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Business The Brain

Therese Padilla
Therese Padilla

The human brain was fully evolved by the time of the Lascaux cave paintings, more than 20,000 years before writing, cities, and taxes, and 25,000 years before the Industrial Revolution. Modern business makes stressful demands on a brain that evolved in the Stone Age. The webinar will explore how we can be smarter and more nimble by working with the brain's natural wiring

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Business and the Brain Are You Fit to Thrive in Any Economy? 息 The BestWork People 2010
Commerce and the human brain evolved together The brain reached its current configuration 25,000 years ago around the time of the famous Lascaux cave paintings People were herding, carving elaborate tools, trading raw materials over thousands of miles; their competition brought about the extinction of the saber-toothed cat 息 The BestWork People 2010
Our brains evolved in the stone age Our ancestors did not have resumes or sales conversations; they did not endure jet lag, face prolonged ambiguity, or fear layoffs They experienced very little change or ambiguity The stresses in their lives were fast and short: predators , weather, game They knew the people with whom they worked and traded their entire lives they were part of a community did not exchange with strangers 息 The BestWork People 2010
We humans make our living in exchanges Exchanging with others is in our biology its an essential part of being human Some of the demands of modern business are natural to the brain 息 The BestWork People 2010
Reality as processed by our brains - is social We are designed to consider others: What they may be thinking and feeling How they respond to us Whether we are safe with them Whether they are safe The brain is built for sociality Matthew Lieberman, PhD, Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, UCLA Marco Iacoboni, MD, PhD, Neuropsychiatric Institute, UCLA 息 The BestWork People 2010
Social animals thrive together not separately 息 The BestWork People 2010
The brain responds to social pleasure and pain as powerfully as to sex and chocolate The pain of a broken heart is just like the pain of a broken leg both respond to Tylenol Contributing to others fires the same part of the brain as sex and chocolate 息 The BestWork People 2010
The exchanges that make up commerce are social experiences Because we are social mammals, some of the brains powerful wiring around sociality is very old; we share it with dolphins, elephants, dogs Some of our brains wiring around exchanges evolved with human communities, over approximately 3 million years Recent neuroscience is illuminating how we can best work with our brains, and those of our customers and employees, rather than against them. 息 The BestWork People 2010
Many aspects of modern life conflict with the brains wiring The pace of change continues to increase, creating uncertainty; most adults experience ambiguity as risk We constantly meet new people doing business; strangers provoke anxiety Multitasking dumbs us down; it requires autopilot, thus blinding us to new input Constant new information is over the capacity of working memory; tires the brain 息 The BestWork People 2010
Some of the demands of modern business are not natural for the brain Were often required to design important exchanges a rare event in tribal life Worse, the Industrial Revolution and the educational systems it spawned, in which we grew up discouraged individual ingenuity and curiosity Our brains are stressed with constant new stuff: global information bombarding 息 The BestWork People 2010
Some aspects of living and working are the same as theyve always been In some ways our brains are very well-adapted to exchanging with others 息 The BestWork People 2010
Commerce is based in vulnerability The roots go back more than 3 million years: walking upright made birthing increasingly difficult; babies were born increasingly immature Cooperation became essential 息 The BestWork People 2010
We become ingenious when our people are vulnerable People mobilized instantly in 18 degree weather The mood of the whole country changed 息 The BestWork People 2010
The basis of sociality and the basis of commerce are the same Noticing what others are concerned about Making reliable promises Commerce is in our biology were made for it 息 The BestWork People 2010
But the vulnerability we face in modern life is not what the brain is built for Wild predators presented short intense moments of stress For most of human history, people faced little ambiguity the rules of living were clear They knew their trading partners all their lives The pace of change was slow 息 The BestWork People 2010
The Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) the brains executive function - is highly sensitive At its best, its capable of extraordinary feats To question To invent To create To interpret To communicate To choose 息 The BestWork People 2010
(c) Kevin Ochsner, Columbia, 2008
Business The Brain
How can we best use the brains natural functions in modern business? What do we have to do? What might we avoid? What is unavoidable? What can we learn to do better? 息 The BestWork People 2010
What do we have to do? Understand belonging as the brains key driver The human way of belonging grew over 3 million years, from primate roots, under selective pressure to cooperate Our brains are exquisitely attuned to status, sincerity, and whether their concerns are known and respected 息 The BestWork People 2010
