The Corporate Caveman

The jet-setting, cell-toting executive might seem the epitome of
20th century civilization. But under that custom-tailored shirt beats the
blood red heart of a caveman, according to one management theory.

"Evolutionary psychology holds that although human beings today
inhabit a thoroughly modern world, they do so with the ingrained
mentality of Stone Age hunter-gatherers," according to an article by
Nigel Nicholson in the Harvard Business Review. Nicholson, a professor of
economics at the London Business School, speculates that the survival
skills humans honed on the African savanna thousands of years ago still
dictate how we do business--and that supervisors who don't take that
hardwiring into account are "managing against the grain of human nature."
Some aspects of the workplace he says are affected by our Neanderthal
natures:

Gossip. The Stone-Age version of watercooler chatter kept our
ancestors alive, and over time, the propensity to gossip became part of
our mental programming. Instead of trying to prevent gossip, supervisors
should make sure that the rumor mill avoids dishonesty or
unkindness.

Group size. Humans are designed by evolution to work best in groups
only as big as extended families, so managers should keep committees to
under 12 members.

Creativity. "We are hardwired to avoid loss when comfortable, but
to scramble madly when threatened," writes Nicholson. The lesson:
Supervisors shouldn't let employees get complacent. Alternatively, they
can hire the people whom evolution has made natural risk-takers: The
descendants of yesterday's fearless hunters, suggests Nicholson, are
today's brash entrepreneurs.