Brain for Business

We hear alot about bias and biases, but how do we and should we deal with them? And what do they mean for us - both as individuals and leader?In this - our 10th episode - I am joined again by neuroscientist Professor Shane O'Mara of Trinity College Dublin to further explore some of the implications of cognitive biases for leadersShane O’Mara is Professor of Experimental Brain Research (Personal Chair) at Trinity College, Dublin - the University of Dublin. He is a Principal Investigator in the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and is also a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator. His research explores the brain systems supporting learning, memory, and cognition, and also the brain systems affected by stress and depression, and he has published more than 140 peer-reviewed papers in these areas. Professor O'Mara is a graduate of the National University of Ireland - Galway, and of the University of Oxford (DPhil). He is an elected Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (USA), and an elected Member of the Royal Irish Academy.Professor O'Mara's new book is 'In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration' (WW Norton, 2020). He loves to walk wherever and whenever he can, with walking in cities a firm favourite. He particularly wants to see urban design incorporate ease of walking and movement for all into our daily lives.www.shaneomara.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Covid-19 crisis has had a significant impact on consumer behaviour but what will this mean longer term? In this episode I am joined by Claire O’Rourke, Research Lead at Dentsu Consult in Dublin to examine how behavioural research can help businesses and leaders understand key market trends and, as a consequence, better connect with their clients and customers. Claire O'Rourke is an experienced dual researcher with qualitative and quantitative research experience and a background in psychology. She has worked with a range of public and private sector clients and always seeks to explore the motivations and triggers, to look at predicting rather than just describing behaviour. Claire was previously an Associate Director in Amárach Research and is a published researcher with peer-reviewed publications in numerous academic journals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When leaders think of organisational change they almost inevitably think of linear models of change and human behaviour. Yet as Jo Kearney, Leader of Learning Strategy for Facebook Global Operations by drawing on new approaches such as Organizational Network Analysis, more effective ways of leading and implementing change are possible.Jo Kearney leads learning strategy and change for Facebook’s global operations. Prior to this, Jo was responsible for internal and client talent and change transformations for Accenture for over 15 years in a global capacity.Jo has over 15 years’ experience in leading strategic change and people-related research and projects across various industries including the high tech, luxury retail and government sectors. Jo has led over 30 global people projects, working extensively across Europe, the Middle East, Australia and the USA. She has acted in a leadership and learning advisory capacity to senior public and private sector officials. Jo has also guest-lectured in learning, organizational innovation and agile change across academic institutions as well as acting as a regular speaker and facilitator in numerous Fortune 500 companies.Jo sits on the board of the Irish Council for Psychotherapy and is a certified Gallup faculty and positive psychology coach. Jo is also pursuing further studies in Organizational Psychology at Harvard University. Jo is passionate about the power of storytelling, design thinking and harnessing networks for organizational change. Jo is also a qualified nutritional coach and interested in all aspects of nutrition as medicine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Professor Mark Fenton-O'Creevy, an expert in decision-making at The Open University, dives into the complexities of making choices during radical uncertainty. He contrasts radical uncertainty with normal risk, highlighting how traditional risk models failed during the financial crisis. Mark emphasizes the intertwined nature of emotion and cognition in decision-making and discusses the limitations of big data and AI in unpredictable situations. He advocates for scenario planning to enhance resilience and cautions against comforting narratives that may blind organizations to real issues.

What will the future hold for cities, work and mobility? Will the car continue to dominate the urban landscape or are new ways of doing things possible? And if new ways are possible, what will that mean for the way we live and work?In this episode of the Brain for Business, Brain for Life podcast we talk to Professor Jeffrey Schnapp, Chief Visionary Officer of Piaggio Fast Forward and discuss how new forms of mobility will change the way we live and work.About Jeffrey...Founder/faculty director of metaLAB (at) Harvard and faculty co-director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Jeffrey Schnapp holds the Pescosolido Chair in Romance Literatures and Comparative Literature, and is on the teaching faculty in the Department of Architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. His most recent books include The Electric Information Age Book([Princeton Architectural Press 2012]); The Library Beyond the Book (Harvard University Press 2014), a publication co-authored with Matthew Battles that explores future scenarios for libraries in the digital age; Digital Humanities (Egea 2015), an essay on cultural heritage management issues recently published in Italian in the Meet the Media Guru series; Forthcoming in late 2016 is an extended essay on mobility and the 130 year history of the Piaggio Group, entitled FuturPiaggio (Rizzoli). He is the editor of the metaLABprojects series with MIT Press.After three years of service as co-founder and CEO at Piaggio Fast Forward, Schnapp assumed the new position of Chief Visionary Officer effective June 2018. Piaggio Fast Forward is a subsidiary of the Milan-based Piaggio Group, known throughout the world for iconic vehicles like the Vespa and iconic brands like Aprilia and Moto Guzzi. Piaggio Fast Forward’s first generation of robotic vehicles has received worldwide coverage on television, radio, and the www. Its mobile-carrier gita has also won numerous design and engineering awards, including selection as one of the 2018 Beazley Best Designs of the Year at the Design Museum (London) and a 2020 Red Dot award for “Best of the Best” in innovative new products. gita was launched on the US market in late 2019 and is undergoing further testing at the UK’s UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing at Newcastle University.For more information visit https://mygita.