This article is the transcript of a spoken talk. The brain and behaviour mechanisms described are simplified for a general audience and are not clinical guidance. Sources for the research referenced appear at the end.
Leading technology organizations is tough. There's always way more detail and complexity than any mere mortal can understand. I'm Floyd Kelly, founder of NEUVERO. As a VP, I led global software teams. Now I use neuroscience to help executives and entrepreneurs unlock the unique potential in themselves and their teams.
During my career in leadership, I noticed how all of us find ways to defend against complexity. There was the manager who always said no, even before understanding the requirement, never enough people, always too many priorities. Or there was the developer who would say, put it on the backlog to avoid having a conversation about a new idea.
The executive who had no idea what I was working on, but was sure I was late.
Or the leader who angrily entered the meeting, demanding names and dates and my own defense over delegating, pushing complexity to smarter people than me, only to realize months later that I held the strategic context needed to actually solve the problem.
It turns out this is an evolutionary adaptive strategy. When we face complexity, our prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that allows flexible thinking, planning, and curiosity gets overloaded, and we take cognitive shortcuts. Imagine a tiger jumping out from behind a rock. Do you sit there and calculate the velocity and the distance to see how much time you have, or do you just run?
When the prefrontal cortex is taxed, attention shifts to the habit circuits in the basal ganglia. They're fast but rigid, shielding us from having to think. And when we don't feel safe, the amygdala fires making our reactions feel even more urgent, and our answers more indignant. That's why under pressure we default to no, abstract up to a level we can comprehend, delegate down or push off to another day. What's a leader to do? Luckily, we're not stuck with these defaults. Neuroscience offers us five practical skills that leaders can use to keep their brains and their teams flexible, creative, and effective under pressure.
First, preload flexible responses.
Start your day with an implementation intention. If I feel overwhelmed today, then I'll ask what can we learn here? It sounds simple, but it works. There was a meta-analysis of 94 studies that found that having an if then plan people were more likely to achieve their goals than those who set goals alone.
Preloading your prefrontal cortex with an if then plan makes it easier to overcome your automatic or habitual response. Number two, prime curiosity.
Begin difficult meetings with the question, what don't we know yet?
A 2019 study showed that curiosity biases the brain toward exploration, learning, and novelty.
By priming your hippocampus and midbrain for curiosity, you can unlock creativity for yourself and your team. Number three, embrace discomfort. Avoidance narrows options. Willingness to accept complexity expands them. Notice the stress or anxiety. Name it, and allow it without reacting. Model this for your teams. Say, yes, this is hard, and we can still choose the best response. Stay present with your challenges rather than delegating them down, abstracting them away, or pushing them out of sight.
Number four, make up good stories. Our brains tell stories under stress, and we often confuse those stories for facts. I'm failing, we're doomed. This will never work. To create flexibility, label your thinking. I'm noticing the thought that this project will fail. Treat that thought as data, signals not directives.
Use humor to exaggerate the seriousness of your thoughts. As an example, make your statement in the voice of a cartoon character. This project will definitely fail. Just doing that releases the grip of the thought and gets you into a more creative state.
Encourage your teams: if we're gonna make up stories, let's make them good ones. Number five, anchor in values when the going gets tough. Clear values act like a compass. When you know what matters most, you know what to stand for when things get tense. Values bring order out of chaos and long-term results rather than short-term trade-offs.
Complexity becomes solvable when you know where you're headed. Keep your brain in a creative state and tolerate uncertainty as you take committed action. NEUVERO is here to help you get the best from your team. If you would like some individualized training or coaching on the neuroscience of leadership, please book a call.
References
- Šimić, G., Tkalčić, M., Vukić, V., et al. (2021). Understanding emotions: Origins and roles of the amygdala. Biomolecules, 11(6), 823. doi:10.3390/biom11060823
- Datta, D., & Arnsten, A. F. T. (2019). Loss of prefrontal cortical higher cognition with uncontrollable stress. Brain Sciences, 9(5), 113. doi:10.3390/brainsci9050113
- Ashby, F. G., Turner, B. O., & Horvitz, J. C. (2010). Cortical and basal ganglia contributions to habit learning and automaticity. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 14(5), 208-215. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2010.02.001
- Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69-119. doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(06)38002-1
- Gruber, M. J., & Ranganath, C. (2019). How curiosity enhances hippocampus-dependent memory: The PACE framework. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 23(12), 1014-1025. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2019.10.003
- Rnic, K., Dozois, D. J. A., & Martin, R. A. (2016). Cognitive distortions, humor styles, and depression. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 12(3), 348-362. doi:10.5964/ejop.v12i3.1118
Adapted from the Neuvero video Overcoming Cognitive Complexity. Related: How to Break Your Team Out of Analysis Paralysis (the same defaulting under pressure, at decision speed) and The Human Harness, on the prefrontal cortex going offline under load.