After we have finished a compelling book or a film, the narrative of the story will linger in our minds. This lingering is involuntary: we do not choose or decide to think about the story. Emotional experiences and social interactions, research has shown, have the same lingering impact after their occurrence. A study by a […]
Many studies have confirmed the importance of sleep on our cognitive functions — our ability to think clearly and work productively. While previous studies use self-report surveys or a laboratory context to gather data, a new MIT study collected data on sleep and its benefits through fitbit devices worn throughout an entire semester by 88 […]
The digital native is a myth, according to an extensive review of the research by by Paul Kirschner of Open University of the Netherlands and Pedro de Bruyckere of Artevelde University in Ghent, Belgium. Writing in Teaching and Teacher Education journal, Kirschner and Bruyckere argue that multiple academic studies in multiple countries show repeatedly that […]
Cell phones can be distracting when you’re trying to work. If the phone rings, you’ll stop what you’re doing to answer it. If you hear the ping of a new email, you’ll check the message. Academic research has confirmed that having and attending to a cell phone during the completion of a task reduces productivity. […]
All of us belong to certain social groups in society. Our ‘social identities’ are based on these groups, which can involve gender, nationality, profession, heritage, political affiliation, hobby or family roles, to name a few. Thus, a person might identify herself as an Italian-American female lawyer, devoted wife and mother, committed Republican and runner. There […]
Michael Porter gave us a process for strategy development. It was a very cognitive process (i.e., using conscious mental activities such as thinking, understanding, learning, remembering) that followed prescribed steps: gather the right data, avoid biases, and choose activities that differentiate the firm from competitors. There is one problem with the cognitive development of strategy: […]
The AIDA model of advertising identifies Attention, Interest, Desire and Action as key to the effectiveness of an advert. In order to measure the physiology behind advertising effectiveness, a research team used experiments involving public service announcements (PSAs) and focused specifically on the attention and action components of the model. PSAs are good foundations for […]
Most leaders possess typical leadership qualities such as the ability to inspire and persuade, a grand vision, and a controlled fearlessness when taking risks. There is, however, a darker side to many leaders, manifested in character traits such as extreme pride and overconfidence, coupled with a complete contempt for others. These character traits, which can […]
The SCARF® model, developed by neuroscientist David Rock, enables ‘change agents’ to exhibit more adaptive behaviours based on how mental experiences occur over time, thus offering to improve people’s capacity to understand and modify their own behaviour and that of others within a corporate leadership context. SCARF holds that the organizing principle of the brain […]
Neuroscientific research reveals that the brain reacts differently to negative vs. positive outcomes; recent research in finance shows that market participants (including investors and investment professionals) draw different lessons from market conditions depending on whether conditions are good or poor. Professor Camelia Kuhnen of University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School designed an experiment involving […]