This document discusses how hunter-gatherer work practices and social structures may provide insights for improving modern workplaces. Hunter-gatherers worked far fewer hours than typical workers today, with work seen more as play than toil. Their work was autonomous and collaborative, focused on mastery and purpose of providing for their group. Principles that could enhance modern work include reducing hours and pressure while increasing autonomy, mastery, purpose and collaboration to improve productivity and happiness. Neuroscience research suggests trust and empathy from oxytocin can also positively impact group intelligence and performance.

1. Joseph E. Johnston, Lucasfilm, Ltd.
http://www.thepatentdesk.com
Hunter-gatherers
&
software development

2. Disclaimer:
All my knowledge, opinions and
theories are built upon years of
making mistakes and many many
hours of reading about research that
other really hard-working and very
smart people have done.
(And I borrowed the idea for this from Michael Pranikoffs
presentation on emerging media held in Stockholm, Sweden
in Sept 2011)
Jorge Bassy@flickr

3. Evolution
Behaviours
Your Brain
What is this talk
about?

4. Human
Evolution
(Or, we are what we were)

5. Homo
sapiens sapiens
200.000 years
ago
Neolithic
revolution
12.000 years
ago
600 generations
10.000 generations
We aren’t very old

6. We aren’t very old
Homo
sapiens sapiens
200.000 years
ago
Neolithic
revolution
12.000 years
ago
For 94% of our history
we were hunter
gatherers.

7. I refer to “band” hunter-
gatherers, also known as
“immediate-return” or
“egalitarian” hunter-
gatherers

8. Hazda, Tanzania
Batek, Malaysia
Agta, Phillipines
Nayaka, India
Aché, Paraguay
Parakana, N. America
Yiwara. Australia
Examples

9. Most hunter-gatherers,
wherever they have been
studied, live in bands of
about 20 to 50 people.

10. Agriculture offered
significant advantages
over that which could be
provided by the hunting
and gathering lifestyle
Not true!

11. Agricultural societies were
the first to employ slaves to
do the backbreaking work
of planting and harvesting.
Freedom

12. Cassidy CM. Nutrition and health in agriculturalists and hunter-gatherers.
“Overall, the agricultural
Hardin Villagers were
clearly less healthy than the
Indian Knollers, who lived
by hunting and gathering.”
Health

13. So, what was
worklife like
for hunter-
gatherers?

14. The opposite
of PLAY
Work

15. "Any productive or useful
activity, regardless of its
pleasantness or
unpleasantness."
Work
Peter Gray, “Play makes us Human”

16. TOIL
Any unpleasant
activity.
Peter Gray, “Play makes us Human”

17. In general, hunter-
gatherers have no
concept of TOIL.
Gowdy, J. (1999). Hunter-gatherers and the mythology of the market.

18. “Children play and
gradually, as their play
becomes increasingly
skilled, the activities
become productive.”
Play
Peter Gray (2009) Play as a Foundation for Hunter-Gatherer Social Existence

19. “Individual hunter-gatherers
are free, on any day, to join a
hunting or gathering party
or to stay at camp and rest,
depending on their own
preference.”
Tim Ingold (1999) The Cambridge encyclopedia of hunters and gatherers, 399-410

20. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael Russell

21. “The group decides
collectively where they
will go and how they will
approach their task.”
Thomas, E. M. (2006). The old way.

22. “Anyone unhappy about
the decision is free to
form another party, or to
hunt or gather alone, or
to stay at camp all day.”
Thomas, E. M. (2006). The old way.

23. Compare this to many
modern workplaces
http://www.primaloft.com

25. http://merryfarmer.net

26. Play is almost non-existent in
many of today’s workplaces
How much
TOIL?

27. We should eliminate TOIL.
The modern
workplace

28. We should make work, and the
workplace, playful.
The modern
workplace

29. Affluence

30. Hunter gatherers work for an
average of just
15 - 20 hours
per week
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_affluent_society

31. 40-45
hours/w
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_affluent_society
Including food preparation,
housework, etc.

32. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/dec/08/europe-working-hours
35-40
hours/w
In most western countries
we work for an average of
about
Excluding food preparation,
housework, etc.

33. Worker output does not rise
or fall in direct proportion to
the number of hours worked.
Not only
that...

34. The English parliament
passed the ten-hours law
and total output per-
worker, per-day
increased.
1848

35. Employers experimented
widely with the eight hour
day and repeatedly found
that total output per-worker
increased.
1890’s

36. Frederick W. Taylor,
prescribed reduced work
times and attained
remarkable increases in
per-worker output.
1900’s

37. 4 day workweek
(May - October)
37signals
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/be-more-productive-shorten-the-workweek.html
“better work gets done in 4 days than in 5”

