All the Brains in the Business: The Engendered Brain in the 21st Century Organisation (The Neuroscience of Business)

The power of gender difference, not gender equality, is a secret source for success. Some smart businesses are starting to wake up to this fact. This book explores why and how. Properly valuing brain gender diversity in the workplace is one of the biggest and largely untapped sources of competitive advantage for modern businesses. Recent advances in neuroscience provide the key to unlocking it. Modern research shows that there are gender-based differences in the brain – it's just not as simple as a binary between a 'male brain' and 'female brain'. In fact, our brains are like a mosaic where many of the tiles are available in thousands of shades on a spectrum between pink and blue. The problem is that our workplaces tend to be governed by structures, processes and cultures that are practically pure blue. All the brains in the business that are elsewhere on the spectrum cannot thrive as they might, so sources of productivity, creativity and agility go untapped. Anyone who manages people needs to understand how the brain works and the impact it has on how people work together as teams. Anyone who wants to unlock the talent and productivity of all of their people needs to understand how recent findings around male- and female-type brains should shape the way they manage. Leading applied neuroscientists and international corporate coaches Kate Lanz and Paul Brown show you why and how to access all the brains in your business. Preface 6 Acknowledgements 11 About This Book 12 Contents 16 List of Figures 20 1 Brain Sex and Biological Sex 21 The Case for Creating Optimal Brain Conditions 21 The Sex of Your Brain 22 Brain and Biological Sex—Key Differences Between the Male and Female Brain 23 Structural Differences Between the Male and Female Brain 23 Blood Flow and Connectivity Differences Between the Male and Female Brain 24 Hormones 26 A Look at the Impact of Nature on the Developing Brain 27 The Brain in Utero 27 The First Two Years of the Developing Brain—The Beginnings of the Impact of Nurture on Nature 28 Puberty and Brain Development 29 Social Context and Its Influence on Brain Development 30 Getting to Know the Sex of Your Brain 31 Summary: Why Waste Brain Power at Work? 33 References 34 2 Conditions for Optimal Brain Function 36 The Strong Case for Biology as the Basis of Behaviour 36 A Story to Start a Metaphor May Help 37 A Newtonian Moment in Time 38 Brains Emerging into Being Observable Organs 41 Two New Brain-Related Sciences to Take on Board 43 Why We Are Each Unique 45 References 47 3 Survive, Thrive and Flow 48 The Search for Identity as the Basis of What the Differences Are 50 And Now It Gets Emotional 52 References 56 4 Brain Sex-Based Attention and Communication 57 Attention ♀ Attention ♂ 57 Tuning in to Faces and Feelings 58 Staying Connected and Seeking Approval 59 Emotional Tones 60 Gut Feelings 61 Mirroring 62 Language—Spoken and Unspoken 62 Empathy—The Magic of Intuition 64 Attention and Communication in the Workplace 64 Case Study—The Deal 64 Summary 66 References 67 5 Power, Politics and Pressure 69 Hierarchy and the Male Brain 69 Competition—The Neurobiology 70 Collaboration—The Neurobiology 71 Case Study—Financial Services Recruitment 72 Matching Behaviours Mistaken for Low Confidence 73 Office Politics—Workplace Culture and the Dominant in Group 74 The Positive Impact of Office Politics 75 Case Study—Going the Extra Mile Behind the Scenes 76 The Neurochemical Double Bind 77 Summary—The Testosterone Conundrum 78 References 79 6 Problem Solvers and Solution Seekers—The Difference Between Intra-compared with Inter-hemispheric Connectivity 81 The Problem-Solving Male Brain 83 The Collaborative Female Brain 84 Going Out for Dinner or Staying at Home! 85 A Woolly Mammoth in the Workplace? 