The Heart & Science of Leadership

The Organizational Behavior Management of Skinner's Walden Two Community

• Dr. Paul "Paulie" Gavoni • Season 1 • Episode 8

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In this episode, David Roth and Dr. Nic Weatherly chat about the principles of Skinner's  Walden Two as they relate to Organizational Behavior Management and the following four questions:

  1. Build a way of life in which people live together without quarreling, in a social climate of trust rather than suspicion, of love rather than jealousy, cooperation, rather than competition. (If we change the words "way of life" to "organization" and change the word "live" to "work," we get an important message about Skinner's message as it relates to OBM)
  2. Maintain that world with gentle but pervasive ethical sanctions rather than police or military force. (change "police or military force" to "aversive control")
  3. Reduce compulsive labor to a minimum by arranging the kinds of incentives under which people enjoy working.
  4. Regard no practice as immutable. Change and be ready to change again. Accept no eternal verity. Experiment.

A couple of articles Dr. Weatherly discussed:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01608061.2021.1890664
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01608061.2022.2029798

A couple of Skinner Links discussed by David Roth :
BF Skinner Foundation Community page
Walden Two Audiobook read by Skinner



Motivational Interviewing: Getting Educator Buy-In is a comprehensive online course designed to equip behavior interventionists is a goal-oriented, person-centered approach that encourages individuals to explore and resolve ambivalence toward behavioral interventions and change.

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