The Mindset Economy

🎧 Listen to Jean Gomes and Scott Allender on The Ideological Brain with Dr Leor Zmigrod wherever you get your podcasts.

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In a world that increasingly rewards certainty, the real competitive advantage might be flexibility. We often assume our beliefs are thoughtful, considered, rational, but what if some of them are simply rigid?

When beliefs fuse with identity, evidence starts to feel like threat. Cognitive flexibility narrows, empathy can diminish. This isn’t about politics alone, it shows up in business, leadership, culture, even in how we relate to AI.

What makes the brain vulnerable to ideology?

We like to think ideology belongs to extremists, but in our latest episode of The Mindset Economy podcast neuroscientist Leor Zmigrod explains something far more uncomfortable - ideology isn’t defined by what you believe, but by how rigidly you hold it.

Listen as Jean Gomes and Scott Allender talk to Dr Leor Zmigrod on The Mindset Economy.

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#Creativity, #Resilience, #Mindset

What if creativity is not about talent, but about how willing you are to play with rules?

Creativity plays with rules. It breaks assumptions.

That flexibility builds resilience.

#Creativity, #Resilience, #Mindset

The Mindset Economy Management Podcast · From the creators of the successful Evolving Leader podcast, comes their new show The Mindset Economy. The central question this show explores is:  How will we work, live, and…

Hear more as hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender talk to Dr Leor Zmigrod. Subscribe NOW wherever you get your podcasts.

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How flexibly do you actually respond when faced with uncertainty or change?

Cognitive rigidity affects everything, from problem solving to reacting to change.

Flexibility is a thinking style.

#Adaptability, #Mindset, #Leadership

Do we confuse intelligence with flexible thinking more than we realise?

IQ and cognitive flexibility are not the same, you can be intelligent and still think rigidly. Flexibility has its own roots.

#CognitiveFlexibility, #LearningMindset, #Leadership

Have you ever noticed how certain beliefs can quietly narrow the way you approach problems?

Ideology does not just shape belief, it narrows how we think about problems. Flexibility is what keeps thinking alive.

#Ideology, #CognitiveFlexibility, #Leadership

The Mindset Economy Management Podcast · From the creators of the successful Evolving Leader podcast, comes their new show The Mindset Economy. The central question this show explores is:  How will we work, live, and…

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#CriticalThinking, #Mindset, #Leadership

How do we tell the difference between values that guide us and ideologies that quietly constrain us?

That question sits at the heart of our next conversation on The Mindset Economy.

Time flexibility isn’t a perk. It’s a lever for better thinking.

Avoid meetings in the first part of the day when attention is freshest.

This applies to leaders too. If you start early to think creatively or strategically, protect that time.

Giving creative teams early hours, longer breaks, or lighter work later can improve output quality and how people feel.

Many people do their best creative thinking earlier in the day, before attention gets fragmented.

Creative work draws on different energy and attention than execution or operational work.

If you manage different kinds of teams, it’s worth asking : why do we impose the same timetable on everyone? Subscribe NOW wherever you get your podcasts.

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Protecting attention is one of the simplest ways to protect quality.

When leaders can explain this using how the brain actually works, the flexibility makes sense to everyone.

This isn’t about favouritism or inconsistency. It’s about matching working conditions to the kind of thinking the work requires.

That can mean encouraging more breaks or allowing different rhythms across different team members.

When someone is doing work that truly requires deep focus, the most effective response is often more leeway, not more pressure.

Not all work demands the same kind of attention, so not everyone should work in the same way.

The Mindset Economy with hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender.

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Productivity isn’t about how much pressure we can tolerate. It’s about designing work in a way the brain can sustain.

It protects thinking quality, supports recovery, and allows consistent performance across days rather than boom-and-bust cycles.

Limiting intense work to around four hours a day, spread sensibly with breaks, is far more efficient over time.

The result? You might get an extra hour of output today, but you lose quality and clarity for days afterwards.

Even if the rest of the day is lighter work, exceeding that four-hour threshold can stop the brain from returning to a healthy baseline the next day.