm sure the results of taking the advice will be too.”
  –Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice and Why We Work
   
  “This fascinating book shows how to create workspaces that foster creativity, collaboration, and high productivity. It’s a joy to read, filled with practical advice for leaders, engaging real-world stories, and grounded in scientific research.”
  –Keith Sawyer, author of Group Genius and Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity 
   
  "Friedman's book fills you with optimism about the future of work. If enough managers pay attention to the science he is promoting, then a lot of people are going to roll out of bed on Mondays truly eager to get to the other side of their commutes."
  –David McRaney, author of You Are Not So Smart
   
  “When it comes to motivation and engagement, the problem is rarely that the work itself is terrible – it’s that the way we are wor…