Doing business in our era demands a degree of intellectual and emotional agility that few are equipped for. Most adults dislike ambiguity, are overwhelmed by constant input, and nearly immune to change. And we’re all exhausted by ongoing stress. Our brains evolved during a time when stress came in short, intense bursts, nothing like 24/7. Our customers, managers, employees, colleagues and strategic partners are operating at a powerful disadvantage. This powerpoint will show how recognizing the right moment requires both grounded optimism and ongoing curiosity. It will explore why designing the best move begs for a combination of playfulness, ambition, and exploration that’s likely to go far beyond what any of us may have done last year – or even last month. Learn how to build cognitive and emotional fitness, and thereby be able to command curiosity and resourcefulness at the right moments, choosing when and where to get to know new people, take in new information, and embrace new opportunities in a changing environment. Learn how you can develop the consciousness to observe your hardwiring and not get carried away by it. And to observe others’ hardwiring and, rather than being defeated by it, ignite their ingenuity.

1. The Brain is Designed for
Small Business
Put its powerful wiring to work to become
Fit to Thrive in Any Economy
@ 5Movez 2014 1

2. We humans make our living in
exchanges
Exchanging with others is in our
biology – it’s an essential part
of being human
We’re highly sensitive about it:
a matter of survival
We’re at our best when we
know we contributed and can
enjoy the returns
@ 5Movez 2014 2

3. Interactions with others is the basis of business
and the stuff of human life
Casual or formal, monetized or
not, tangible or intangible
The brain is hard-wired to keep
us focused on others, and on
our role and status in
those exchanges
When people are not engaged
in some kind of exchange,
they’re often thinking about it
@ 5Movez 2014 3

4. Commerce is as old as
the first human community
• Developed over more than 200,000
generations
• The brains of early hominids are
about 1/3 the size of modern
humans. They were certainly
cooperating and maybe trading
• The brain reached it current size
about 1300 generations ago
4@ 5Movez 2014

5. The basis of sociality and the basis of
commerce are the same
Noticing what others are
concerned about
Making reliable promises
Commerce is in our biology –
our brains were made for it
5@ 5Movez 2014

6. We become ingenious when ‘our people’
are vulnerable
People mobilized instantly
in 18 degree weather
The mood of the whole
country changed
© The BestWork People 2009 6

7. Reality – as processed by our brains - is social.
Business is a form of social interaction
We are designed to consider others:
 What they may be thinking and feeling
 How they respond to us
 Whether we are safe with them
 Whether they are safe and what they need
“The brain is built for sociality”
– Matthew Lieberman, PhD, Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, UCLA
– Marco Iacoboni, MD, PhD, Neuropsychiatric Institute, UCLA
7@ 5Movez 2014

8. Small business has an advantage
It’s relatively easy for us to know our
clients, to look them in the eye and let
them know we care about their concerns
That’s powerful brain glue that big
business can’t buy
Seize that advantage.
When customers’ worlds change, be the
first to focus on how you can help
@ 5Movez 2014 8

9. Use the brain’s hard wiring
• Exquisitely sensitive mirror neurons tell us how to fit in and whether
we can trust
– Am I vulnerable with you?
– Do you know me?
– Do you care about me (do you get me and my concerns?
• Hard wired: Are you in my tribe (automatically a safe trading
partner?)
Make your Value Partners feel like they’re in your tribe
9@ 5Movez 2014

10. Whatever business you may be in…
You’re in the business of generating rich exchanges. Brain fitness can
provide a competitive edge
What would your world be like if exchanging with you was the
richest experience of peoples’ day…week…?
• When your brain is not stressed, you can design
• When customers’ and employees’ brains are not stressed, they can fully
partner
Learn to make it happen
10@ 5Movez 2014

11. At its best, the human brain is capable of
extraordinary feats
• To question
• To learn
• To invent
• To create
• To interpret
• To communicate
• To choose
@ 5Movez 2014 11

12. Questions for our time
• What puts people in shape for
ongoing learning and change?
• To thrive in a shifting environment?
• To age gracefully and enjoy new
stages of life?
• To minimize suffering and seize
opportunities to contribute?
@ 5Movez 2014 12

