How to deal with clients,
bosses, and coworkers
who act like reptiles
By Terry Bragg
Are you frustrated because you can’t
get the cooperation you need from management or from your staff? Are you angry
because your coworkers don’t understand the importance of what they are doing
and act irrationally? Do your clients get angry and attack you about trivial
issues? Do the people you work with behave like brainless creatures acting on
impulse rather than logic?
There may be a simple explanation for
this behavior. You may be working with reptiles, both literally and
figuratively. No, I don’t mean you work with snakes in the grass. Your
coworker’s reptilian brain may be controlling their behavior.
Why people act like
reptiles
According to the triune brain theory
developed by Dr. Paul MacLean, Chief of Brain Evolution and Behavior at the
National Institutes of Health, you have three brains, not just one. This theory
may help you explain some of your behavior, your coworkers’ behavior, and the
behavior of people you encounter.
The brain stem is the reptilian brain.
It is a remnant of our prehistoric past. The reptilian brain acts on stimulus
and response. It is useful for quick decisions without thinking. The reptilian
brain focuses on survival, and takes over when you are in danger and you don’t
have time to think. In a world of survival of the fittest, the reptilian brain
is concerned with getting food and keeping you from becoming food. The reptilian
brain is fear driven, and takes over when you feel threatened or endangered.
A second part of the brain is the
limbic stem or mammalian brain. The limbic stem is the root of emotions and
feelings. It affects moods and bodily functions.
The neocortex is the most evolutionary
advanced part of your brain. It governs your ability to speak, think, and solve
problems. The neocortex affects your creativity and your ability to learn. The
neocortex makes up about 80 percent of the brain.
In the Industrial Age, the reptilian
brain was honored and needed. Companies expected assembly line workers to take
orders and work without thinking. Industrial Age management performed the
functions of the neocortex. Management did the thinking and workers did what
management told them to do.
In the Information Age, this
arrangement no longer works. Today, workers must think, make decisions, and use
their creativity. In the Information Age, reptilian behavior is a disadvantage
and a hindrance. Yet, reptilian behavior still exists.
Upshifting and
downshifting
According to the triune brain theory,
people upshift and downshift to use different parts of their brain depending
upon their situation. When you upshift, you use your neocortex. A safe
environment is necessary for upshifting. Consequently, creativity, learning, and
thinking happen when you feel safe, secure, and protected. Praise and security
promote upshifting.
Conversely, you downshift when your
reptilian brain takes over. People become reptilian when they are afraid and
concerned with survival. Criticism and fear promote downshifting.
Learning principle: A person or
an organization can’t evolve if it is primarily concerned with survival.
What you can do about
the reptiles in your life
Besides physical survival, we must
overcome two basic fears in the workplace: (1) fear of embarrassment, and (2)
fear of failure. If people are afraid they will be embarrassed or treated as
failures, they will not take risks. A prime task of management is to create a
work environment where people are not afraid of embarrassment or failure.
How can you use this theory? If your
clients, coworkers, staff, or upper management are acting like reptiles, their
behavior may be fear and survival based. The reptilian brain governs fear-based
action. You improve working relationships by reducing their fear, and by
improving their perceived odds for survival. I emphasize the word
"perceived." Fear is often irrational. Although you may not consider a
situation threatening, the people you work with may perceive a threat. Their
reptilian brains take over, and fight or flight become their only perceived
options.
How do you deal with people governed by
their reptilian brain? (No, a lobotomy is not the answer.) These tips will help:
• Show them they are safe and
assure them they will survive.
• Actively listen by reflecting back both the content and the feelings they
are expressing.
• Let them vent and get their feelings out.
• Do not counterattack. Responding in kind only escalates the situation.
The best approach, though, is to be
proactive and create a safe environment where we have not stimulated the
reptilian brain.
Don’t cuss those brainless reptiles
you call bosses, clients, and coworkers. They are using their brains . . . the
wrong part of their brains. Help stamp out irrationality in the workplace by
creating the conditions where your coworkers feel comfortable using the higher
part of their brains.
Terry Bragg and Peacemakers Training
offers a variety of tools for promoting, maintaining, and recognizing excellence
in your workplace. We also offer tools for helping you achieve and
maintain personal excellence. To learn more about these tools, click here:
Tools for Workplace and Personal
Excellence
To find out more about Terry's book, 31
Days to High Self-Esteem, click here: 31
Days to High Self-Esteem
To learn more about onsite seminars and
workshops for improving interpersonal relationships, resolving conflict, and
promoting and maintaining excellence in your workplace, click here: Seminars
& Workshops
©2000 All rights reserved
Terry Bragg•Peacemakers Training
Terry Bragg runs a company called
Peacemakers Training in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is the author of the book 31
Days to High Self-Esteem. He works with organizations to create a workplace
where people want to work, and with managers who want their people to work
together better. If you want your organization or your people to have more
energy, more trust, more respect, and more meaning, please contact him at:
Peacemakers Training
5485 South Chaparral Drive
Murray, Utah 84123
801-288-9303
E-mail: terry@terrybragg.com
Web Site: http://www.terrybragg.com
Back to Free Article Index
Subscribe to our Free
Bragg's Business Briefs Email
Newsletter
| 