85 Valuing the Difference 86 Powerful Discrimination—A New Concept for Accessing the Best of the Brains in the Business 86 What Underpins the Value in Powerful Discrimination? 87 Woolly Mammoths Are Easy to Spot—A Case Study 88 Accessing the Best of Both Sex Brains—The Gendersmart Solution SpectrumTM 91 Summary 93 References 94 7 The Beginnings of a New Motivational Theory, from the Engendered Brain 95 8 The Business Case for Valuing Brain Sex Difference 103 Embracing Gender Diversity at Work—The Numbers Stack Up 103 Glaciers Do Move—But Slowly 105 Creating Faster Flow—Powerful Discrimination 106 The Fine Line—Alpha Positive Meets Alpha Negative 107 Top Talent: Finding It, Keeping It—The Biggest Kicker Yet the Biggest Challenge 109 Triggering Survive Is Bad for Business! 110 Which Brain Types Are Not Optimising Thrive? 111 Innovation and Agility—The Polymath Brain for the Future 112 Case Study—A Global Institute 112 Summary 113 References 114 9 How to Ignite All the Brains in the Business 115 All the Brains at Work 115 Trust 115 The RICHTM Communication Model 117 R for Recognition 118 Example—RICHTM Communication Model in Action 119 I for Intention 119 Example—RICHTM Communication Model in Action 120 Challenge Plus Solution Generation 120 Example—RICHTM Communication Model in Action 121 H for Hope 121 Example—RICHTM Communication Model in Action 121 In a Nutshell 122 When to Use the RICHTM Communication Model 122 Meetings and the Brain 123 The 4Cs Meetings ModelTM 123 C for Connect 124 Case Study 124 For Example: A 4Cs Connect Technique 124 C for Compassion 125 C for Curiosity 126 C for Control 126 Case Study 127 Summary 128 References 129 10 Exhaustion, Energy and Excellence—The Male/Female Differences 130 The 3 Es 130 Synthetic or Authentic? 132 The Burn-Out Risk Comes About This Way 133 References 135 11 Creating the Mind of the Organisation 136 The Courage to Go On 136 There Are n Interlinking Answers, and Some Are Here 138 But We Don’t Really Know What ‘an Organisation’ Is 141 References 143 12 The New Organisational Paradigm 144 Getting Towards the Kind of Organisation Fit for Women and Men Together 144 At Last, a Working Model of the Mind 145 Real Life Mindlessness at Work 147 The Sustainable Organisation of the Twenty-First Century 149 And What Would the Capacity of the Leader Be Like? 150 When Algorithms Take Over from People 151 In Conclusion—All the Brains in the Business 153 Reference 153 Further Reading 154 Index 155 Front Matter ....Pages i-xxi Brain Sex and Biological Sex (Kate Lanz, Paul Brown)....Pages 1-15 Conditions for Optimal Brain Function (Kate Lanz, Paul Brown)....Pages 17-28 Survive, Thrive and Flow (Kate Lanz, Paul Brown)....Pages 29-37 Brain Sex-Based Attention and Communication (Kate Lanz, Paul Brown)....Pages 39-50 Power, Politics and Pressure (Kate Lanz, Paul Brown)....Pages 51-62 Problem Solvers and Solution Seekers—The Difference Between Intra-compared with Inter-hemispheric Connectivity (Kate Lanz, Paul Brown)....Pages 63-76 The Beginnings of a New Motivational Theory, from the Engendered Brain (Kate Lanz, Paul Brown)....Pages 77-84 The Business Case for Valuing Brain Sex Difference (Kate Lanz, Paul Brown)....Pages 85-96 How to Ignite All the Brains in the Business (Kate Lanz, Paul Brown)....Pages 97-111 Exhaustion, Energy and Excellence—The Male/Female Differences (Kate Lanz, Paul Brown)....Pages 113-118 Creating the Mind of the Organisation (Kate Lanz, Paul Brown)....Pages 119-126 The New Organisational Paradigm (Kate Lanz, Paul Brown)....Pages 127-136 Back Matter ....Pages 137-144