13. Exchanging with others - the lifeblood of human
society – has become stressful
Modern life makes demands on our brains
that they’re not designed to handle:
• We’re in frequent contact with unfamiliar
people and cultures – we don’t know
what to expect
• Our environment changes quickly:
technologically, economically, socially, and
sometimes politically, climatically
• Peoples’ concerns shift in response
• New variables often call for new
exchanges
@ 5Movez 2014 13
Seize the opportunity to be nimble, compassionate and responsive

14. Peoples’ concerns are continually shifting
Even though the adult brain is wired to
resist change, humans retain
Neuroplasticity into adulthood
It’s a huge advantage: we can learn for our
entire lives
Small business can seize the advantage to
move faster -
embrace change with curiosity
14@ 5Movez 2014

15. Welcome the challenges of change
(…invariably demanding new exchanges)
15@ 5Movez 2014

16. In modern business, we are called upon to
design important exchanges
• An occasional event in tribal life – not how the brain evolved
• The Industrial Revolution – and the educational systems it
spawned – in which we grew up – reduced the value of
ingenuity and curiosity. For the better part of 2 centuries,
people were viewed as ‘consumers’ or ‘pairs of hands’
• The global information age bombards us with ‘new’ stuff and
demands innovation
It’s up to us to find ways to be fit
16@ 5Movez 2014

17. Thriving in a world where peoples’
concerns are continually shifting
That demands:
• Courage
- To question
- To take in ‘unwelcome’ news
- To risk something new
• Fitness
- To be nimble and responsive to
a changing world
Requires staying curious about new exchanges
We’re challenged to learn a new kind of vitality
for the modern age - and small business has the advantage:
we can move quickly
?
@ 5Movez 2014 17

18. Boosting brain fitness boosts
business fitness
Seize the small business advantage
@ 5Movez 2014 18

19. The drivers of vitality are interconnected
Personal Vitality
• Keep building new neural
pathways – be a learner, a
graceful beginner
• Spark and feed curiosity
• Rest deeply and often
• Find pleasurable ways to move;
laugh and play
• Love and contribute
• Avoid multitasking
• Enjoy all 5 senses
Business Vitality
• Keep building new neural pathways –
design your culture
around learning and inquiry
• Spark and feed curiosity
• Encourage rest, rejuvenation, and
enjoyable exercise
• Celebrate caring and contribution
• Reward laughter and play
• Use visuals, sound, smell…the senses
• Discourage multitasking
Use them all to be nimble and smart
@ 5Movez 2014 19

20. Get smart about your personal habits to get
smarter about business
• Keep building new neural pathways (cultivate Neuroplasticity)
- Choose something new to learn every year
- Vary your exercise; find new ways to move and play
- Use brain teasers or guided brain fitness products
• Spark and feed curiosity
- Avoid multi-tasking and information overload
• Rest deeply and often
• Move – exercise at least 3x week for 45 min – keep experimenting, find
pleasurable ways to be active
• Love and Contribute
- Stay connected to people you care about; include others and be included
• Laugh and play; enjoy all 5 senses
@ 5Movez 2014 20

21. Are you a graceful beginner?
Willing and able to enjoy learning?
@ 5Movez 2014 21

22. Are you engaging with others who share
your deepest concerns?
@ 5Movez 2014 22

23. Are you challenging and expanding
your abilities?
@ 5Movez 2014 23

24. How often are you really resting?
@ 5Movez 2014 24

25. What about laughter and play?
@ 5Movez 2014 25

26. It all works together
The island where people forget
to die?
There’s no 24/7 on Ikaria, but unlike a
‘modern’ island 3 miles away, everyone
socializes with local wine, walks up and
down hills to collects wild food, and
enjoys living on and on…
Source: NY Times, October 24, 2012
@ 5Movez 2014 26

27. Make your business a smart work environment
• Promote Neuroplasticity - Rotate the task of sparking meetings with new
activities: a kush ball exercise, a brain teaser, a challenge about someone
else’s business….
• Reward learning, honor beginners, experiments, and ‘mistakes’
• Stimulate ingenuity by keeping Value Partners’ vulnerability top of mind:
bring fresh stories about customers, suppliers, strategic allies…
• Take stress reduction seriously
• Respect resting; make multi-tasking and emails between 7 pm and
7 am undesireable
• Spark curiosity with inclusive, collaborative inquiry
• Celebrate the pleasure of working and learning together, with diverse
styles and points of view
@ 5Movez 2014 27

