By DENNIS NISHI

Growing up with military family members who regularly chatted about jets inspired Celeste Ward Gventer to study aeronautical engineering at Stanford University. But she ended up becoming a defense analyst, serving two stints in Iraq—one helping to build the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. She eventually became a deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Dept. of Defence before becoming a senior defense analyst at Rand Corp. in February. She’s now studying the effects of repeated deployments on soldiers. Writer Dennis Nishi spoke with Ms. Ward Gventer about her career. Edited excerpts follow.

Full name: Celeste Ward Gventer

Age: 38

Hometown: Albuquerque, N.M.

Current position: Senior defense analyst, Rand Corp.

Education: Bachelor’s in Political Science, Stanford University; Master’s of Public Policy, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government

Years in the industry: 13

How I got to here in 10 words or less: I knew what I wanted and worked towards those goals.

Q. Why did you change major to political science?

A. I took a course called technology and national security—because all the coolest airplanes were on the military side. I got hooked. It was interesting to think about the broader implications of technology and what it meant to global politics and to national security.

Q. How did you get your foot in the door in Washington?

A. After graduating, I took a job with a small consulting firm called DFI International in 1999. I ended up doing consulting for the Defense Department. Not long afterward, a friend who was the strategic-forces analyst at the Congressional Budget Office said he was going to move on. He told me I should take his job. I was this newly minted public-policy master. I thought he was crazy. [But] I got the job.

Q. What did you do there?

A. I provided nonpartisan analysis for the Congress on programs that dealt with United States nuclear forces and some non-proliferation issues. I [did] a cost estimate of the Bush administration missile-defense program in 2001. The deadline was very tight and there was going to be a big press conference on Sept. 10, 2001. We were trying to get everything right. Then the press conference got delayed. The next day nobody was interested in missile defense anymore.

Q. Do defense analysts typically have military backgrounds?

A. There are a number of analysts who are former officers. Many come from the academic world and have Ph.D.s. I fall under the category of policy wonks interested in the professional analysis and conduct of policy making.

Q. How did you end up in Iraq?

A. It’s not something that ever occurred to me until a friend called me in 2003. A friend said he was going to Iraq, and they needed to find people to build a ministry of defense. I realized it was a tremendous opportunity and a chance to be part of something important by taking what I’ve done and making it useful.

Q. Building an institution from scratch sounds daunting. Were you given any kind of guidance?

A. No. It was pretty open-ended. The original plan was much longer term. After the determination was later made that we would hand over power to the Iraqis by June of 2004, we were given six or seven months. We worked furiously so that we’d have something to hand over to them that would be functional. I did everything from recruit Iraqi employees to help design the organization and the training program with the national defense university.

Q. What led you to return?

A. I really wanted to go back because I thought 2006 would be a big year. I wanted to help. I interviewed with General [Peter] Chiarelli [commander of the multinational corps in Iraq]. He hired me as an aide… at the operational level.

I’d give him an analysis of what I thought was going on. Sometimes, I’d offer an alternative analysis. I did one piece about breaking up the ministry of the interior.

Q. Where did you go from there?

A. After getting back, I did consulting work in India until early 2007, when I got a call from a friend asking if I was up for being a deputy assistant secretary of defense. I thought it was a joke. [But] my name was in the mix for a position that had been created out of a reorganization. It was for “stability operations capability.” They provide policy input and advice on the capabilities necessary for stability operations and other irregular warfare. I tried to take what we learned in Iraq and translate that into what the military should look like in the future.

Q. Why did you leave that to go into the private sector?

A. Usually when the administration leaves, so do the politicos. I had been around the think-tank world and wanted to do some serious analysis. I had a lot of respect for Rand, so I applied and got a job there earlier this year.

Q. What are you working on now?

A. I’m leading a study on rapid-deployment tempo on soldiers to try to better understand what happens to soldiers and their families, units and the army with repeated deployments with short time at home. I’d been around a lot of soldiers, and my husband is one. It’s about real people, and I’m happy to have the opportunity to work on topics I care about.

Write to Dennis Nishi at cjeditor@dowjones.com

By RACHEL EMMA SILVERMAN

WSJ’s Rachel Silverman makes a stop on Mean Street to take a look at a new kind of internal stock market that some companies have started using as a way to invest in co-workers’ job performance. Photo: Getty Images.

Who’s really effective at the office?

To get a handle on that question, a handful of bosses are taking decision-making power out of the executive suite and asking employees to help identify—and reward—talent by experimenting with internal markets in which workers “invest” in co-workers’ performance and ideas.

Coffee & Power, a San Francisco odd-jobs start-up, granted each of its 15 full- and part-time employees 1,200 stock options this past January, to distribute among co-workers in whatever way they chose. A worker can plunk all his options onto one colleague or split them among the group, so individual bonuses are tied to how co-workers perceive each other’s work.

“It lets me reward people that management may not always recognize,” says Becky Neil, who works in marketing and product management. “This person who has a big title—maybe he didn’t actually contribute that much.”

Exchanges like those at Coffee & Power make the labor market of an individual office fluid, crowd-sourced and open to constant feedback. Allowing employees to vote on one another’s performances also holds workers accountable and raises the stakes for those who don’t contribute, managers say. On the flip side, there is a chance these markets could devolve into popularity contests, or lead to hard feelings among those who aren’t recognized by the group.

