So, Nicholson posits, since emotions are primary in our neural circuitry, businesses must stop suppressing emotions in workplace relationships and transactions. "People from the top down must be allowed to be open about their feelings," he says. Since humans are programmed to operate best in clans of 7 family members, Nicholson reports, and in broader networks of no more than 150 people, we must create more intimate communities within corporations.

Nicholson's reform strategies tend to be weakened either by vagueness or internal contradiction. On one hand, he tells us that companies would be well served to attract and retain women by making hierarchies more flexible; on the other, he reminds us that hierarchy remains essential to smooth organizational functioning. His underlying lesson, though, is a powerful one: We human beings are peculiar creatures, and we don't change easily. Better to acknowledge that fact and play to our strengths.

Sidebar: Cheat Sheet

Not hardwired to process evolutionary psychology? Here are the Executive Instinct basics as they apply to the world of work.

Rational decision making? Not likely.

Our emotions are always running the show, directing the focus and biases of our logic. We can maintain our rationality for only limited stretches of time and only with great effort.

The gender gap isn't just cultural brainwashing.

Men and women have different hardwired psychologies, so it's normal for them to want to do different things and to do the same things in different ways.

Leaders are born, not made.

Individuals' genetic programming makes some people more suitable for leadership roles than others.

In organizations, big isn't beautiful.

People identify first and foremost with the small groups that they belong to. Only through such groups will people make sacrifices for the business as a whole.

The "virtual organization" has a fatal flaw.

People crave social interaction. They will always need contexts in which they can work and interact face-to-face. That's why the organization in its traditional form will persist in the face of disruptive information technology.