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Rationale for Non-Rationality: Why We Make Bad Choices
The same neurochemicals that made our prehistoric ancestors flee the saber-toothed tiger now percolate in our brains when we bristle at a spouse's criticism or negative comments in a board meeting, according to research by HBS professor emeritus Michael C. Jensen.
Jensen's research, in conjunction with Harvard's interfaculty Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative, resulted in his formulation of a model of human behavior that explains why even the most "rational" people behave irrationally at times, willfully continuing in self-destructive behavior. Whether it's an alcoholic who refuses to admit that drink is killing him or a CEO who lets the company go bankrupt instead of changing business tactics, most humans consistently resist listening to feedback about their mistakes.
"There's nothing nonrational about making mistakes," said Jensen during a lively reunion presentation last spring. "The nonrational part is when somebody offers us evidence of a mistake and we don't say, 'Oh my goodness! Thank you so much!'" Jensen argued that "what learning is about, at its very core, is finding out when we're making an error." Thus, an unwillingness to receive bad news about ourselves "causes huge problems for learning and for change." Jensen believes this tendency is the source of most so-called people problems in organizations.
Jensen's model defines two regimes of behavior: the Resourceful, Evaluative, Maximizing Model (REMM) and the Pain Avoidance Model (PAM). At any given point, behavior is governed by one or the other of these regimes, and Jensen suggests that time is split between them in about a 50:50 ratio. The switch into the PAM regime occurs when we are frightened -- which can happen without our even knowing it. The switch begins in a section of the subconscious part of the brain called the amygdala. This area processes sensory stimulation before it reaches the conscious part of the brain. If the amygdala perceives a threat, it boosts the production of adrenaline, increasing the heart rate and creating other physical changes. At the same time, it releases neurochemicals into the conscious part of the brain, affecting its operation -- a phenomenon familiarly known as the "fight-or-flight" response.
While this reaction is invaluable in the face of physical threat, Jensen noted, "it is also generated by the threat of emotional or psychological pain, and that has mostly counter-productive, negative effects." Although the brain's chemistry is beyond our control, Jensen suggests that being aware of the pattern gives us an advantage in dealing with it. "Neurological 'muscles' can be strengthened just like biceps or quadriceps," he said, "but in order to strengthen them, we have to do exactly what we don't want to do -- we have to accept the emotional pain of hearing about our faults in order to learn."
The payback? "Individuals who are able to control this tendency make natural leaders and have a competitive advantage in life," Jensen said. He recommends three principles to help counteract this trait: seeking truth persistently, accepting personal responsibility, and delaying gratification (i.e., accepting present pain for future benefit). These ideas, he acknowledges, are stressed in nearly all major world religions. Religion is one of several institutions that Jensen believes can function as a "prosthesis" to bridge this gap in an individual's reasoning. Others, he suggests, include families, universities, corporations, and government -- the last a somewhat painful admission for Jensen, a former libertarian.
"You cannot believe this about human beings and also believe in a pure libertarian philosophy," he admitted. "It turns out that if we give individuals complete freedom of choice, they won't necessarily end up in the place in which they would judge they're best off."
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