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Brains, hormones and time - the invisible causes of better workplace culture

Season 8, Ep. 159

Are there forces at work that might impact the way work feels? Could we use those forces to make work better?


This discussion with Robin Dunbar and Tracey Camilleri took me to places I hadn't expected to go. That hormones, our brains and time would play a part in the relationships we forge at work isn't something that you would expect to find in a company's culture document, but as you'll hear today they forge a vital component of better team work.


Hormones are triggered by emotional interactions with other humans. Uniquely they only tend to work face-to-face. Hormones can help us build affinity with others in a powerful way that is often overlooked.


Brain-size impacts the connections we have with those people. At the core of human experience is our closest one (or two) relationships. There’s a small circle of 4 or 5 people who sit at the heart of our lives, and up to 15 who make up the majority of our time.


And that time is critical for the strength of those connections. We spent 40% of our time with our 5 closest relationships, and 60% with the top 15. By spending time we can become close friends with people in our lives.


The Social Brain by Tracey Camilleri, Samantha Rockey and Robin Dunbar is out now.

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Monday, March 20, 2023

Curiosity, creativity and AI

Season 8, Ep. 161
Today’s discussion should land you right in the sweetspot of thinking about AI for your own job by taking a step back, by asking yourself how you can connect with AI and why you should. Today’s guest Professor Costas Andriopoulos explain curiosity is the engine of creativity. And by striving to be curious our minds will surprise us with the creativity that results.There was a wonderful piece of work five years ago by Francesco Gino from Harvard Business School that looked into curiosity. It found that of more than 3,000 employees from a wide range of firms and industries, only about 24% reported feeling curious in their jobs on a regular basis, and about 70% said they face barriers to asking more questions at work. In a study of 120 employees it was found that natural curiosity was associated with better job performance, as evaluated by their direct bosses.In the survey of more than 3,000 employees mentioned earlier, 92% credited curious people with bringing new ideas into teams and organizations and viewed curiosity as a catalyst for job satisfaction, motivation, innovation, and high performance.Professor Costas Andriopoulous is a Professor of Management and Associate Dean for Entrepreneurship at Bayes Business School, City of London University.Links for today:Professor Costas' book: Purposeful Curiosity: How asking the right questions will change your life Promptbase - is a marketplace for AI prompts (you’ll get the best value from it if you sign up for a paid subscription on Midjourney). Here’s my own experimentsIf you’re interested in generative AI for business then the posts by Ethan Mollick are essential to follow (‘Come up with names for a pasta restaurant Now read the Igor Naming Guide on how to name companies, give me better suggestions. Check those names for trademark violations. Make up unique names that won't violate trademark, explain them’) I find that having inspiration can prompt your own imagination and this gallery can give you ideas.