Technology has always made one big promise: life will be easier. And to be fair, it often delivers. It is both simultaneously heralded as the ultimate enabler of human potential and indicted as a cause of cognitive degradation, psychological distress, and productivity loss. Technology both helps and hinders performance. Wearable technology (biometric feedback) The advent […]
The Digital Paradox: Enabler or hindrance? Read More »
I crashed I was so angry with myself. I could no longer hold anything with my right hand, such was the pain, and I had narrowly avoided being mown down by a low flying chinook helicopter. I was also very obviously flying the wrong paraglider that day, in the wrong place and at the wrong
For over a century, the silent assumption was that the mind functions most effectively when the body is still. This tradition of sedentary cognition, deeply rooted in a Cartesian dualism that separates mental labour from physical existence, has produced a corporate landscape dominated by the boardroom table and the ergonomic chair. We now know different.
How movement affects decisions Read More »
In an interesting post about ‘disrupting the disruption’: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nathan-clements-a61b684_coaching-alwayslearning-share-7454770209942548480-Iwzx?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAC6ebwBKdyPO__fx2Bizw9IaxWK_Gvt71M). Nathan Clements challenges orthodox thinking about the role of leadership. I’d like to take the argument one step further and look at why sometimes it is so difficult for people to be genuinely creative or innovative. For example, A company with whom I was working with
Disruptive thinking – nature / nuture? Read More »
Mental workload capacity is finite. Extended decision-making and multitasking deplete willpower (ego depletion) and impair judgment (Baumeister et al., 2024). Fortunately, evidence-based practices, short breaks and mindfulness, can restore cognitive resources and focus. Decision Fatigue and Limited Cognitive Resources Making decisions or controlling impulses drains mental energy. People make worse decisions when mentally exhausted. Multitasking
Human Being vs Human Doing Read More »
The belief that the best teams train the hardest is commonplace in sport, however not so common in business. Yes, individuals within teams train hard, and this tends to pay off for them personally- there’s an assumptive leap that collections of highly trained individuals turn into high performing teams; not so. No? Maybe a team
How the Best Teams Train the Hardest Read More »
Many leaders treat major transitions—like layoffs, mergers, or leadership departures—as purely operational hurdles to be solved with a new strategy or a restructuring plan. However, there is a credible and empirically validated phenomenon known as organisational grieving. It describes the complex emotional, cognitive, and physiological processes employees undergo in response to workplace loss or the
Is ‘organisational grieving’ a thing? Read More »
In summary Evidence shows that responses to identical diet and exercise interventions vary dramatically between individuals, some lose significant fat, while others see minimal change despite full adherence. Differences in weight loss outcomes are not primarily about willpower or discipline, they are deeply rooted in biology. The “average” is misleading and masks reality. Group-level success
Why do some people lose weight easily and others struggle? Read More »
Amara’s Law is an observation made by futurologist Roy Amara, stating that people tend to overestimate the short-term impact of new technologies while underestimating their long-term effects. AI’s near-term impact on leadership development is being overestimated because the hard parts of leadership development are not about information or insight. They are behavioural, contextual, relational, and
AI and Leadership Development: Hype or Revolution? Read More »
It wasn’t until the early 2000s that researchers discovered that contrary to popular belief, the brain at rest was not idle or inactive, but in fact was engaged in very valuable processing work. Being bored, sitting doing nothing can actually be a very productive time. Dr. Marcus E. Raichle and colleagues revealed that the brain
Busy doing nothing Read More »