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all know that walking can help keep us physically fit, but what about the cognitive, emotional and psychological benefits of walking? In this episode we speak to Dr Eric Soehngen, cardiologist and CEO of Walkolution to find out why walking is not only good for your heart but also for your mind.Eric Söhngen, M.D. is the founder and CEO of Germany-based treadmill desk manufacturer Walkolution. He is a board-certified senior medical doctor and holds a PhD in stem cell physiology. He is the author of the book "Death by Sitting - Why we need a movement revolution.” As a mountaineer, he enjoys movement outside the office on the high mountains of our world.Find out more at www.walkolution.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Being an entrepreneur is challenging at the best of times and statistics show that many startups fail. This situation is all the more difficult for women seeking to develop startups and new business ventures as for women to be successful entrepreneurs they need incredible resilience, motivation and the right mindset, and must grapple with systemic bias and perceptions of gender roles.In this episode I speak to Professor Colette Henry of Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT), Ireland, and UiT-The Arctic University of Norway, to explore the challenge and opportunity of women's entrepreneurship.Professor Colette Henry, MBA, PhD, FRSA, FAcSS is Head of Department of Business Studies at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT), Ireland, and Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at UiT-The Arctic University of Norway. Her previous roles include Norbrook Professor of Business & Enterprise at the Royal Veterinary College, London, and President of the Institute for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ISBE). Colette is the founder and Editor of the CABS-listed International Journal of Gender & Entrepreneurship (IJGE). She has published 14 books and over 50 journal articles in the areas of entrepreneurship education & training, women’s enterprise, social enterprise, creative industries and veterinary business. She is a Visiting Fellow at CIMR, Birkbeck, London, and holds fellowships of the Royal Society and the Institute for Small Business & Entrepreneurship. In 2015, Colette was awarded the Diana International Research Trailblazer award for her work on female entrepreneurship. In 2017, she was honoured with the Sten K Johnson European Entrepreneurship Education Award (the only Irish recipient to date), and in 2018, was awarded a fellowship of the UK’s Academy of Social Sciences. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we are joined by psychologist Dr Zoe Walkington to consider whether we - as humans - find stories more convincing, and if so why this might be the case. Along the way, Zoe shares insights into the power of Harry Potter and the joys of reading novels, and even lets us in on her secret crush!Dr Zoë Walkington is Senior Lecturer in School of Psychology and Counselling and Deputy Director for Learning in the Centre for Policing Research and Learning, both at The Open University. One of Zoe's key areas of research interest is stories or narratives, and there are two main strands to this research. First, in terms of the impacts that reading can have on individuals psychologically (for example, how reading initiatives can help with the development of empathy). Second, how story can be used to 'create' or inform individuals identity. Beyond that, much of Zoe's work focuses on Forensic Psychology and related areas and she regularly provides training to detectives on the psychology of suspect interviewing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we are joined by Anna Connolly, management consultant and Chair of the Psychological Society of Ireland's Division of Work & Organisation Psychology and ask: what really is the big deal with "evidence-based management"?Anna Connolly is a Chartered Work and Organisational Psychologist and founder of Work Frontiers, a Business Psychology consultancy. Work Frontiers applies the science of human behaviour to help people thrive in the workplace. Anna uses coaching, learning solutions, and organisational design to improve team performance, develop leaders and facilitate change. Anna has 13 years management experience in the ICT industry with Ericsson and is the current Chair of the Division of Work and Organisational Psychology in Ireland.Anna can be contacted at: anna@workfrontiers.iehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/connollyanna/www.workfrontiers.ieAnna recommends the following sources on evidence-based management:www.cebma.org – Centre for Evidence Based ManagementSilver, N. (2012). The signal and the noise: Why so many predictions fail—but some don't. London: Penguin. pp. 286, 690.Bauer, A., Eisenbeis, R. A., Waggoner, D. F., & Zha, T. (2003). "Forecast evaluation with cross-sectional data: The blue chip surveys." Economic Review. Volume 88. Number 2. 17-32 Pages.Servan-Schreiber, E., Wolfers, J., Pennock, D. M., & Galebach, B. (2004). "Prediction markets: Does money matter?." Electronic Markets. Volume 14. Number 3. pp. 243-251 Armstrong, J. S. (2001). Principles of forecasting: A handbook for researchers and practitioners. Chapter Combining Forecasts. New York: Kluwer Academic.Yaniv, I., & Choshen-Hillel, S. (2011). "Exploiting the wisdom of others to make better decisions: Suspending judgment reduces egocentrism and increases accuracy." Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. Volume 25. Number 5. pp.427-434.Lewis, M. (2003). Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game. New York: W. W. Norton.Grove, W. M. (2005). "Clinical versus statistical prediction." Journal of Clinical Psychology. Volume 61. Number 10. pp.1233-1243.Ayres, I. (2007). Super crunchers. New York: Bantam Books.Antman, E. M., J Lau, J., Kupelnick, B., Mosteller, F., & Chalmers, T. C. (1992). "A comparison of results of meta-analyses of randomized control trials and recommendations of clinical experts." JAMA. Volume 268. Number 2. pp. 240-248.McNees, S. K. (1990). "The role of judgment in macroeconomic forecasting accuracy." International Journal of Forecasting. Volume 6. Number 3. pp.287-299. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I speak to neuroscientist Professor Shane O'Mara of Trinity College Dublin and look at some of key issues related to cognitive bias, learning and organisations.Shane O’Mara is Professor of Experimental Brain Research (Personal Chair) at Trinity College, Dublin - the University of Dublin. He is a Principal Investigator in the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and is also a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator. His research explores the brain systems supporting learning, memory, and cognition, and also the brain systems affected by stress and depression, and he has published more than 140 peer-reviewed papers in these areas. Professor O'Mara is a graduate of the National University of Ireland - Galway, and of the University of Oxford (DPhil). He is an elected Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (USA), and an elected Member of the Royal Irish Academy.Professor O'Mara's new book is 'In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration' (WW Norton, 2020). He loves to walk wherever and whenever he can, with walking in cities a firm favourite. He particularly wants to see urban design incorporate ease of walking and movement for all into our daily lives.www.shaneomara.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.