The Cranky Middle Manager Show #312 The Future of the MBA Ken Starkey
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #192 Management Rewired with Charles Jacobs
Posted on 22. May, 2009 by Wayne in Podcast
Wayne Turmel talks to Charles Jacobs about why the way most of us manage goes against the way our brain really works. In Management Rewired we learn that feedback doesn’t work and we’re better off not getting raises. Oh and we look at a Roman emperor who understood empowerment even as he downsized the Senate.
Is everything you think you know about brain science telling you that you’re managing in the wrong way? Listen to Charlie here and make up your own mind.
Don’t forget our “How to Create and Manage Remote Teams” webinar workshops on June 26th. Learn why it’s critical we create human relationships even when we’re not close by, and free and low-cost tools to accomplish that.
For Europe and North America, click here to learn more and register.
For India/Asia/Australia, click here to learn more and register.
Show notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Maybe it’s not “what are they thinking?” but “What are they thinking with?”. Do our brains resist most management techniques? Well find out with Charles Jacobs, author of “Management Rewired”. Oh and we salute the Roman Emperor Claudius for his great management techniques… his downsizing style, not so much.
2:45 The quote of the week is from Thomas Huxley- are you learning as a child? It’s probably how your brain wants to work…….
3:30 Welcome Charlie Jacobs who is here to talk about some surprising brain research and why management tries to go against the natural order of things. Problem number one- none of us see the world the same way. Anyone who’s ever had a bad 360 knows that….. and our idea of seeking pleasure and pain maybe isn’t what we think it is.
7:00 Why isn’t money more of a motivator for us? The problem is that none of us look at it the same way. Why are you rewarding your people is actually more important than how you reward them.
10:10 Maybe the most controversial point in his book- feedback as most managers give it doesn’t work, even the most constructive feedback can cause a backlash. If it conflicts with your self image, you’ll reject it.
14:42 A lot of this research has been known for years, why is it so controversial? It causes cognitive dissonance. If what we do as managers isn’t important, what do they need us for and we discount it.
16:32 Cool brain science… Mirror Neurons are extremely cool things, but they not only apply to how we do things, but why…. it’s easy to ascribe motivations to behavior that might not be there. This is what allows us to have empathy… or not.
20:00 The best example of team management in the animal kingdom- slime mold. That’s right, slime mold. it’s actually a cool analogy if you’re not eating while you listen.
25:00 If you don’t walk it like you talk it, people are realllllly good at noticing that. Of coure, the opposite is also true. It is possible to learn leadership, but it takes discipline.
Charlie’s Resources
Management Rewired
The First Tycoon
Don't let the weasels get you down!
How do you produce show after show without you or the guests retelling a Dilbert comic? Or without even saying ‘pointy haired boss’ once in a while. This discussion with Charles certainly had me thinking of how Dilbert’s boss acts.
And while I’m at it, is Scott Adams on your ‘wish list’ for guests?