Rank-and-file workers often have the best information about how others really perform, says Denise Rousseau, a management professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

“Who knows better than employees themselves who the contributors are or [who is] the go-to person with a technical problem?” she says.

Philip Rosedale, an entrepreneur who co-founded Coffee & Power last year, developed the market-style bonus system, using both cash and stock options, at his previous firm, Linden Lab, creators of “Second Life,” an online game. He says he wanted to let that company’s 200 employees anonymously vote on who they found most effective, regardless of title or seniority.

At Coffee & Power, options vest immediately, but since the company is still private, they have only paper value—at least for now. Mr. Rosedale plans to repeat the experiment quarterly.

Some rules apply: Workers cannot reward themselves, nor can they give options to company founders, who already have sizable shares. (The money or shares allocated to employees each quarter varies depending on company performance.) Employees only know what bonuses they receive, but don’t learn who allocated what. The company makes public a distribution curve of all the bonus grants, with no names attached, so workers can see what the highest and lowest bonuses were.

The largest bonus was 2,530 and smallest was 855 shares. The biggest surprise: the third-largest allocation went to the ninth-highest-paid person in the firm, a remote developer who handles small tasks and spends a lot of time helping others.

“Even with a really small team, I learned about a great person that I knew little about,” Mr. Rosedale says. Since then, he says he’s sent larger projects her way.

Waiting to see if others would recognize her was nerve-racking, says Ms. Neil, adding, “you don’t always know what other people think of you.” She declined to say how many options she received, but says she was “psyched to see [others] had the same opinion of me that I thought of myself.”

Mr. Rosedale also has created a system, called SendLove, in which employees can send one-line notes of praise to their colleagues; feedback is made public on a scrolling feed at the office. Managers use those notes when compiling quarterly performance reviews, he says.

The system, developed internally at Linden Lab, has been adopted by online review site Yelp, event-planning site Eventbrite and digital-marketing agency Organic.

But not every company may be ready—or willing—to give workers such direct, public input. Linden Lab, for one, discontinued its bonus exchange after Mr. Rosedale left the company. (He remains chairman of their board.)

“You need management that is comfortable giving up some say, and let’s face it, human nature isn’t all programmed that way,” says Ed Lawler, a management professor and director of the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

At HCL Technologies, an India-based IT services firm with 88,000 workers, chief executive Vineet Nayar recently launched an experiment in which he gave a group of 100 employees 1,000 virtual currency units to use in an online exchange. Employees were instructed to spend the imaginary currency on the group members who they thought brought the most value to the company. (Each had to distribute the currency to at least two other people, or risk losing points from their own totals.)

The monthlong exchange resulted in a worker’s-eye view of talent in the company, says Mr. Nayar, the author of “Employees First, Customers Second,” a book about his firm’s people-driven philosophy. The company published the results internally, but has so far used them only to recognize, not reward, staff.

While these internal markets are rare, a growing body of research suggests that giving employees a voice in decision-making, from performance assessment to idea generation, tends to result in higher employee satisfaction—even, in some cases, greater profitability and productivity, according to USC’s Mr. Lawler.

Rite-Solutions, a Middletown, R.I., systems-engineering and software firm, has for several years used a mock exchange to give its 200 employees a voice in choosing projects and strategic initiatives, using its engineering talent to design an elaborate stock-market simulation game called “Mutual Fun.”

In the online exchange, each employee receives 10,000 virtual dollars to invest in an online portfolio of ideas generated by employees. Each idea is referred to as a stock, and those mock securities are classified as “Savings Bonds,” which focus on cost-cutting, “Bow Jones,” which build on existing technologies, and “Spazdaq,” which describes ideas using entirely new technology.

The value of the virtual portfolios fluctuates as employees comment, debate and try promising ideas. There are currently about 120 securities, or ideas, in the system.

Among the ideas that have become reality: A product that helps remotely track the safety of school buses, improvements to the internal phone system and cost-cutting measures, such as reducing the use of overnight delivery for packages.

Rite-Solutions now licenses Mutual Fun to about a half-dozen other companies and academic institutions.

“More and more companies are searching for better ways to harvest the organization’s total intellectual bandwidth,” says Jim Lavoie, the firm’s chief executive.

—Nikki Waller contributed to this article.

Write to Rachel Emma Silverman at rachel.silverman@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared April 4, 2012, on page B1 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: My Colleague, My Paymaster.

Welcome to the executive suite. But beware: Your smallest acts can cause big consequences.

Consider Linda Parker Hudson, promoted last fall to run the U.S. arm of BAE Systems

PLC, a global defense giant.

She told her top lieutenants that she expected “rapid responses” to email around the clock. To her surprise, several started sleeping beside their beeping BlackBerry so they could answer her 3 a.m. messages right away.

Ms. Hudson says she repeatedly reassured these colleagues that they could sleep at night and tried to lessen her nocturnal BlackBerry use. But “it was probably a few months before we all got used to each other,” she concedes.

BAE Systems

Linda Parker Hudson of BAE Systems

Ms. Hudson experienced “executive amplification,” a widespread phenomenon that can significantly affect your career. When you land a senior post, staffers constantly will scrutinize — and possibly misconstrue – your deeds, dress and words.

