Leigh Thompson is the J. Jay Gerber Professor of Dispute Resolution & Organizations in the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She is the director of the Kellogg Team and Group Research Center, the Leading High Impact Teams Executive program, High Performance Negotiation Skills Executive program and Negotiating in a Virtual World Executive online program, and co-director of the Constructive Collaboration Executive program and the Navigating Work Place Conflict Executive program. In addition, she is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Northwestern.
Her research focuses on negotiation behavior and performance, creativity, and analogical reasoning. Her most recent research projects include investigations of gender and the use of ethically-questionable negotiation strategies; embarrassment and pride and their effects on creativity; and how analogical reasoning improves negotiation performance.
She has published more than 134 research articles and chapters in edited books. She has authored 10 books: Negotiating the Sweetspot: The Art of Leaving Nothing on the Table (Harper Collins); The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator (7th edition, Pearson 2020); Stop Spending, Start Managing (Harvard Business Press, 2016); Making The Team (6th edition, Pearson 2018); Creative Conspiracy: The New Rules of Breakthrough Collaboration (Harvard Business Press, 2013); The Truth About Negotiations (2nd edition, Pearson 2013); Creativity and Innovation in Organizational Teams (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006); Shared Knowledge in Organizations (with David Messick and John Levine); Organizational Behavior Today (2008); Negotiation: Theory and Research (2006); and The Social Psychology of Organizational Behavior: Essential Reading (2003).
2019-2020 Overview:
1. Negotiating the Sweetspot: The Art of Leaving Nothing on the Table (Harper Collins Publishers)
This book is a popular press, user-friendly read based on my compendium of research in the area of conflict and negotiations, as well as the large body of research in social psychology and management science. In addition to reviewing my research (for the past 20 years) I supplement the quantitative research with lively, in-depth interviews with managers and executives. I argue that the concept of "win-win" has existed for several decades, and review the economic theories and as well as psychological constructs that have guided the empirical literature. I provide large-scale data that indicates that people often leave about 20% of the potential mutual gains untapped. This is not because they are not motivated; but rather because they do not receive feedback as to where they failed to optimize. In this book, I translate empirical research studies into "best practices" that people can use in conflict and negotiation situations. The book contains 3 major sections; win-win skills for the workplace; win-win skills for personal conflicts; and win-win skills for virtual negotiations.
2. Negotiating in a Virtual World MBA course
Many negotiations occur between people who never meet in person, but instead communicate via information technology, including: phone, skype, text, email, conference call, etc. These "virtual" negotiations present novel social and communication challenges for managers and their teams. This course provides participants with the opportunity to develop their negotiation skills in a series of business negotiations conducted with others who are not physically co-present. Students in this course master the key skills of successful negotiation and become proficient in virtual communication.
3. Academic Book: "Advanced Introduction to Negotiation" (Edward Elgar Publishing)
This book will contain a thorough review of research in the area of conflict and negotiations, as well as the large body of research in social psychology, behavioral economics, and management science. My goal is to write a definitive, academic book to be used in the PhD and advanced MBA classroom. The final manuscript will contain approximately 50,000 words and be published in the prestigious Edward Elgar Advanced Introduction series, "stimulating and thoughtful introductions to specific fields in the social sciences expertly written by the world's leading scholars".
4. New Simulation Exercise: "Networking Game" (Author: Leigh Thompson)
I designed a novel, highly interactive and completely immersive network exercise for the executive classroom. We conducted a pilot test in September. And in October, we launched the exercise in the "Constructive Collaboration" Executive program. The immersive game features collaborative, competitive, disclosure, and information-seeking goals where participants make real-time strategic decisions on how to complete. The results of the exercise are then entered into a program and participants are provided with real-time feedback about their networking styles.
5. New Exercise and Technology: "Linguistic Style Analysis"
In conjunction with researcher James Pennebaker, a linguistic expert, a novel method to analyze and improve a negotiation tactics was introduced in the May, 2019 the High Performance Negotiation Skills Executive Education program. This groundbreaking technology includes real time linguistic analysis, the Negotiation Exercise Language Analysis
6. California Management Review article, "The Social Psychology of Design Thinking" (with David Schonthal)
In our theory-based, rich-with-examples article, we examine the cardinal tenets of design thinking using the research, theory, and insights of social psychology. Specifically, we explore four principles common to many design thinking approaches, including: (1) observe and notice; (2) frame and reframe; (3) imagine and design, and (4) make and experiment with regard to the social psychological research that bears on each prescription. For each of these design thinking prescriptions, we analyze the social psychological phenomena involved and supplement the theory and research with an illustrative practical application from a real design thinking project at IDEO, in addition to other practical applications. Our ultimate goal is to equip and inspire design thinkers and their companies to use insights from social psychology to inform the design thinking process
7. Negotiating in a Virtual World: Mastering High Performance Skills Online Executive Education program
This is an all-online, high-touch, open enrollment negotiation course in the Executive Education program. This intensive program provides an interactive experience in which participants engage in realistic negotiation scenarios, ranging from one-on-one, team-on-team, multi-party, and principal-agent.
