Your Brain At Work LIVE – S6:E06 – Understanding the Limits of Cognitive Capacity to Transform How We Work

October 22, 2021

In this episode, we continue to examine the “State of Discontent” happening in the workplace. We dig into the neuroscience of human cognitive capacity to better understand our limits, explore how we can work within them, and discuss what our brains need each day to make motivating progress without burning out.

‍

Share This Post

More To Explore

New Microsoft Report Celebrates Diversity and Inclusion Progress

For the past few years, Microsoft has been embarking on a journey to diversify its workforce and increase feelings of inclusion company-wide.

A Simple Strategy to Build Inclusion in Diverse Teams

Celebrating differences in teams may sound well-intentioned, but research shows it pays to build inclusion through celebrating similarities.

You’ve Heard of Growth Mindset, but What Is Growth Mindset Culture?

One of the most well-established psychological concepts, growth mindset, has exploded among leadership. But how do you cultivate growth mindset culture?

The Amazing, Incredible Brain

In honor of Brain Awareness Week, we wanted to highlight a few of our favorite facts – and myths – about this complex, intriguing organ.

Think Change is Scary? Try Asking Yourself a Different Question

Reframing a common question around transformation may help leaders reduce the sense of threat often provoked by major change.

The Secret to Workplace Satisfaction Is Surprisingly Simple

Employees that have their social needs met are more likely to feel engaged in their jobs and less likely to look for greener pastures elsewhere.

Latest From the Lab: The Dark Corners of Safety

When we’ve invested time and effort into a project, it’s hard to let go — even if continuing will create more losses.

How to Have Performance Conversations During a Crisis

Performance conversations are a critical moment for leaders to help their team members feel supported and keep engagement steady.

The Brain-Friendly Brilliance of ‘Stay Home, Stop the Spread, Save Lives’

Science tells us that people need simple, easy-to-use tools to think and work effectively. Here's how that science can guide behavior change at your organization.

Learn to Practice the Art and Science of ‘Thoughtful Exclusion’

It's hard to know when we've assembled just the right people for just the right jobs. That's where the idea of "thoughtful exclusion" comes into play.

Build Efficient Teams by Practicing ‘Thoughtful Exclusion’

Build Efficient Teams by Practicing ‘Thoughtful Exclusion’

Battling Bias in AI: The CDO-CHRO SHIELD Framework

The CDO-CHRO alliance is a force to be reckoned with. The SHIELD model shifts the conversation from a technical concern to a core business and ethical imperative.

Best Of 2021: Empathy

While the idea of what empathy looks like at work keeps evolving, here's some of what we learned this year.

You’re Starting a New Role. Here’s How to Set Yourself Up for Success

What brain science says about how to set yourself up for success when you’re starting a new job.

4 Key Skills for Energy & Utilities Workers in a Changing Climate

By prioritizing these capabilities, energy and utilities leaders can ensure their organizations remain resilient in the face of relentless change.

Ask an Expert: Why Mind Wandering Could Help You Solve a Problem

NLI’s “Ask an Expert” debut dives into those aha eureka moments — and the neuroscience behind them.

Here’s How To Make Diversity Training Better

Diversity training can feel performative, and elicit groans from those asked to attend. But it absolutely can be impactful, and that’s through a mix of both delivery and measurement.

Latest from the Lab: Getting Autonomy Right

There are many benefits to giving workers more autonomy. But you must plan carefully, or things can backfire.

The Real Reason to Kill Your Performance Ratings

The growing wisdom to "kill performance ratings" actually follows from an even larger observation about traditional performance management.

Latest From the Lab: How to Get the Most Out of Your Mistakes

Turn mistakes into opportunities by forgiving yourself first.

Leaders May Be Sabotaging Their Performance Reviews and Don’t Even Know It

Due to the effects of bias, managers may be conducting performance reviews in such a way that sets employees on unwanted career paths for years.

What Pilots and Nurses Can Teach Organizations About Decision-Making

What Pilots and Nurses Can Teach Organizations About Decision-Making

The Five Biggest Biases Holding Workers Back

If you have a brain, you have bias. Some biases create bigger blind spots for decision-making, however. We’re seeing that a lot now as organizations try to redefine work and the employer-employee relationship.