(c) Matthew Lieberman, UCLA, 2008
What might we avoid doing? Inhibiting Neuroplasticity and PFC function by: Multitasking Provoking status anxiety Exhausting working memory 息 The BestWork People 2010
What is unavoidable? Living in an uncertain, fast-changing world: we are all vulnerable Designing new exchanges to meet shifting concerns Learning to trade with people we dont know 息 The BestWork People 2010
Peoples concerns are continually shifting You cant teach an old dog new tricks but we humans can learn for our entire lives We retain Neuroplasticity into adulthood 息 The BestWork People 2010
New challenges invariably demand new exchanges 息 The BestWork People 2010
What might we learn to do better? Embrace shared vulnerability as the basis of commerce Remove stress from the corpus callosum - Exercise and mindful breathing - Rest Cultivate Neuroplasticity Pleasure the brains sociality drivers - Focus on inclusion; neutralize concerns for status - Create opportunities to contribute - Spark curiosity with compelling questions and new terms - Fuel ingenuity with focus on others vulnerability 息 The BestWork People 2010
Whatever business you may be in Youre competing in the business of generating pleasurable exchanges Increasing the pleasure of exchanging with you will greatly increase your success 息 The BestWork People 2010
Pleasure the brain - Provoke curiosity Ask sincere, compelling questions Introduce new interpretations, labels, or distinctions (Novelty drives up dopamine activity) Focus on others vulnerability Open possibilities for contributing 息 The BestWork People 2010
Compelling questions fuel intelligence Reduce status anxiety by including people Generate focus required for Neuroplasticity Reduce the experience of ambiguity and risk When focused on others well-being, reduce fear Require both sides of the brain Provocative questions hinder multitasking and are hindered by it 息 The BestWork People 2010
Curiosity is the silver bullet What does it take to operate in curiosity no matter what? Courage To question To see/hear/feel unwelcome news Fitness Limber body Full breathing Actively manage stress 息 The BestWork People 2010
Optimize Neuroplasticity and PFC function Choose a regular practice to empty your mind: 3-5 minutes of guided breathing will de-stress the corpus collosum and allow the two sides of the brain to inter-function Find enjoyable moving/exercise 3-4x/week, and change it frequently Deeply stretch your body at least 2x/week Build new neural pathways enjoy babys mind: embrace new tasks, exercises, and brain teasers 息 The BestWork People 2010
Youre in the business of generating rich exchanges What would your world be like if exchanging with you were the richest experience of peoples dayweek? When your PFC is not stressed, you can design exchanges When clients and employees PFCs are not stressed, they can fully partner Our brains are plastic; you can learn to make it happen. 息 The BestWork People 2010
At its best the PFC is powerful and generative Executive PFC function manages emotions and we can enjoy: Interpreting vulnerability Building relationships Identifying opportunity Devising ingenious ways to use resources Driving innovation 息 The BestWork People 2010
Train to be fit for any economy Optimize PFC function Reduce perception of risk Labeling gives the feeling of being in control Reduce ambiguity with clear outcomes, roles, & measures Be inclusive; minimize concern for status Reduce Stress Make it hip to rest and take breaks Make it un-hip to multi-task Mindful breathing, eg yoga Provide focus and meaning The brains primary orientation is social; focus on others needs Introduce novelty: new questions and challenges, especially about others vulnerabilities Encourage play to stimulates the brain Explore exercise and Moving 息 The BestWork People 2010
Brain fitness increases value and contribution: yours and those around you Exercise and moving Focus on an interesting question Labels and patterns Breaks and rest Pictures Concerns for status Multitasking Fatigue Stress Danger/risk/rejection Ambiguity/change 息 The BestWork People 2010 Enables fitness Impairs fitness
What might be possible if you could leverage the brains powerful wiring? 息 The BestWork People 2010
human cognition, even in its most abstract and sophisticated form, is deeply embodied, deeply dependent on the processes and representations underlying perception and motor action. We invent all kinds of complex abstract ideas, but we have to do it with old hardware: machinery that evolved for moving around, eating, and mating, not for playing chess, composing symphonies, inventing particle colliders, or engaging in epistemology for that matter. Being able to re-use this old machinery for new purposes has allowed us to build tremendously rich knowledge repertoires. But it also means that the evolutionary adaptations made for basic perception and motor action have inadvertently shaped and constrained even our most sophisticated mental efforts. Lera Boroditsky Assistant Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Symbolic Systems, Stanford University (c) The BestWork People 2009
With gratitude for the teachers and researchers who illuminated the path Marsha Shenk is a veteran consultant, one of the pioneers of Business Anthropology. Her syntheses of the cultural, biological, and historical influences that impact modern commerce have empowered business leaders for 3 decades. www.BestWork.biz http://twitter.com/marshashenk 息 The BestWork People 2010 39

