Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People [Hardcover]

Shine has one of the best introductions I have read in a long while. Hallowell's story of meeting "Dr. Shine" at the airport was inspiring. This story also gave the author the opportunity to overview the content of the book and the concepts he was to cover. I couldn't wait to see what was to come and eagerly turned the pages.

My enthusiasm dissipated somewhat as the book progressed. Not that it's not good - it is. Hallowell does a great job of synthesising much of the brain psychology research into good messages for managers. However, I felt the explanation of the "Why?" at times overpowered and overshadowed the "How?" (this might work for managers).

For example, there was plenty of explanation, but merely two to three paragraphs on how a manager might use the important concept of framing/reframing.

For a visual reader such as myself, the "Cycle of Excellence" would lend itself to a visual/diagram. I could then see where the five key concepts - (Select, Connect, Play, Grapple and Grow) fitted in the cycle. This would also have been very useful as a review tool and as an "on the desk reminder" for everyday use at work.

To me, the book seems to be a cross between a management text and a "how to" for managers. If the target audience is indeed managers, then they might need to do some extrapolation of the concepts to work out how to apply them in practise. There were however, a number of places where the author gives a list of things one can do to implement some of the concepts of Shine and this is useful. In particular, Chapter 7 "The Cycle of Excellence" which summarises the book, will be most useful for managers - in fact, one could almost read the summary first and then go to other parts of the book if one needed further explanation.

In summary, this is a good book. Managers will find some good motivational tips for keeping oneself and others "shining".

Bob Selden, authorWhat to Do When You Become the Boss: How New Managers Become Successful Managers

I agree with Edward Hallowell: "Put simply, the best managers bring out the best from their people. This is true of football coaches, orchestra conductors, big-company executives, and small-business owners. They are like alchemists who turn lead into gold. Put more accurately, they find and mine the gold that resides in everyone."
Of course, that is also a worthy objective for managers: to find and mine the "gold" within themselves as well as within others...and then refine it. There is an additional dimension of engagement that should also be mentioned, suggested by the fact that parents raise future wives and mothers as well as daughters and future husbands and fathers as well as sons: In a role in which they do resemble alchemists, the best managers help those entrusted to their care to become effective managers.

Hallowell suggests a five-step process "to ignite peak performance." He devotes a separate chapter to each step: (1) Select high potentials and align their strengths with the work for which they are best suited, (2) establish and then continue to strengthen connections with those who are managed as well as between and among them, and meanwhile (3) ensure that the work environment is one that stimulates and nourishes "imaginative engagement" (i.e. play); (4) create conditions in which people are encouraged to "grapple and grow" by taking prudent risks that are exciting learning opportunities, and (5) do anything and everything possible to help me "shine" with pride in what they have achieved, joy in having done it with pleasure, and confidence that that this "Cycle of Excellence" will be self-perpetuating.

With rigor and eloquence, Hallowell carefully reviews and discusses the latest research on brain science to get the best from one's self and others; however, he focuses most of his attention on explaining HOW to do that. For example, he suggests 11 "simple, concrete steps...to get the sand out of the gears of the Cycle of Excellence and to promote the feeling of connectedness that lubricates the gears so well" (Pages 105-107), then he offers ten practical suggestions to encourage "the deep and exciting state I call by the deceptively simple term `play." (Pages 127-132); next, on Pages 152-156, Hallowell identifies ten steps to take to help employees "grapple with the demands of the job and achieve consistent progress"; and my final example, on Pages 172-173, ten steps for promoting shine among associates.

Checklists such as these will help facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of important material later, as will the "Key Ideas" section that Hallowell provides at the conclusion of each chapter. I commend him on this brilliant book, a shining achievement that will, I am certain, will help his readers to produce countless others.

Psychiatrist Edward M. Hallowell starts by offering new information about human cognition and moves into explaining how to manage people better based on systematically applying fresh findings in neuroscience. He also confirms or debunks some earlier concepts about cognition. Hallowell goes on to suggest a solid, five-step, scientifically grounded "Cycle of Excellence" that managers can use to improve performance and productivity. The advice is clear and cumulative: find the right job fit, build connection, foster play, commit to work and reward excellence. getAbstract recommends his perceptive advice to those who are interested in the science behind human motivation, including human resource officers and managers seeking to bring out the very best in their employees, allowing them to "shine" in their everyday work.