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Its been 70 years since Douglas McGregor sketched a management theory at MIT Sloan that leaders still ignoreand their teams pay the price. Known as Theory X and Theory Y, McGregors framework built on Abraham Maslows work on employee self-actualization, and it quickly became one of the foundational texts of modern management thinking. In McGregors theory, leaders fall into two camps. Theory X managers assume that employees are inherently lazy, need constant supervision, and would rather coast along than contribute. Theory Y managers, by contrast, see employees as self-motivated, responsible, and capable of growth if given the right environment. And the kicker is that both kinds of managers usually get exactly the employees they expect, no matter who they originally hired. What McGregor was tapping into was the fact that certain beliefs have an uncanny way of turning into real, measurable effects on human behavior. Whether its placebo studies in medicine or examining how teachers’ expectations impact classroom performance, the science is unambiguous about how far-reaching effects simple expectations can have. The psychology behind high expectations Psychologists were among the first to observe and take note of the feedback loops that expectations set off. Take the now-famous study by Rosenthal and Jacobson in 1968. Elementary school teachers were told that a group of randomly selected students had been identified as “late bloomers” who were about to show remarkable academic growth. The result surprised even the researchers themselves. Those students did indeed outperform their peers, in part because the teachers, subconsciously or not, started treating them differently by offering more encouragement, more patience, and more challenging material. The students responded in kind, rising to the challenge now that someone in authority believed them capable of meeting it. The only thing that had changed was the expectations. Journalist David Robson chronicles just how far this phenomenon goes in The Expectation Effect, a book that should be required reading for leadership. From placebo heart surgeries that deliver real relief to workouts that burn more fat just because people believe theyre working harder, Robson lays out the scientific evidence showing how our expectations construct reality around us. The psychology behind the effect is simple: Your brain doesnt sit around waiting for input like a neutral recordkeeper. It ceaselessly guesses and simulates what might happen so that you can be prepared for whatever comes across your desk. At each moment, the brain is busy constructing an internal map of whats likely to happen, and then it updates that map based on whatever comes next. Its no surprise to find that our expectations prime the brains sensory and emotional circuits almost as if its already happening. If you are expecting pain, the amygdala lights up before you even stub your toe. If you expect failure, your cortisol rises, your attention narrows, and your working memory takes a hit before youve even started the task. Expect a sense of existential dread and meaninglessness at work? Here you go, says the brain, lowering your dopamine levels until motivation plummets because your brains prediction model no longer sees a reason to invest cognitive effort. Thats why a sugar pill can relieve chronic pain, why sham surgeries produce real outcomes, and why a warm-up jog feels harder if you think it’s the workout. The experience conforms to the prediction, and belief becomes biology. When leaders talk about setting the tone or creating a culture of excellence, theyre not that far from hitting upon something truly powerful. If we accept that expectations change biology, cognition, and motivation, then leveling them appropriately becomes one of leaderships central tasks. Be careful what you expect, because you might get it If you walk into a boardroom assuming your team lacks ambition, youll subconsciously act like it by designing processes that assume failure. Your team, in turn, will riseor in this case, sinkto the level you’ve set. Welcome to management by cynicism. Nelson Repenning, an MIT Sloan School of Management professor and coauthor of the new book Theres Got to Be a Better Way, has spent his career helping leaders break out of this cycle. He advises leaders to expect moreand betterfrom their people as a starting point. When people fail, we treat it like a character flaw. But in most organizations, failure is a design problem, he says. The question every leader should ask isnt why did they screw up? Its what about our system made it easy to screw up? Repenning and his longtime collaborator Don Kieffer argue that modern management has become too disconnected from the work itself. Youd be amazed how many executives cant describe how the work actually gets done, Kieffer says. Its like trying to fix a car without opening the hood. These leaders cant set a good expectation because theyre so far removed from reality to begin with. Without that intimacy, leaders default to assumptions, not expectations. Before long, youre managing caricatures of your team instead of the real people doing the work. Anyone can ask for a 17% increase in revenue and expect it to happen, Repenning says. But thats not a healthy way to set goals, let alone a culture of expectations. Leaders need to know what they are asking for, and they need to understand how powerful the expectations they set are. This is where too many leaders trip over their own lofty visions. They expect more, but enable less. Perhaps some even care less. Repenning calls this the paradox of servile leadership: Great leaders dont set expectations and step back. They ask, What do you need from me to get there? Then they go and move those boulders. The accompanying leadership model isnt that much more complicated. Set the target, communicate belief, and then roll up your sleeves to start fixing whats brokenwhether its systems, workflows, org charts, tools or, yes, your assumptions. McGregor and Maslow would be nodding along if they were still with us. Decades before we started talking about psychological safety and employee empowerment, they argued that the job of management was to unlock people’s natural drive. Give them autonomy and show them how their work connects to a bigger picture. Eliminate the management by the stopwatch, and start practicing management by the soul. Expectation is freedisappointment is expensive If you expect your team to take shortcuts, youll create a culture of cutting corners. If you expect your team to challenge ideas, theyll innovate. If you expect mediocrity, youll be surrounded by it. And the inverse holds, too. When leaders believe in their people, when they really believe in their capacity to achieve, something remarkable happens. People stretch to meet the expectations, and trust begins to compound. Done right, simply expecting greatness might do more than any retreat or bonus ever could, Repenning ays. But expecting isnt enough. You still have to earn it. Thats the fine print of McGregors theory, and the trap too many leaders fall into. They want the results of Theory Y, but still manage like they believe in Theory X. The message that sends is: I dont really think youve got it in you. But prove me wrong. Thats not leadership. Thats abdication. And now you know how to do better.
