There are many ways in which organizations try to get feedback, but developing a culture of asking for feedback may be the most cost-effective way to develop healthy work cultures. Our brains are still exquisitely attuned to threats, be it either physical and social. “It’s a vestige of how survival has largely depended on appeasing group members. Among our ancestors, eviction from the group led to a dangerous, isolated existence in the wild.”

Humans base their decisions on many of the same social impulses. When neuroscientists conduct brain scans of people exposed to social threats, such as a nasty look or gesture, the resulting images look just like the scans of people exposed to physical threats. Our bodies react in much the same ways. No matter if we’re giving a speech to thousands or coming face-to-face with a jungle cat, our body’s response is the same. This is the same way we look at feedback. We think of feedback as something threatening to our existence, rather than, something that will help us develop and evolve.