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Issue 2 > Fifteen things I believe.

Fifteen things I believe.

Bob Sutton's views on life & business, etcetera.

I offer this in the spirit of reflection on what happened in the past and looking ahead, hoping to have learned something to help ourselves and those we care about live happier lives.

Let me tell you about why I started the list.

I have been teaching courses on introduction to organizational behavior for about 25 years now.

I've learned that after several months of teaching and talking with young people about what it takes to build effective and humane organizations (and to survive organization's that aren't), it helps us get a bit of closure if I step back and talk about some things that I believe most vehemently and people and workplaces.

Many of these ideas are evidence-based, and if you read my stuff, many will be familiar themes to you. But some are also simply beliefs that I try to follow (and have found that when I fail to do so, I am worse for it, as are the people around me).

I offer them without explanation, although I have discussed some in detail here already and will talk about others in the future. I would be curious to see reactions, additions, and subtractions.

1 Sometimes the best management is no management at all—first do no harm!

2 Indifference is as important as passion.

3 In organizational life, you can have influence over others or you can have freedom from others, but you can't have both at the same time.

4 Saying smart things and giving smart answers are important. Learning to listen to others and to ask smart questions is more important.

5 Learn how to fight as if you are right and listen as if you are wrong: It helps you develop strong opinions that are weakly held.

6 You get what you expect from people. This is especially true when it comes to selfish behavior; unvarnished self-interest is a learned social norm, not an unwavering feature of human behavior.

7 Getting a little power can turn you into an insensitive self-centered jerk.

8 Avoid pompous jerks whenever possible. They not only can make you feel bad about yourself, chances are that you will eventually start acting like them.

9 The best test of a person's character is how he or she treats those with less power.

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