I've been teaching so long, I have to remind myself, not to lecture and drone on, especially when I'm not working. So, I'll make this quick - I didn't say painless though.

Here are a few tips. Read the chapter, make you own notes, attend every class, and do the exercise on the student CD and in this guide. But, you already know that right? And, you already do all those things, or at least intend to right? Ok, that's the standard advice/lecturing students get.

Here's some non-standard stuff. Your opinions matter, especially during class discussions. However, on tests it's a different story. The study of OB is not the study of the opinion of insert your name here. If that were the case, every student would pass the course with 100%. What about essay-type questions? Well, your opinions kind of matter, but only when they are supported by material in the text. Organizational behaviour requires you to study what's been learned by experts over the years, and discussed in the text.

The last piece of wisdom (I said it would be short) concerns your approach to the subject matter. Oftentimes students encounter difficulties when studying OB, which has a lot to do with their basic approach. This is where the five anchors of organizational behaviour are helpful. Understanding the contingency anchor, and adopting it is particularly useful. In essence, the contingency anchor holds that a particular action may have different consequences in different situations. In other words, there are no absolute answers that fit every circumstance in OB. So, don't look for "one size fits all" solutions to difficult issues, especially on exam questions. In some ways this makes learning about OB quite challenging.