The Social Brain

Get in the xigxag app
This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book.
Pre-order Buy Now £{{ price }}
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

How many people does the ideal team contain? How do groups bond, earn trust and forge shared identities? How can leaders build environments adaptable enough to respond to shocks and still enable people to thrive together? How can you feel close to people if your only point of contact is a phone or a computer?

In The Social Brain leading experts from the worlds of evolutionary psychology and business management come together to offer a primer on great team working. They explain what size groups work and how to shape them according to the nature of the task at hand. They offer practical hints on how to diffuse tensions and encourage cooperation. And they demonstrate the vital importance of balancing unity and the need for different views and outlooks. By explaining precisely how the 'social brain' works, they show how human groups function and how to create great, high-performing teams.

©2023 Robin Dunbar (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

  • We are a species whose social relationships have profound impacts on us physiologically, psychologically and socially, orientating us towards health and pro-social behaviour or away from them. In this remarkable and important book, international researchers and pioneers guide readers through the research on the evolution and social dynamics of small groups and how to cultivate them to bring out the best in us, rather than the worst. This book is a highly accessible, timely and invaluable guide to anybody working in groups, including businesses, schools and governments.

    Prof Paul Gilbert OBE, author of THE COMPASSIONATE MIND, and founder of compassion focussed therapy

  • Ever since the Industrial Revolution, an engineering mindset has dominated management thinking, making it easy for managers to forget that, ultimately, productive work is human. This wonderful book reminds us that businesses are also biological and social: created by living beings who can – and want to – transcend individual capacity with collective intelligence. It could not be more timely, wise and useful.

    Margaret Heffernan, author of Wilful Blindness

  • The world, particularly post the COVID-19 pandemic, is desperate for compassionate leaders who show disproportionate regard for community, belonging and fellowship. The Social Brain is a clarion call for all leaders to heed.

    Dr Alistair Mokoena, Director of Google South Africa

  • The hardest part of the modern leader’s job isn’t strategy, finance or technology: the biggest challenge in today’s corporation is human-shaped: how to lead the tribes and the talent to deliver your plans. This thoughtful and charming book provides an essential and evidence-based map to our humanity. Buy it for yourself and your colleagues. Essential reading.

    Mark Earls, author of HERD

  • The perfect compass for those seeking to create not only healthy teams, but high-performing ones.

    Owen Eastwood, performance coach, speaker and author of BELONGING

More from the same

Narrator

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to get tailored content recommendations, product updates and info on new releases. Your data is your own: we commit to protect your data and respect your privacy.