Published in 2023
8 hours and 54 minutes
Along with Samantha Rockey and Robin Dunbar, Exeter alumna Tracey Camilleri (1980, English) has recently published The Social Brain: The Psychology of Successful Groups, a primer on the coalescence of evolutionary and business management. Rockey, Dunbar, and Camilleri are experts in their respective fields, with Camilleri being an Associate Fellow at Oxford’s Saïd Business School and the co-founder, with Rockey, of London-based leadership and development consultancy Thompson Harrison. At Saïd, Camilleri directed the flagship Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme from 2012 to 2022.
What is this book about?
How many people does the ideal team contain? How do groups bond, earn trust and forge shared identities? How can leaders build environments adaptable enough to respond to shocks and still enable people to thrive together? How can you feel close to people if your only point of contact is a phone or a computer?
In The Social Brain leading experts from the worlds of evolutionary psychology and business management come together to offer a primer on great team working. They explain what size groups work and how to shape them according to the nature of the task at hand. They offer practical hints on how to diffuse tensions and encourage cooperation. And they demonstrate the vital importance of balancing unity and the need for different views and outlooks. By explaining precisely how the ‘social brain’ works, they show how human groups function and how to create great, high-performing teams.