Yet power makes you “less aware that your behavior matters,” cautions Adam Galinsky, a professor of organizational behavior at Northwestern University’s business school. “That can be a career killer by demoralizing your troops.” Even lack of eye contact with them as you walk down the hall conveys your disapproval, risking alienation.

Amplification also can work to your advantage because effective, small moves often improve employee motivation. You must recognize that “leadership is a role, and you are always on,” says Gary Bradt, an executive coach in Summerfield, N.C. “Make sure you send the messages that you want to send.”

Ms. Hudson first saw the downside of the amplifier effect when she became the first female division president for General Dynamics Corp.

in 1999. During her first week, she wore a new scarf tied in a fancy bow. The next day, she ran into more than a dozen women there wearing scarves tied the same way.

Being watched so closely frightened Ms. Hudson. “I wasn’t accustomed to being the center of attention,” the 60-year-old executive recalls. “I felt like I was up on a billboard.”

She soon found herself closely scrutinized again. Touring a division factory months later, Ms. Hudson noticed flyers posted everywhere. They displayed her photo and list of leadership expectations from a recent management team speech.

Thanks to the unanticipated flyers, Ms. Hudson says she realized that amplification represents a potentially positive tool. “You can change employee behavior by subtle changes in your behavior,” she explains.

Anton Rabie, president and co-chief executive of Spin Master Ltd., a toy maker, uses a minor symbolic gesture to amplify his deep commitment to taking risks. He mounts failed Spin Master products and misguided mock-ups on a wall of his Toronto office.

“Each one has a lesson that we should remember,” observes Mr. Rabie, who launched the manufacturer with two classmates in 1994. Staffers viewing his flop-filled wall know “it’s okay to make mistakes,” he continues. “It’s like walking the talk.”

You may also reap benefits from executive amplification by seeking frequent feedback – and making needed corrections. Easier said than done, however.

“As you rise in the ranks, people stop telling you what they should tell you,” notes Richard A. Davis, a partner at RHR International, an executive-coaching firm, and author of the new book. “The Intangibles of Leadership.”

He advocates creating a personal board of directors to help identify your blind spots. “They have to know you and the people around you,” but work elsewhere than your employer, Dr. Davis recommends.

A performance review known as 360-degree feedback persuaded a newly promoted executive at a multinational apparel concern to alter her misinterpreted appearance, according to Rosemarie Fiorilli, a New York executive coach who advised her this year. The 360-degree process involves anonymous input from peers, subordinates and superiors.

The executive wore designer duds, including luxury-brand jewelry, at a workplace that favors business casual dress, Ms. Fiorilli says.

During 360-degree interviews, co-workers said, “She’s trying to be better than us,” the coach recollects. “She was the only one who didn’t know this was bothering people.”

Ms. Fiorilli says she warned the executive that the amplified impact of her luxurious look was hurting her group’s cohesiveness. The woman “toned it down immediately,” the coach adds. “Her boss said other people had noticed and remarked favorably.”

An associate’s frank feedback taught Tim Rice a different amplification lesson. While chief operating officer of Moses Cone Health System in Greensboro, N.C., he visited a friend seated in a chair two days after she underwent open-heart surgery at one of its five hospitals.

Mr. Rice teased her nurse for leaving the woman “in this chair all day long” because the patient looked tired. His joke devastated the nurse, “and she cried afterward,” the nursing director told Mr. Rice.

He later apologized to the nurse and in front of nearly 150 colleagues, praised the nursing director’s candor. Actually, “I was really afraid to come tell you,” she replied.

Mr. Rice says he concluded that his high-level title intimidated subordinates, and he should avoid sarcasm “because everything we do is amplified.” He took charge of Moses Cone in 2004. But “I am probably not as open and free and goofy as I have been in the past.”

At the same time, Mr. Rice regularly encourages his team members to suggest ways that he might lead the health-care system better. “I always say, ‘Who is going to tell the CEO that his fly is unzipped?”’

Write to Joann S. Lublin at joann.lublin@wsj.com

By JOSEPH DE AVILA

Michele Wallace had worked for Medialink Worldwide Inc. for 18 years when the New York video-distribution company laid her off last May. When the company’s information-technology staff quickly shut down her computer and her BlackBerry, the senior vice president of client services lost family photos and every personal and business contact on her cellphone and computer.

“I couldn’t even call my sister because I don’t know her number off the top of my head,” says Ms. Wallace, now a 47-year-old managing director at Mega Media Worldwide and living in Asbury Park, N.J. “I know you shouldn’t even have that stuff on the computer,” she says. But in the course of working 10- to 12-hour days for several years, “you don’t pay as much attention as to how much is personal on your computer.”

She’s still piecing together her contacts on Facebook and LinkedIn. (Medialink did not return calls for comment.)

As layoffs sweep across industries, employees’ personal information is winding up in the dustbin, as well. Most workers know better than to store personal files on their office computer. But employees who spend the majority of their time at the office often treat the company PC as their personal gadget, filling it with music, photos, personal contacts — even using the computer’s calendar to track a child’s soccer schedule. That makes it all the more distressing when a newly laid-off worker learns that his digital belongings are company property.

