L&D TV VIDEOS

Toxic culture looms large right now. The headlines are full of toxic masculinity and the abusive behaviours it has led to. And of politicians behaving toxically – breaking laws, denying wrongdoing, and promoting policies designed to win headlines rather than improve things. In the meantime, the UK has recently seen the CBI, the Metropolitan Police and the Department for Education all accused of having toxic cultures. The Australia Parliament House is under scrutiny following reports of sexual harassment and assault. In the US, video game company Activation Blizzard is facing accusations of widespread discrimination and harassment against female employees.

In this newsletter, I review an authoritative text that takes an often overlooked body of scientific knowledge of human societies and applies it to the real world of large organisations. In the development of Drama for Change, my method for impacting organisational culture with a campaign based around a pertinent video drama, I studied the work of Robin Dunbar, the Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at Oxford University, in-depth and clung to it almost talisman-like to help me see the wood for the trees. So, I must confess I felt a little jealous when I discovered The Social Brain, in which Dunbar collaborates with business experts to apply theory to practice.