ExPO Lab Blog

Brian Lucas, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University, teaches his students the value of sticking with something: He calls it the “10 Percent Rule.” Through his research, he has found that people tend to underestimate how creative they can be when they’re working on a task.

“We all like to feel like good, kind, effective people,” Vanessa Bohns, a Cornell University organizational-behavior professor who worked on the study, told me in an email. “When we are looking onto an event from the sidelines, we don’t get to feel any of those things.”

Using Major League Baseball as a case study, Cornell research highlights potential shortcomings in diversity metrics that could obscure inequities in sports and other organizations.

This piece references research by Brian Lucas stating that ideas thieves don’t see themselves as bad people, and justify their actions by mimicking early stage products rather than established ones, adding their own flair and thereby reasoning that their idea is one of inspiration, not imitation.

Even when an agreement meets the legal criteria for consent, individuals may not feel as though they have truly given consent, which can have serious consequences for the employees’ relationship with their organization, according to new research from Vanessa Bohns.

Individuals who steal ideas from creative workers prefer to do so in earlier conceptual stages than creators expect, according to new research by Brian Lucas, associate professor of organizational behavior.

An ILR School research team found that having either the same gender or the same nationality as an opponent leads to greater perceptions of rivalry and subsequent better effort-based performance.

Emily Zitek explains her new research that examined narrative-based and numerical-based performance reviews and whether one format — or a combination of the two — was seen as more fair and motivating by employees.

Men are associated with control over people and resources, and women are aligned with respect and admiration, according to new Cornell research by Charlotte Townsend.

Organizations using AI to monitor employees’ behavior and productivity can expect them to complain more, be less productive and want to quit more – unless the technology can be framed as supporting their development, ILR research finds.

Take time to think about what you want out of your job. “After a long break, it can be helpful to remind ourselves of those goals—be they specific work goals or goals around the broader purpose of your work,” says Brian Lucas, assistant professor.

“We worry that we’re essentially communicating [by saying 'no'] that we’re not a helpful person; we’re not a nice, kind person; we’re not a team player,” VAnesssa Bohns says. “We’re too lazy to take something on, or we don’t want to work hard.”

“Asking for help is hardly ever as bad as you imagine it will be,” says Vanessa Bohns, associate professor of organizational behavior. The piece highlights research studies done by Bohns on asking people for help.

Research from Assistant Professor Alice Lee shows that people with power tend to express gratitude less than those without it. In organizations, that can result in employees feeling underappreciated and, in some cases, more likely to quit.

Vanessa Bohn's research mentioned in BBC Worklife

Brian Lucas' research mentioned in Kellogg Insight magazine

Brian Lucas' research mentioned at the BBC

Sunita Sah's research mentioned in the New York Times

Emily Zitek's research mentioned in Scientific American

Angus Hildreth's research mentioned in Forbes

by Vanessa Bohns

Brian Lucas' research mentioned in the New York Times

by Laura Giurge & Vanessa Bohns

Vanessa Bohns' research featured on NPR's Hidden Brain podcast

by Devon Proudfoot & Aaron Kay

Brian Lucas' research mentioned in Kellogg Insight Magazine

Angus Hildreth's research mentioned in the Financial Times