Shine
Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People
by Edward M. Hallowell
Copyright 2011 Edward M. Hallowell
Summarized by permission of Harvard Business Press
224 pages
Focus Take-Aways
Leadership & Management
" Workers today are overwhelmed and disconnected, but they don t have to be.
Strategy
" Recent research in psychology and neuroscience gives managers new tools to help their
Sales & Marketing
staff members.
Finance
Human Resources
" Apply a five-step, science-based  Cycle of Excellence to manage your people better.
IT, Production & Logistics
Career & Self-Development
" The first step is to help people find the job that s right for them.
Small Business
Economics & Politics
" The second step is to help employees connect with those around them.
Industries
Global Business
" The third step is to foster creativity by encouraging play in the workplace.
Concepts & Trends
" The fourth step is to help people identify their most crucial work and focus diligently on it.
" The fifth step is to recognize staff members for the hard work they ve done.
" Each step lays a foundation for the next; you can t skip ahead.
" Each step builds on the previous steps scientifically and synergistically, to lift people s
spirits, generate creativity and raise productivity.
Rating (10 is best)
Overall Applicability Innovation Style
9 9 8 9
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Relevance
What You Will Learn
In this Abstract, you will learn:r1) What contemporary neuroscience can teach managers;
and 2) How to use the five-step  Cycle of Excellence to boost employee performance
and productivity.
Recommendation
Psychiatrist Edward M. Hallowell starts by offering new information about human
cognition and moves into explaining how to manage people better based on systematically
applying fresh findings in neuroscience. He also confirms or debunks some earlier
concepts about cognition. Hallowell goes on to suggest a solid, five-step, scientifically
grounded  Cycle of Excellence that managers can use to improve performance and
productivity. The advice is clear and cumulative: find the right job fit, build connection,
foster play, commit to work and reward excellence. getAbstract recommends his
perceptive advice to those who are interested in the science behind human motivation,
including human resource officers and managers seeking to bring out the very best in their
employees, allowing them to  shine in their everyday work.
Abstract
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Neuroscience, Management and the Need for Change
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Contemporary managers face new challenges. They don t just have to do more with
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 Smart is overrated.
less (a common problem), they also have to do it while swamped with emails, tweets
Talent is overrated.
and blog updates. That new wrinkle results in  the first modern paradox : People are
Breeding, Ivy
more connected electronically than ever before, but, at the same time, they re more
League education,
sophistication, wit,
lonely and isolated emotionally. As a result, many workers are unhappy, unproductive or
eloquence, and
inexplicably stalled. As a manager, you can help by recognizing that if your employees
good looks  they
matter, but they re are overwhelmed you need to make workplace adjustments. People s need for emotional
all overrated. What
connection is real, and fulfilling it is essential to their productivity.
really matters is
what you do with
This claim isn t some squishy nicety based on a vague desire for everyone to get along.
what you ve got.
Indeed, the opposite is true. The predominant wave of neuroscience research since the
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1990s recognizes that people have an innate need for connection. During the same period,
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the field of psychology changed as well, focusing less on neurosis and dysfunction and
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research into the general topic of understanding happiness, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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identified and named  flow, the essential experience of being in a perfect zone of
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and those of other  positive psychology researchers to your core challenges, such as
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getting the most out of your workers.
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Until recently, scientists believed that the brain was relatively fixed once people became
 Bringing the best
out of people today
adults, but recent discoveries show that the brain is  remarkably plastic : It can  grow
requires that you
and change throughout your lifetime. You can take advantage of the brain s ability to
create harmony.
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to  shine at their work.
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These findings shape a methodical, five-step  Cycle of Excellence managers can use with
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any worker in any situation, from the solo operator of a shoeshine stand to the workforce
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of a big corporation. However, you can t skip any of the steps in this cycle. For instance,
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jumping to step four, in which you ask people to buckle down and work harder, without
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 When the match
helping their people to use new technologies properly and to regulate their lives rather than
between employee
becoming crazy busy, then they can become positively and usefully connected. You must
and task is wrong,
everything that lay this foundation one step at a time, knowing that  the synthesis of the five steps...leads
follows, no matter
to excellence.
how diligently
pursued or fervently
desired, suffers. 1.  Select: Put the Person in the Right Job
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 Select means getting people into the right roles so they are doing work that suits them.
