If It Acts Like a Human, Then It Must be a Human...or Not

Most people probably are familiar with the duck version of the title of this commentary. In 1950, the famous mathematician regarded as the “father of digital computing,” Alan Turing, mused about the…

Technology and the Science of Behavior

A story on NPR’s All Things Considered (October 30, 2012) caught my attention. The gist of the story, about supercomputers, was that the 30 billion dollar a year video game industry was driving the…

Feedback

On a cold winter’s night, or a hot, humid afternoon, nothing is more reassuring than knowing that my handy-dandy automatic thermostat is on the job keeping my house, and me, at a balmy, even, and…

Don’t Blame Employees for Lack of Effort—Managers Hold the Key

It’s generally agreed that persuading employees to give more than required can make or break a company. Yet many leaders struggle to get that discretionary effort. The 2022 Gallup State of the…

A Review of "Abundance" by Diamandis & Kotler

This book was an enjoyable read. The authors’ choice of topics, use of data, and integration of analyses of both biological and cultural evolutionary principles were extremely valuable and kept me…

Why Mary Barra Should Be the Norm, Not the Exception

One issue has been largely overlooked in the discussions about women in leadership: Do the traits of one gender have an advantage over the other in the boardroom? Direct and self-promotional…

Overearning? Another Reason Not to Believe Everything You Read in the Newspapers!

I just read another “drives me crazy” NYT article.  This is not unusual as Times writers often write about behavior, based on the research of business and economics professors.  However,…

Seven Deadly Data Sins

We often are reminded that we live in the “information age.” Ours is the period of human history when our decisions are guided by data. Data typically are collected by observation; scientific data…

Prediction and Control of Behavior

The year 2013 marked the centennial of the publication of one of psychology’s most important papers. In 1913, John Broaddus Watson wrote “Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist” (The…

A Few Good Women

I wrote this as the Pentagon released its decision to allow women to participate in combat operations, opening a host of new opportunities, and dangers, for half of America’s population. One issue…

Encouraging Creativity: You Never Know Where the Next Billion Dollar Idea Will Come From

There is nothing mysterious about creativity. Contrary to what many writers write and to the many so-called myths out there; it is not a brain thing or a province of just a few. As a matter of fact…

5 Fool-Proof Ways to Set and Accomplish Productive Goals

Goal setting is a common practice in organizations and can lead to improved performance and productivity. But many companies struggle to properly execute the goal setting process. Check out our…

Does Money Make You Smart?

This post originally appeared on Aubrey’s blog 8-19-09  Let's say that you make business decisions where the impact on the future of the business is not well-thought out. The decisions are…

Ten Reasons You Should NOT Give Your Boss a Gift

I wrote a blog several weeks ago in which I mentioned that it might be a bad idea to give the boss a gift on boss’ day.  I have been amazed at the comments and interviews that I have received…

Fast Company Article on "Stack Ranking"

It’s hard to believe but Stack Ranking has found its way back into corporations as a means for motivating employees. What will it take for leaders to understand that this practice doesn’t work and in…

Rank and Yank: Would a Rose by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet?

Jack Welch joined the fray about Microsoft’s abandoning “rank and yank” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “Jack Welch: ’Rank and Yank’? That’s Not How It’s Done.” Welch now says that rank…

Announcing the Launch of The Aubrey Daniels Institute

 It is with great excitement that I introduce to you the launch of an institute dedicated to increasing the understanding and advancing the use of the science of behavior (behavior analysis) in…

Punishment, Parenting and Safety

Recently, I came across an article that caught my eye: Parents’ Harsh Words Might Make Teen Behavior Worse.  As the parent of a 13 year-old and someone who has written extensively on the ill…