“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” is a widely known business aphorism. While it is not clear who actually coined it (Was it Steve Jobs or Jack Welch?) that does not matter. The fact is it is true. The dominant culture in an organisation shapes what gets done and how effectively. This impacts every layer and level of the business and therefore profoundly effects business outcomes, profits, employee engagement and retention.
One of the silent influences over culture is the degree of brain diversity that gets either heard and included or blocked out by the cultural norms and the systems and processes at the heart of the organisation. What do I mean by this? Let’s take a look.
The brain sex spectrum
Your brain is as unique to you as your fingerprint. That said, each of our brains exists within the general neurobiological sex differences between male and female brains. It is important to be aware of these brain sex differences to truly access brain diversity at work.
Brain sex, which is always a combination of nature and nurture, can be measured on a scale from very male to very female. It is possible to be a woman with a more male brain sex score and vice versa. The point is that the dominant group tends to shape culture in a silent and often overlooked way.
It may not surprise you that many corporate performance measures tend to have been designed by and better suit brains at the more male end of the brain sex spectrum. What gets measured and rewarded impacts what gets done and how it gets done. The silent influences on culture are the most potent.
Collective intelligence suffers
My doctoral research has demonstrated that when one examines the distribution of the dominant types of brain in a group of leaders, the distribution tends to show a greater number of brains at the more male end of the brain sex spectrum. This can mean that a dominant culture develops which inadvertently suits some brains better than others.
Those who are not part of the dominant group can feel a little like the odd ones out, less well understood or perhaps less actively included in the discussion and decision-making process.
When counter-cultural hires fail
This was demonstrated by a young man I once coached who had been hired as he was counter-cultural (ie. he was not of the dominant brain sex group amongst many other differences). The organisation brought him on board to provide a different viewpoint and help create innovative solutions. He felt excluded and said to me “The thing is Kate….my face does not quite fit around here…so I mostly don’t get asked what I think and it is hard for me to break into the discussion and be heard…I will give it a couple more months and then I will start looking for a new job”.
It was a waste on so many levels. The time, money and care that HR had put in to find him and hire him was potentially lost. His brilliant brain was not being heard so his contribution to innovation was not being accessed. There was no malintent in the mix at all, everyone believed they were welcoming. Yet they could not see how the dominant culture was overriding difference and silencing it.
Create and access collective intelligence: LINK
Research consistently demonstrates clearly that considering diverse viewpoints at all stages of the work task creates the best business outcomes. But genuinely including diversity is surprisingly difficult, as the case of the young counter-cultural hire demonstrates.
So, what do leaders need to pay attention to and what action can they take to ensure they access collective wisdom in their organisations? Here is a simple four-step approach to leveraging brain diversity and creating the conditions for collective intelligence to flourish.
L: Look for difference and hire it in
This takes courage and active intellectual compassion. Our brains have evolved to detect and resist being with people who feel different from us. Show real leadership and confidence in bringing in difference to your teams.
I: Include that difference actively
Use brain-friendly approaches to actively give diverse brains a voice in the discussion. Consider the 4 Cs Model from my research – Connect, Compassion, Curiosity and Control. This is a applied neuroscience for including the best of all the brains.
N: Notice how each diverse brain is responding
If you notice an outsider struggling to be heard, act quickly to facilitate inclusion. Empower the leaders in question to do this so that they do not feel disenfranchised.
There are many ways to do this, such as a round at the end of the meeting asking for one thing that worked well and one thing that would make the meeting more effective. This can be supported by confidential offline fast feedback, especially from the new people to find out how included they feel.
K: Keep caring
It can be easy to make an effort at the induction phase of bringing new people in but how it feels for the different brains in the mid and longer term is what counts. Keep your leaders aware and caring. Creating sustainable access to collective intelligence is what creates long-term business advantage.
Finding the best of collective intelligence
Remember “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – so spot the hidden influences on your culture and cultivate a place where brain diversity is truly and always welcome. This will access the best of collective intelligence, creating wisdom, welcoming a wide variety of brains and driving long-term high performance.
