Baby bear had it right all along

Not too hot, not to cold, but .... 'Just Right!' said Goldilocks ... after she broke into someone else's house and stole their kids food ...

In our technological age, we seem quite happy to gamify the apps we use around our places of work ... & we leave it up to the MRP system to order goods, because we're too busy clearing our inbox of system generated emails to place an order ourselves!!!

In this time deprived world, we often forget the wisdom, that many old fables, parables and children's stories tried (and in most part, failed) to deliver. At least, not in any way that shifted our beliefs enough to influence our approach to life and clearly define 'healthy' progress.

Today, however, we are using these self-same technological advances to learn more about the human brain. In doing so, we can see why some of the wisdom we automatically resign to the archives of childhood stories, now deserve a second look.

In this particular fairy tale, the message to notice, is not that the 'Yoof' of the day were scallywags who considered breaking and entering OK.

No! it's the standards baby bear had established for himself, that turns out to be the bit of wisdom that has stood the test of time. His porridge was not too hot, or cold, or sweet, or sour, which is important.

In our latest online training module 'SURVIVE', one aspect of 'Life at work' that we look into, is how a lot of what we now take for granted triggers the excessive stimulus of dopamine.

This includes sugar in food, reward from pings and bells on smartphones, gamified CRM and ERP systems etc.

They all trigger excessive levels of this 'feel good' factor ... (and those selling solutions, know it!). Baby bear would not approve!

Let's provide a quick / simple overview (because leaders don't have the time to give a **** about what's really detracting from profit!), so we'll have to be quick, or this is the point where those who need to know this stuff the most, will click to a different screen.

So here it is, down and dirty.

Anything, other than naturally occurring levels of any neurotransmitter in our brain over prolonged periods = BAD!!! and in many cases REAL BAD (i.e. fatal).

We're talking cell death ... which means, eventually, human death ... but only after a lifetime of depression.

What! How? (I hear you scream - horrified (one can hope))

Well, Dopamine is an excitatory neurotransmitter (i.e. it excites the next neuron). It acts throughout the reward circuits in the brain. This makes it a motivator.

We 'learn', when dopamine is present in the right doses (it's a good thing). It leads to the emotional state of PLEASURE (Short term)... wanting more of it, is what drives us to repeat behaviours.

So, releasing excessive amounts of Dopamine sounds like a great idea... we'll FEEL FANTASTIC! Right?

Well, no ... it's not that simple.

Exciting neurons is metabolically taxing (requires glucose energy), so too much of a good thing = neurons get knackered and eventually die. So, the brain tries to protect itself.

It does this by shutting down dopamine uptake receptors on the post synaptic neuron.

What does that mean? Well, we increase the stimulus (play more candy crush, spend more time on facebook, eat another candy bar, introduce another system, take more drugs etc.), but get less reward.

It's the very definition of addiction (& why 'game' levels come with slightly harder problems to solve, bigger bangs and more flashy lights, to keep us coming back for more).

Being unable to get the same 'high' from more of the same activity that provided 'pleasure' before, is stressful. Stress is cortisol

... and here's the kicker

Excess dopamine and cortisol deplete serotonin!!

Shocking right! ... what's that? Oh, what does serotonin do?

Sorry, of course ... I forgot to say.

SEROTONIN makes us 'HAPPY'! (We're talking 'Real' happiness here, long term stuff, like a sense of security, satisfaction, self-worth etc.). It does this because it's an inhibitory neurotransmitter ... it deregulates activity in the Post synaptic neuron ... calms us down ... reducing worry etc.

You can't get addicted to happiness!

So, whack an imbalance of those three chemicals in the neurological mixing pot and what do you get ..? (Told you we'd be quick).

Well, triggering too much Dopamine, leads to LESS pleasure, more stress and ... a the lack of Serotonin. The word we normally use for 'not enough serotonin' is ... Yup, you got it ... Depression!

And we wonder why we have a 79% disengagement problem on a global basis in our places of work. (See Gallup - 2022 report).

It's not that 'People' don't want to be at work ... it's more a case of the conditions their brain has evolved to defend against are surrounding them at work, at every turn.

The only natural response of the human brain, in these conditions, is disengagement and depression, anxiety, chronic stress etc.

... and, in particularly bad environments [for the brain], burnout, and worse.

So, if you talk about 'Good leadership', and 'Accountability' (or even ESG and CSR), my question is, how do you define good? And are you considering the environment you are creating as a result of your beliefs and choices / actions? #BTFA

If you're not talking of 'human' at a cellular (root cause) level, in your definition of 'Good', I can guarantee you, your employees will be operating way under their potential, because the chemical mix in their brain will be 'off'.

So, talk about process and systems all you want, but if you don't introduce a working knowledge of 'brain' (people) to balance your view, performance will never be what it could be.

Brains NEED conditions, to be right for baby bear.

The question is, do you know enough to create the conditions in which the human brains you employ, can perform at their best? Do you have the language to discuss or define the real problems behind poor performance, productivity and profit? And are you building this into your strategic plan?

If the answer is no, we can help. www.duxinaroe.com