Tame the Primitive Brain: 28 Ways in 28 Days to Manage the Most Impulsive Behaviors at Work

Preface

I have been thinking, speaking about, and researching the primitive brain for many years now. Some people say that I am an expert in the field. Be that as it may, I’d like to give “a shout out” to my friend and coworker Bruce Van Ryn–Bocking as someone whose own expertise in this same area has really expanded my understanding as to why people often behave in the impulsive ways they do. A number of the most important ideas in this book were directly influenced by him.

I first met Bruce after giving one of my keynote speeches about body language; my purpose was to help a business audience understand how our primitive reptilian brain instantly judges others as to whether they are friendly and trustworthy, or not, based only on nonverbal communication. Bruce came up to me afterward and said, “Hi. That was great! I use the lizard-brain in my work, too.” There was a connection.

Ever since, he and I have enjoyed working together and talking about evolutionary psychology and neural architecture, impulsive behaviors at work, and how to manage them. I always enjoy hearing what he has to say, for after years of education, training, and experience in the field, he has developed some really great ways to explain it all. At the same time, he is highly complimentary about my experiences, and how I explain them—and, of course, that’s nice, too!

Although we come from different places, were born into different generations, and originally worked in different professions before arriving in ...