Jane E. Dutton Books

To awaken compassion, we first have to understand why suffering exists in the workplace. Pain, exhaustion, grief, and alienation appear in every organization, regardless of industry or size. Yet our professional culture often teaches us to hide these experiences behind masks of competence. This conc...

From Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power That Elevates People and Organizations

Compassion unfolds through a distinctive process with four interrelated parts: noticing suffering, interpreting it as worthy of concern, experiencing empathic feeling, and taking action to alleviate the suffering. These phases mirror what we discovered across countless organizational case studies an...

From Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power That Elevates People and Organizations

Positive organizational scholarship (POS) emerged from a simple question: what gives life to organizations? Jane Dutton, Kim Cameron, and other researchers at the University of Michigan began investigating not merely what makes organizations survive, but what makes them flourish. Unlike traditional ...

From How to Be a Positive Leader: Small Actions, Big Impact

A high-quality connection is more than a friendly interaction; it’s a moment that uplifts, even transforms. In our research, we found that these micro-connections—brief exchanges marked by trust, respect, and positive regard—can dramatically influence an employee’s day, motivation, and even physical...

From How to Be a Positive Leader: Small Actions, Big Impact