Edward Muzio

I'm at the airport, nearly alone. I'm between the last group of flights out and the next one, so I've landed in the calm between: No airplanes grace the gates, no harried passengers bump each other in line, no agents scramble to complete boarding processes on time. If it weren't...

Politics has a way of coming up in conversation. Ordinarily, I welcome a little friendly dialogue about the candidates, the issues, and the ads. The problem is, discussions lately seem a lot less friendly, and a lot less like dialogue. And they're not just coming up. More and more...

I tried mightily to avoid the Internet video of the guy shooting his kid's computer, but it went viral and I was doomed. I'm won't post a link, for reasons outlined here, but you can find it easily. It's become equally impossible to avoid the follow-up comments posted...

One of my favorite ways to open a keynote speech is to talk about how, in today's workplace, it's possible to be so busy that you never actually do anything. I bring it up jokingly: if we're all so busy that we can't do everything we should, and if we...

I was both amused and mortified by a recent blog post -- not on Huffington, mind you -- explaining how to secretly become pregnant while feigning the use of contraceptives. The author (no link provided, for reasons that will become obvious) rambled for paragraph after poorly written paragraph -- intermingling...

I can make lasagna from scratch. Chicken parmigiana too, and several other complex dishes. But I can't tell you how; I don't know until I begin. That's because my parents taught me to cook without teaching me.

My parents, you see, are talented chefs. And for the better part of...

I'm not a political commentator -- far from it. But I recently wrote an article lamenting our leaders' handling of the national budget. I was bold enough to include a few improvement suggestions, speaking not as a political pundit but as an expert in group interaction. According to...

In the mid 1980s, the owners of some taxis and commercial vehicles tried something new: they supplemented the two traditional brake lights on the rear corners of their vehicles with a third one, positioned high in the center of the rear. The results were astonishing -- a 35-percent reduction in...

I know I'm not alone in my frustration with our elected leaders' recent struggles with... well, with leadership. The fact that they created a financial disaster for our nation, and then failed to fix it in any permanent way, troubles me.

I'm not a close follower of the intricacies...

I recently read some new statistics about how terribly disengaged the workforce is today. Well, the article was new, anyway. The conclusion, on the other hand -- the fact that a huge percentage of the workforce is either trying to quit, waiting to quit or has already mentally...

Co-authored with Tony Deblauwe

Some people just "have it." They say the right things, hang around the right people, and get all the breaks. You're sure you're the best person for that promotion, but it goes to the "golden child" instead. Why not you? Is it random chance, bad luck...

Last year I got married, and my life changed in innumerable, positive ways. Among the many changes accompanying the evaporation of my bachelorhood, one in particular stands out: I now watch "American Idol."

Well, that one stands out to me, anyway. Until this season, I'd never viewed a minute of...

This may sound strange, but I don't think I've fully considered the ramifications of economic recovery.

Don't get me wrong, I've spent the past few years pondering it in the abstract. I've thought about how to best position my business for when things turn around. I've thought about what...

I'm going to say something to my fellow professionals over 30. You probably don't want to hear it, but you should: Quit whining about how the next generation is ruining the workplace.

My grandparents' parents were looked upon by their elders as being headed for big trouble because of their...

We're treating our executives unfairly.

Wait! Before you curse audibly and click on a different link, hear me out. I know this isn't a great time to write about executive hardship. With egregious abuses of leadership in recent memory -- financial, automotive, and petrochemical spring to mind -- it's easy...

"Do you have any idea how fast you were going?"

It's an all-too-familiar question. In that painful moment, seated sheepishly on the side of the road, we all come to the same unavoidable realization: There's just no right answer.

"No" doesn't seem all that great. This officer's task at...

Reorganization is the drug of choice in many workplaces, and it isn't hard to see why. Take an organization of people, put someone in a leadership position, and introduce a confusing, far-reaching, ill-defined problem. The leader, feeling the need to live up to his or her title, quickly realizes that...

I'm in one of those juice bar places. It's less than two hours until closing time, and the young guy behind the counter is watching me sleepily as I read the menu, at a loss for what I want. Finally, unable to locate what I'm looking for -- a blend...

In a recent Monster.com article I outlined four benefits of the current economic climate for today's corporations.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm as hopeful as anyone that this recession will end swiftly; much pain has come along with it. But at the same time, it's obvious...

OK, I'm bored with the frazzled flight attendant story.

I was intrigued at first. I fly a lot, and I make my living studying work environments. Plus, the whole thing had some absurd entertainment value too. It's like the old expression about a train wreck: you don't want to see...