* High performers figure out on their own what improvement are needed and how to make them. Low performers focus on the status quo and what they know, so don’t expect them to think about raising the bar without knowing why and understanding how.

* As you work to change the behavior of the weakest performers, remember that you are dealing with deep-seated habits that will take time to change. These folks are capable of doing better but it will require patience, encouragement, and constant attention. 

* Under pressure to get more out the door supervisors often abdicate their responsibility to hold poor performers accountable. Opting instead to ignore or isolate underachievers in the mistaken belief that they’ll realize what’s wrong and make changes on their own.

* Passing around cartoons and memes that ridicule upper management is a common practice.  Yes, it’s funny. But, skewering the behavior of those above you offers little in the way of constructive advice. Don’t expect their behavior to change if all you do is laugh at them.

* Withholding critical information from a report, remaining silent with your concerns in meetings or applying a “fudge factor” to your budget are common ways in which you may unintentionally contribute to the incompetence of someone higher up the food chain.

* Failure, in and of itself, is not dysfunctional. It is the way the corporate culture reacts to failure that determines functionality. Confronting failure facilitates awareness and allows those most impacted to learn from it and overcome it so it doesn’t cloud their future.

* Co-workers who spend a lot of time together get to know one another’s strengths, weaknesses, hot buttons, hopes, ambitions and personal problems all of which are subject to misinterpretation, and misunderstanding. Hence there is room for more discomfort.