8. Online video content
Thompson's online videos are used extensively as pre- and post- work in custom and open enrollment Executive programs. Thompson has six major online video platforms:
(1) "High Performance Collaboration: Leadership, Teamwork and Negotiation," (Coursera MOOC) rated 4.8/5 and with more than 39,552 enrolled. This program was developed and launched in late 2015 and is part of a five-course Northwestern-wide specialization designed to teach aspiring managers how to develop and expand their leadership skills in dynamic business environments. In February 2018, Coursera featured Thompson on the Coursera home page (note: there were 8 featured Coursera "star professors" including Martin Odersky, Founder of the Scale Programming Language, Robert Shiller, Professor of Economics, Yale University and Timothy Geithner, Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury).
(2) 101 Series: Includes negotiation and teamwork videos
a. Negotiation 101: 4-part, sub-hour series includes: What can go wrong? What must go right?; How to prepare effectively; Claiming Value; and Creating Value
b. Teamwork 101: 4-part, sub-hour series includes: Designing Teams for Success; Optimizing Team Decision Making; People Skills and Emotional Intelligence; and Creativity and Innovation in Teams
(3) Video Shorts (4 videos): Energetic, professionally-animated videos, each less than 4 minutes in length that describe a common managerial problem, and provide research-based solutions for busy managers
a. Brainwriting: How to neutralize the loudmouths
b. High Performance Negotiation Skills for Women
c. Managing Virtual Teams
d. Is Your Team Slacking? (What to Do)
(4) Topic Videos including Teamwork, Creativity and Negotiation:
a. Teamwork
i. Why are we stuck in pointless m eetings?
Event: The Big Question Monthly Video Series. University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
ii. High Performance Teamwork: Engagement and Creativity
Event: Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Series
b. Creativity
i. Fix Your Useless Brainstorming Sessions in Two Minutes
Businessweek.com
ii. Creative Conspiracy: Embracing the counterintuitive side of collaboration
c. Negotiation
i. High Performance Negotiation Skills for Women in STEM Fields
ii. High Performance Negotiation Skills for Women
Event: Women's Leadership Workshop 2014
iii. High Performance Negotiation Skills for Women
Event: Women's Leadership Workshop 2013
iv. Strategies for Negotiating Employment Packages
Event: Women Negotiate Forum 2014
v. Strategies for Negotiating Employment Packages
Event: Women Negotiate Forum 2013
Video: Mid-career promotions
vi. Strategies for Negotiating Employment Packages
Event: Women Negotiate Forum 2013
Video: When told it’s non-negotiable
Video: Using outside offers
vii. Negotiation Theory and Research: Gender & Race
Event: Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Series, University of Chicago
d. Leadership
i. Life stories and leadership: Growth mindset and leadership stories
Event: SPARK: Life Stories and Leadership
e. Webcasts & Podcasts
i. "Counteroffers"
Harvard Business Review Webinars (April 18, 2019)
(5) Talks at Google, Authors at Google: Stop Spending, Start Managing: Strategies to Transform Wasteful Habits (February 16, 2017, 5,883 views). Thompson shares key insights from her book (co-authored with Dr. Tanya Menon), Stop Spending, Start Managing: Strategies to Transform Wasteful Habits, organized around 5 "traps" that can ensnare even the most sophisticated business leaders:
- The Expertise Trap - reusing old solutions on current problems
- The Winner's Trap - allocating additional resources to failing projects
- The Agreement Trap - avoiding conflict to feel like a team player
- The Communication Trap - creating talk and noise around the problem
- The Macromanagement Trap - organizing talented people without conducive conditions
(6) Pay disparities are an obvious problem, but how do we finally find a solution? Enter the US women's soccer team.
Vox Creative: "Why is it so hard to fix the gender wage gap?"