2: The Connection Between Your Brain and Your Culture
The author speaks of "emotional hijacking" - such as the way that hearing a song reminds you of a relationships that was years in the past, and with the memory comes a sudden flood of feelings - whether you want them or not.
This happens quite often, and we may not be fully conscious of it, but the results can be debilitating: someone you just met reminds you of someone you didn't like in the past and you take an instant disliking to them - without really knowing the reason for this.
This is a trigger-response pattern that the author claims happens "all day every day." The human brain is a meaning-making machine - which can sometimes assign meaning where it doesn't exist.
Cognitive Development
She suggests that most of our triggers were set when we were very young: our earliest encounters created a system into which all new sensory data is integrated. At the most primitive level, the mind is keyed to spotting danger and safety, and things are categorized thus.
Parents, teachers, and other caregivers attempt to "code" the child's mind - but they are not particularly good at it. Their well-intentioned efforts are certainly better than nothing - but they make mistakes. And a great deal of coding happens when they don't intend it, or even when they are not consciously making an attempt to code.
The author speaks of her own mistake with her son: her demeanor on returning home at the end of the working day sent him the clear message that work is tiring, frustrating, and unpleasant. She then became more guarded of her behavior, hoping to "re-code" him to view work as fulfilling and exciting.
(EN: The persistence of memory and frameworks is a problematic issue in cognitive psychology: some theorists claim frameworks are permanent, others see them as mutable, and some seem to switch positions. Antonio Damasio resolves this fairly well: in suggesting that a framework is always a work in progress and constantly evolves - but only when there is a need for it to evolve.)
When a child grows to an adult, he becomes more self-aware and has the ability, by applying his cognitive faculty, to manage his own programming. And when an adult becomes a leader, we seek to influence others' programming, generally with an eye toward gaining their cooperation in achieving a desired outcome.
The author again contrasts the "animal state" and the "smart state." The animal state reacts emotionally on vague information, and is primarily subject to external influences. The smart state filters the information and chooses a productive response, and as such remains in control of itself.
To build a smart tribe, you must deactivate your own fear-triggers and those of your team and to influence programming in a positive manner, such that people are able to apply their higher mind to solving problems that arise rather than merely reacting out of panic and negative emotions.
How the Brain Blocks Progress and Performance
The human brain does not deal with change very well. It is designed for one-trial learning - in which success reinforces behavior, and discourages any other pattern of behavior after success has been achieved.
The reptilian brain refers to the primitive part of the human brain consists of the brain stem and a certain core of tissues that handle basic survival functions. It is purely stimulus-response that is incapable of complex thought.
The mammalian brain refers to the core of the cerebrum, a place where more complex patterns of thought occur. This is the part of the brain that houses emotions and memory, and some of the most basic decision-making processes that feed the freeze-fight-flight mechanisms necessary for survival and the most basic emotions.
The neocortex refers to the outer layer of the cerebrum, and is unique to human beings: this part of the brain makes us self-aware and is capable of very complex decision-making processes.
The core of the brain, which is common to humans and animals, is concerned with safety and survival - but with some drawbacks:
- The animal brain cares about immediate safety and survival, and does not think of the long term.
- The animal brain is incapable of complex thought and follows basic patterns without considering broader implications
- The animal brain has no concept of quality of life, merely what is immediately necessary to react to the most present threat
As such, the animal brain makes fast decisions to obtain short-term results, which is necessary to the survival of an animal in the wild - but can impede progress and performance in civilized society. To succeed, and to achieve excellence, means applying the higher mind to consider not only our short-term interests, but our long-term ones.
The part of the brain of greatest interest is the prefrontal cortex, a part of the neocortex that enables us to think abstractly and solve complex problems. It is responsible for a number of advanced behaviors, including social behavior, tool-making, language, and self-consciousness. Scientists have not fully explored the capabilities, but generally agree it holds huge untapped potential.
For simplicity's sake, the author considers two parts of brain - the animal brain and the smart brain. The animal brain is basic instinct, fight-flight-freeze responses. The smart brain includes our rational capacity and the ability to deliberate and exercise choice. Naturally, it is in the greatest interest of most modern-day organization to engage the smart brain to remain competitive.
Yet some organizations, to preserve traditional ways of doing business, seek to keep employees in the animal state - to be compliant, to obey, to not ask questions. This requires no higher brain-function, as there are no options from which to choose except to comply or be punished. When fear and threat become a management style, innovation and engagement are eliminated. This is not only obsolete, but also ineffective.
The author refers to various situations in which people's smart brain is hijacked: under stress or pressure, or in situations where we feel threatened, we often revert to the animal brain to deal with short-term threats - which can be useful in survival situations. In the face of imminent danger, there is little opportunity to pause to consider alternatives, but a need to leap to action quickly, with little thought for anything but immediate survival.
Another factor that can undermine critical thinking is the trigger-response patterns that are coded into our brains. This is done for the sake of efficiency - a pattern that was successful at one time becomes the "emergency plan" for dealing with the same kind of stimulus. Take the case of a junior executive who falls silent in meetings with senior staff - some event, likely in his childhood, made an association between silence and safety - so when he is under stress, he reverts to that pattern.
As we grow and change, the patterns that were successful in the past will no longer serve our interests in the future. It is necessary to rewire or in some instances disconnect these patterns - to recognize the pattern, identify the trigger, and connect it to a different and more productive response.
