With the recent interest in applying neuroscience to improve organizational performance there is a great opportunity to really invest in the people that are the lifeblood of business; but with it also comes great responsibility to get it right.
As has been well publicised, with all the extra ‘hype’ surrounding neuroscience, there is a danger of following the pseudo-neuroscience that may have originated from over-zealous interpretations, vivid imaginations, and plain old misunderstandings – rather than being based on good science.
So how do we go about getting it right?
Who do you trust?
It’s firstly important to know who you can trust when it comes to applying neuroscience. Much of the science is inaccessible to most of us, hidden in research papers that few of us read. On our own we certainly cannot interpret the images from studies or understand how these translate into behaviour.
For this we are reliant upon the science being interpreted and presented in a way that the ‘average’ person understands – or at least a way that leadership understands.
Even then there are dangers of the message getting ‘lost in translation’. So in order for neuroscience to be applied meaningfully in our organizations, we need specialists who understand the science, are able to identify what it means in terms of our organizations, can communicate information clearly, and can help implement the ideas on the ground to ensure that they have been properly understood.
Such authorities are few and far between, but they are out there.
Where neuroscience can help in business
Below I highlight a few areas where the findings from neuroscience have already started to have a positive impact on the way organizations operate.
Leadership and teamwork
Getting the best out of our people requires leading them well. That, in turn, requires leaders who understand their people’s needs, motivations, and goals. Neuroscience is helping to shed light on some of these areas so that leaders can understand the team environment, team dynamics and the needs of individuals within those teams better. Not only does this make meetings more productive, conflict less likely and creative solutions to problems more likely, but it can be the catalyst to drive change across entire teams, departments and organizations.
Decision-Making
Neuroscience is also helping us understand how people make decisions. There are two distinct thinking systems: a primitive system in the emotional brain and a more rational, higher thinking system. Both are needed at different times, and being able to recognise when they are needed is one of the keys to successful decision-making. If we are aware of our own thinking processes – and the limitations of these – we are more likely to be able to improve decision making. Improved decisions mean better outcomes; and better outcomes mean better organizations.
Change management
Overcoming resistance to change from disengaged employees has been a problem for leadership for years. It is still one of the major roadblocks to success. Expecting people to change by imposing it from the outside almost never works and the findings of neuroscience suggest just how important it is for people to feel aligned to the change, to feel part of it, and to have meaning in their lives. Some of the new frameworks that have developed from neuroscience focus on ways that change can be introduced into organizations in a more inclusive way.
Customer experience
As well as understanding employees better, neuroscience has an important role to play in improving the customer experience. Understanding what motivates customers and how they make their buying decisions helps us improve these processes, develop relationships, and ultimately turn customers into our most fervent allies.
Focus and problem solving
Neuroscience has also shown how important focusing on the task in hand is, and the inability of human beings to ‘multitask’ no matter how good they think they are at it. Being able to focus completely, without distraction helps us solve problems more effectively – this has implications for almost every department in every organization.
The findings from neuroscience have huge potential to solve some of the key organizational challenges; but it needs to be introduced by professionals who understand both its power and its potential and who are skilled at communicating it.