More Related Content

Business The Brain

  • 1. Business and the Brain Are You Fit to Thrive in Any Economy? 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 2. Commerce and the human brain evolved together The brain reached its current configuration 25,000 years ago around the time of the famous Lascaux cave paintings People were herding, carving elaborate tools, trading raw materials over thousands of miles; their competition brought about the extinction of the saber-toothed cat 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 3. Our brains evolved in the stone age Our ancestors did not have resumes or sales conversations; they did not endure jet lag, face prolonged ambiguity, or fear layoffs They experienced very little change or ambiguity The stresses in their lives were fast and short: predators , weather, game They knew the people with whom they worked and traded their entire lives they were part of a community did not exchange with strangers 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 4. We humans make our living in exchanges Exchanging with others is in our biology its an essential part of being human Some of the demands of modern business are natural to the brain 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 5. Reality as processed by our brains - is social We are designed to consider others: What they may be thinking and feeling How they respond to us Whether we are safe with them Whether they are safe The brain is built for sociality Matthew Lieberman, PhD, Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, UCLA Marco Iacoboni, MD, PhD, Neuropsychiatric Institute, UCLA 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 6. Social animals thrive together not separately 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 7. The brain responds to social pleasure and pain as powerfully as to sex and chocolate The pain of a broken heart is just like the pain of a broken leg both respond to Tylenol Contributing to others fires the same part of the brain as sex and chocolate 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 8. The exchanges that make up commerce are social experiences Because we are social mammals, some of the brains powerful wiring around sociality is very old; we share it with dolphins, elephants, dogs Some of our brains wiring around exchanges evolved with human communities, over approximately 3 million years Recent neuroscience is illuminating how we can best work with our brains, and those of our customers and employees, rather than against them. 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 9. Many aspects of modern life conflict with the brains wiring The pace of change continues to increase, creating uncertainty; most adults experience ambiguity as risk We constantly meet new people doing business; strangers provoke anxiety Multitasking dumbs us down; it requires autopilot, thus blinding us to new input Constant new information is over the capacity of working memory; tires the brain 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 10. Some of the demands of modern business are not natural for the brain Were often required to design important exchanges a rare event in tribal life Worse, the Industrial Revolution and the educational systems it spawned, in which we grew up discouraged individual ingenuity and curiosity Our brains are stressed with constant new stuff: global information bombarding 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 11. Some aspects of living and working are the same as theyve always been In some ways our brains are very well-adapted to exchanging with others 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 12. Commerce is based in vulnerability The roots go back more than 3 million years: walking upright made birthing increasingly difficult; babies were born increasingly immature Cooperation became essential 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 13. We become ingenious when our people are vulnerable People mobilized instantly in 18 degree weather The mood of the whole country changed 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 14. The basis of sociality and the basis of commerce are the same Noticing what others are concerned about Making reliable promises Commerce is in our biology were made for it 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 15. But the vulnerability we face in modern life is not what the brain is built for Wild predators presented short intense moments of stress For most of human history, people faced little ambiguity the rules of living were clear They knew their trading partners all their lives The pace of change was slow 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 16. The Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) the brains executive function - is highly sensitive At its best, its capable of extraordinary feats To question To invent To create To interpret To communicate To choose 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 17. (c) Kevin Ochsner, Columbia, 2008
  • 19. How can we best use the brains natural functions in modern business? What do we have to do? What might we avoid? What is unavoidable? What can we learn to do better? 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 20. What do we have to do? Understand belonging as the brains key driver The human way of belonging grew over 3 million years, from primate roots, under selective pressure to cooperate Our brains are exquisitely attuned to status, sincerity, and whether their concerns are known and respected 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 21. (c) Matthew Lieberman, UCLA, 2008