Most companies today have new hires sign electronic communications policies that generally state they have no rights to privacy or rights of ownership over the content on company computers. It doesn’t matter if those files are wedding photos or family phone numbers. “It still belongs to the company if it’s stored on a company-issued computer,” says Allison Brecher, director of information management and strategy and senior litigation counsel at consultants Marsh & McLennan Cos.

After someone quits or is laid off, a company will typically just delete those files, wiping a computer clean. In professions where communication between clients is important, like in sales or finance, companies might keep email correspondence for their records, says Jonathan Hyman, a partner at law firm Kohrman Jackson & Krantz PLL in Cleveland.

Earlier this year, Katie Morse was caught off-guard when she was laid off from a telecommunications company in Charlotte, N.C., where she worked in the marketing and communication department. After filling out paperwork and being briefed by her supervisors, she was escorted to her desk to collect her things. “Anything that was on my computer I didn’t have access to,” Ms. Morse, now living in Brooklyn, N.Y., says. “I honestly wish I was able to take my contacts with me.”

Companies often lock down computers and restrict access to email as soon as an employee is let go. “That could vary, but I think it’s safer to expect a harsh response,” says Janine Yancey, chief executive for emTRAiN, a human-resource training company.

Whether laid-off workers are allowed to retrieve personal files depends on the industry and the size of the business. “If you go into a bigger organization, they are going to implement a standard across the board,” which tends to be more restrictive, Ms. Yancey says. Smaller organizations may be more lenient. Some professions — brokers or financial advisers, for example — may be constrained by regulatory requirements with regards to the access they can give laid-off workers, Ms. Brecher says.

Companies often go to extreme lengths to protect themselves during layoffs. Some pore over their former employees’ emails, says Mr. Hyman. “If they think an employee has stolen anything, they will look for that,” he says. Companies fearing lawsuits from disgruntled former employees may have their IT department or an outside firm search through the emails, too, Mr. Hyman says.

From a business standpoint, companies that give laid-off workers access to work computers and email risk exposure to data theft, computer viruses and lost contact lists. “You don’t want somebody going in and downloading their whole contact base,” Ms. Yancey says. “That contact base belongs to the employer.”

A recent survey by the Ponemon Institute, a privacy research group in Traverse City, Mich., found that nearly 60% of employees who lost or left jobs in 2008 stole company data. The survey polled 945 adults from several industries who were laid off, fired or changed jobs in 2008. Data that was taken included non-financial business information, customer contact lists and financial information.

While human resource consultants advise businesses to use caution when dealing with laid-off employees, some are more lenient. Michelle Liro had five weeks’ notice that she was being let go as director of marketing at a telecommunications company. This gave her time to hunt for a new job and move email contacts of friends and colleagues to Facebook and LinkedIn. She was also able to take digital copies of banner ad campaigns and Web site graphics she designed.

The company even let Ms. Liro keep her work laptop after they wiped clean all of the files and software. “It only makes sense for companies to work with their employees,” says Ms. Liro, of Holliston, Mass. “You really do want to leave on a positive note.”

At Laughlin Constable, a marketing company in Chicago, laid-off or fired employees have their computer access limited and email restricted as soon as they are notified that they will be let go, says Joyce O’Brien, executive vice president of human resources.

“About 70 percent of our employees ask to have something off of their computer” when they are laid off, Ms. O’Brien says. Requests for personal files are reviewed by the IT department, human resources and the chief financial officer, she says. The company tries to give back personal information to laid-off workers as long as it isn’t a sensitive termination, Ms. O’Brien says. The personal files are retrieved by the company.

Employees are better off assuming that their company will take a conservative approach, says James Bucking, an employment lawyer for Foley Hoag LLP in Boston.

Employees worried about their job security should review the forms they signed when they were hired. They should look at the company’s electronic communications policy, employee guidelines and non-compete agreements to make sure they understand everything properly. When employees sign these agreements, they should also make copies to save at home, too, Ms. Yancey says. Those that break these agreements risk being fired or sued by their employer, she adds.

You should also be aware that the contact information for business associates made during employment and stored on an office computer — or even a Rolodex — usually belongs to the company, Mr. Bucking says.

When Tony Scida was laid off recently from his proofreader position at a small advertising agency in Richmond, Va., he didn’t take any email contacts from his computer because he signed a non-compete agreement. That didn’t much matter. He found most of them on Facebook and LinkedIn, and can contact them there.

Write to Joseph De Avila at joseph.deavila@wsj.com

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page D1

By ALEXANDRA LEVIT

Standing out in a crowded marketplace isn’t always easy. And these days, people have seen it all, which means you might only get ahead if you use a compelling and unique approach like Pat Lencioni’s to present your ideas.

Several years ago, Mr. Lencioni, 44 years old, of Lafayette, Calif., was a Bain & Co. consultant who loved writing screenplays and fiction pieces on the side. He didn’t move to Hollywood or New York City to pursue his passion.

Instead, Mr. Lencioni stayed where he was—in the business world—and used his talent to break out of the typical management-consultant mold. He began writing business books that read like novels and featured real characters to which textbook- and theory-fatigued readers could relate. In “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” for example, the fictional DecisionTech’s new CEO, Kathryn, must unite a fractured executive team.

