The Social Brain

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.


'This wonderful book reminds us that businesses are also biological and social . . . It could not be more timely, wise and useful.' Margaret Heffernan, author of Wilful Blindness

'Buy it for yourself and your colleagues. Essential reading.' Mark Earls, author of HERD

About the Author

Tracey Camilleri is an Associate Fellow at Oxford University's Said Business School and the co-founder, along with Sam Rockey, of Thompson Harrison.
Sam Rockey is an Associate Fellow at the Oxford Säid Business School Open programme and was formerly the Global Head of Leadership Development at the FTSE top-10 company SABMiller, now part of AB InBev.
Robin Dunbar is Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Oxford and an Emeritus Fellow of Magdalen College. He is best known for the social brain hypothesis, the gossip theory of language evolution and Dunbar's Number (the limit of 150 on the number of relationships that we can manage). His books include Evolutionary Psychology: A Beginner's Guide, How Religion Evolved and Friends.