My Manager and Other Animals

by Richard Robinson

Overview

Deep down, we're just like animals. Some of us are selfish like apes. Some are chaotic like ants. . . And somehow the two clash and coalesce in 'antagonistic harmony'. A fascinating look at the evolutionary psychology, instincts and tactics of the workplace.

My Manager & Other Animals examines the evolutionary psychology of work, focusing on the office, workshop, corporation or government department, and the complex and fascinating evolutionary tactics that have developed to deal with working life.

37 years ago Richard Dawkins wrote The Selfish Gene and it didn't take long for the business community to latch on to the 'selfish' part and adopt it as an industry standard. After all, it fitted in with the notion that, since we are all descended from apes, we should be like them: selfish, aggressive and competitive. More recently, astounding discoveries in human and animal behaviour (particularly ants) have shown that, in all animals, cooperation and altruism is more common than we think and more useful than we could imagine. It seems we contain an inner ape and an inner ant. How confusing; they seem like opposites, because co-operation means helping others, competition means swatting them.

What are we, ape or ant? This book shows that ant and ape are both important. Co-operation without leadership is random, leadership without co-operation is slavery. The result of these two colliding is the mad mad mad world of work and life, lovingly described in the book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472106728
Publisher:	Little, Brown Book Group
Publication date:	04/17/2014
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

RICHARD ROBINSON holds a degree in psychology and is the author of ten popular-science books includingthe Science Magic series and bestselling Why the Toast Always Lands Butter-Side Down. He has performed at science festivals from Edinburgh to South Korea, is Director of Brighton Science Festival and has lectured at universities worldwide.

Richard Robinson is the author of 10 books of popular science including the Science Magic series (Oxford University Press) which was shortlisted for the Aventis Science Prize. He works full-time as a science presenter, and is regularly invited to perform demonstrations around the world at science festivals, universities and schools. He has performed at festivals ranging from the Edinburgh Science Festival to the Korean Science Festival, and lectured at universities ranging from the UK to the Ukraine. He holds a BSc in psychology.

Illustrator Kate Charlesworth has drawn regularly for New Scientist and has illustrated a wide variety of publications including The Cartoon History of Time.