Virtual Learning is Better. Period.

Shorter virtual lessons can help organizations change in a matter of weeks instead of years.

IBM’s CLO Says Skills Could Be the Currency of the AI Revolution

IBM’s CLO Says Skills Could Be the Currency of the AI Revolution

To Accelerate Change, Microsoft Goes ‘Simple,’ but Not ‘Simplistic’

Microsoft's culture change journey has been marked by a persistent focus on going simple and establishing its essential leadership principles.

3 Science-Backed Ways Leaders Can Become Better Storytellers

As organizations strive to become more human-centric, leaders will need to confront their own abilities to share organizational truths through storytelling.

The Biggest Myth About Growth Mindset

The Biggest Myth About Growth Mindset

The Neuroscience of 20 Years of Sub Four-Minute Miles

What does the neuroscience of running have in common with being a leader in conflict? A lot more than you think, according to five-time Olympian Nick Willis.

Three Habits for a More Empathetic Workplace

Forming quality connections in the workplace — in other words, practicing the three habits of empathy — creates a culture in which everyone wants to bring their best effort.

3 Ways to Hack Your Calendar for Better Focus

We're busier than ever, but less able to get our own work done. Here's how science says we can make the most of our days.

The NLI Interview: Valerie Purdie Greenaway on Scaling Social Learning

At the 2019 NeuroLeadership Summit, we caught up with psychologist Dr. Valerie Purdie Greenaway to discuss what it looks like to scale social learning.

What Our New Pop-Up Survey Reveals About Growth Mindset

What Our New Pop-Up Survey Reveals About Growth Mindset

Diversity Without Inclusion Creates a Revolving Door of Talent

It's one of the most common missteps leaders make in expanding their talent pool: creating diversity without inclusion. Here's why both matter.

Smarter Leaders Start with Smarter AI

Meet NILES, the world’s first AI coach designed exclusively for leaders.

How to Build Connections in the Era of Digital Strangers

Three ways organizations can foster social connections despite the obstacles presented by remote operations.

Latest from the Lab: The Dark Side of Reassessing a Stressful Situation

It can be helpful to reassess situations to regulate our emotions. But when we’re quite stressed, that reassessment could turn malevolent.

Best of 2024: Leadership

Brain science can help organizations make the most of their investment in current and future leaders.

The 2 Biggest Obstacles to Organizational Growth Mindset — and How to Overcome Them

The 2 Biggest Obstacles to Organizational Growth Mindset — and How to Overcome Them

REGISTER: Peer Inside Your Brain and Build New Habits at NLI’s C-Suite Brain Lab

At our May 2025 event, leaders will become the test subjects to start embedding crucial habits.

How Microsoft Cracked the Code on Feedback

For the last few years, Microsoft has been on a transformational feedback journey in which people stop giving feedback and instead start asking for it.

4 Key Insights From the 2023 NeuroLeadership Summit

Some of the world’s brightest science and business leaders convened to share solutions to major workplace challenges, including the RTO debate, DEI, AI disruption, and reskilling.

Leaders Need More Than Buy-In to Create Culture Change

Establishing the right priorities are important to create long-lasting change, but leaders also need to implement the right habits and systems.

One Simple Tweak That Can Make Learning Seven Times More Impactful

By understanding and employing the science of spacing, we can tweak programs to make a dramatic difference in the impact of learning.

Latest From the Lab: A Danger Sign You May be Overlooking – Employees Faking Happiness at Work

Decades of research show that feigning positive emotions at work can have a positive impact on a person's career aspirations. But beneath the veneer of positivity, what dangers lurk for organizations who only see what's on the surface for their employees?

Why Do Smart, Well-Meaning Teams Make Bad Decisions? Groupthink

Groupthink is what happens when team members stop thinking independently, don't speak up, and race toward consensus. But leaders can still avoid it.

Leaders May Be Unknowingly Cultivating a ‘Masculinity Contest Culture’

Organizations often justify a toxic environment and masculinity contest culture with the mentality of "how we do business here."

How Public Sector Leaders (and Every Other Leader) Can Reduce the Threat of Uncertainty

Providing clarity and offsetting negative feelings are essential for helping frazzled employees regain composure.

