The Progress Principle
Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work
$25.00 | Hardcover | Harvard Business Review Press | August 2011
What really sets the best managers above the rest? It's their power to build a cadre of employees who have great inner work lives—consistently positive emotions; strong motivation; and favorable perceptions of the organization, their work, and their colleagues. The worst managers undermine inner work life, often unwittingly.
As Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer explain in The Progress Principle, seemingly mundane workday events can make or break employees' inner work lives. But it's forward momentum in meaningful work-progress-that creates the best inner work lives. Through rigorous analysis of nearly 12,000 diary entries provided by 238 employees in 7 companies, the authors explain how managers can foster progress and enhance inner work life every day. The book shows how to remove obstacles to progress, including meaningless tasks and toxic relationships. It also explains how to activate two forces that enable progress: (1) catalysts-events that directly facilitate project work, such as clear goals and autonomy-and (2) nourishers-interpersonal events that uplift workers, including encouragement and demonstrations of respect and collegiality. Brimming with honest examples from the companies studied, The Progress Principle equips aspiring and seasoned leaders alike with the insights they need to maximize their people's performance.
Teresa Amabile on The Progress Principle
Watch Teresa discuss why they wrote this book, inner work life and performance, why employee engagement is slipping, managers misunderstanding motivation, who this book is for, and more.
About the Authors
Teresa Amabile
Teresa Amabile is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration and a Director of Research at Harvard Business School. Originally educated as a chemist, Teresa received her doctorate in psychology from Stanford University. She studies how everyday life inside organizations can influence people and their performance. Teresa’s research encompasses creativity, productivity, innovation, and inner work life – the confluence of emotions, perceptions, and motivation that people experience as they react to events at work.
Teresa recently spoke at TEDx Atlanta. Visit the speaking page to watch her talk. Teresa was also recently ranked number 18 on the Thinkers 50, the definitive listing of the world's top 50 business thinkers. Click here to see the Thinkers 50 page about Teresa.
Steven Kramer
Steven Kramer is an independent researcher and writer in Wayland, Massachusetts. He received his undergraduate degree in psychology from UCLA, and his doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of Virginia. Kramer’s current research interests include adult development, the meaning of work in human life, and the subjective experience of everyday events inside organizations (inner work life). Previously, he researched the perceptual and cognitive development of infants and young children.
Read More »Our Partnership
What is it like to write a book with your spouse? Read about our partnership here.
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