7/28/97
ATHENS, Ohio -- Judith Bardwick, a best-selling author and well-known corporate consultant, will present a free, public lecture "Danger in the Comfort Zone" at 10:30 a.m. Friday (Aug. 1) at Baker Center Ballroom on Ohio University's Athens campus.
Bardwick's speech will be based on her books, The Plateauing Trap and Danger in the Comfort Zone, in which she examines the risks of complacency in organizations.
Danger in the Comfort Zone describes three basic mindsets -- entitlement, fear and earning -- that can have an effect on individuals and their organizations.
The attitude of entitlement occurs when employees feel entitled to rewards, but are lethargic about earning them, which fosters an environment of low motivation and poor job satisfaction.
In the mindset of fear, people are paralyzed by the threat of layoffs, which focuses them on protecting their jobs rather than doing them well. With the desired mindset of earning, people are energized by challenge, knowing their accomplishments will be noticed and rewarded.
A clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California in San Diego, Bardwick has served as a management consultant for AT&T, Nissan Motor Corp., IBM, and General Foods and the U.S. Dept. of Labor.
Bardwick's lecture is presented by several university sponsors, including the Institute for Local Government Administration and Rural Development (ILGARD) and the University of Human Resources.