https://simonsinek.com/books/leaders-eat-last/
Focuses a lot on selfless ( seretonin, oxytocin ) vs selfish chemicals ( endorphins, dopamine ) and which behaviours organisations, leaders and culture in general leads to a space where one can feel safe and perform at best.
The abstraction challenge
This quotes the classic Milgram experiment where a supposed teacher where going to subject a student with electrical shocks when failing to answer correctly or at all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
Results showed that a large part of participants in the teacher role would subject the student with fatal levels of electricity if an authoritative figure told them to, especially if they could not see/hear the student.
So in a world where:
- Adding abstractions where individuals (employees, customers) just becomes numbers in a spreadsheet to ensure efficiency
- Technology makes it very easy to abstract away real human interaction, even inside a company
- Rapid expansion of employee count to enable producing more
It’s really easy for an individual to become detached from the effects of their actions when it only affect someone or something they can’t see.
Simon refers to Dunbar’s number as a pointer to that human brains aren’t evolved to handle vast groups of individuals on a close social level. Going above a certain number in a tribe (company location / office / factory ) automatically risks individuals starting to feel others as abstract objects that they can dismiss as they can’t have a sense of social connection to them.
Social connection is key.
In a company there is a need for a hierarchy, not necessarily to manage but to present a leader figure that have a direct social connection to those they are responsible for. This help in keeping employees feeling connected and seen.