Positive Organizational Psychology references

This is a collection of references to positive organizational psychology and high-reliability teams, which have in common the use of social feedback mechanisms to achive high performance.

[This is taken from a post I made to the System Dynamics listserver.]


Here's some links into the literature on positive organizations.

For how top-down management can suppress dissenting views that challenge the model.
see most of the high-reliability organization literature (aircraft carrier flight-deck, cockpits,
Nuclear reactor control-rooms, US Army, etc.).

High-Relability Organizations and asking for help(my thoughts)
Secrets of High-Reliability Organizations (in depth, academic paper, MIT)
High-Reliability.org web site
Threat and Error Management - aviation and hospital safety - Texas

Institute of Medicine - Crossing the Quality Chasm and microsystems (small group teamwork)

Nineteen case studies of health care organizations that dramatically improved their operations through the use of feedback-regulated small-team ("microsystems") operations are well documented in another post
here:


A great deal of accessible literature and some excellent videos are here:
Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship, at the U of Michigan Ross School of Business

http://www.bus.umich.edu/positive/pos-research/pastpositivesessions.htm

http://www.bus.umich.edu/Positive/POS-Research/Readings-to-Get-Started.htm


Positive Deviance - (the new business model)

Consider this excerpt from the US Army Leadership Field Manual (FM 22-100)

1-3: Leadership starts at the top, with the character of the leader, with your
character. In order to lead others you have to make sure your own house is in
order.
1-7: The example you set is just as important as the words you
speak.
1-8: Purpose ... does not mean that as a leader you must explain every
decision to the satisfaction of your subordinates. It does mean that you must
earn their trust: they must know from experience that you care about them and
would not ask them to do something - particularly something dangerous - unless
there was a good reason...
1-10: Trust is a basic bond of leadership, and it
must be developed over time.
1-15: People who are trained this way will
accomplish the mission, even when no one is watching.
1-23: you demonstrate
your character through your behavior.
1-56: Effective leaders strive to
create an environment of trust and understanding that encourages their
subordinates to seize the initiative and act.
1-74: The ultimate end of war,
at least as America fights it, is to restore peace.
4-9: Be aware of barriers
to listening. Don't form your response while the other person is still
talking.
4-20: Critical Reasoning ... means looking at a problem from several
points of view instead of just being satisfied with the first answer that comes
to mind.
4-24: Ethical leaders do the right things for the right reasons all
the time, even when no one is watching.

Failure is perhaps our most taboo subject (link to John Gall Systemantics)
Houston - we have another problem (My thoughts on complexity and limits of one person's mind)


Wade Schuette, MBA, MPH
Ann Arbor, MI