Engineering the pauses.
To get to results, we must be alert, whatever the job.
It is a good thing for civilization that every era forces us to seek a balance between so-called knowledge work and endeavors like plumbing. The latter truly is a professional pursuit requiring an alert brain that organizes tools and skills to deliver results. Would that all enterprises use strategy to tie process experience and worthy brainstorms to specific outcomes, like fixing a leak or adjusting the water pressure. The burden — or opportunity, depending on how you look at it — of leadership is an unwavering clearheadedness that corners manipulation with fact — that infuses data with emotional color — that defies bias with an appreciation of all disciplines and perspectives — that soothes fatigue by rewarding focused producers and ethical givers. Leaders use strategic energy to take plans off the shelf to inspire, direct, and measure, attaching strategy to projects. Especially under the sink.
Blue and Orange Sky. Paul Huet. 1838-1840. Pastel on tanned-gray wove paper with blue fibers. Mr. and Mrs. William McKittrick Fund. Art Institute of Chicago.
How cognitive overload multiplies every bias
Aaron de Smet. When working memory is overburdened by fatigue, multitasking, or stress, the mind takes mental shortcuts, relying on what feels familiar instead of what’s objectively best. Under heavy load, people rely more on intuitive judgments such as anchoring, status quo bias … From an evolutionary standpoint, cognitive heuristics have likely endured because they enabled survival in situations when quick reactions made the difference between life and death. But at work, they can open the door to biases that a more reasoned approach would reject. … The antidote to cognitive overload is deliberate calm—the discipline of slowing down enough to think clearly when the pressure is high. Teams can build it into their routines with a few simple practices.
How wisdom becomes our competitive advantage in an AI era
Jeanette Bronée. When we prioritize speed over pause, we erode trust — the invisible infrastructure that enables us to discover possibility and access our collective intelligence to solve complex problems. Without trust, teams can’t collaborate with the shared wisdom needed to discern the best outcome aligned with what matters most.
Brand positioning is a leadership decision, not a marketing exercise
Derrick Daye. Most organizations misunderstand positioning in predictable ways. Some treat it as messaging. Others confuse it with a value proposition or a tagline. Many delegate it entirely to marketing. Positioning is none of those things. Brand positioning is a set of strategic choices about focus, trade-offs, and competitive intent. It answers hard questions. Who the brand is for. What it will compete on. What it will deliberately not pursue. Avoiding those decisions does not preserve flexibility. It creates drift.
A simple thing to keep the brain sharp
Charlotte Hilton Andersen. A groundbreaking new study found that there’s something way more effective at keeping our brains sharp than any of that stuff. It doesn’t involve screens, pencils or spending a dime.
The Will to make a difference
Jeremy Norman. Payne’s path to cidermaker and regional economic developer was unconventional. It runs through William & Mary, the highest levels of Virginia politics, complex large-scale energy development, multistate economic partnerships and, unexpectedly, coaching hockey in Vermont. But like the Revolutionary War-era explorers whose disputed land inspired the cidery’s name, Payne has always been drawn to the frontier — places, ideas and opportunities waiting to be charted by someone willing to do the work.