THE BEST PLACE TO WORK

This groundbreaking, practical guide for achieving workplace happiness, creativity, and success asks such questions as: Why do companies with bigger lunch tables have higher productivity? What can casinos teach us about a happy workplace? How can renovating an office bathroom boost employees’ creativity?

In The Best Place to Work, award-winning psychologist Ron Friedman, Ph.D. uses the latest research from the fields of psychology, economics, neurobiology, marketing, and evolutionary anthropology to reveal what really makes us successful at work. Integrating powerful stories and cutting edge science, Friedman explains how companies–and every one of the people working in them, from the front lines to the corner office–can leverage proven psychological techniques that naturally lead to smarter thinking, greater innovation, and stronger productivity.

Among the many surprising insights, Friedman explains how learning to think like a hostage negotiator can help you diffuse a workplace argument, why hanging a picture of the outdoors near your desk can enhance your thinking, and how exercise balls and treadmill desks deplete your cognitive resources. Along the way, the book introduces the man who created the cubicle, the president who took down the nation’s number one criminal, and the violinist whose job interview shocked the world–stories that offer unexpected insights on achieving workplace excellence.

Brimming with counterintuitive revelations and actionable recommendations, The Best Place to Work offers employees and executives alike game-changing advice for turning any organization—regardless of its size, budgets, or ambitions—into an extraordinary workplace.

Ron Friedman, Ph.D. is an award-winning psychologist and founder of Ignite80, a management consultancy that teaches leaders and their teams evidence-based practices for building extraordinary workplaces. A human motivation expert, Ron has authored multiple book chapters and academic journal articles on the science of achievement, creativity, and happiness. Prior to launching Ignite80, Ron served on the faculty of the University of Rochester, Nazareth College, and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Popular accounts of Ron’s research have appeared on NPR and in major newspapers, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Vancouver Post, the Globe and Mail, The Guardian, as well as magazines such as Men’s Health, Shape, and Allure. He contributes to the blogs of Fast Company, Forbes, and Psychology Today.