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Evan LaPointe (founder of CORE Sciences)11 August 2024

Improve strategy, influence, and decision-making by understanding your brain

8Frameworks
15Insights

Frameworks in this episode

Productivity3 steps

Meeting Priming Before Decision-Making

Every meeting has a priming phase and a decision phase; skipping or reversing them guarantees dysfunction

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Innovation3 steps

Reverse Engineering to Build Openness

Two reverse-engineering habits that let a conscientious brain manufacture the openness it lacks

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Leadership3 steps

Role-Based Culture by Logical Deduction

Replace performative Mission-Vision-Values with a deduced 'role you play' that logically derives your standards

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Communication3 steps

The Ability-Trust-Appeal Relationship Model

Every professional relationship rests on ability, trust, and appeal; the experience you are matters most

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Peak Performance3 steps

The Alpha-Beta-Gamma Focus Grid

Map brain-wave states against motivation systems and deliberately spend ~25% of your year outside busy beta

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Strategy3 steps

The Believability Spectrum for Vision & Strategy

Every idea lands as believed, believable, conceivable, or inconceivable; your openness sets where the lines fall

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Self-Mastery3 steps

The Brain's Three Systems (Safety, Reward, Purpose)

Diagnose which of three motivational systems is driving someone's behavior before you try to change it

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Influence3 steps

Three Speeds of Influence + Choose Your Character

Pick an influence character that fits your personality, then choose slow, moderate, or fast based on the situation

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Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Myth Buster· 2

Myth Buster12:00

"We're More Similar Than We Are Different" Is Bad Propaganda

Evan pushes back on the comforting idea that people are basically alike. He argues we cling to it because it feels easier to get along with people who resemble us. The better move is to build the muscle of working with people who are genuinely, deeply different.

  • The phrase 'we're more similar than we are different' is one of the worst pieces of propaganda people carry
  • We adopt it because we fantasize similarity makes people easier to get along with
  • The real skill is the capacity to get along with people who are extremely different
  • Personality differences are real and change how every conversation goes

“one of the worst pieces of propaganda that people walk around with in their minds is the phrase we're more similar than we are different”

Evan LaPointe · 12:00

“we should probably be building the muscle that we have the capacity to get along with people that are extremely different than we are”

Evan LaPointe · 12:30
#teams#personality#collaboration
Myth Buster1:01:30

Asking for Accountability Is the Best Way to Not Get It

Evan argues that demanding accountability backfires because it activates people's safety systems, triggering optics-driven rather than material change. People respond by building a facade of everything-is-fine with no substance behind it, which is how many companies end up hollow.

  • Asking for (or threatening) accountability activates safety systems
  • Safety-driven change is optics-based, not material
  • The result is a 'movie set' of facades with no real substance
  • Motivating change through the safety system rarely produces genuine change

“asking for accountability is the best way to not get it”

Evan LaPointe · 1:01:30

“we should set up a whole movie set of facade houses that pretend everything's great with no substance behind them”

Evan LaPointe · 1:01:30
#accountability#management#motivation#neuroscience

Hot Take· 4

Hot Take19:30

Dysfunction = What Science Knows Minus What Your Business Does

Riffing on a Dan Pink line about the gap between what science knows and what business does, Evan turns it into an equation: the difference between the two IS your organizational dysfunction. He uses it as a lens to examine failing paradigms like traditional management, 'fail faster,' and mission statements.

  • Dan Pink: there's a mismatch between what science knows and what business does
  • Evan's equation: science knows minus what your business does equals dysfunction
  • Failing paradigms (managers, 'fail faster', mission statements) show up in that gap
  • Shrinking the gap directly shrinks the dysfunction

“there's a mismatch between what science knows and what business does”

Evan LaPointe · 19:30

“you can kind of almost look at this as an equation of science knows minus what your business does equals dysfunction”

Evan LaPointe · 19:30
#management#organizational-design#strategy
Hot Take35:30

You Have Three Options, and Vulnerability Is the Only Good One

When you know your own personality limits, Evan says you have three choices for handling them on a team: be vulnerable about them, try to hide them, or be unapologetic. Unlike Brené Brown selling vulnerability for its own sake, he sells it as the least-bad option, because hiding and defiance are ruinous by comparison.

  • Three options for your weaknesses: be vulnerable, hide them, or be unapologetic
  • Hiding and being unapologetic are both ruinous compared to vulnerability
  • Vulnerability gets less scary once you weigh how much scarier the alternatives are
  • Honesty about your gaps earns trust, not contempt

“I can be vulnerable I can attempt to hide it or I can be Unapologetic those other two options are ruinous compared to vulnerability”

Evan LaPointe · 35:30
#vulnerability#self-awareness#teams#leadership
Hot Take38:30

What's the ROI of Fresh Flowers in a Four Seasons Lobby?

