Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently

The genius of this book is the synthesis of two fundamental observations from neuroscience:

1. That people's experiences or neural wiring can truly allow them to "see different"
2. The extent to which fear plays a role in governing our ability to act on (1)

Unfortunately, the third major aspect of the thesis, which is that iconoclasts must be successful social engineers, sends the book off on a seemingly arbitrary grab-bag of tangnts, and making one appreciate all the more either Gladwell's ability to control a narrative or Gladwell's editor's ability to control Gladwell. This book has no such order or discipline, and had it been only half as long I would have been inclined to believe it twice as much. For me, I became lost with the Jackie Robinson story, and never really reconnected after that. As much as I love books that reference the story of Linux, the bit about Linus Torvalds as an iconoclast seemed gratuitous.

Nevertheless, the explanation of the neuroeconomic hypothesis and the examples from science given to explain how perceptions are formed, how reality is thus perceived, and how those perceived realities lead to measurable differences in actions expected or taken are worth the price of admission. And I believe that this book will provide enough of a basis of understanding that some subsequent author might produce a book that is of "Tipping Point" quality using the insights first developed here.

Innovation and advanced problem solving require different ways of thinking, which Berns frames as iconoclastic thought. The neuroscience and neuroeconomics behind this kind of thought suggest that an iconoclast's brain functions at different levels relative to three essential processes that help shape new ideas:

1.Perception - Managing what is seen in a new context, with insights about subject matter, ideas and category.

2.Fear Response - Converting fear of the unknown, failure and of looking stupid involve energies that can be converted.

3.Social Intelligence - Managing expectations and familiarity pose the heart of social relevance and trust in relationships.

So, iconoclasts see things differently, they face down the stress of fear, and they have the social gear to function in complex tasks with themselves and others - effectively and progressively. They require special care in organizations, however.

Neuroscience and Neuroeconomics

For those of us who are responsible for doing things that are challenging, for driving business strategy, for innovation in products and services, for reframing business models... It's mostly in our heads - but our brains are lazy.

Berns suggests that we could lead and manage our people in a more creative and constructive manner if we could recognize the iconoclasts among us and develop practices that support them and their endeavors. We've addressed this in the pages of Prepared and Resolved, although without the clinical basis that Dr. Berns brings to the subject.

Dr. Berns offers a relatively easy read of the iconoclast's mind from a neurological perspective. This non-scientist became more than a little nervous when, early on in the book, the author began delving into the biology of the brain and eyes in explaining "vision" relative to "perception". Think flashbacks to biology class and discussions involving rods and cons and the like. Ultimately, Berns did a nice job of switching between neuroscience speak and easy to read references of icons throughout history in an effort to punctuate his points.

Dr. Berns has provided the general reader a very good overview of the neuroscience behind iconoclasts. This may be the best book dealing with brain-function correlated to behavior that I've read. Many others have provided lengthy reviews of his thesis which can be summed up as: perception, courage, and social skills with no small dose of youth (where youth is 30ish) help create an iconoclast. I have only two complaints about the book. The last chapter deals with drugs and the attendant effects on our perception, lack of fear, and social abilities. This chapter seemed disjointed and inconsistent with the overall body of the book. The second complaint was Dr. Berns' drum-beat on youth and iconoclasm. While there may be fMRI studies to back-up much of the data, what are we to make of folks over 30 (and sometimes much older) who become iconoclasts? The question is rhetorical, and the merits of the work out-weigh these minor objections.
Highly recommended if you'd like to have a peek into the neurology of our behavior.

Gregory Berns takes a neuroscientist's approach to thinking differently; and the reader will come away with a greater understanding of why the iconoclastic way of thinking keeps society moving forward. Otherwise, we'd be a boring mess; safe, uninspiring and dreadfully dull. No thanks.

Although the book was written the way a neuroscientist would write, it was still clear enough for the layman to understand. The essence of the book was very compelling and even a little inspiring. Thinking outside the box is usually considered to be a dangerous approach to the safety & serenity of mainstream public opinion; until it catches on. Then the whole world becomes a genius, and that becomes the acceptable strategy. That's the way civilization has advanced since the beginning of time.

Long live the iconoclast. Society needs more fearless individuals with creativity to lead us out of a rut; certainly, Berns is doing a nice job of helping out; and this book is a helpful resource to keep us moving in the right direction.