Brains, Bodies and Business: A Systems Approach

The idea for this systems approach to applied neuroscience was sparked when Tara and Dr Peter Hirst MBE, executive director of executive education at the MIT Sloan School of Management, went to a meeting with four researchers from the Brain and Cognitive Science Unit at MIT. It was discussed that what neuroscientists refer to as executive functions (see Box 2.1) and what business people think of as the functions of an executive are two quite different things. There is growing interest in applying neuroscience to leadership and many laboratories publishing fascinating neuroscience research but not enough people, forums or environments in which the crucial information can be simply and pragmatically translated for practical use in businesses. The impact of technology on neuroscience is also striking in that it has allowed tangible, physical data on what is going on in the brain to distinguish neuroscience from psychology, with the focus in this book being on using that data on applications to business and leadership. The tangible nature of that data makes the premise more compelling for some and strengthens the argument for others on the importance of both cognitive science and physiology and the interplay between them.