Lee Newman and Joaquín UríbarriIE Business School, IE School of Social & Behavioral SciencesEvolving Corporate Universities ▪ Zurich ▪ February 2012

Behavioral science for optimizing human performance.

The coming behavioral revolution in leadership.

Motivation.

Financial performance: depends on achieving excellence in human performance.

Managing human performance is becoming increasingly difficult.

Globalization

Ambiguity & Uncertainty

Digitalization

Information Overload

Situation

Challenge

Motivation.

Revolution in leadership development, shaped by

explosion in behavioral sciences.

Our Prediction

Behavioral leadership.

Behavioral science: New implications for leadership.

Behavioral EconomicsBehavioral Decision MakingCognitive & Social PsychologyNeuroscience

Science

WorkplaceReflexive, default repertoires.Prone to bias, error.Predictable: Most people, much of time.

1

2

3

Married and looking.

Stefan is looking at Ana...…but Ana is looking at George.

Stefan is married, but George is not.

Q: Is a married person looking at

an unmarried person?

Stanovich, Toplak & West (Winter, 2010), Rotman Magazine.

What’s the correct answer?Is an unmarried person looking at a married person?

Stefan(married

)

Ana(?) George

(unmarried)

Yes No

Can't Determ

ine

7% 4%

89%Young Professionals

% R

espo

nden

ts

Yes No

Can't Determ

ine

17% 18%

65%

Senior Managers

% R

espo

nden

ts

The thinking managers do, every day.

If we do__, likely that competitors will __, and customers will __, leading to __, which could then… However, if we…

If disagree with him openly in the meeting … he is likely to feel ___ , which may cause him to react by _____

…limited time…under pressure

Emotional System

Sneaky

Mindware: 100 billion neurons, why so difficult?

Gospik, Mohlin, et al ( 2011), PLoS Biology.

Working Memory

“CEO” of Thinking

Mental Attention

Long-Term Memory

Low Power

Noisy

Too Small

Poor Multi-

TaskingCognitive

Limitations.Our brains: developed for world that no longer exists.

Mindware we use to think & reason

is very limited.Behavior Matters

Situation: Dealing with uncertainty.

Given €1000Get €500 more, for sure.

Get €1000 or €0 (50/50%)

Given €2000Give up €500 for sure.

Give up €1000 or €0 (50/50%)

A

B

A

B

What do people do?

Sure Thing Risky Bet

94%

6%% P

artic

ipan

ts

Sure Thing

Risky Bet

28%

72%

% P

artic

ipan

ts

Getting More

Giving Up

Negatives hurt 2-3x as

much as positives please.Daniel Kahneman

2002 Nobel Prize in Economics.

Behavior Matters

Situation: The words we use.

How long was the last movie you saw?short

"Long" "Short"80

90

100

110

120

Min

utes

(avg

)

Mode: 120

Mode: 90

Not just what we say,

but how we

frame it.Behavior Matters

Judging events: What do we remember?

Cold Water (-9°C)

60 secs

+30 sec, -8°C

Not told about time or temp – just feel the pain!Q: Next week, which do you prefer to repeat?

Less Timein Pain

More Timein Pain

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Kahneman, Frederickson, et. Al. (1983), Psychological Science.

Cold Water (-9°C)

60 secs

What actually happens

not same aswhat gets

remembered.Behavior Matters

What does this have to do with leadership?

How can employee engagement be increased?

How can teams achieve extraordinary results?

How should managers deal with uncertainty?

How do managers really motivate others to change?

How can senior managers communicate vision?

What factors really drive customer satisfaction?

How can management decision making be improved?

BEHAVIORNOT INTUITIVE

NEED TO UNDERSTAND IT

Leadership Activities

Behavior, but at what level?

Knowing what. +

Knowing how.

Knowing What

Knowing How+ Success

Leadership Outcomes

Prediction: Behavioral training, at a deeper level.

Being able.Leadership Activities

Knowing what. +

Knowing how.

Leadership Behaviors

Leadership Outcomes

+

Prediction: Behavioral training, at a deeper level.

Leadership OutcomesKnowing what to achieve.

Leadership ActivitiesKnowing how to achieve.

Successful Change • Strategic Vision • Engagement …

Motivating Teams • Building Consensus • Influencing…

Leadership BehaviorsBeing able to achieve.

Behavioral Intelligence.

Cognitive + Emotional + Social

Behavioral Fitness: Ability to make best practices happen.

You

Outcome: Lead successful change effort. Training: “Leading Change”

Activity: Convince a person to join a coalition to lead the effort.Training: “Interpersonal Influence Tactics”

Situation: Meeting with person, try to influence them to take part.Training: “Behavioral Fitness”

OtherPerson

Faster ReasoningGreater Cognitive ControlBetter Self Awareness/RegulationBetter Multi-Tasking

Behavioral Toolbox

Behavior: Need to understand it, need to train it.

ImpactBest-practices,

put into practice.

Yourself

Your Team

Your Organization

BEH

AVIO

RAL

TOO

LBO

X

Best PracticesWhat / How

Behavioral Leadership: Science of optimal human performance.

Behavioral FitnessLeading Self

Leading Others

Training in behavioral fitness… just beginning.

…to enhance IQ and critical thinking.

…to improve attentional focus and flexibility.

…increased cognitive control and emotional regulation.

…dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty.

…reduce cognitive biases.

…use positive emotion to enhance creativity and innovation.

…accurately read behaviors of other people.

New training paradigms…

Positive Psychology

Counseling

Psychiatry

Clinical Cases

One key ingredient: Positive psychology.

Ok Good Great Extraordinary

Illness

Difficulty

Human Performance

Fixing Problems

Optimizing Performance

Psychological Therapy Psychological “Fitness”

Positive Psychology: Moving to the bottom line.

Developments at IE in executive training.

Behavioral FitnessPositive LeadershipExecutive Master in Positive Leadership & StrategyBehavioral Decision MakingDealing with AmbiguityPositive Methods for High Performing TeamsPositive Approaches to Innovation & CreativityExecutive Masters in Positive Leadership & Strategy

Translating behavioral science…

…into practical training for managers.

The time to capitalize on this trend is now.

PositiveLeadership

TrainingReal Impact On Organization

Employee engagement & retention Organizational innovation & creativity

Organizational resilience Managing crisis and uncertainty Many others…

Contacts.Lee Newman Joaquín Uríbarri

Web LeeNewman.org ExecEd.ie.eduEmail Lee.Newman@ie.edu Joaquin.Uribarri@ie.eduTwitter @NewmanLee @IEExecEd