Here’s Why Inclusion Unlocks the Power Of Diversity

Diversity without inclusion can lead to a revolving door of talent, which means leaders should focus on uniting teams around shared goals.

Add a Healthy Mind to Your New Year’s Resolutions

These seven essential activities will help produce a more alert, creative, and resilient mind.

Welcome to Your Brain at Work!

Welcome to Your Brain at Work!

4 Insights From NLI’s Psychological Safety Mini-Summit

Four takeaways for fostering a less toxic workplace.

Video Highlights From the 2024 NeuroLeadership Summit: Evolve

Here’s a small sampling of insights from more than 20 virtual sessions.

Leaders Should Be Striving Toward ‘Optimal Inclusion’—Here’s Why

Leaders who practice optimal inclusion—that is, deploying the right people for the right jobs—can create more efficient, effective teams.

This ‘Soft’ Leadership Trait Wins at War and at the Office

One soft skill has a place on the battlefield, the boardroom, the breakroom, and the Zoom room. Immerse yourself in stories that illustrate the benefits of compassion in any setting.

Ask an Expert: How Do We Learn Best?

Understanding why the way we learn and the way others learn matters.

In an AI World, We Still Need Humans for Bias Mitigation

AI is as biased as the humans who created it. So, it’s up to us to detect and mitigate those biases.

3 Big Ideas to Revolutionize Performance Conversations

Performance management can drum up some pretty intense emotions. Fortunately, leaders can use neuroscience to make it more effective.

Summit 2022: How To Change in Weeks, Not Years

Leaders can spend a slew of time and money on organizational change initiatives. But many of them often fail. Here’s why and how to get them right.

Best of 2023: Navigating Change

Create a more engaged, resilient workforce by approaching challenges with careful communication, a growth mindset, and empathy.

Cultivate Your Growth Mindset to Thrive Through Crisis

Mindset dictates the way we think about goals and determines how we interpret successes and failures. A growth mindset can help us thrive through crisis.

Here’s What Growth Mindset Can Really Do for Organizations

NLI's research has identified three key business reasons for organizations to start seriously trying to adopt a growth mindset.

2024 NeuroLeadership Summit: Evolve – Day 2 Highlights

The second day of the 2024 NeuroLeadership Summit featured discussions about AI, civility, burnout, and much more.

The Essentials: Hybrid Work

Insights to help build a productive, collaborative, and connected hybrid workforce.

Five Ways to Deal with ‘Cog Fog’

If you think your brain has become more foggy in the past year, you're not alone. Research shows the pandemic has given us all a bit more cog fog. Here's how to conquer it.

Your Brain At Work LIVE – S6:E06 – Understanding the Limits of Cognitive Capacity to Transform How We Work

Your Brain At Work LIVE – S6:E06 – Understanding the Limits of Cognitive Capacity to Transform How We Work

3 Easy Ways to Improve Performance Management in Times of Crisis

At NLI we believe that now is perfect time to build a more flexible, continuous, and people-focused performance management system. Here's how.

4 Science-Backed Management Habits That Can Improve Performance

Only about a third of US employees qualify as "engaged." It's up to management to create the habits that can boost that figure.

The Essentials: Empathy and Quality Connections

Quality connections are key for building an empathetic workplace.

3 Ways to Bring Humor Into the Workplace

Comedian Ben Gleib offers approaches for making mundane work feel a little less stuffy through humor.

Summit 2022: A New Way to View Implicit Bias

For years, there’s been one mainstream way of understanding implicit bias. Now researchers have discovered something unexpected in how our brains react to biases.

See Me, Hear Me, Include Me: Improving Disability Workforce Participation in the Australian Public Sector

What three scientific elements should we focus on to create more inclusive Australian workplaces for the differently-abled?

The Brain-Friendly Way to Build Allyship on College Campuses

Colleges play an important role in bringing diverse groups together. As such, they should make it a priority to create a sense of allyship on campus.

3 Major Trends to Watch at the 2024 NeuroLeadership Summit

Leaders everywhere are thinking about artificial intelligence, leadership development, and building cultures of high performance.

How do you bond a team together when they’ve never actually met?