28. Change is integral to modern work
A modern productive worker is someone who does a great job in figuring
out what to do next. Seth Godin
Unfortunately, the imperative to
continually generate new value
sources ongoing stress
Thriving cultures ensure that
stress relief is as important as
seizing opportunity
@ 5Movez 2014 28

29. High-performing business cultures are
based in inquiry
• Promotes inclusion
• Neutralizes status
• Provokes curiosity
• Encourages neuroplasticity
• Cultivates learning and
responsiveness to change
?
@ 5Movez 2014 29

30. Generate the experience of belonging
Create inclusion with play Create inclusion with
sincere questions
Encourage gratitude
@ 5Movez 2014 30

31. Cultivate curiosity and learning
@ 5Movez 2014 31

32. Use powerful questions to keep your
business fresh
Provoke curiosity
• Introduce new
interpretations, labels,
graphics, sound…
• Focus on genuine
vulnerability
• Open possibilities for
contributing
A good question is a pleasure
and an opportunity
@ 5Movez 2014 32

33. Designing new value is a natural pleasure
for an unstressed brain
• Interpreting
vulnerability
• Identifying opportunity
• Devising ingenious
ways to use resources
• Driving innovation
@ 5Movez 2014 33

34. Notice work environments at the forefront
of ingenuity and responsiveness
• Twitter has a rooftop garden
with turquoise couches
• Dropbox has a music room
• Skype has a pool and foosball
room
• Facebook has treadmill desks
• Airbnb has a nap room and
communal tables where
employees eat lunch together YouTube’s indoor slide
Source: The Atlantic, December 2012
@ 5Movez 2014 34

35. Minimizing stress is a competitive move
Essential for enabling employees to respond effectively to a
changing environment
The task requires investing in innovative management and
infrastructure
The payoff is big: not only will it make people smarter and
able to learn, it will reduce your health care costs
@ 5Movez 2014 35

36. A low-stress business environment
involves some departures from tradition
• Rest – 3 naps a week optimizes
brain function and overall health.
Create a nap room?
• Social inclusion – play and
questions . A play room is just a
start. Bring in juggling and clown
classes?
• New forms of exercise. Make
stairwells interesting? Bring in
Zumba, Irish dancing…?
• Pauses for guided breathing?
Check out what market
leaders are doing to ensure
people are in great shape:
Zappos has a gratitude board
Warby Parker asks potential hires
about their favorite Halloween
costume
@ 5Movez 2014 36

37. Whether you own the business or not…
You’ll win by being a source of fresh, rich exchanges with all your
Value Partners
What would your world be like if exchanging with you was the
richest experience of peoples’ day…week…?
Embrace the demands of vitality: when the body is rested and
brain is not stressed, people can design and fully partner in any
challenge.. In fact, they love it, and you will too
@ 5Movez 2014 37

38. Curiosity is the silver bullet
@ 5Movez 2014 38

39. Connection and contribution are lifeblood
@ 5Movez 2014 39

40. Exercise, play and rest are foundational
@ 5Movez 2014 40

41. Ongoing stress is the killer
@ 5Movez 2014 41

42. What is possible in life and in business is
determined by what the brain can do
Understanding how it all works may enable us to navigate through
another big change in the weather
@ 5Movez 2014 42

43. Brain fitness puts you in shape
to generate rich exchanges
• New forms of fun, exercise
and moving
• Sincere questions,
genuine vulnerability
• Fresh visuals
• Breaks and rest
• Experience of belonging
• Concerns for status
• Multi-tasking
• Fatigue
• Stress
• Ambiguity
• Information overload
Enable with: Impair with:
@ 5Movez 2014 43

44. What will you do differently tomorrow?
How will you make yourself
and others smarter –
ready to create more
rich exchanges?
@ 5Movez 2014 44

45. Go forth and seize your business advantage
from the brain’s powerful wiring
@ 5Movez 2014 45