Your Brain at Work

Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long

By: David Rock

Narrated by: Bob Walter

Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

Meet Emily and Paul: The parents of two young children, Emily is the newly promoted VP of marketing at a large corporation while Paul works from home or from clients' offices as an independent IT consultant. Their lives, like all of ours, are filled with a bewildering blizzard of emails, phone calls, yet more emails, meetings, projects, proposals, and plans. Just staying ahead of the storm has become a seemingly insurmountable task.

In this book, we travel inside Emily's and Paul's brains as they attempt to sort the vast quantities of information they're presented with, figure out how to prioritize it, organize it, and act on it. Fortunately for Emily and Paul, they're in good hands: David Rock knows how the brain works - and more specifically, how it works in a work setting. Rock shows how it's possible for Emily and Paul, and thus the listener, not only to survive in today's overwhelming work environment but succeed in it - and still feel energized and accomplished at the end of the day.

Your Brain at Work explores issues such as:

• Why our brains feel so taxed, and how to maximize our mental resources
• Why it's so hard to focus, and how to better manage distractions
• How to maximize your chance of finding insights that can solve seemingly insurmountable problems
• How to keep your cool in any situation, so that you can make the best decisions possible
• How to collaborate more effectively with others
• Why providing feedback is so difficult, and how to make it easier
• How to be more effective at changing other people's behavior

©2009 David Rock (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

Interesting Insights into the Brain

I wrote a post detailing my review of Your Brain at Work. I'm posting it here for reading convenience:

Rock’s main argument is that by better understanding your brain, you can align the way you work with your brain’s tendencies, patterns, and instincts to be more productive and successful.

Rock keeps your attention throughout by implementing a narrative conceit involving two people, Paul and Emily, in before-and-after scenarios. Paul and Emily make poor decisions at first, and then later, when they understand better how the brain works, they make better decisions and find more success in the mock situations.

I found Rock’s book particularly interesting, not only for the helpful productivity tips but also because of the insights into the brain.

The Stage Metaphor

To explain how the brain works, Rock compares the brain to a stage. The stage can only accommodate so many actors before the play starts to get chaotic. When we multitask, we place more actors on our stage, and if we have too many actors, we become overloaded. The actors bump into each other and can’t move about in graceful harmony. It’s chaos. This translates into stress and frustration.

Rock says our brain can’t multitask when the tasks involve the prefrontal cortex — an area of the brain that requires high attention and focus. Instead, we only task-switch between multiple activities. Only when one activity is so familiar and routine that our basal ganglia can handle it almost unconsciously can we perform multiple tasks at once.

For example, if you’re used to driving the same route to work, it’s not difficult to drive that familiar route while listening to an audio book that requires a moderate level of concentration. In this case, you can multitask because your prefrontal cortex handles the audio listening while your basal ganglia handles the driving. However, if you were driving in downtown Manhattan for the first time — an act requiring a high degree of concentration and alertness — there’s no way you could successfully perform two prefrontal cortex tasks with equal competence.

In fact, Rock cites studies showing that our IQ dramatically falls when we attempt to multi-task, such as switching between an iPhone and a meeting. Studies show that a Harvard-level educated person can be reduced to a third-grade equivalent when multi-tasking.

Constant interruptions that compel us to continue switching tasks removes our chance at productivity. Important tasks that require deep immersion in thought are compromised when we fail to focus with enough uninterrupted study to reach a “continuous flow state,” as it’s sometimes called.

When actors on our stage keep coming and going, appearing and disappearing, and when the play keeps changing scripts and scenes, the brain can’t be productive. We need an uninterrupted focus with just a few actors on stage.

The first tip for productivity, then, is to allow for longer periods of uninterrupted thought and focus as you tackle high priority problems. Turn off the distractions and allow yourself to engage for a while with a problem. Identify your priority for the day early in the morning, and carve out time to tackle it. Avoid social media, meetings, phone calls, and other distractions that take you away from a state of focus.

The Science of Insight

Beyond encouraging single tasking, Rock also touches on the neuroscience of insight. He says when you get stuck on a problem, it’s helpful to step back and look inward for a few moments. He says our brain has a unique ability to enter states of self-awareness, or mindfulness, where our “director,” as he calls it, observes itself in action.

This is the metacognitive ability we have to step outside of our thought processes and observe ourselves thinking, to see ourselves acting in the moment almost as if we were another person. Philosophers have reflected on this director in the mind for centuries, he says.