Many say Mr. Lencioni’s parables have sold over 2.5 million copies because they attract people who need to be better managers but don’t want to read a traditional business book to do it. “The plot-driven approach makes people want to read to the end,” says Mr. Lencioni. “Readers are also more comfortable passing the books on to friends because they personally enjoyed them and were able to learn without a lot of effort.”

So, how do you infuse your day with creativity if it’s not your natural strong suit?

First, block out some time on your calendar to think about it. When you set aside time to do something, you elevate its importance in your mind.

Practice clearing your head of all of your everyday concerns, turn on some music, and let your mind wander. If you’re having trouble letting go, ask one of your artistic friends what she does to get in the right frame of mind and try adapting that technique to make it your own.

It also helps to look at your life and business from a different perspective. In providing career advice during this recession, for instance, I often pretended I was the person I needed to reach—a reader who was out of work. I asked myself, “What information do I need right now, and how would I best like to receive it?”

If your daily reading consists of one paper or online publication and Google news, you might try expanding your horizons.

In particular, today’s literary fiction and narrative nonfiction books are often worded so eloquently that they can’t help but inspire you to express yourself in a more creative way.

If you read before going to sleep, be sure to keep a pen and a notebook by your bed to jot down ideas that come to you in the middle of the night.

You might also want to start carrying a pad and pencil with you when you commute or travel. Inevitably you’ll overhear or see something that provokes an interesting train of thought.

Mr. Lencioni suggests forcing yourself into an uncomfortable situation to get your mind going—like doing manual labor if you’re a high-ranking executive, for example.

Sometimes just getting out of your comfort zone can spark creative ideas. “And finally,” he says, “you have to be willing to throw stupid ideas out [there], or ideas that no one believes in but you.”

Recognize that creativity doesn’t understand deadlines. Because you can’t depend on a terrific idea to show up at a certain point, you might try to build in long timelines for projects that require creative zeal and try not to put a lot of pressure on yourself.

“My best insights don’t usually show up when I’m sitting at my computer waiting for them,” says Mr. Lencioni. “I’ll usually be jogging or in the shower, or out in the public where my creative mind is stimulated by watching others.”

Once you’ve begun to think more creatively, look for ways to apply this change at work, from suggesting new projects to discussing projects in a new way.

— Alexandra Levit is a business and workplace author and speaker.

Write to Alexandra Levit at reinvent@wsj.com

By DENNIS NISHI

As talk of a thaw in hiring freezes rises above a whisper, many people are already planning to look for a new position when the job market picks up.

Some 60% of workers say they intend to leave their jobs when the economy improves, according to a survey by Right Management, a talent and career-management consulting firm in Philadelphia. It might be tempting to give the boss an earful if you land a new job in the coming months. But the way you quit can have a long term impact on your career. How to resign on good terms:

• Be prepared. Review your employee handbook or employment contract before announcing your decision, so you know what company policy is regarding resignations, severance, the return of company property and pay for unused vacation time. Also, find out the company’s reference policy to see what information will be disclosed to a prospective employer. If you have another job lined up, be sure to have your offer in writing before you resign.

• Use it or lose it. If you haven’t used your vacation time and will lose it if you quit, you might want to use your time before leaving or link it to your resignation date. States like California consider accrued vacation time to be part of wages and must be paid upon resignation or termination says employment attorney Michael J. Goldfarb, president of Northridge Calif.-based Holman HR. But if you don’t want to burn any bridges, don’t take vacation and announce your departure just after you return.

Getty Images

Quitting well is important for your career.

• Make an appointment. “Be formal and make an appointment with your boss,” recommends Tanya Maslach, a San Diego, Calif., career expert who specializes in relationship management issues. “Prepare what you want to say. Be direct and engaging—and be transparent,” Ms. Maslach says. She also recommends offering to help make the transition easier; ask your boss how you can best do that. After the discussion, put your resignation in a hard-copy letter that includes your last day and any transitional help you’ve offered. Keep a copy. Two weeks advance notice is still standard but experts recommend offering more time if you’ve worked at the company for more than five years. You also need to be prepared to leave right away—some companies require it.

• Don’t take the stapler. “It’s not worth it,” says Mr. Goldfarb. “If there are security cameras or coworkers with a grudge, stealing from the company doesn’t look good.” In some cases, you could also end up getting billed for the missing equipment—or even taken to court, he says.

• Scrub your digital footprint. Clear your browser cache, remove passwords to Web sites you use from work, such as your personal email or online bank account and delete any personal files on your work computer that aren’t relevant to work. Don’t delete anything work related if you’re required to keep it.

• Be honest but remain positive. Be helpful during the exit interview but keep responses simple and professional. Don’t use the session to lay blame or rant about coworkers, bosses or the workplace. “Whatever you do, don’t confess about how much you disliked working there,” says Ms. Maslach. “If you want to leave a helpful bit of advice or opinion, consider offering your expertise to your soon-to-be ex-boss … offer to be available to them for advice when they get in a rut.”

• Stay close. Consider joining an employee alumni association, which often serves as a networking group for former employees. It can be a good way to keep up with changes in the company and industry—and find leads to new jobs down the road. Keep in touch with coworkers you worked closely with; they may end up in management roles.