The problem is that the animal state will always trump the smart state - survival depends on quick reactions in situations in which we are threatened. The "trick" is to increase the sense of security, to denature the threat so that the smart state remains in control.
Growth Mindset
Our culture does little to encourage a positive attitude: our educational system focuses on tests in which "passing" means conforming to what was taught and which failure is permanent and unalterable. We regard talent as an innate ability that defies description and cannot be developed in someone who doesn't have it by virtue of birth. We regard success as the outcome rather than the process. We must avoid failure at all costs, including taking calculated risks to achieve a better result.
Meanwhile, we can plainly see that success requires being innovative, breaking from tradition, taking risks, gaining skills, and other behaviors that defy the cultural pressures to follow, conform, and shy away from opportunities.
To be successful requires shifting from the traditional attitudes. Only by doing so can a person envision a future that's better than the past, then summon the courage to achieve it.
The way in which we handle failure is also critical: if we fear it and are crushed by it, we will cease to take the risks that are necessary to succeed, and achieve mediocrity at best. We must free ourselves of the fear of failure - accepting that not everything will succeed, that failure is not a permanent outcome but an attempt that did not work out as we had hoped. In that way, failure is not a reason to abandon our goals but a method of learning how to do better in future, when we try again.
Many of those who succeeded in life experienced multiple failures: professional athletes who were cut from their high-school team, best-selling authors whose manuscripts were rejected by dozens of publishers, successful businessmen who failed to turn a profit at their early projects, and great inventors who went through a dozen prototypes before making something that worked. How is it that we expect to achieve perfection on our first try?
Stereotypes and Assumptions
The author speaks of cultural stereotypes, which often exist because there are enough people to whom a given observation applies that it is assumed to be a standard behavior for everyone in the group. The observation that many people in France wear berets is scaled to the assumption that all French people wear berets at all times, which is plainly untrue.
Accepting a stereotype blinds us to the characteristics of an individual human being. It saves us the effort of paying attention and applying our higher mind to understanding their character. And in exchange for a quick assessment, we accept a poor assessment.
The same applies to our view of the world around us. We observe that things often happen, and move quickly to the assumption that they will always happen, again ignoring subtle and not-so-subtle distinctions that make each event largely unique.
The same applies to our beliefs about ourselves. When we succeed or fail at doing something, we move quickly to the assumption that the same course of action will achieve the same results in future, and to the assumption that we are "good" or "bad" at doing certain things, ignoring not only the idiosyncrasies of the event but those of our own character, and failing to consider our capacity to learn and grow.
Where multiple people share the same stereotypes and assumptions, they become cultural norms that are practiced frequently and reinforced by other participants. If it is common for coworkers to be hostile to one another, new members of the team get the sense that hostility is a cultural norm, and will feel pressured to conform.
Not all cultural norms are harmful: if it is common for coworkers to collaborate and share ideas, then new members of the team will get the sense that collaboration is a cultural norm, and will feel pressured to conform.
In that way, a leader looking to build a smart tribe must assess and repair the culture of his organization - to discouraging the norms that impeded success and encourage a set of norms that will facilitate success.
Changing a culture is difficult, but uses essentially the same techniques as changing an individual's character: it requires recognizing unproductive patterns of behavior, stopping them when they occur, and possibly replacing them with more positive approaches. The added difficulty for doing this with a group of people is that everyone must recognize and commit to solving the problem - but the added ease of doing this with a group of people is that they support and reinforce one another.
The author makes a seemingly silly (but likely effective) way of doing this: to identify the negative behavior and build consensus around a positive alternative, and then to use hand-signals in group discussions that identify when a negative pattern is emerging, so that the group can recognize it, stop it, and transition to the positive substitute.
Another difficulty in doing this is that our animal state often takes control - the most basic instincts kick in before our frontal cortex can be engaged, which means we act before we think, and this becomes a chain-reaction in others. The animal state is defensive, anxious, and risk-averse - and while the author acknowledges this can be useful sometimes, it is not productive at all times.
Again, success involves engaging the frontal cortex: to plan, solve problems, think abstractly, etc. rather than reacting out of anxiety and fear.
Common Triggers
The author lists a number of things that will push individuals into their animal state:
- Layoffs or reorganizations, budget cuts, etc. without explanation (better: explain the benefits of the reorganization to the company and the employees)
- Unreasonable demands and deadlines (better: explain the necessary end-state and allow employees latitude in negotiating to a solution to which they are willing to commit)
- Unclear expectations (better: clear and quantifiable expectations with specific criteria for success)
- Panic over environmental changes such as revenue loss or competition (better: a proactive plan for dealing with the difficulties that arise)
- Constant change for no apparent reason (better: correlating any change to the long-term strategy and explaining its necessity)
- Burnout (better: reasonable and sustainable demands)
- Conflict and competition (better: collaboration)
- Secrecy (better: transparency, or at least an explanation of the necessity of non-disclosure)
- Gossip (there should be zero tolerance)
- Politics, backstabbing, sabotage, and undermining (again, zero tolerance)
It's noted that occupations where there is a great deal of routine (the same tasks are performed repeatedly, in the same manner) or a great deal of stress (performance is critical to the organization's success) are more prone to have fear-based cultures in which management seeks to keep employees in an animal state.