Evan attacks the reflexive 'what's the ROI?' question when an idea generates nth-order rather than first-order effects. The fresh flowers in a luxury hotel lobby have no clean first-order return, yet clearly matter. Teams that get stuck in the translation/justification conversation lose to teams built to move into experimentation.

  • Some ideas generate nth-order effects, not first-order effects
  • Demanding a clean ROI on those ideas (like lobby flowers) misses the point
  • Teams either have a satisfying answer or a habitat that refuses the question as a waste of time
  • Getting stuck translating/justifying instead of experimenting is a competitive disadvantage

“what is the ROI of having fresh flowers in the lobby of a Four Seasons Hotel”

Evan LaPointe · 38:30

“if the idea is inherently generating nth order effects instead of first order effects”

Evan LaPointe · 38:30
#strategy#roi#design#decision-making
Hot Take1:37:30

If Mission/Vision/Values Were an Airline, Nobody Would Fly It

Evan skewers the standard performative approach to culture: if Mission/Vision/Values were an airline, you wouldn't let your family fly it because it rarely reaches its destination. His alternative is logical deduction, replacing 'mission' with 'role': who is glad you exist, and why? That's a fact, not an inspiration you have to perform.

  • Mission/Vision/Values has a shaky track record of actually shaping behavior
  • The performative approach hopes to inspire people into belief
  • Replace 'mission' with 'role': who is glad you exist and why
  • Role is a deducible fact, so you can build culture with logic instead of inspiration

“if Mission Vision Values was an airline you would not allow any family to fly on that Airline because it does not arrive at most…”

Evan LaPointe · 1:37:30

“who is glad you exist why are they glad you exist and that is a fact that is not an inspiring idea”

Evan LaPointe · 1:39:30
#culture#mission#leadership#company-building

Explainer· 4

Explainer03:30

Your Brain Is a College Campus (And You Overuse the History Department)

Evan reframes the brain as a campus with different departments: science (open-minded experimentation), art (creative thinking), and history (looking up what you already know). Most people default to the history department because it's the lowest-energy way to answer a question. Deliberately routing thoughts to the science and art departments produces dramatically better answers.

  • The brain has distinct 'departments': science, art, humanities, and history
  • History is the low-energy default because the brain is built to conserve energy
  • That default gives you reference material, not fresh thinking
  • Sending questions to the experimental/creative departments yields far better answers, especially for building products or services

“I kind of think of it like the brain is like a college campus that has different departments in it”

Evan LaPointe · 03:30

“most people rely on their history Department way too much and that's because the brain is actually built to conserve energy”

Evan LaPointe · 03:30
#neuroscience#creativity#decision-making#mental-models
Explainer34:00

If You're Low in Openness, Big-Vision Thinking Hits Your 'Pain Cave'

Evan explains that people low in the Big Five trait of openness have abstract, creative, complex thinking wired to the brain's pain systems, producing a visceral negative reaction to outlandish ideas. Lenny recognizes himself in this, admitting he goes to his 'pain cave' when a designer proposes a big redesign. Others have that same thinking wired to reward.

  • Openness is essentially your tolerance for vision and strategy
  • Low openness wires abstract/creative thinking to the brain's pain systems
  • The reaction is visceral, not just intellectual disagreement
  • The same abstract thinking is wired to reward systems in high-openness people

“if you are low in openness your brain essentially has abstract creative intellectual complex thinking wired to the pain systems of the brain”

Evan LaPointe · 34:00

“I'm pretty low on openness which I don't like to see but it very much aligns with exactly what you said”

Lenny · 36:30
#personality#big-five#self-awareness#vision
Explainer1:07:30

Influence Like a Video Game: Choose Your Character and Speed

Evan frames influence as picking a character, like starting an Elden Ring playthrough. Your personality has a natural fit (helper, devil's advocate, storyteller, back-channeler), and articulating your character earns you consistent permission to operate that way. You also pick a speed of influence: slow, moderate, or fast.

  • The starting point for influence is choosing your character and mode
  • Your personality has a natural fit for a specific influence style
  • Declaring your character earns consistent permission from others
  • You also choose a speed: slow (let them fail), moderate, or fast

“the starting point for influence is to choose your character and choose your mode it's almost like you're playing like Elden ring or some you…”

Evan LaPointe · 1:07:30

“then you're going to pick a speed of influence which is slow moderate or fast”

Evan LaPointe · 1:08:00
#influence#personality#leadership#communication
Explainer1:51:30

Alpha, Beta, Gamma: Why Your Best Ideas Come in the Shower

Evan maps waking focus to three brainwave modes: alpha (quiet daydreaming), beta (busy productivity mode), and gamma (intense deep focus). The shower is the most common alpha trigger, which is why ideas surface there. Most teams live almost entirely in beta, and you can never get an alpha or gamma idea from a beta mind.