Write to Dennis Nishi at cjeditor@dowjones.com

In a competitive job market and workplace, we often think we have to do something extraordinary to stand out, but this isn’t necessarily the case. Sometimes, it’s the little things that encourage people to remember and appreciate us — the foundation for a career boost later on.

Alexandra Levit

Alexandra Levit

When popular business author Tom Peters gives a speech, hundreds of people wait in line for just a few minutes of his time. At a seminar, Mr. Peters was in a foul mood. Everything was going wrong and the talk seemed doomed. But just before showtime, Mr. Peters encountered an enthusiastic audio/visual staffer who was determined to cheer Mr. Peters up. “He saved my speech and he saved my neck,” writes Mr. Peters in his book “The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence.”

If two people contacted Mr. Peters after the speech, say this A/V guy and an attendee who had insightfully analyzed the contents of Mr. Peters’ books, who do you think Mr. Peters would recall meeting? Well, he’s still talking about this A/V guy years later. The A/V guy did something little — he was cheerful — and that had a big impact.

Recall traditional values: Life in the business world is difficult. Change is everywhere and many of us are still reeling from the work-force bloodletting that began two years ago. And one way that workers are responding is to emphasize traditional workplace and social values like courtesy and fairness.

“I think we’re realizing that life is not this great intellectual construct,” says Mr. Peters. “It’s about remembering the simple things your grandmother taught you, getting through the day, and helping others get through the day.”

Be thoughtful and appreciative: “Keeping track of details like your mentor’s children’s names requires discipline, and making an effort to learn these things is often the first thing to slip away when you’re busy,” he says. “But being able to bring them out in conversation will make other people pay attention.”

Vocal appreciation is another simple way to generate goodwill. We are all bombarded with requests on a daily basis. If that high-profile someone took the time to respond to yours, you should thank her, but also consider sending her a card or giving her some public ink on an industry or personal blog or Web site. And if a person has impressed you, acknowledge his contributions and be generous with your compliments, making them meaningful by focusing on specific actions rather than vague generalities.

Meet in person: Given the emphasis on e-communication, going out of your way to meet people in person is another way to stand out. “You have to purposefully expand your circle and engage people with different perspectives,” says Mr. Peters. “Find excuses to get together, and never waste a lunch.” This includes developing relationships with junior-level employees or administrative assistants, who may have the top person’s ear.

Finally, instead of always looking ahead, take pride in your work today. “Just go the extra half inch. Following up on a minor lead that you’re curious about or volunteering for that unsexy project could make the difference for your career in the end,” says Mr. Peters.

Write to Alexandra Levit at reinvent@wsj.com

When I was a child and my parents told me we were moving, I was terrified. I worried that I’d be an outcast at my new school, that the kids on the block would be brats and—worst of all—that I’d never see my best friend again.

That’s understandable when you’re 10. But what about when you’re an adult?

I felt the same way all over again recently, when The Wall Street Journal moved to a different part of town.

It’s an old saw that moving is among life’s most stressful experiences. I’d always thought it was because of the mad rush to stuff everything into boxes before the movers arrived. But as my colleagues and I have learned, moves are tough even if you’re packing little more than the contents of a desk. Indeed, moving offices can be as disorienting as moving homes.

First, the decision to go is not ours. And where we work affects almost every part of the day, from our commute to what we eat. Most important, the office layout shapes some of the most significant bonds in our lives: our work relationships.

Over and over, as my Journal colleagues arrived at our new office, I heard the same themes. “I feel like a junior-high kid coming into work every day, going in the wrong direction, ending up on the wrong floor, and just generally being such a total dork,” explains one reporter.

“It felt like we were the new kids at school—the new people we saw in the café looked like the girls you disliked in high school,” says another.

“It was literally that feeling of being lost in the hall. Where’s the bathroom? Who are all these people? Did I just turn a corner and stumble into a space where I don’t belong, like where the cool kids hang out?” says an editor.

It seemed that moving our office just a few miles had hurled us back into adolescence. We wandered around in search of our friends, whined that others had nicer desks
and flocked to lunch in droves, seeking safety in numbers.

Our ’tween behavior went on for weeks. One editor admits that at the elevator banks, she still keeps her head down and moves quickly, out of fear she will run into an ex-friend who works in our new building.

It’s no coincidence that my colleagues kept referencing junior high. “That’s a big period of insecurity in our lives,” says Rudy Nydegger, professor of management and psychology at Union Graduate College in Schenectady, N.Y. “It’s halfway between being a child and being an adult.”

Tell me about it. We’re all happy to have our jobs. And our new offices are spiffy—a vast improvement over our dumpy old space. But to the child within us, the angst feels instinctive.

Humans are creatures of habit—we have favorite chairs, coffee vendors and watering holes. If we change where we work, we may have to change all our haunts. This can take us far out of our comfort zone.

That explains one reporter’s reaction: “I felt like a cat whose owners had moved to a new house,” she says. “I was sort of sniffing around, looking for comfy corners.”

Of course, a move can really shake up an office’s social structure. It rearranges the company’s informal pecking order—the one based on who has the biggest office, the choicest view, the best desk.

“In their minds, a lot of people sort out the winners and the losers,” says Mitchell Marks, a psychologist and a professor of management at San Francisco State University. “Who is closer to the action, who is farther away, and where am I in all of this?”

