Michele Gelfand finds inspiration for new projects all around her: taking in the banter in a boardroom, speaking with taxi drivers when traveling, observing the interactions between physicians and nurses during an unexpected trip to the doctor. The idea for one of her most recent papers was sparked years ago when she had to go to the hospital in Jordan and later when she received care for a broken foot in Dubai.

“Going into any unfamiliar setting, it’s important to be an anthropologist,” Gelfand says. “It’s a window into the context of another culture.”

As she watched the doctors, nurses, and other staff interact around her, Gelfand wondered: How does employees’ behavior in a high-stress hospital unit affect patients’ health? “Anytime you have interdependencies, you have conflict, and conflict needs to be managed,” she says.

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