  • Waking focus has three modes: alpha (daydream), beta (productivity), gamma (deep focus)
  • Alpha lets the brain hear subconscious 'creaks and pops' — hence shower ideas
  • Beta is busy execution mode; most teams over-index here
  • You can't get a gamma or alpha idea from a beta mind, so aim for ~25% of the year in alpha/gamma

“the most common setting for Alpha for most people is the shower so it unlocks this mystery of like why do I have all these…”

Evan LaPointe · 1:52:30

“you will not ever get a gamma idea from a beta mind you will never get an alpha idea from a beta mind”

Evan LaPointe · 1:59:30
#focus#brainwaves#creativity#deep-work

Story· 1

Story49:30

How "I Completely Disagree" Starts a Fight in Everyone's Brain

Evan tells the story of a post-acquisition meeting where someone said 'we can't talk about this for the rest of our lives' six minutes in, and another declared they disagreed with 'absolutely everything.' He shows how certain phrases initiate combat mode by activating the amygdala, while phrases like 'I don't see how these dots connect' engage the prefrontal cortex instead.

  • Phrases like 'I completely disagree' signal the initiation of combat to every brain in the room
  • Once combat starts, everyone's objective shifts to winning, not solving
  • Certain phrasing activates the amygdala (combat mode)
  • Reframing as a question ('help me connect these dots') activates the prefrontal cortex instead

“I would look at my watch and be like I didn't realize that you were terminal”

Evan LaPointe · 49:30

“there's things we say that activate the amydala the combat mode of the brain versus a different choice of phrase which is going to activate…”

Evan LaPointe · 52:00
#meetings#communication#neuroscience#conflict

Tool· 1

Tool1:09:30

Use The Challenger Sale to Influence Faster

For moderate-speed influence, Evan recommends The Challenger Sale: teach someone something new so that living with the knowledge makes them see what they couldn't see before. You give them a tool their future will unpack (like reading body language), then check back in weeks later. It's far faster than letting people fail.

  • The Challenger Sale is the book for moderate influence
  • Teach people something new that they'll unpack over the following days/weeks
  • Give them a tool their future self applies, then check back later
  • This influences in days-to-months versus letting people learn the slow way through failure

“a great book to read for moderate influence is the Challenger sale”

Evan LaPointe · 1:09:30

“that's how you influence a person in a few days a few weeks maybe a few months at worst way faster than letting them fail”

Evan LaPointe · 1:11:00
#influence#books#sales#coaching

Takeaway· 3

Takeaway24:30

Most Meetings Skip Priming and Jump Straight to Deciding

Evan splits meetings into two phases: priming and decision-making. Most meetings skip priming entirely, wrongly assuming everyone is on the same page. Priming can take under three minutes (even in the invite) and should establish the mode, principles, and purpose of the conversation before any decision gets made.

  • Meetings are a combination of priming and decision-making
  • Skipping priming assumes shared context that almost never exists
  • Priming can be done in under three minutes, even inside the calendar invite
  • Debate the principles first; a debate about tactics rooted in misaligned principles is unresolvable

“a lot of meetings kind of skip the priming step altogether they launch directly into decision- making”

Evan LaPointe · 24:30

“most people are actually shocked to find out that we're not on the same page even though we literally never have been”

Evan LaPointe · 25:00
#meetings#facilitation#productivity
Takeaway58:00

Someone Else's Strength Is the Patch for the Bug of Your Weakness

Evan warns against the 'just lean into your strengths, ignore your weaknesses' advice. Different phases of a product lifecycle have different peak humans, and a teammate's strength is literally the patch for your weakness. Teams unaware of their weaknesses run slow because a flaring weakness slows everyone else down.

  • Different phases (vision, alignment, execution) each have different peak humans
  • Another human's strength is the patch for the bug of your weakness
  • You don't have to fix your weaknesses, but you must be aware of them and know who patches them
  • Teams blind to their weaknesses accumulate slowness and problems

“another human strength on your team is the patch for the bug of your weakness and we run buggy software”

Evan LaPointe · 58:00

“a team that is highly unaware of its weaknesses is going to have a lot of slowness and a lot of problems as a result”

Evan LaPointe · 58:30
#teams#strengths#self-awareness#collaboration
Takeaway1:32:00

The First Relationship Question: What Kind of Experience Am I?

Evan says the most counterintuitive part of relationships is that being a good experience matters more than ability or trustworthiness. The place to start isn't how skilled or critical you are, but whether you're a miserable experience to be around. If you are, fix that before anything else.

  • Start by asking what kind of experience you are, not how good or critical you are
  • 'Appeal' (the experience of being around you) outweighs ability and trust biologically
  • A high-ability, trustworthy person who's a terrible experience gets left out of the room
  • If you're a miserable experience, fix that first

“it's critical to ask what kind of experience am I that is where to start not how good am I at my job how much…”

Evan LaPointe · 1:32:00

“if the answer is yes don't worry too much about the other pieces yet you got to fix that first”

Evan LaPointe · 1:32:30
#relationships#self-awareness#teams#influence