Scientists who study insight find that insights come most frequently when people look inward with a quiet contemplation. To arrive at insights, he encourages a model called ARIA: Attention, Reflection, Insight, and Action. When faced with a problem, narrow your attention by removing extraneous actors from the stage and focusing inward. Then reflect, perhaps looking at the issue from different perspectives. More often than not, insights will come.

If they don’t, Rock mentions a few other strategies for insights as well. If you’re stuck at an impasse, give yourself a break. It’s easy for the brain to get stuck continuing down the same path over and over. You need to rest and shift your attention for a while to something else, and then return to the problem with a fresh perspective later. You’ll find you’re no longer stuck in the same rut as before, and you may see the solution much more clearly and easily.

He also recommends simplifying complex problems into smaller parts. Instead of trying to wrap your mind around a problem with multiple stages, various components, workflows, and related issues, chunk the issue into simpler parts that you can tackle individually.

Finally, he recommends incorporating more visuals to tackle the problems. Visuals make it easier to process complex information. Drawing pictures of the problem, or incorporating some other visual stimuli to think and interact with the problem may lead you to insights more quickly.

SCARF Model

In the second half of the book, Rock dives into five key attributes the brain cares deeply about: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness, or SCARF for short. Our brain treats these attributes almost as intensely as survival instincts. When we interact with others, we will have more success by remembering to account for these attributes.

For example, with fairness, studies have shown that when two people are to split $10, if one person decides to take $7 and give the other $3, the person getting the smaller amount will feel such an incredible unfairness, he or she often will choose for no one to receive money at all rather than be slighted with the lesser amount. The sense of fairness is at times stronger than the desire for reward.

Autonomy is another huge trait the brain gravitates toward. In leadership roles, it’s much better to help people find solutions themselves rather than force others to accept solutions and decisions you make for them. We love to have independence in our work, and when it’s taken away and we are compelled toward specific ends, we reject it fiercely.

With status, slight another person in front of others, giving new projects to someone with little experience instead of to a senior-level team member, and this shift in status can demotivate. The same strategy works at home in managing children. The older children enjoy a higher level status, and when you take that status away, or put the older child on equal ground with the younger, it sends the older child into rebellion for the loss of status.

What does relatedness mean? People respond better when you try to relate to their frustrations, challenges, and experiences. Relating to another person can help build trusting, solid relationships, which will help you have more successful interactions.

Certainty is also a state the brain craves. Kids love to have routines, because routines encourage a world of certainty. People don’t like uncertain futures. Will you be able to meet the project deadline? Will the company go under? Uncertainty breeds fear and a sense of doubt.

Takeaways

Your Brain at Work has a lot of helpful ideas to increase productivity. Here are a few of my takeaways:

* Identify your priority at the start of your work day.

* Focus on a single task for a solid duration of time and avoid distractions.

* If you find yourself feeling overloaded, remove some of the actors on your stage.

* When you need insight to solve a problem, change your attention and heighten your reflection, looking inward with mindfulness.

* If you still need insight, take breaks to change your perspective, chunk complex problems into smaller parts, and use visuals such as drawing.

* Remember the importance of status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness when interacting with people. If something goes wrong, analyze the situation based on these elements.

An amazing insight to the brain

I found this book amazing. Being a student of leadership and personal effectiveness, this really complemented other books with a more biological viewpoint. The authors excellence lies in his ability to put scientific discoveries into a useful framework and explain them through easy-to-grasp-metaphors and every-day-life-examples. The reading is okay, although a few puns are lost to a certain degree of roboticness. Highly highly recommended!

I am on my fourth reading/listening of this life-changing book!

It’s hard to know where to start: For me, the book continues to be relevant because of the thoughtful way Rock brings together just the right level of scientific understanding in conjunction with the real-world problems we all face at work and home. Also, the narrator is very good. If you find his speaking a bit slow, speed it up a little bit and it rolls along nicely. I did this in a couple chapters. However, on multiple listenings, as I want to more fully take in and understand, I have appreciated the speaker’s clear pronunciation and care in presenting somewhat complex ideas. Looking forward to the next edition!!

Great book!