As talent becomes increasingly global 18 months into the pandemic, more and more teams are having to achieve goals without ever having the pleasure of meeting in-person. How does that all work?

Equity, Explained

In this infographic, we dive into how the brain reacts to unfairness and why systems must be overhauled to achieve true equity.

6 Benefits of Creating More Inclusive Workplaces

Inclusion is proven to be good for business, but it's also been shown to afford employees a host of psychological and physical benefits.

How to Make Sure Your Learning ‘Sticks’

Meaningful learning can’t occur when our brains are flooded with information. That's why creating coherence in corporate learning content is so important.

Compelling Conversations on Allyship: Speak Up, Not Over

Janet M. Stovall and Michaela Simpson discuss how genuine allies can examine their intentions and use their privilege to advocate for change.

How Cigna Uses Growth Mindset to Boost Agility

Cigna, a global leader in healthcare services, has embraced growth mindset to transform both its agility and its approach to performance management.

Build Your Leadership Model Like It’s Your Home

Building a leadership model is a bit like building a house. Both require coherence, the structural integrity that holds elements together.

How Growth Mindset Helped BD Battle a Global Pandemic

A 125-year-old medical technology company adapted quickly to help diagnose, vaccinate, and treat COVID-19.

Top 12 Your Brain at Work Podcast Episodes

Add these episodes to your playlist for the best brain-friendly advice for today’s leadership challenges.

The Power of Data and Responsibility of Storytelling

We think of data as being unbiased, but it depends on how people choose to collect, analyze, and interpret the results.

Stop, Drop, and Roll: The Unexpected Benefit of Easy Recall

By understanding our minds' limits, we can use science-backed strategies to embed habits that are easy to recall and apply.

Latest From the Lab: Why Learning Agility Is the Springboard for Future Proofing

Adapt to a new normal or embrace persistent agility? Here’s why a learning agile culture may be the way to equip organizations for continuous innovation and growth.

If You Want to Know What Allyship Looks Like, Turn to Microsoft

For over two years, Microsoft has been on a journey of cultivating allyship in its leaders and employees, and CDO Lindsay-Rae McIntyre has led the charge.

Best Of 2021: Threat and De-escalation

Here are some of our greatest hits – no pun intended – on threat, de-escalation, and the skills we need to get along.

4 Reasons to Embrace Candidates With Portfolio Careers

Don’t miss out on the many upsides of candidates with “portfolio careers.”

Summit 2022: The Nitty Gritty of Forming Habits

What’s the best way to make new habits stick? To shed light on this complex question, we turned to Elliot Berkman, a psychologist at the University of Oregon and the associate managing director of the Center for Translational Neuroscience.

3 Ways To Level Up Your Team’s Creativity With AI

How you can leverage AI to improve skills and drive innovation.

Ask an Expert: How Does Stress Affect the Brain’s Capacity?

Understanding how stress impacts cognitive capacity can help you manage it.

The Dangers of Misunderstanding Burnout

The Dangers of Misunderstanding Burnout

How to Go From Information to Innovation

For innovation to happen, you first need to increase the quantity and quality of your insights.

While We All Work From Home, Cozy Up to Cognitive Capacity

Leaders can use insights derived from science to manage their teams' cognitive capacity, ultimately making them smarter, happier, and more effective.

5 Habits for Holding Less-Biased Meetings

5 Habits for Holding Less-Biased Meetings

Everyone has a theory on hybrid work effectiveness. We have experience.

Our newest product, FLEX, is designed to help executive leaders and front-line managers thrive in a hybrid world, and create a world of fairness and autonomy for their teams. Here's some of the origin story.

NeuroBytes: AI Is Coming for Your Leadership Role

Contrary to popular belief, AI might soon become a better leader than humans. We need to plan for that future now.

3 Big Ideas to Create a More Inclusive Culture

Unlocking the power of a diverse organization requires creating a sense of inclusion. These three action-oriented ideas can help offer a roadmap.

4 Big Debates About Hybrid Work, and Why They’re Overhyped

The current narrative of hybrid work gives leaders little to work with. Really, all arguments against hybrid work boils down to these four main myths.

Ready to transform your organization?

Connect with a NeuroLeadership Institute expert today.

People sat round a curved desk in an office