Episode 361 Dr. Susan Friedman Pt 2 Developing Healthy Productive Happy Teams

This is Part 2 of our conversation with Dr Susan Friedman. Dr Friedman is one of our favorite guests on this podcast. She’s a professor emeritus in the psychology department at Utah State University. She’s been a long-time member of the Clicker Expo Faculty and she runs the very popular on-line course Behavior Works: Learning and Living with Animals. In Part 1 Susan shared with us her most recent project - the Behavior Works Zoo School which you can read about at BWZS.org. We talked about why teams matter. In Part 2 the conversation centers around how to develop great working teams. We talk about what it means to be a leader. How do you maintain control and support a creative, generative team? Susan talks about the different reinforcers people chase. There are individuals who want to be the empire builders. You can often recognize them by how often they use the word “I” in their presentations. And there are people who enjoy being part of a team, who enjoy collaborating and being influenced by others. In teams attribution is still important. When others take credit for your ideas, there’s a sting that can fester into resentment. Susan discusses ways to maintain healthy teams.