People are jockeying for position. “We have come up with rules on physical boundaries,” reports one of my co-workers. “My colleague and I have decided that her space includes the little two-foot counter between us. So whenever my Rolodex or my tape recorder impinges on the edge of it … I pull them back. Otherwise I would be a ‘colonizer.’ ”

Even more significantly, the move upends our support network. Research shows we form the tightest workplace bonds with people who are near us. A change in the seating chart can rearrange friendships.

Sadly, my colleagues confirm this. One says she feels her buddies have forgotten her. Another explains that he no longer knows where to find certain people, so he doesn’t think about them as often.

One reporter feels like he’s been through a divorce. He says of colleagues he once sat near: “Now, I occasionally swing by their desks and wave or say hi, but it’s not the same. I’m not privy to all the jokes or burdens people share.”

But give us time. Just like junior-high-schoolers, we are slowly making new friends.

“I seem to laugh much more in this place,” says a graphic artist, citing the new office’s open layout, which has allowed her to get to know the “outrageously funny” guy across the aisle. “My ear will seize upon phrases like ‘I don’t even have time to have sex anymore.’ It can be a welcome respite in an otherwise stressful day.”

Write to
Elizabeth Bernstein at Bonds@wsj.com

The joy of a private office—it’s something 89% of senior managers in the U.S. have celebrated. Soon after, though, there’s the realization that the space feels cut off from the action. At times, the four walls can feel like barriers to keeping in touch with colleagues.

What does the perfect office look like? Four design firms were given the same dimensions of a mid-executive office. Sue Shellenbarger explains what they did with the space.

Is there a way to make that same office a more inspiring, productive space that actually aids communication?

To that end, four design firms were challenged to configure a 15-foot by 15-foot space for a hypothetical midlevel executive. The office should look good, of course, but the firms were asked to envision a space that could inspire ideas and increase productivity.

Each firm came up with imaginative spaces—understandable when given a blank slate and unlimited budget. Yet the vastly different “perfect office” designs offer common themes.

All the designers created virtual fishbowls, building in two or more glass walls and even, in two cases, having one glass wall fold or slide open to create shared space. This openness allows the executive “to be seen by other people,” and to show leadership and earn trust, says Kursty Groves, a New York-based consultant to businesses on designing creative workplaces.

Each firm’s rendering highlights different work zones within the office to accommodate different tasks, from concentrating on a project to meeting with colleagues to sitting back to reflect. Also, most of the firms aimed to integrate the latest wireless technology and environmental controls into desktops or key pads, making them nearly undetectable to the eye.

What’s out, based on the firms’ concepts, are towering status-symbol executive desks and trophy-laden “ego walls.” Capacious drawers and closets for storage are mostly absent too, reflecting the paperless trend.

Of course, the definition of a perfect office depends on the occupant. With about 38% of office buildings redesigning or rebuilding office space last year, and 30% planning to expand in the next few years, according to the International Facility Management Association, it is something many will be attempting to create.

Write to Sue Shellenbarger at sue.shellenbarger@wsj.com

The Five-Star Hotel, by Gensler

HQ: San Francisco

3,000 employees

Recent Clients: Proskauer, BASF, Ogilvy + Mather

A modern, polished metal-and-glass office plans aims for the ambience of a five-star hotel, while also sending a message that its occupant, a senior manager and working mother, wants her employees to be “more collaborative and less siloed,” says Mark Morton, a design principal.

The executive’s family photos are part of a changeable display on an interactive wall screen, and her personal items can be tucked out of sight behind blind wall panels. That permits her to erase her stamp on the office during 65% of the time she is out or on the road, opening up the space for use as a conference room. “This sets the tone that she is part of the team, and not above it. The space is both her office, and everyone’s,” says Johnathan Sandler, a workplace strategist.

•1. Ceiling light levels can be adjusted to vary intensity and conserve energy

• 2. Personal photos can be easily cleared so others can use the office when manager is away.

•3. Sliding glass door can be kept open to encourage collaboration, or closed for conference calls or meetings.

•4. Side walls are partly glass so managers can see each other.

•5. Personal items are stored behind blind panels to protect the manager’s privacy.

•6. Sound-masking system reduces noise and keeps conversations private.

•7. Underfloor air conditioning allows personal control of temperature.

•8. Interactive screen for teleconferencing and other displays.

•9. Wireless connectivity for computer, keypad and controls for custom lighting, air and music setting.

The Living Room, by PDR

HQ: Houston

63 Employees

Recent Clients: Exxon Mobil, Eaton, Accenture

An office envisioned for a middle manager at an energy or consulting company has a living-room feel. Personal photos and art can be displayed on paneled walls flanking a flat-screen TV monitor. The office has zones for concentration, contemplation and collaboration, the firm says. Both team meetings and solo work happen around a multipurpose “kitchen table” that adjusts to working either standing up or sitting down. In a corner reserved for “contemplation,” a lounge chair is protected by an acoustical dome that allows privacy while listening to music. To open up “the box,” an entire wall of foldable glass panels stands open most of the time, making the office “an open extension of the workplace,” says Joanne Taylor, president of PDR.

•1. ‘Kitchen table’ used for meetings and solo work, adjusting to standing or sitting height.

