Management gemsFind here some gems from our monitoring of the best publications on leadership and management

What are the effects of clutter on your brain?
“Clean up your desk so you can work better”, your parents perhaps told you when you were younger… A piece of common-sense advice that has now been validated by neuroscience.
Researchers at Yale University recently showed that visual clutter has little effect on our ability to perceive information, but a far greater one on our ability to process it efficiently. In macaque monkeys, whose visual capacities are close to those of humans, under such conditions, information is transmitted almost normally to the primary visual cortex, but the way in which it is relayed to the secondary visual cortex is affected.
Can we compensate for this negative impact through the strength of our attention? In part, yes, indicate the researchers. This is the example of a driver watching out for a car that might overtake them, while centering their vision on the road in front of them. But the energy expenditure is high.
This research will certainly have applications in ergonomics. In the short term, it also opens up avenues for improving one’s concentration.
Source: ‘Visual clutter’ alters information flow in the brain, Mallory Locklear, Yale News, October 2024.
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Should we give up on quantitative performance assessments?
Many companies are doing away with quantitative performance assessments: Adobe and Morgan Stanley, for instance. A study published in the Academy of Management Discoveries shows that “narrative” assessments are perceived as being fairer and more motivating.
Indeed, a qualitative approach allows for giving contextualized appraisals, using concrete facts for support, retracing the manner in which results were achieved. Employees have the feeling of being able to exchange more effectively. This approach visibly encourages their commitment and an improvement in their performance.
This nonetheless does not mean abandoning quantitative evaluation altogether. The authors of the study show that the perceived equity of narrative evaluations is greatly diminished in the cases of very high or very low performance. Opting for a hybrid format, combining qualitative and quantitative, therefore often appears to be more desirable.
Finally, even more than the format of the assessment, it is the process that makes the difference: the assessments perceived as being the fairest are those defined by consensus, as part of a transparent process that explicitly links up with the company’s strategy.
Source: The Power of Words: Employee Responses to Numerical vs. Narrative Performance Feedback, Academy of Management Discoveries, July 2024.

How can you provoke a constructive re-examination?
If you presented your team with a flawed project, would they have the courage to suggest ways of improving it? That was the experiment undertaken by the managers of a financial institution, as part of a study conducted by Imperial College Business School. The results indicate that certain managerial behaviors have a decisive impact on encouraging constructive criticism, and notably the following:
– Asking precise questions. When questions were too broad (“What do you think of that?”), few team members dared to challenge the idea being put forward. More targeted questions, highlighting the possibility of improving the idea (“What do you think might go wrong?”), were far more effective.
– Acknowledging concerns as valid and legitimate. The way in which the manager receives the first critical contribution is decisive. Contrary to what one might think, thanking the person is insufficient. Responses that explicitly validate the objection, such as ”That’s a legitimate concern”, encourage a higher level of constructive feedback.
– Making team members co-responsible. Directly engaging team members’ responsibility—for instance, through a vote—encourages them to share their concerns.
Source: Five Ways Leaders Can Get People to Speak Up, Celia Moore, Kate Combs, MIT Sloan Management Review, November 2024.
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How can you adapt to the return of geopolitical tensions?
Among the challenges facing executives—the generalization of AI, the war for talent, climate change—, what place should be reserved for geopolitics? According to Nikolaus S. Lang, Global Leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, this is an issue that remains largely underestimated by companies. In an informative TED Talk, he exhorts executives to prepare for the advent of a multipolar world, with, among others, the following recommendations:
– Reinforcing the resilience of your supply chain. Global supply chains have become vulnerable in the face of the increased risk of tariff barriers, economic sanctions or war. It is best to work on the flexibility of this chain, by reducing your dependence on a particular site and identifying the potential alternatives.
– Reinforcing your “geopolitical intelligence”. To face up to geopolitical reversals, companies must enhance their internal aptitude, by getting their teams used to working according to different scenarios, and by recruiting talents capable of anticipating these challenges and adapting to them.
Source: 5 ways leaders can adapt to shifting geopolitics, Nikolaus S. Lang, TED@BCG, September 2024.
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Why do we so frequently promote bad leaders?
Paradoxically, people promoted to the highest ranks are far from systematically being those most suited to leadership. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Professor of Business Psychology at University College London, deciphers this phenomenon in a McKinsey podcast.
One of the main causes of this paradox is the confusion between competence and self-confidence. Expressing one’s opinions with confidence, charisma and strength of conviction conveys the impression of possessing strong leadership potential. This overlooks the importance of empathy, of integrity, and of the ability to motivate one’s teams to engage in a collective effort. In this way, an insidious discrimination is established in favor of people displaying excessive self-confidence, or even narcissism.
In order to counter this bias, the priority is to review promotion processes so as to place greater emphasis on emotional and interpersonal skills. Which, observes Chamorro-Premuzic, has a far greater effect on increasing diversity than the implementation of quotas. Furthermore, orienting leadership development programs toward the reinforcement of these qualities within all potential leaders will allow not only the improvement of leadership quality, but also the development of a corporate culture that is at once more inclusive and more effective.
Source: Why so many bad bosses still rise to the top, McKinsey Talks Talent podcast, May 2024.