I really enjoy how "Your Brain at Work" uses multiple studies of the brain in very realistic situations (I love brain studies). Each of the example situations are connected throughout the book and you actually begin to form a bond with the characters used in the situations. First you are introduced to a typical situation that in which the characters act "normally" but with a not so great outcome. Then the situation is repeated and the main characters utilize what has been discussed in the chapter to change the outcome of the situation. You actually feel yourself getting smarter as your read the book. Eventually you yourself begin to think your way out of the situations being presented. This book is a classic already!

Hard "read", worth the time, at double speed

I will recommend this audiobook with the caveat that because the situations are done twice, the wrong way then the right way, I had to increase the speed too 2.0 to keep my interest.

Get it! Both the book... and the concepts in it

This is not one of those Malcolm Gladwell'ish books that pretend to be clever, yet caters to the airport book buying crowd who needs something that digests easily, like fast food calories. No, this book actually has some very interesting unique content regarding focus and concentration, and it challenges some common concepts within that area. If you're interested in productivity and the brain: Get it!

TERRIBLE LISTEN

This book is a terrible listen. The narrator emphasises every 4-6 syllables for no reason. It is DIFF-icult to FOL-low a-LONG when the NAR-rator TALKS like THIS for the en-TI-re BOOK. If im-POR-tant THOU-ghts were EM-phasised, or if he RE-ad it like a NOR-mal PER-son, I think I would have en-JOY-ed it much MO-re.

Very, very unfortunate. I also feel like the analogy of the mind being a stage, and the audience members are the pieces of your memory, to be a bit of a stretch and difficult to follow.

I've listened to several other books from Audible and have enjoyed them very much - Getting Things Done, Making Things Stick, The Tipping Point - but this book was just such a difficult listen that I have had a hard time finishing it, let alone trying to extract any usable information from it.

Get "Spark" Instead

As many other reviewers have said, the reader is just far too monotone and boring. In addition, the content is very basic - If you know anything about performance psychology at all (if you know what a mnemonic is) then you probably won't get much from this book.

I'd recommend getting "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain" instead. Much better book on a similar subject.

Formatted for the layman to understand and apply

I have made attempts to read several "how your brain works" books but always found myself drifting into thought instead of focusing on the message. The narrators are usually monotone and the terminology is way over my head. This book is different. The narration is better, the way the David Rock lays out the message is brilliant, and I often found myself in those "Ah Ha!" moments only wanting to listen more intently. I have not stopped recommending this book to everyone I know and cannot emphasize enough how much this book can change your life by you not having to do any huge lifestyle changes. I plan on listening to this book another five times minimum!

Absolutely Superb!

This is the best thing I've "read" in over a year.

In my dispute resolution coaching practice, I had to intuitively figure a lot of this out. It's not only lovely to see that science validates my intuitive findings (rewarding my certainty neurons extensively), but it's especially exciting to me to find language and concepts I can now use with clients who need the know-how of science to "prove" things to them before they will try anything.

My only disappointment is that Audible didn't have David Rock's book for coaches available to download once I finished this one.

Beethoven on a Kazoo

One of the biggest problems with audio books in general is that they rely to a very large degree on the ability of the reader. Excellent material can be utterly spoilt by the narrator - and this is the case here. I have no-one to blame but myself. Listening to the sample I thought I could stand Bob Walter's extraordinary read. I was wrong. This professional reader has absolutely no idea of the meaning of the narrative. It is a self indulgent presentation by someone so enamoured with the sound of his own voice that the meaning is buried beneath a dreadfully inept delivery. The book itself is excellent - and David Rock has achieved another sale because I had to buy the hard-copy to extract the value. So do yourself a favour - cut out the middle man and read this one the old fashioned way.

Terrible narration

Interested in the content of this book, but I can't get going with it because the narrator is just awful. The rhythm of his delivery sounds completely random - as if he isn't actually paying attention to the context of what he is reading, or hasn't looked at it in advance. The effect is so unbelievably distracting that I can't listen to more than a few minutes without going insane. Really disappointed. Avoid (or buy the printed version).

one of the best self help books ever written

A fantastic piece of work.

I'm on my second read-through. I have bought a hard copy on Amazon to use as a reference. This is the best of recent psychology put into a practical self-improvement book.

Personally, I am developing a strategy to implement just about everything in this book that are not already doing.

I read many self-help books but I think this is one of the best ever written.

Neuro Science meets self help

Very good; scientific research made applicable to every day situations. Listened twice now and becoming more used to the terms it's already helping the way I work daily and with others.

