The advances in Neuroscience have allowed us to discover how decision-making is eminently emotional; hence the importance of managing emotional processes in the organization, mainly, as a result of the change of era we are witnessing, in which the talent of the people who work in it is key to its sustainable profitability over time., and therefore, its attraction, retention and loyalty is vital.
Neuroscience is the study of the structure, function, development, chemistry, pharmacology, and pathology of the nervous system and how different elements of the nervous system interact and give rise to behavior. Biological study of the brain is a multidisciplinary area that involves many levels of study, from the molecular level to the behavioral and cognitive level, through the cellular level (individual neurons), the assemblies and small networks of neurons such as the cortical columns, and large assemblies, such as those of visual perception, including systems such as the cerebral cortex or cerebellum, and the highest level of the entire nervous system.
Neuroscience is the frontier in brain and mind research. Studying the brain is becoming the key to understanding how we perceive, how we interact with the outside world, and in particular how human experience and biology influence each other. At the highest level, neuroscience combines with psychology to create cognitive neuroscience, a discipline that was originally fully dominated by cognitive psychologists. Today Cognitive Neuroscience provides a new way of understanding the brain and consciousness, since it is based on a scientific study that unites disciplines such as neurobiology, psychobiology or cognitive psychology itself,a fact that will surely change the current conception of the mental processes involved in behavior and their biological bases.
The idea of applying neuroscience to both leadership and business management formally entered the public domain in 2007, when an article appeared in the Business Week magazine in the United States and another in The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom, among others. media.
However, in 2005, Néstor Braidot had already published his book neuromarketing, neuroeconomics and business, a work that attracted many readers in Europe and Latin America and made him one of the great leaders in this innovation. Globally, and following the momentum unleashed by the first Neuro-Leadership Conference and summit meetings organized to discuss this exciting topic, the business management literature began to pay attention to this challenge even though developing a new field is never easy. Especially if this requires connection with many others, without a doubt, to synergistically apply neuroscience and management theory, it is vitally important that neuroscience specialists think about the business world and, in turn,that businessmen reflections about the world of neuroscience.
Many academics prefer to remain in their own area of study and are reluctant to make connections outside of it; however, reality shows that interesting developments in science and technology have emerged when these unions were established: just as the connection between the study of electricity and magnetism gave rise to the industrial revolution, the union of neuroscience and the theory of Business management holds many promises. Currently, the development of neuromanagement is in its infancy, although we know a lot about how the brain works, there is still a long way to go. For this reason, new investigations are carried out day by day in an attempt to decipher the pieces that contain various enigmas.
Currently, organizations of all types and sizes are incorporating both knowledge about brain functions and mechanisms and the research methodology of Neurosciences into their management activities.
The most benefited areas are, Communication, leadership (leadership and decision making), Marketing (design of business strategies, planning and customer management) and Human Resources (selection of people, education and training).
The neurosciences have the object of study to understand the complex system through which the human mind works, approaching that study in a scientific way.
Undoubtedly, the possibility of knowing how the brain of an individual works in his role as leader, member of a work team, salesperson, customer or supplier, to give a few examples, is not only a challenge, it is also a "topic" that it must be on the agenda not only of executives of large companies, but also, and fundamentally, of those who, in the initial stages of their projects, are true innovators and as such "users to the full potential of their natural brain capacities".
In this sense, this new tool has been used in different countries worldwide to be able to know through a set of studies the decisions of an individual.
The example of Lego
In the book "The Cultural Code" Rapaille explains the value of knowing the codes of different cultures through the example of Lego. When the Danish company launched its famous building blocks, it had instant success in Germany where sales kept rising, while sales in the United States were shipwrecked.
The management of the company believed that one of the secrets of its success was due to the quality (including clarity) of the instructions that each box brought to help the boys build a particular model. If you remember your childhood, both the "Lego" and the "1000 bricks" had a specific model per box, with the blocks to build it (although I remember building what I wanted…)
The instructions were clear, precise, colorful, and virtually self explanatory. Why did the product work so well in Germany and so poorly in the United States?
