Managers often blame poor performance on workers' psychology, but Kenneth Carter's study of Jamaica shows that managerial actions shape performance far more than internal drivers. The pandemic has made emotional volatility worse, yet blaming psychology gets you nowhere.
"I just don't understand these people." While this is a common complaint in management ranks, it's a bit of a racket. The complainer is going down a dead end, a little like blaming one's extra pounds on the abundant choices in the supermarket or juicy mangoes on the trees. To wit, if you were to become magically capable of understanding your employees' psychological drivers, would you be able to motivate or better lead them? The answer might still be no, if the findings of reports such as Why Workers Won't Work: A Case Study of Jamaica by Kenneth Carter are to be believed. Their performance has much to do with your actions, not their psychological state. Furthermore, due to COVID, we know that staff emotions are a roller coaster.
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