We make decisions constantly — but how much do we really understand about what our brains are doing when we make them? My guest on this episode of The Decision-Making Studio is Bruna De Palo, author of The Brain Instruction Manual for Leaders: What Nobody Told You About Working with Humans. Bruna's book is about neuroscience and leadership, but our conversation ranges much more widely into how the brain shapes judgement, behaviour and decision-making. We talk about why the idea of "taking emotion out of a decision" makes very little sense; how our brains use past experience, habits and mental shortcuts to predict what happens next; and how those same processes can also create biases and constrain the options we see. We explore the brain as a predictive system — one that is constantly trying to anticipate what will happen and allocate our limited energy accordingly. That leads us into Bruna's idea of the "box": the accumulated experiences and assumptions our brains draw upon to make sense of what is happening around us. We also explore why uncertainty is so demanding for the brain and what that means when we ask people to navigate significant change. And we look at what psychological safety actually means when people need to speak up, disagree and challenge decisions. If our brains are continually scanning their environment for threat, creating the conditions in which people genuinely feel able to contribute becomes far more than a nice cultural aspiration. There is some good news too. Neuroplasticity means that deeply ingrained patterns of thought and behaviour are not necessarily permanent. We discuss habits, learning and how new neural pathways develop — and what this might tell us about actually changing behaviour rather than simply knowing what we ought to do. Along the way we get into emotion as data, resistance to change, prediction, bias, stress and flow — including a wonderful example involving Diego Maradona. At its heart, this is a conversation about something I keep coming back to on this podcast: if we want to make better decisions, it helps to understand the human biology, neuroscience and psychology behind them. In this episode (00:00:00) Introduction (00:03:14) Bruna De Palo, neuroscience and understanding human behaviour (00:09:26) The predictive brain, energy and the "box" (00:21:08) Why we can't take emotion out of decision-making (00:33:26) Psychological safety, conflict and speaking up (00:46:49) Change, uncertainty, neuroplasticity and changing behaviour (00:57:45) Diego Maradona, stress and the state of flow Show Notes Bruna De Palo — neuroscience-based executive and team coach, author and advisor. Bruna De Palo – official website The Brain Instruction Manual for Leaders: What Nobody Told You About Working with Humans — Bruna De Palo A practical exploration of how neuroscience can help us understand behaviour, stress, emotion, change, performance and decision-making. The Brain Instruction Manual for Leaders – official book website The Brain Instruction Manual for Leaders – John Murray Press People, books and resources mentioned Lisa Feldman Barrett — How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain Bruna discusses Barrett's work on emotion and the relationship between bodily signals, previous experience, context and the brain's predictions. How Emotions Are Made – Lisa Feldman Barrett Amy C. Edmondson — psychological safety Referenced in our discussion about speaking up, disagreement, interpersonal risk and creating conditions in which people feel able to challenge decisions. Amy C. Edmondson – Psychological Safety Norman Doidge — The Brain That Changes Itself Discussed in relation to neuroplasticity: how experience and repeated behaviour can change neural pathways and established patterns. The Brain That Changes Itself – Penguin The Brain Instruction Manual for Leaders — Extras, links and resources Bruna's companion resource library contains the research, videos and additional material referenced throughout the book. Book Extras & Resources Diego Maradona — Napoli v Bayern Munich, 1989 The famous warm-up discussed near the end of the episode, before Napoli's UEFA Cup semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich. Bruna uses it in discussing pressure, energy and flow. Watch: Diego Maradona warm-up, 1989
