Kate Lanz, as founder and CEO of the company Mindbridge, is on what we might deem the “front lines” of research about how to unlock the mind’s latent potential in the modern workplace. She teams with second writer Paul Brown on the book All the Brains in the Business: The Engendered Brain in the 21st Organisation, a volume that explores how gender diversity can be a tool for corporations and other bodies to utilize rather than a source of friction in the workplace. The book challenges many long held notions about how biological differences between men and women can be harnessed as a secret wellspring for business success rather than an ongoing problem corporate officers are forever asked to address.
Lanz and Brown make their argument for this idea early on and hammer the point home throughout the course of the book. There are no heavy handed touches – their approach is to present the available research and evidence supporting their concepts rather than attempting to convince readers through sheer rhetoric alone. The subtlety of their evaluation recognize there is no black and white when it comes to this issue – few brains are exclusively male or female in nature but, instead, are a mix of the two and tapping into the particular talents each side holds brings out talents that are all too often ignored.
AMAZON: www.amazon.com/All-Brains-Business-Organisation-Neuroscience/dp/3030221520
Lanz’s extensive experience with neurological studies and the corporate world sets forth a path for interested parties to follow. The book keeps its approach to the topic clear and uncluttered thanks, in no small part, to prose that never overreaches and focuses much more on communicating its ideas rather than impressing readers with its verbal virtuosity. Their talents as authors are obvious for any discerning reader. They supply reams of research supporting their ideas, but the rich detail buttressing their point of view never threatens to overwhelm readers.
The book has a solid structure that makes their concepts easy to follow. All the Brains in the Business: The Engendered Brain in the 21st Organisation contains twelve chapters that are arranged in sensible fashion and there is a smattering of supplementary material in the way of graphics further strengthening the book. There is a genuine sense of the authors wanting to help running throughout the book, as well, rather than a feeling of correction. It is clear that Lanz and Brown wrote this book as a way of assisting us to realize fundamental truths about what the mind is capable of rather than lecturing us about what we are failing to capitalize on.
MIND-BRIDGE: mindbridge.co.uk/
All the Brains in the Business: The Engendered Brain in the 21st Organisation will remain relevant for many years to come. Kate Lanz and Paul Brown have delivered a compact and focused work that zeros in on what matters and leaves out any unnecessary dross. The result is one of the more interesting business oriented texts released in many years thanks to its mix of strong business sense and convincing science. It makes for a winning combination.
Clay Burton