Excellent!

I listen to a lot of audiobooks on leadership and self improvement, and this was one of the best. I loved it. I almost didn't download it because of the reviews about the narrator, and whilst I could understand what other reviewers meant, it didn't detract from the message of the book. I really liked the original way the information was presented, in the form of a play. I liked the way the softer messages about how to behave and treat people, were backed up with hard neuroscience. For me, it brought a lot of things together that I had learnt from other books and helped me to understand why we do what we do, which was very empowering. I would really invest in a hard copy of this book too, as I feel it will become a book that I will want to refer to many times.

Really Really Interesting

I really enjoyed this book. Excellent subject matter and novel way of delivering the content.

The narrator is a little difficult to get used to at first, quite dry and slow paced, but once you become accustomed to his style its a good listen.

I especially liked the ending when it culminated in the SCARF acronym. I wont ruin it by expanding this but I found this to be very insightful and actually an enlightening view on human psychology.

All in all a good listen. I would have given 5 stars but the narrator was not quite to my taste.

Simon

A little bit anal, but probably useful

The subject (how to get more out of your brain) is fascinating, and many of David Rock's suggestions are worth considering, even if his style is rather lugubrious.

My brain is particularly badly behaved and hard to control, so there are many ideas that I am keen to put into practice. Examples: do not overload your small active memory (or 'stage', as Rock calls it). Concentrate on one topic at a time; this is more efficient than 'multi-tasking'. Do spend time on 'meta-work' - organising and prioritising your tasks. Chunk big ideas into sub-ideas and give them labels, chunk tasks into subtasks. Systematise repeated tasks into 'routines' so that you don't waste brain-energy each time you have to do this task. Do high energy tasks when you are high energy (e.g. fresh, morning) and reserve dumb tasks for when you suffer lower energy.

And of special interest to us at Audible: How Not to Lose Concentration When Listening to Your Audiobook. Well this is the tip: avoid distraction in the nano-second it starts to happen. Rock makes the sweet observation that 'We are not descended from ancestors who ignored a rustling in the long grass', but if you know there are no snakes around, you have to ignore the distraction from the get-go. Don't go there, don't let your 'Default Network' (the place your brain goes for a restful wander) kick in, in the first place - stay with the book! You must DIRECT your brain. Goodness, just burnt another half-hour doing book reviews.

Probably the BEST audiobook ever

First of all, I was not bothered by Bob Walter's narration at all, in fact I liked his tone and pace, as well as his voice. The content of this book is so interesting and so dense that I found his slower narration helping me stay focused.

Second of all, this book is amazing. I think it might be the most useful book I have ever read. I am re-listening to it for the second time now because I find the methods David Rock recommends so useful for a happy, productive life. This is the ultimate self-help book, except that it is based on science, not BS. If every person on this planet read and lived by this book, humanity would be lightyears ahead of where we are now... Will buy the print version for reference. I highly recommend this audiobook!

My brain is now working

I love this audio book. It gives accounts of daily rituals which most of the population undertake and the obstacles that prevent us from achieving our potential. With practical advice and reasoning, and through repetitive actions, we can become so more efficient within our daily lives.
If you can learn how to anticipate your thought process and remove the habitual processes that prevent positive thoughts coming through, you can achieve so much more!
Great stuff!

hmmm, it must just be me?

Sorry, but this is just terrible.
It is so monotonous, and in all honesty all the 'advice' and 'insight' is just plain common sense - don't try to do too much at once, you use energy to think so have a snack, go for a walk to clear your head, brains are easily distracted so disconnect the phone, etc. etc. You don't need to sit and listen to a book for goodness knows how many hours to realise this - come on, you already know this stuff.

The whole 'take two' thing is a nice idea, but it just doesn't work because its all circumstantial given that the author can just say all the right things were done by the character, but this does absolutely nothing to help YOU do the right things; reading a book will never change the way your own brain functions, I'm afraid.

Oh, and if I ever hear 'PRE-FRONTAL CORTEX' ever again I will go insane. Just by saying a medical term lots and lots does not make this anything clever or insightful, just flipping annoying.

Finally, at the risk of sounding zenophobic, this book really is very 'American' in its tone and approach, so if you are into all this self-help stuff then perhaps you might get something from it (it is clear that my 'give it a go' approach to this did not pay off myself!), but otherwise it will probably just annoy the hell out of you.