38. More hours != more
productivity
(except for very short periods)
The modern
workplace

39. We should work smarter,
not harder!
The modern
workplace

40. Why prescribe working hours
at all?
The modern
workplace

41. Behaviours
(Human rationality - or lack thereof)

42. Carrots and
sticks
do not work!

44. Uri Gneezy and Aldo Rustichini
Israeli daycare
http://www.jstor.org/pss/10.1086/468061

45. NY taxi
drivers

46. Rainy days
vs
sunny days

47. We are not
rational
beings!

48. Behavioural
economics

49. Autonomy
The desire to be involved in
decisions about when, how
and with whom you work.

50. Mastery
The desire to learn and
improve at what you do.

51. Purpose
The desire to contribute to
something meaningful.

52. How do the
hunter-
gatherers
score?

53. Work is comprised of
optional and collaborative
ventures involving a large
degree of autonomy.
Autonomy

54. Hunter gatherers work their
whole lives to become better
at hunting and tracking
animals.
Mastery

55. They practise their skills in
tool-making every day and
test them rigorously in the
field.
Mastery

56. Hunter-gatherers get no
extrinsic reward for their
work!
Purpose

57. Hunter-gatherers work to
get food for their group.
A very important purpose!
Purpose

58. Autonomy means no micro
management.
The modern
workplace

59. It means allowing employees to
structure their own work.
The modern
workplace

60. It means allowing them where
possible to decide themselves
what they work on.
The modern
workplace

61. Valve. Semco.
W.L. Gore.
Great
examples

62. Mastery means developing
your skills.
The modern
workplace

63. It means training but also
having challenging work.
The modern
workplace

64. Give employees a reason
to try that little harder, to
care about success.
The modern
workplace

65. The best companies want to
change the world.
The modern
workplace

66. Groups

67. is the ability to solve
complex cognitive
problems effectively,
across domains and
over time.
Group
intelligence

68. The research
Image: https://www.sierranevada.edu/event/psychology-research-fair/

69. is only weakly
correlated to the
average IQ of the
group members.
Group
intelligence

70. your smartest
people != your
smartest team!

71. Group
intelligence
http://hbr.org/2011/06/defend-your-research-what-makes-a-team-smarter-more-women/ar/1
The conversational
equality of the group
is strongly correlated to:

72. Group
intelligence
http://hbr.org/2011/06/defend-your-research-what-makes-a-team-smarter-more-women/ar/1
The average EQ of the
group members
is strongly correlated to:

73. EQ
Peter Salovey and John Mayer
“ The ability to monitor one's own
and other people's emotions, to
discriminate between different
emotions and label them
appropriately, and to use emotional
information to guide thinking and
behaviour.”

74. Group
intelligence
http://hbr.org/2011/06/defend-your-research-what-makes-a-team-smarter-more-women/ar/1
The number of females
in the group
is strongly correlated to:

75. Rockstar teams do not
guarantee success.
The modern
workplace

76. Humility > arrogance.
The modern
workplace

77. We need more women in
software development!
The modern
workplace

78. Your Brain
(A little bit of neuroscience)

79. Oxytocin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oxytocin_with_labels.png

80. Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a hormone
that is produced mainly in
the hypothalamus.

81. The love
hormone
Oxytocin seems to have a key
role in maternal bonding and
social affiliation.
http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb08/oxytocin.aspx

82. Oxytocin induces feelings
of optimism and increases
self-esteem.
The success
hormone
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110914101746.htm

83. Oxytocin enhances trust,
creating increased levels of
generosity, and promoting
increased empathy.
The trust
hormone
Paul Zak, "The Moral Molecule,"

84. Increased levels of trust
and empathy should lead to
higher group intelligence.
Implication

85. Group intelligence depends
upon the empathy of group
members.
Because

86. If we want higher
performance we should
want higher levels of
Oxytocin.
So...

87. We should reduce
behaviours and
eliminate situations
that inhibit the
production of oxytocin.
Therefore

88. We should also try to
encourage behaviours and
situations that increase
the production of oxytocin!
And...

89. Exercise such as swimming
or brisk walking release
oxytocin.
Exercise
http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/hypopit/oxytocin.html

90. Massage or physical
contact with someone
you care about.
Physical
contact
http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/hypopit/oxytocin.html

91. Unhappiness inhibit the
production of oxytocin.
Unhappiness

92. Stress and/or pressure
inhibit the production of
oxytocin.
Stress
http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/hypopit/oxytocin.html

93. A stress-free environment
with happy employees is
not just a nice thing to do;
it also makes good business
sense!

94. In conclusion

95. Work should
be play not
toil.

98. Work should
be optional.

100. Developers
should make
their own
tools.

101. Employees
shouldn’t feel
rushed, or
pressured.

102. Focus on
value created
not time
served!

104. KKokosz @ DeviantArt

105. Work should
be
autonomous
and
collaborative.

107. Work should
have a
purpose!

111. Be, think,
breathe
Agile values

112. Thanks:
Carol Dweck,
Dan Pink,
Daniel Coyle
Peter Gray
for their truly inspirational and
educational writing and research.
Thanks also to all of you
for listening

113. ?