The American boys broke the box to open it quickly, they hardly looked at the instructions (if they looked at them…) and they dived to build what they had in mind and not what the model proposed. Once finished, they took it apart and started building a new one, and so on and on. A Lego box could last a lifetime !!! Just like mine that, if I didn't give it, I would have passed it to my children…
The German boys followed the instructions to the letter, separated the pieces by color, assembled the model (which came out just like the one in the box) proudly showed it to their mother who, even more proud, applauded the achievement and placed it on a ledge. Now they needed another box to keep playing…
How is this difference in behavior explained? According to Rapaille, the Lego company unknowingly hit the spot with the culture code for Germany: ORDER.
Through the generations, the Germans honed the bureaucracy in an effort to keep the chaos that came wave after wave away. This produced an early imprint on the Germans. And it is that imprint that prompts those kids to read the instructions carefully, and it is that same imprint that prevents them from destroying the newly built to do something new. Lego's colorful and clear instructions impacted the German code in such a way that they got repeat sales.
Something I want to highlight in this area is the following: Neuroscientific research has allowed us to understand the different neuro-cognitive mechanisms that underlie human behavior, such as learning, problem solving capacity, motivation, teamwork and decision-making processes. This level of analysis of brain functioning has implications in the area of organizations, where human resources specialists and managers can translate these findings into a practical methodology within the company.
Today, different situations are known that stimulate people to creativity, cooperation and motivation within work or, on the contrary, that promote harmful circumstances for optimal brain function, such as stress and uncertainty.
Social equity and cooperative behaviors within the workplace are strong motivators of behavior, as are economic incentives. In this sense, the fair offers provoke an increase in the activity of the brain regions related to pleasure and reward (Ventral striatum), in the same way that cooperation between teammates does.
These situations applied in the workplace act as social reinforcements, indicating that fair and cooperative treatment increases intrinsic motivation, while the economic reward fosters extrinsic motivation. This predicts better job satisfaction and performance and leads to increased activity in the brain areas related to reward and positive reinforcement, mobilizing employees to continue the hard work for which they were rewarded.
These studies show that money is not the only motivator. Receiving fair treatment activates the same sectors in the brain as economic rewards since they play an important role in well-being, so it is essential to keep this fact in mind in motivation programs in companies. Social justice and respect also help the members of a company to improve the learning process. Following this model, the company director could choose to support and praise his staff. This behavior, in addition to releasing a chemical called dopamine in the brain of the employees, fosters neural connections in the sense that it facilitates attention focus in solving problems and searching for new ideas.
The opposite occurs with injustice and disrespect. Following this line of research, various studies have shown that social exclusion and rejection activate the same brain regions as physical pain. In other words, from a neuro-scientific point of view, a person will feel the same “pain” when hammering a finger as when being rejected by their office colleagues, or being ignored by their boss.
These regions involve the anterior cingulum, specifically the dorsal region. One of the functions corresponding to the anterior cingulum is to monitor conflicts and detect errors, alerting the pre-frontalin cortex involved with the capacity for conflict resolution. These situations can make it difficult for employees to think clearly, generate new ideas and effectively solve the problems inherent in any organization, also reducing the ability to make decisions. In these cases, situations of stress and uncertainty activate the alert system in the brain, releasing significant amounts of cortisol, a substance harmful to the body. At this point, people decrease their predisposition to help and cooperation.
Complementing the previous points, the evaluation and attribution of meanings to the behavior of others is another point to consider to optimize the way of managing in the future.
To empathize with other people, it is important to be able to change the point of view in which our own behavior is analyzed, and to use the perspective of an external spectator. In this way, developing the ability to "read the minds of others" results in an additional benefit to respond with greater expertise in certain situations, both in interaction with employees and with customers.
It is not superfluous that as managers we take the initiative and the commitment to evolve hand in hand with these fields that contribute so much to the way of managing organizations today, focused on having the best management and taking organizations to a level optimal and effective to achieve the stated objectives.
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Author: Lcdo. Michael Aular - Micdan Consulting Twiter: @Micdanconsultin
