Management Rewired: Why Feedback Doesn't Work and Other Surprising Lessons from the Latest Brain Science

by Charles S. Jacobs

Book Overview

Businesspeople are taught to make decisions with facts and logic and to avoid emotional bias. But according to the latest research, people almost never decide rationally, despite thinking that they do. Human experience carries an emotional charge - and when people try to deny what emotions are telling them, they're losing what they've learned from the past. Charles Jacobs shows that understanding the lessons of neuroscience can help create better...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159184262X
• ISBN13: 9781591842620
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Portfolio
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

pulls together all those "obvious" bits

"Management Rewired" is about making business organizations leverage actual human behavior rather than fight it, written by a management consultant. It strikes what I find a nice balance between practice and theory. It's not just a collection of war stories with no clear connection and no organization. Neither is it one of those "this should work, because our theory predicts it" tracts. It's much more meaty than many "new management" volumes. It doesn't come across as hopelessly starry-eyed, and it doesn't read like the product of a "motivational speaker". Another way to describe what this book is is to describe what it isn't: If you're looking for a sweeping and comprehensive overview of the last decade of neuroscience, look elsewhere. If you're looking for neuroscience to be the "prime mover/principal motivation" behind everything, look elsewhere. If you're looking for detailed descriptions of experiments including their results, look elsewhere. One of the book's themes is defined well by the dedication(!): To Jonas, the teacher who taught me the value of ideas, and to my daughters, Julia and Emma, who will only listen to stories. In other words: just marry great ideas to compelling stories, and detailed behaviors will take care of themselves. Another theme is that the competition reacts to us, it doesn't just roll around purposelessly and predictably like a billiard ball. For example if we drop our price, our competition is likely to drop their price too. Yet another theme is the author's thorough trashing of Frederick Winslow Taylor's "scientific management" ("Taylorism"). It badly mis-matches the way humans actually think and behave. Its probable origin from a military analogy was always dubious. It worked fairly well for a while, but it doesn't work very well any more, and we now know of much better ways. Unfortunately Taylorism's theoretical underpinnings survive deeply enmeshed in the very structure of too many business organizations, where rooting them out can be a major task. The backbone of the book is the "personal guiding philosophy" of the author, which has presumably grown out of his many years of experience. Its presentation is considerably supported by stories from science and history. Much of the science is neuroscience and is recent ...but not all of it. The reproductive behavior of the Acrasiales slime mold appears. George Homans masterwork "The Human Group" from 1950 is mentioned more than once. There's talk of observing Jane Goodall's chimpanzees too. The history often veers into outright myth, and is presented largely as simple story lines and metaphors: The Trojan Horse, The Illiad vs. The Odyssey, Aristotle vs. Socrates, The Battle of Agincourt, etc. From what I know from other sources, the science is neither grossly misinterpreted nor overly cherry-picked. In fact, the interpretation is pretty mainstream and reasonable. But to be fair, what the book presents isn't the _only_ reasonable way to interpret the scien

Why "we need to rethink everything we thought we knew about management"

In recent years, a number of books have discussed recent research in neurological science and its relevance to traditional theories about knowledge and how we process it. Among the many revelations, Charles Jacobs notes in the Introduction to this book, "perhaps the most surprising discovery has come from mapping the path information travels from our sense organs to our awareness of the world we live in. Not only are the perceptual areas of the brain involved, so are the areas responsible for our memories, our feelings, our beliefs, and our aspirations. Our minds aren't objectively recording our experience of the world; they're creating it, and the creation is influenced by everything elder going on in the brain. Each of us lives in a mental state of our own making...Rather than sharing the same world, we all inhabit a world that is uniquely our own." That has serious implications for those entrusted with management responsibilities "because we are not managing in a physical world but in a mental world, much of what is taken for granted as the right way to manage is actually the opposite of what we want to do. But to be more effective requires only a simple shift in perspective." How so? "Instead of seeing the world through the lens of Newtonian mechanics, we start seeing it as a process of natural selection. Rather than viewing people as inanimate objects, we recognize that they're thinking beings acting of their own volition. Because of the way the brain is organized, if we can keep this perspective in mind, we'll know the right things to do." Jacobs asserts that "much of what is taken for granted as the right way to manage is actually the opposite of what we want to do," that the world we experience exists only in our heads, our thinking is never objective, and our emotions lead to better decisions than our logic. Given that, what specifically does he recommend to his reader? 1. Leverage the mind to stop doing what doesn't work (and never will) so that it can concentrate on doing what does work. There should be continuous improvement of what is most important. 2. Stop offering feedback to direct reports. It is usually ignored and often resented. Instead, ask questions, listen intently to responses, and then repeat them back in your own words. 3. Workers appreciate recognition much more than they do rewards. In fact, rewards frequently diminish rather than increase their motivation. 4. Eliminate preoccupuation with short-term goals because they are distractions; focus on achieving long-term objectives. 5. Anticipate the future by identifying -- and preparing for - the most likely contingencies. That will help to make better decisions, and to influence other people to do what must be done in preparation for a future that is never predictable but nonetheless. The lessons of brain science have far reaching ramifications, but with immediate practical applications. 6. Consciously use natural selection as a "lens" through which to

Cognitive Neuroscience Made Accessible

Charlie Jacobs has researched and written a terrific book that makes cognitive neuroscience accessible to non-scientists. The book takes the reader through the current science and makes the information understandable. Jacobs helps relate the material to the workplace and raises issues that managers should be considering. If you have any interest in cognitive neuroscience, this is an excellent starting place to help you to understand the impact that this research can have on the way we live and the way we do business.

Rewiring Management's Approach to Motivation

Charles Jacobs gives us a scientific approach to employee motivation, and the good news is; it's not complicated to understand. It simply involves a slight paradigm shift for many organizations; treating employees like they are actually real, live, human beings, with brains and everything. The successful organizations of today are already doing that, without realizing how scientific their approach was; many call it "common sense". Those who fail to grasp this concept may be left with a bunch of disillusioned employees running around, collecting paychecks, and not really engaged in the process of "work". The result for those organizations that "don't get it" is usually one that is beset with low morale, high turnover, and decreased productivity. In other words, welcome to the current state of affairs in Corporate America; but help is on the way. Understanding the psychological factors---"the latest brain science"---will go a long way to breed the right atmosphere for success in the new, improved, and enlightened organization. Rewiring management's approach to employee motivation and engagement may be difficult to "sell" to many of the pompous CEOs of Corporate America; however, as our new President has preached, "it's time for a change."

How to lead a horse to water and get it to drink, be the horse

//Management Rewired// explores the implications of the latest discoveries of neurosciences as they relate to business management and leadership. With the invention of the functional magnetic resonance image (fMRI), scientists are able to view the brain as individuals process information and perceive reality. These discoveries directly challenge long-held beliefs of how to motivate people. Jacobs demonstrates how common managerial practices produce the opposite of the desired results and shows that indirect or counterintuitive practices actually produce far more favorable results. This is a must-read for anyone who leads people. //Management Rewired// saves potential leaders many years of trial and error and illustrates how to truly motivate individuals by showing leaders how people actually perceive and respond to their actions. Jacobs does an excellent job of taking complex science and presenting the material in an interesting and intriguing manner. He is an effective storyteller that adeptly uses historical business examples to demonstrate the latest scientific findings. It gives the reader the ability to understand complex scientific research without requiring them to have a Ph.D. To his credit, Jacob doesn't present his ideas as a silver bullet for management, but rather as a guideline for leaders to develop their own leadership style. This book should be required reading at West Point. Reviewed by Mike Scott