Jane Dutton and Gretchen Spreitzer in the Business Builders Show

August 29, 2016


Marty Wolff, host of The Business Builders Show, interviewed Professors Jane Dutton and Gretchen Spreitzer at this year’s Positive Business Conference. In the interview, Spreitzer expressed that “we are really in trouble in terms of…the level of burnout that people are facing.” A contrast was drawn between problem-solving and thriving as the object of focus in organizations; both professors stressed the urgency of ensuring that thriving becomes a bigger part of organizational practices, given the need to supplement current focuses on problem-solving.

Along with analytic, boundaryless, and action-oriented approaches, positive business approaches have become a core value of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Citing the attractive force of positive business and Positive Organizational Scholarship at the school, Dutton stated that “more than a quarter of MBA students came [to Michigan Ross] for this.” “The world needs this,” she continued.