Don't Retaliate

The image of a successful corporate worker as a cut-throat, back-biting meanie has been steadily undercut since the end of the coke-fueled 80s. But now we're learning that not only does being a successful businessman require a smile, it might also require humbleness not often associated with winners.

A recent study in Nature found that people playing a variation of the Prisoner's Dilemma game were much more successful if they chose not to punish those who did not cooperate with them. Those who punished others the most had the least money at the end of the game. In other words, people who harnessed their initial inclination to sink the sunovabitch who just screwed them on a deal ended up better off financially (via the NYT).