1. How cultural traits to which we are exposed impact our brains
2. How our brain and its processes impact the emergence and transmission of cultural traits

Newsweek had an interesting short article by Sharon Begley that offers just a glimpse into this field. She recounts a study comparing how, for Chinese and Westerners, the medial prefrontal cortex (a section of the brain) swings into action when they pondered whether a particular adjective describes themselves. The same area activated for both groups.

What is interesting is that the same brain area also fired for the Chinese when considering whether the word applied as well to their mother. For the Westerners, it did not. For them, there was no overlap.

What can we in management do with this information? I’m not sure. But for me it just underlines how powerfully our culture, experiences and thoughts carve deep neural pathways in our brain circuitry, pathways that guide our default, unconscious behavior and decisions. Begley puts it so much better:

…our lives leave footprints on the bumps and fissures of our cortex.

During the facilitated debrief discussion an interesting issue emerged. One woman said that, when the process seemed to hit its highest point of chaos, she sorely wanted to get up, grab a marker, approach the flip chart, and start leading her colleagues by capturing what they were saying and organizing it into a coherent strategy to solve the problem more quickly.

I asked her, “Why didn’t you do that?” She replied, “Because I didn’t want them to think I was being too controlling. I wanted them to see me as a team player.” Notice the assumption she had made about how they would perceive her well-intentioned act to contribute her particular strength (organizing) to the success of the group effort.

I turned to the group and asked them, “If she had stepped up and done this, (1) would you have seen it as controlling and not being a team player and (2) would it have helped you solve the problem faster than you did?” They all agreed that they would have appreciated, not resented or judged, her action and that it would indeed have helped them perform better.

This was what we in the training field call a “teachable moment.” The woman who had hesitated to step forward in the exercise learned to question her assumptions and, if her spirit of intent is genuine, to take the risk of contributing where she has a skill. The group learned the importance of making it OK (i.e. safe) for individual members to step forward and take such risks. Both innovative thinking and improved group performance requires this.

Have you made it clear to your staff that will support them when they bring their particular skills and perspectives forward when they have an idea or a better way to proceed? You may think you have but don’t assume that they have received the message!

A few years back my colleague Dave Riveness wrote a nifty little book called The Secret Life of the Corporate Jester. In it he draws an intriguing parallel between the need kings of olden days had for a jester and the need modern senior leaders have for people to speak the truth to them, to point out where they have blind spots to truths/facts that could hurt the organization. Sometimes the blind spots have to do with what the company is or isn’t attending to. Other times (“Danger, danger, Will Robinson”) they are about the leader himself/herself.

Depending upon the level of adult development of the leader, being one to speak truth to power can be dangerous, especially if you have no official devil’s advocate mandate to do so. Even with such permission, being a modern jester is an art. To quote David:

The true skill of a jester lies not only in being able to recognize blind spots, but also in understanding how to assist others to become aware of them, without bruising egos.

…the essence of jestership: the ability to access truth lying hidden and undiscovered in the blind spots.

David then very creatively looks at some important blind spots leaders should be aware of and be open to exploring. He does this by briefly recounting a number of classic stories and images from history, myths, fairy tales, and fables. A couple of examples are The Sword of Damocles, The Rosetta Stone, and the Flight of Icarus (too close to the sun). After each story he invites you to identify the blind spot to which the story is referring before he makes some linkages for you.

This book speaks to leaders at a remarkably deep level because the images of the jester and the many fables are rooted in archetypes contained in the human condition (e.g. self-delusion, the raw fear of consequences from making a decision, acting on unverified assumptions).

Not only will this book help you reflect on your own blind spots, but you might even find yourself reading to your team Dave’s thumbnail on The Sword in the Stone and challenging them to draw out the learning for your unit or organization.