Brain for Business

A 2025 article co-authored by our guest today, sought to answer two critical questions: Are exceptional performers at young ages and at later peak performance age largely the same individuals? And Do predictors of young exceptional performance also predict later exceptional peak performance? So what is the answer? And what might this mean for high performance across multiple domains? To explore th...

A recent online article in the Council on Business & Society Insights, co-authored by our guest today, argued that... For much of the twentieth century, corporate governance was guided by a simple principal: maximise shareholder value, and broader social benefits will follow. But in an era defined by sustainability, ESG expectations, and growing demands for accountability, that assumption is i...

The concept of the academic “ivory tower” is often thrown out as a criticism of a detached cohort of university researchers dedicating their lives to examining topics that are of only marginal interest or relevance to those working in the so-called real world. Yet perhaps the issue is less about what these ivory tower academics are researching, and more about how those very same academics com...

In the minds of many, entrepreneurship is an inherently capitalist activity – an entrepreneur starts a business and, all going well, it grows and they make money. Yet how does this explain the concept of “social entrepreneurship” and all that it entails? To explore this further it is a pleasure to welcome Professor Sheila Cannon to the Brain for Business podcast. About our guest… Sheila Canno...

When it comes to innovation, decision making and other organisational processes, managing idea selection and maximising the outcomes in this selection process is critical, affecting both organisational performance and employee morale. So how do organisations select ideas? And how might they do this differently? To explore this in more detail I am delighted to speak to Professor Dmitry Sh...

A recent paper, co-authored by our guest today, Professor Kristie Neff, addresses the question of how social class origin influences entrepreneurial performance most particularly in terms of individual-level risk-taking, and under what social network conditions the relationship between social class origin and entrepreneurial performance is most pronounced. About our guest… Kristie Neff is an Assis...

In a 2022 paper published in Science Advances, our guest today along with co-authors argued that “Public attitudes that are in opposition to scientific consensus can be disastrous and include rejection of vaccines and opposition to climate change mitigation policies.” So what does this mean? And what are the implications for both science and society? To discuss this I am joined by Professor N...

When people set up their own business or go it alone, it makes sense for to want to establish their own identity, yet sometimes that might come at a cost… what if your identity is so distinctive that potential customers or clients don’t understand what you do or why you are so special? To explore the question of “optimal distinctiveness” in the context of strategic positioning I am delighted to be...

A 2020 article by the polling firm, Gallup, argued that: “The micromanager has become a bit of a boogeyman in the business world. Nobody wants to work for one. Few managers want to be one. Everyone has a horror story about one.”  To explore the topic of micromanagement and its implications I am delighted to be joined by Dr Catherine Deen. About our guest… Catherine Deen is a Senior Lecturer i...

“Collective stupidity is fairly common in organisations. Firms full of very smart individuals who act in reckless ways that destroy them. Governments and nations that engage in acts of self-harm, descending into economic decline or civil war. Armies that repeat failed tactics. It’s easy to see collective stupidity as something others slip into because of their own idiocy or moral failings. But thi...

A forthcoming article by our guests today – appropriately titled “Rethinking Stardom" - argues that: Star performers are increasingly capturing the attention of both researchers and practitioners alike. However, studies on these uber-performers often employ disparate definitions, theoretical foundations and assumptions, and methods and analyses, which creates significant tension and confusion in t...

According to Forbes magazine, in 2020 alone global spend on corporate training programmes, often focused on leadership development, exceeded $350 billion. Yet how effective, if at all, are these programmes? And are they perhaps just a massive waste of time and money? To dig deep into the question of why leadership development might be failing us I am delighted to be joined on the podcast...

In a forthcoming article now available, our guest today, Professor Stephen Courtright, along with co-authors tackle the question of the “beauty bias and leader emergence”.  Or to put that into plain English: how important is physical attractiveness to leadership? While pop psychology might tell us one thing, what does the evidence actually tell us and why should we care? About our guest…...

Research has consistently found that maintaining a healthy balance between work and other areas of life often requires people to establish and maintain boundaries those various areas. Yet as humans we might also be curious or indeed nosy about the people we are working with or who might be working for us – if only just to find out a little bit more about them. But what actually is nosiness and whe...

Adversity is inherent within most – if not all – occupational contexts in which the performance of individuals and teams is crucial for organisational effectiveness. With its central focus on what enables people to resist, bounce back, or recover from adverse events that threaten their functioning, viability, or development, it is unsurprising that the concept of resilience has attracted a signifi...

Humor is a phenomenon experienced by most, if not all, human beings. Throughout human history humor has played a role in communication and interactions between people, yet how often do we actually take the time to consider what is humor, and more to the point, what is humorous? To discuss this, I am delighted to be joined on the Brain for Business podcast by Matt Nadel. About our guest... Mat...

Creativity is – for a very good reason – often seen as something positive and even joyful. Yet like many things in life there is also a flipside to creativity – a dark side, if you will. To explore the concept of dark creativity I am delighted to be joined today by Dr Hansika Kapoor. About our guest… Hansika Kapoor is a Research Author at the Department of Psychology, Monk Prayogshala, a...

As regular listeners will know, the Brain for Business podcast focuses primarily on research by academics and others into the brain, behavioural and organisational sciences. Key to what we do is an underlying assumption that the people we interview and the research that we discuss with them is supported by a strong degree of academic legitimacy. In other words, the research is at the ver...

A recent open access article in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization reported on results from research comparing the effect of (the same) opinions expressed by visibly senior, female versus male experts. Common wisdom might hold that women suffer from an “authority gap” compared to their male peers, but is that really the case? To explore the findings of this research I am delighted...

Despite the old saying that “curiosity killed the cat”… the importance of curiosity for information seeking and gathering in organisations is well established. Yet little is known about the role that CEO curiosity plays in strategic choices and decision-making. To explore this further and to discuss the findings of a recent paper in the journal Strategic Organization , I am delighte...

A 2023 opinion piece in the journal Nature Psychology challenged the prevailing perspective on success and achievement, essentially arguing that we have it all wrong! So, where does the truth about success and achievement really lie??? To discuss this I am delighted to be joined by one of the co-authors of that article, Professor Brooke Macnamara. About our guest... Brooke Macnamara is an Associat...

Balancing exploration and exploitation is a fundamental strategic challenge for organizations operating in dynamic environments. Managers must decide how often and when to search for new technologies and products, weighing the costs of exploration against the risk of missing trends that could render their business models obsolete To dig deep into this topic I am delighted to be speaking today to P...

A recent article in the Journal of Business Venturing sought to address the question of: Why and how does founder age perception influence funding outcomes ? To discuss the importance of this question and the key findings of the paper I am delighted to be joined by Dr Michael Matthews, Assistant Professor at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley. About our guest... Michael Matthews, Ph. D., s...

In a new book – Learning to See: Inside the world's leading art and design schools , published by MIT Press – our guest today, Professor Keith Sawyer explores the way that people see and learn to see, offering an engaging and profound account of how professional artists and designers create and how they teach others to do it. In the interview we explore the key insights from Keith's research and t...

Creative work in itself is stressful and riddled with anxiety-provoking uncertainties. It takes resilience to persist through these challenges. It takes willingness to endure and overcome obstacles, from the internal voices of doubt and self-criticism to scarce material resources to difficulties in getting support for ideas. How are creative people able to do what others cannot? How do they transf...