  • 22. What might we avoid doing? Inhibiting Neuroplasticity and PFC function by: Multitasking Provoking status anxiety Exhausting working memory 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 23. What is unavoidable? Living in an uncertain, fast-changing world: we are all vulnerable Designing new exchanges to meet shifting concerns Learning to trade with people we dont know 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 24. Peoples concerns are continually shifting You cant teach an old dog new tricks but we humans can learn for our entire lives We retain Neuroplasticity into adulthood 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 25. New challenges invariably demand new exchanges 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 26. What might we learn to do better? Embrace shared vulnerability as the basis of commerce Remove stress from the corpus callosum - Exercise and mindful breathing - Rest Cultivate Neuroplasticity Pleasure the brains sociality drivers - Focus on inclusion; neutralize concerns for status - Create opportunities to contribute - Spark curiosity with compelling questions and new terms - Fuel ingenuity with focus on others vulnerability 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 27. Whatever business you may be in Youre competing in the business of generating pleasurable exchanges Increasing the pleasure of exchanging with you will greatly increase your success 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 28. Pleasure the brain - Provoke curiosity Ask sincere, compelling questions Introduce new interpretations, labels, or distinctions (Novelty drives up dopamine activity) Focus on others vulnerability Open possibilities for contributing 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 29. Compelling questions fuel intelligence Reduce status anxiety by including people Generate focus required for Neuroplasticity Reduce the experience of ambiguity and risk When focused on others well-being, reduce fear Require both sides of the brain Provocative questions hinder multitasking and are hindered by it 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 30. Curiosity is the silver bullet What does it take to operate in curiosity no matter what? Courage To question To see/hear/feel unwelcome news Fitness Limber body Full breathing Actively manage stress 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 31. Optimize Neuroplasticity and PFC function Choose a regular practice to empty your mind: 3-5 minutes of guided breathing will de-stress the corpus collosum and allow the two sides of the brain to inter-function Find enjoyable moving/exercise 3-4x/week, and change it frequently Deeply stretch your body at least 2x/week Build new neural pathways enjoy babys mind: embrace new tasks, exercises, and brain teasers 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 32. Youre in the business of generating rich exchanges What would your world be like if exchanging with you were the richest experience of peoples dayweek? When your PFC is not stressed, you can design exchanges When clients and employees PFCs are not stressed, they can fully partner Our brains are plastic; you can learn to make it happen. 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 33. At its best the PFC is powerful and generative Executive PFC function manages emotions and we can enjoy: Interpreting vulnerability Building relationships Identifying opportunity Devising ingenious ways to use resources Driving innovation 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 34. Train to be fit for any economy Optimize PFC function Reduce perception of risk Labeling gives the feeling of being in control Reduce ambiguity with clear outcomes, roles, & measures Be inclusive; minimize concern for status Reduce Stress Make it hip to rest and take breaks Make it un-hip to multi-task Mindful breathing, eg yoga Provide focus and meaning The brains primary orientation is social; focus on others needs Introduce novelty: new questions and challenges, especially about others vulnerabilities Encourage play to stimulates the brain Explore exercise and Moving 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 35. Brain fitness increases value and contribution: yours and those around you Exercise and moving Focus on an interesting question Labels and patterns Breaks and rest Pictures Concerns for status Multitasking Fatigue Stress Danger/risk/rejection Ambiguity/change 息 The BestWork People 2010 Enables fitness Impairs fitness
  • 36. What might be possible if you could leverage the brains powerful wiring? 息 The BestWork People 2010
  • 37. human cognition, even in its most abstract and sophisticated form, is deeply embodied, deeply dependent on the processes and representations underlying perception and motor action. We invent all kinds of complex abstract ideas, but we have to do it with old hardware: machinery that evolved for moving around, eating, and mating, not for playing chess, composing symphonies, inventing particle colliders, or engaging in epistemology for that matter. Being able to re-use this old machinery for new purposes has allowed us to build tremendously rich knowledge repertoires. But it also means that the evolutionary adaptations made for basic perception and motor action have inadvertently shaped and constrained even our most sophisticated mental efforts. Lera Boroditsky Assistant Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Symbolic Systems, Stanford University (c) The BestWork People 2009
  • 38. With gratitude for the teachers and researchers who illuminated the path Marsha Shenk is a veteran consultant, one of the pioneers of Business Anthropology. Her syntheses of the cultural, biological, and historical influences that impact modern commerce have empowered business leaders for 3 decades. www.BestWork.biz http://twitter.com/marshashenk 息 The BestWork People 2010 39

Editor's Notes

  • #22: Maturana Youtube