Managing with the Brain in Mind

Naomi Eisenberger, a leading social neuroscience researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), wanted to understand what goes on in the brain when people feel rejected by others. She designed an experiment in which volunteers played a computer game called Cyberball while having their brains scanned by a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine. Cyberball hearkens back to the nastiness of the school playground. This article is featured in the strategy+business app “Don’t Blame Your Culture,” available for smartphone and tablet devices. To download, select your device: This reaction could be traced directly to the brain’s responses. Eisenberger’s fellow researcher Matthew Lieberman, also of UCLA, hypothesizes that human beings evolved this link between social connection and physical discomfort within the brain “because, to a mammal, being socially connected to caregivers is necessary for survival.” This presents enormous challenges to managers.

Your Brain At Work While people sometimes use the word ‘family’ to describe their work colleagues, neuroscience research makes it clear that our brains experience the workplace as a social system. Social interactions often decide whether an employee stays at a company; positive reinforcement from our boss or peers can improve our mood for an entire day. In contrast, lack of social interaction with peers and a non-supportive or critical environment are often cited as the primary reasons for leaving a job. In an article called “Managing with the Brain in Mind,” David Rock explores the implications to leaders of treating the workplace as a social system. While employees learn to temper their reactions to this blow and some even rationalize the situation, they also limit their commitment levels and reduce their engagement. They become purely transactional employees, reluctant to give more of themselves to the company, because the social context stands in their way. You Can’t Work at Work The Poison of Power