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Selection involves paying attention to three areas: what people like to do, what they do best
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third of employees feel they ve  reached a dead end in their jobs. Too often this happens
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because they never found the right job. When someone is in the wrong position, no matter
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how hard they work, their ability to succeed is limited. Instead, help your employees find
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their passion.
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People end up in the wrong jobs for many reasons. For example, someone who loves to
 Working hard in
the wrong job is read might apply at a publishing house to work with authors, not realizing that he or she
like marrying the
lacks the requisite  social skills. Another person might follow his or her parents wishes,
wrong person: It will
without considering whether that job is really suitable. A third might pursue a dream job
involve lots of hard
work but few happy
without carefully thinking about what it really entails. Sometimes following your dreams
days.
is naive, even foolish: Imagine trying to be what you wanted to be when you were a child.
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As a manager, your responsibilities include watching for people whose jobs are the
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engaged, recognize those behaviors as warning signs. Workers who don t have fun on the
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job may be mismatched. Help staffers find jobs that better fit who they really are.
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Start with focused interviews discussing their job fit from several directions. Ask what
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they do best and like doing most (which often are different). Guide them to enumerate
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skills they re proud of, abilities they wish to build up and any undeveloped talents they
 Disconnection
is one of the have. Ask them to list skills they ve improved over time, skills they haven t polished and
chief causes of
missing skills that block their way. Review what sort of people they like to work with
substandard
and what kind of  organizational culture they prefer. Shift perspectives: Ask what they
work...But it is also
one of the most don t want to do, what work-related lessons they would tell their kids and what aspects
easily corrected.
of their work seem valuable.
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Use the information from this conversation to help your people find the right jobs. Observe
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the limited challenges of a job that requires few skills. Workers who are challenged but
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lack adequate skills tend to worry anxiously. People with strong skills but no challenges
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becomes absorbed in challenging work.
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You can also assess selection by evaluating an employee s  conative style. The way
 All people look
bad when they have people naturally solve problems is their  conation. Everyone has an innate approach to
chosen the wrong
figuring things out, even a toddler playing with toys. People set priorities based on their
dream.
conative approach. Conation expert Kathy Kolbe identifies four equally valid conative
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person can be  resistant, insistent, or in between, and can be more or less accommodating
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to the style s demands. Fact finders need data and ask lots of questions. Someone
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strong in follow-through is good at scheduling and at executing plans in an organized
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 Play is what
entrepreneurs, while insistent implementors are hands-on builders. Most good managers
humans can do and
are accommodating, which enables them work to with people all along this spectrum.
computers can t.
Play is the activity of
the mind that allows
2.  Connect: The Most Powerful Step
you to dream up
Disengaged employees often feel distant from other people, their organization and their
novel approaches,
fresh plans. jobs, and that disconnection drains their energy. They can work, but often they just go
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through the motions, because it seems as though their effort doesn t matter and nobody
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cares about it. A good manager can reverse that disconnection by finding ways for
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and by removing obstacles to connection. That sense of connection drives excellence and
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helps people produce at a higher level. In fact, if you ask happy people why they re happy,
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often they will credit a specific person who played a formative role in their lives. People
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flourish because they connect.
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However, sometimes they don t connect easily or simply. In fact, everyone carries positive
 We all bring
transference, this and negative biases based on past experiences. They perceive new people through old,
simmering kettle of
distorted lenses. Therapists call this unconscious carryover  transference and positive
old relationships,
 idealizing transference is one reason your workers think you re a great manager. Accept
with us wherever we
go, and it shoots up
that and work with it, but be prepared when you encounter  negative transference.
out of us suddenly
Handling this distortion of your current interactions can be challenging, but your job as a
without warning.
manager includes helping people reach past this poisonous vestige of the past and bond
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with each other in the present.
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Everyone profits when people connect, according to scientists who study the benefits of
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social networks. They find that when someone you re genuinely connected to gets happier,
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so do you. (Electronic connections don t count.) So if you let your happiness show, the
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people working for you will get happier and will work more productively. You can t
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fake happiness, but you can cultivate and practice it. To counter common workplace fear,
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reach out to people; let them know they can make mistakes. Fear undermines productivity
 In the absence
because it disrupts the areas of the brain responsible for laughter, creativity and empathy.
of connection,
fear usually rules.
