Decision Phobia and How to Fix It
Studies reveal decision phobia affects half of experienced leaders and can paralyse an organisation. Where this takes root, innovation and risk taking become pipe dreams and leave businesses exposed. The solution isn’t to insist on more bravery, it’s to create the conditions where the risk of being wrong are minimised and the pursuit of making decisions the priority.
Problem solving under pressure
Problem solving under pressure can make the best of us struggle. It’s biological. What helps make better decisions under pressure is recognising the limitations of our minds when time is tight and the stakes are high and putting in place strategies that compensate for them. Prevention is the best cure when problem solving under pressure and fatigue.
Boredom is a burnout alarm
Human biologist and longevity expert Gary Brecka explains that “aging is the aggressive pursuit of comfort.” It’s a concept that’s not just true for our bodies, it’s a principle that also applies to the workplace.
Prolonged comfort at work leads to boredom, disengagement, and reduced productivity, while meaningful challenges boost skill development, innovation, and team performance.
The most engaged and innovative workplaces such as Pixar, Proctor & Gamble and restauranteur Heston Blumenthal make rotating opportunities, encouraging proactive problem-solving, and rewarding curiosity part of the way they work. They make purposely pursuing challenges part of the way they work. And it delvers results.
Use the power of a pause to speed up your creativity
When you're stuck, the instinct is to push harder. You think, “If I just work a little longer, maybe I’ll crack the code.” But here's the thing: the answer is often found in the pause, not in the grind. The pause—an intentional break—creates space for breakthrough thinking. Find out how Einstein, Nietzsche and J.K. Rowling used the power of pause to accelerate their creativity.
When the best way to give advice, is not to give advice
Narrative sharing is an alternative way of giving advice. Instead of offering direct solutions, the advice giver uses personal stories to address challenges or problems. It’s a subtle shift in how you deliver advice but has a much more impactful result. This article shows you how to use it.
How Dolly Parton stays focused and productive
Dolly Parton has written over 3,000 songs throughout her career, which spans more than six decades. She has three practices she’s internalised that enable her to stay in her creative zone and focused for longer.
How to stay motivated for longer
Dopamine is the brain's reward system, driving us to start and persevere with challenges and feel satisfied when we finish them. But here's the catch: it naturally decreases as we age—unless we take action. Here’s three ways to boost dopamine and stay motivated for longer.
Two factors that lead to high performance
Brendan Burchard’s book, High Performance Habits, is a #1 New York Times best seller. Brendan and his team conducted research with 30,000 people from 195 countries to arrive at two key factors that determine high performance over the long term. Click to see what they are.
How to become less scared of failure
Failure comes in three flavours says Amy Edmonson in her new book Right Kind of Wrong, basic failures, complex failures and intelligent failures. We are meant to make mistakes she argues. Learning about each of these types of failures will help you become less scared of them.
How US music producer Rick Rubin overcomes mental blocks
US music producer Rick Rubin shares a simple hack that has worked to help overcome mental blocks for himself and the musicians he’s worked with.
How dyslexia is a creative superpower
One in five people globally have dyslexia and most hide it from their employers out of fear of prejudice. Rather than a learning disorder, dyslexia can be a problem solving super power. Inside are three ways people with dyslexia can excel at solving complex problems and why you need them on your team.
Psychological safety in teams - why we need it and how to build it.
Google studied 180 teams to figure out what makes them click. Spoiler: It’s not about who’s on the team—it’s about how they work together. The secret? Psychological safety. This article shares four simple ways to build it.
How to choose the right solution
Sometimes, life throws us a choice: stick to your values and face short-term pain or take the easy way out and compromise what you stand for. The latter is tempting—it’s quick, convenient, and feels like a win in the moment. But the real reward comes when you choose the harder path.
How AI, loneliness and a declining attention span are shaping the future of work and what do about it
This week my first work appointment was to jump on a webinar hosted by Smiley Poswolsky. He’s a workplace belonging expert who helps organisations create a culture of human connection. He shared three realities shaping the future of work and together we’ve come up with what do about them.
How to amplify creativity and problem solving with Chat GPT
It’s easy to ask Chat GPT direct questions and get an answer. However its true power lies in unleashing its iterative conversational powers in a process called exploration driven enquiry.
The awesome power of checklists
Atul Gawande is a US surgeon and best-selling author of The Checklist. In his book, Gawande demonstrates how, in an increasingly complex world, the humble checklist serves as a practical tool for managing and overcoming challenging situations. Inside are tips on when to use them, when not to and best practices for developing your own.