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It should be shocking to nobody that were dealing with an absolute surplus of AI consumables. Breakthroughs. Policy changes. New tools that promise to “10x your productivity.” Most of it is either too technical, too abstract, or just plain filler. You don’t need another wall of text, you need the signal. Luckily, there are a handful of AI newsletters that consistently deliver real value without taking up half your morning. (My editor wanted to make sure you knew about Fast Companys own such newsletter, by senior reporter Mark Sullivan: AI Decoded. You can sign up for it here.) The Rundown AI: The Daily Scan If you have exactly five minutes between pouring your coffee and jumping on your first call, The Rundown AI is for you. All business, no fluff, it gives you the full, daily landscape in a highly digestible format. If something major drops from OpenAI, Google, or Meta, you’ll know about it. This is best for the busy professional or anyone who just wants the highlights without having to chase links all day. Superhuman AI: The Productivity Power-Up The Superhuman AI newsletter runs the gamut from grand philosophical debates of AI to the tools that make your job easier. At its best, its practical, actionable, and focused on handing you the tools, tips, and tutorials to integrate AI into your daily tasks. Think prompt engineering tips and how to use the latest AI to automate something you hate doing. This one is ideal for individuals looking to boost their personal productivity and executives focused on operational efficiency. The Neuron: Connecting the Dots If The Rundown is the summary, The Neuron is the analysisthe one that tells you what the news means. Expect a thoughtful analysis with a touch of dry humor. The Neuron is excellent at connecting the technical developments to the real-world impact. This is excellent for strategy leaders and those who need to understand the implications of AI for their industry. Ben’s Bites: For the Builders Bens Bites is less about the press releases and more about what the AI community is actually building right now. Curated by Ben Tossell, its a daily digest packed with new tools, product launches, and startup funding news. If youre a founder, developer, or just love being the first to try a new app, this is your resource. The Batch: The Educational Authority When you need to go beyond the chatter and understand the foundational elements of AI, The Batch is authoritative, educational, and reliable. This weekly digest strikes a nice balance, covering the major research breakthroughs alongside the applied use cases. It keeps you current without oversimplifying the complex subject matter. This is best for anyone transitioning into a technical AI role or the leader who needs to speak confidently about AI.
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Last week, Congress released more than 23,000 pages of documents from the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epsteins estate to the public. Since then, the bombshell release has garnered commentary from the Trump administration, thousands of internet users, Saturday Night Live, and, now, merch sellers on Etsy. In recent years, a certain contingent of ultra-niche online merch sellers (and, most likely, dropshippers) have decided that any notable event is fodder for potential T-shirts, mugs, and bumper stickers. In recent months alone, sellers have profited off of merch designed to covertly signal anti-Trump messaging; merch promoting “Alligator Alcatraz,” the Trump administrations migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades; and merch based on a series of New Jersey drone sightings that spawned conspiracy theories across the internet. Just days after the new Epstein documents were released, merch sellers on sites including Etsy and Amazon have already turned the disclosures into NSFW statements. Etsy and Amazon flooded with merch inspired by the Epstein emails Of all the information included in the documents revealed by Congress (including one message in which Epstein claimed that Trump knew about the girls), most merch sellers are focusing on a specific email exchange in March 2018 thats become a major subject of internet scrutiny. In the exchange, Epsteins brother, Mark Epstein, asks Epstein how hes doing. When Epstein responds that hes with Steve BannonTrumps former White House chief of staffMark Epstein follows up, Ask him if Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba? Given that Bubba is a well-known nickname for former president Bill Clinton, netizens have begun speculating that the comment might refer to a sex act between Trump and Clinton. The comment even got some national airtime on Saturday as part of SNLs cold open on November 15. (Both Trump and Clinton have denied any knowledge of Epstein’s abuse or sex-trafficking operations and neither appears to have been explicitly implicated of wrongdoing in the emails.) Mark Epstein has since gone on record to multiple publications claiming that he was just jokingbut thats not stopping merch sellers from capitalizing on the theory. A look into the NSFW merch designs Out of the dozens of new Etsy and Amazon listings that have popped up since the files were released, one of the most common themes is a riff on the phrase Big beautiful bill, which Trump used to describe a major tax and spending law that he signed in July. In these merch items, however, the bill in question is Clinton. The items, many of which are not safe for work and potentially offensive, feature President Trump and former president Clinton along with a variety of suggestive phrases. (See here, here, here, and here for examples, but click at your own risk.) While most of the merch is fairly predictable, a few sellers have opted for more creative designsincluding one image of Trump and Clinton inspired by the iconic film Brokeback Mountain. Etsy and Amazon did not immediately respond to Fast Companys request for comment on whether its aware of an uptick of merch in this vein, and whether the merch fits within their terms for seller designs.
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