Prioritize making your workplace more connected. Talk to people, show genuine interest
Fear is the great
disconnector. It is and share experiences. Schedule time for them to get to know one another. Pay attention
rampant in modern
to what your workers are doing. Try limiting email so they focus on real-time human
organizations.
interactions. Hold gatherings and offer refreshments so people relax and socialize. Look
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for ways to make your workplace more welcoming, such as installing better lighting
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and encouraging people to take breaks when they re stressed. Tell your employees that
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reaching out to each other is good.
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3.  Play Unearths Talent and Ideas
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Innately human play is essential for  peak performance. All genuinely creative actions
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have an element of play, which helps people bond and reduces stress. Working in a
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machine-like, rule-bound way might be productive in an old-style factory, but it won t
 People avoid
help you adapt and innovate in today s creative market. To promote play, ask open-ended
thinking by being
too busy to think.
questions so people have to think. Liven up your workplace with special days, like a  Bad
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Dress Day. Provide a warm atmosphere and ample tools for creativity, like whiteboards,
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markers and tables in conversational groupings.
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Jumpstart innovation with creative thinking techniques, like saying in a meeting,  We ve
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got a big problem here. Everyone is too productive. What can we do to reduce
 Excellence occurs
in direct proportion productivity? By challenging people to imagine something contrarian, you ll spark
to necessary
laughter and fresh thinking. Give workers flexibility; encourage them to engage their
suffering, but in
creativity by taking a trip or playing with little kids. When you play, your brain secretes
inverse proportion
to unnecessary more  brain-derived neurotropic factor, which promotes brain nerve growth. Play
suffering or toxic
activates the amygdala, which helps you manage your emotions and spurs activity in
stress.
your prefrontal cortex, home of your  executive functions. This part of your brain plans,
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prioritizes and handles other skills that are central in business.
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4.  Grapple and Grow: Making Work Pay Off
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String that jumps People want to make progress and grow by working hard, but first they have to be in the
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right job, connected and imaginatively engaged. When they are ready for Step 4, help your
 If you are
people contend with their main challenges and think them through. Many people can t
managing others,
they will perform
shut out common distractions so they can focus. They lack self-knowledge, so they often
better if you yourself
don t recognize how they re getting in their own way. They need you to help them deal
are happy and show
with stress. To do their best work, people need the right amount of challenge  or good
your joy.
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stress  not fear and anxiety. Your job is to provide good stress and eliminate bad stress,
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so people can focus. By stepping in when they re stuck and asking just enough questions
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to generate forward motion, you can help people think and eliminate distractions.
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Monitor your workers to make sure they aren t frustrated. Demonstrate  grit, so they
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know what hard work looks like. Purge fear from the workplace. Help people connect
 The manager
and develop productive work routines and environments, which should be personalized,
who can encourage
play, who can
individualized and friendly. Encourage conversations, walks outside and brief breaks to
model imaginative
blow off stress and recharge creativity. Offer second opinions, and then let your employees
engagement and
be quiet and work.
encourage others
to do so, is the
manager who
5.  Shine: Recognition Picks Everyone Up
brings out the best
For people to shine at work, you have to acknowledge them and their efforts. This
in...people.
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recognition can range from an informal word of thanks to a bonus or a formal celebration.
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Like the other steps in the Cycle of Excellence, this may sound simple, but recognition has
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its challenges. How do you balance praise? How do you deal with showoffs or flatterers?
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Start with the basics: Praise people instead of focusing on errors and mistakes. Then
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move to simple observation: Without making a fuss, simply pay attention to what your
 The more a
people are doing well and acknowledge it verbally. This builds connections. It also makes
manager can help
the people who work
unethical action less likely, because instead of holding to some abstract code, people
for him or her to
will be staying true to you and to their peers. Research says that one in six workers
shine, the greater
feels  unrecognized, misunderstood, devalued and generally disconnected. Use rewards
that manager will
be, and the greater
to counteract this problem and integrate everyone more fully into the workforce. Once
the organization as
you ve created this base, make a big deal out of acknowledging workers, at least once
a whole.
in a while. You can make this process highly individualized or add it to a systematic
recognition program, but use it wisely to honor excellence.
About the Author
Psychiatrist Edward M. Hallowell has written 18 books, including Driven to Distraction
and CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap. He heads the Hallowell
Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health and teaches at Harvard Medical School.
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