•2. Living-room zone with TV monitor, personal photos and storage is set apart by wood flooring.

•3. CEO Workstation

•4. Quiet area with lounge chairs for contemplation.

•5. Display screen for meetings, shared-laptop display and whiteboard.

•6. Suspended light box provides soft, adjustable light.

The Sunlit Sanctuary, by Studios Architecture

HQ: Washington, D.C.

225 employees

Recent Clients: News Corp., Grey Group, U.S. General Services Administration

Design by the firm’s New York office provides flexible seating and plenty of space for teamwork. Its occupant, the CEO of an international media company who is of Indian descent, travels heavily and wants her work space to feel like a sanctuary for catching up on email, planning and collaborative work. It is organized around principles of Vastu, an Indian method believed to align design with principles of nature. “There is a spiritual side” to the setup, says Studios CEO Todd DeGarmo. Erin Ruby, an associate principal, says it aims to “create some sense of calm in an world that is so chaotic.” Reducing carbon emissions is a major goal. Fresh air can flow through operable windows accented with succulent plants. Louvered shades maximize sunlight to cut electricity use.

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•1. Light shelf and exterior louvered shade admit sunlight without glare.

•2. Antique Turkish rug adds warmth and color.

•3. Collaboration table incorporates CEO workspace in one corner.

•4. Succulent plants help remove toxins from the air.

•5. Perimeter bench adds flexible seating.

•6. Glass transom opens automatically to exhaust air when needed.

•7. Glass walls to neighboring CFO’s office and hallway can be opaque or clear.

The Idea Inspirer, by VOA Associates

HQ: Chicago

250 employees

Recent Clients: Paul Hastings, Adams Street Partners, XL Insurance

The futuristic design was envisioned for a CEO of a 150-employee fashion design company that aims to turn out a steady stream of creative new products, says Nick Luzietti, a design principal. Because this executive must juggle executive, operating and creative duties, her office has lots of moving parts. It is equipped to morph from a conventional business office with a desk and conference table to a team workroom for design projects. Each evening, the executive can fold all the furniture and equipment back into the walls or floor, creating a “clean slate” to help spark fresh thinking when she arrives the next morning, Mr. Luzietti says. In a “tongue-in-cheek” gesture, VOA made the conference table in a heart shape to symbolize the emotional center of the business, where employees must invest both personal and professiopnal energy to maintain their creative edge, he says.

•1.Interactive screen for display and videoconferencing.

•2. Desktops can be recessed into this wall.

•3. Panels conceal storage and surfaces on which personal items and photos are displayed.

•4. Touch-screen table surface activates desktops, racks, rods, and videoconferencing gear.

•5. Worktop serves as a conference table as well as an adjustable desk for use while sitting or standing.

•6. Door to glass interior wall can be kept open to encourage co-worker communication.

By ALEXANDRA LEVIT

I’m frequently asked how to make the transition from working in an organization to striking out on one’s own. But here’s a question that’s rarely discussed: What if you’re an entrepreneur or solo practitioner and must decide whether to return to the business world? Can you — and should you — go from your living room back to the boardroom?

Jessica Smith, 33 years old, of Sacramento, Calif., left her career at a major consulting firm to stay home with her young son. She developed a robust online marketing and business-development practice that allowed her to witness her son’s milestones, but eventually found herself wishing she could work in an office again.

Building on the success of her blog, jessicaknows.com, Ms. Smith secured a vice president position at international communications firm Fleishman-Hillard, and her husband became the at-home parent.

A Better Fit

Once you’ve gone through the trouble of starting a business, you may feel like it’s a step back to work for someone else again. But depending on your lifestyle and personal preferences, employment at a company may simply be a better fit at this point in time. So before you dismiss the idea entirely, you should consider the benefits that office work provides.

First, adhering to deadlines without giving in to distractions like TiVo or the cheesecake in the fridge requires focus and willpower. If this isn’t your strong suit, you might be more productive with a regimented company schedule. Set office hours might also make it easier to sustain a fulfilling family life.

“Having a clear boundary between my office and my home means that family time is quality time,” says Ms. Smith.

Although I now work from home full time, I definitely miss aspects of my corporate job. I enjoy getting dressed up and commuting to work because it puts me in a frame of mind to conduct business.

I also like the paycheck that reliably arrived twice a month. And Twitter and Webinars can’t replace the camaraderie that develops in an office environment.

“Being part of a larger organization offers the ability to work with team members and see our ideas come to fruition together,” Ms. Smith concurs.

Talk About It

A move from the living room to the boardroom is one that should be thoughtfully discussed with those it affects the most — namely your partner and close family members.

And don’t make a decision rashly. Just because your business isn’t going well in the recession doesn’t mean you made a mistake in launching it. Try to envision its trajectory over the long term to see if it’s a venture you feel comfortable giving up.

Your move to an established organization should make sense in the context of the brand you’ve invested the time and energy to create.

“Don’t take the first role that presents itself,” advises Ms. Smith. “You need to be sure that your mission and values line up with those of the company you plan to work for.”

Finally, build in an adequate transition period so that provisions are made for existing customers and you aren’t leaving anyone high and dry.

Write to Alexandra Levit at reinvent@wsj.com