37 Quotes by Robert I. Sutton

A series of controlled experiments and field studies in organizations shows that when teams engage in conflict over ideas in an atmosphere of mutual respect, they develop better ideas and perform better .

[T]he best bosses master the fine art of emotional detachment. They learn to forgive people who lash out at them... and they learn to forgive themselves, too.

Bosses of the most productive work groups confronted problems directly and quickly...And quickly move on to more crucial chores.

[D]oing management work requires dozens -sometimes hundreds - of brief and fragmented tasks each day.

Great bosses avoid burdening their people. They invent, borrow, and implement ways to reduce the mental and emotional load they heap on followers.

Be repetitive and concrete. The things you say over and over have the most impact if they specify what to do and when to do it.

The best bosses break down problems into bite-sized pieces and talk and act like each little task is something that people can complete without great difficulty.

The truth is that bosses...don't matter as much as most of us believe. They typically account for less than 15 percent of the gap between good and bad organizational performance, although they often get over 50 percent of the blame and credit.

The best single question for testing an organization’s character is: What happens when people make mistakes?