It’s tough to think of a business that could survive, much less thrive, sans deadlines. It’s just not realistic. Instead, experts suggest organizations help employees and leaders reduce stress and access the creative parts of their brains when under pressure. Exercises like meditation, in which the mind wanders, encourage creativity.
2. Feelings of uncertainty undermine decisions. A study has shown feelings of uncertainty activated brain centers associated with anxiety and disgust, or more frankly, “doom and gloom.” The study showed 75 percent of people in uncertain situations mistakenly predicted bad things would happen, so decisions made in this state of mind “could turn out to be exactly the wrong moves,” according to the report.
Leaders working in uncertain times — a description that applies to all in healthcare — may be hesitant to hire new staff or invest in new equipment, for example, even though these things would help the company gain ground on its competition.
Experts suggest leaders learn to accept the uncertainty that comes with their work, and to be aware that their responses are likely exaggerated. Reframing issues in positive terms can mitigate doom-and-gloom decision making.
3. Facts aren’t more important than emotions. The relationship between emotions and cold, hard logic has long been tense in the world of business. The prototype of a top business executive is one who cuts through social and emotional thinking to get to the facts, but research suggests the best leaders seem to depend on their emotions much more than logic.
As part of a study from Emory University in Atlanta, researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to scan the brains of midcareer executives while they made recommendations for a set of management scenarios. Researchers expected to see the most activity in the prefrontal cortex, which is known for its involvement in logical reasoning. There was activity there, but areas of the brain responsible for social and emotional thinking actually ended up being dominant.
“The potential conclusion is that people who are good at strategy are better at sensing or feeling their way through strategies, rather than relying only on logic and being rational,” David Rock, co-founder and director of Australian research organization NeuroLeadership Institute, said in the report. Strong social thinking lets leaders assess problems from someone else’s perspective, and that is just as important as analytical abilities, the research suggested.
The difficulty here is that many people have a hard time switching back and forth from their social and analytical modes of thought. Simple reminders to do so can help. For instance, if leaders are aware of their tendency to get caught up in numbers or statistics in meetings, they can make reminders to themselves “to take the social temperature of the room at regular intervals,” according to the report.
