Understanding and Reducing the Impact of Defensiveness on Management Learning

Abstract

The neurosciences have expanded our understanding of the role of the “old” brain in generating defensive reactions to threat. Because the learning and practice of management skills pose various forms of threat to would-be practitioners, the question of how individuals respond to threat and how this affects their ability to learn has also been a persistent concern of management scholars. I present a model of management learning defensiveness and defensiveness-management strategies that integrates traditional management perspectives with recent neuroscientific and psychological research. Because neuroscience makes clear that defensive reactions are all but inevitable upon the experience of threat, the model and discussion distinguish between antecedent and post-threat strategies for managing defensiveness in management development and education. Implications for educators focus on the benefits of enhancing learners’ understanding and self-awareness of the neurological bases of defensive reactions in learning situations. I discuss teaching methods and suggest research propositions related to the educational strategies I describe.