No Hard Feelings

October 29, 2018
According to this kind, empathetic book, most people wildly underestimate the impact their emotions have on their workdays and careers. Marketing and design consultant Fosslien and organizational designer Duffy offer a guide to managing emotions at the workplace, exploring the ways that emotion affects each of seven central aspects of work: health, motivation, decision making, teamwork, communication, culture, and leadership. Modern work life requires the ability to understand and manage emotions at the office, but many have never learned how to do this, the authors write. Using clever, sometimes counterintuitive advice—e.g., “Be less passionate about your job”—and sweet, funny cartoons (one depicts “the little engine that literally couldn’t even”), Fosslien and Duffy guide readers through learning to incorporate their emotions into their work, and being mindful of timing, context, and delivery in their careers. This is an encouraging, thorough guide for those trying to manage being human beings in workplaces not always designed for them.

December 15, 2018
That old saying never let them see you sweat has no place in the modern workplace. In fact, not showing any feeling is actually a detriment to success. Fosslien and Duffy walk the reader through strategies for dealing with emotions in the workplace, whether it's forced cheerfulness (bad) or crying in the bathroom (it happens!). Each chapter tackles a different aspect of work that is a potential emotional minefield: motivation, teamwork, communication, and more. The authors address how differences in gender, race, and age can affect perceptions of expressions of emotion, and they offer advice on how to deal with slackers and jerks. Throughout, the book is peppered with Fosslien's charming two-color drawings that equally illustrate a point or snark on office culture. The short list of takeaways at the end of each chapter is repeated in full at the end of the book, alongside flash assessments to kick-start self-reflection. Fosslien and Duffy's advice on how to deal with emotions at work will be a welcome addition to psychology, business, and self-help collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)