Thanks to your feedback, we’re now offering a TL;DR summary—so if you're short on time, start there to get the gist. But if you’re ready to dive deeper, keep reading for the full insights, stories, and wisdom that make Paper Napkin Wisdom what it is!
TL;DR – Summary of the Your Brain and Business
The Brain Business Forgot
5 powerful ways business and learning environments misunderstand the brain:
- Multitasking is a myth – It drains productivity and increases mistakes.
- Information ≠ learning – We remember what we feel and apply, not what we’re told.
- Chronic stress reduces thinking capacity – It puts us in survival mode, not strategy mode.
- Rest fuels performance – It’s where the brain recovers, reflects, and grows.
- Emotions drive learning and decision-making – They are not distractions, they are essential.
Bottom Line: To lead effectively, we must understand and align with how the brain actually works — not how we wish it did.
How to Stop Working Against Your Brain and Start Leading with It
Bring the science to life through the Focus–Align–Act framework:
- Focus: Identify the real issue behind each brain myth.
- Align: Redesign systems to match how the brain learns, rests, and performs best.
- Act: Build brain-friendly micro-habits that reinforce deep work, learning, emotional connection, and recovery.
In this week's Paper Napkin Wisdom Weekly:
- Paper Napkin Wisdom Preview
- The Brain Your Business Forgot
- Step 2: Leading vs. Lagging Indicators: The Secret to De-Risking Execution
- Step 3: Execute with Rocks, Leads, and Lags
- Two Blueprints, Need One?
- Week in Review
- Why This is a Must-Read Guide Before Choosing Any Coach
Paper Napkin Wisdom Podcast Preview
This is the only place where we give you a sneak peek into what's coming up on Paper Napkin Wisdom. Remember to share this with anyone who needs to hear these messages.
Epsiode 230: Ted Nolan has lived a story of resilience, leadership, and unwavering determination. A former Jack Adams Award-winning coach and a proud advocate for Indigenous communities, Ted knows what it takes to rise against the odds and lead with heart. This is more than hockey—it’s about the mindset of champions.
Epsiode 231: Laura Burke, a powerhouse in strategy, leadership, and executive transformation. With deep expertise in corporate growth, governance, and leadership coaching. If you’re serious about leveling up your leadership game, this is the conversation you need to hear.
Epsiode 232: Hristo Arakliev, Co-Founder of Hyperzon, shares how bold action and intentional identity shape the path of entrepreneurship. We dig into how leaders create momentum by becoming who they choose to be — one step at a time. This one’s packed with insight you’ll want to reflect on.
Epsiode 233: Stephanie Szostak, from Hollywood to wholehearted leadership! You may know her from the big and small screen, but she gets real about what it means to live your truth with courage, love, and yes... even humor. This isn’t just a conversation — it’s a masterclass in authenticity and reinvention. You don’t want to miss the bold wisdom she drops, straight from her napkin to your heart.
Epsiode 234: Borzou Azabdaftari, Founder and CEO of The Falcon Lab, shares how clarity, conviction, and creative risk-taking fuel entrepreneurial growth. We explore how leaders can align personal identity with bold action to unlock meaningful momentum. This episode is full of sharp insights you’ll want to revisit again and again.
Epsiode 235: Julie Whitney, author of Astra the Lonely Airplane, shares how storytelling can help children navigate change and uncertainty. We discuss how Astra's journey mirrors real-life challenges, teaching resilience and adaptability to young readers. This conversation offers valuable insights into using narrative to support children's emotional growth.
Stay connected with Paper Napkin Wisdom on Apple, YouTube, and Spotify to be the first to hear these incredible episodes!
The Brain Business Forgot
5 Powerful Ways We Misunderstand Ourselves at Work
Let’s talk about one of the most underutilized competitive advantages in business today: understanding how our brains actually work.
We celebrate strategy, culture, innovation, grit. We invest in tools, training, frameworks. But the one constant in every business decision, leadership challenge, and growth opportunity? The human brain.
And yet, in so many ways, the brain is the thing business forgot — or worse, misunderstood completely.
Over hundreds of episodes of Paper Napkin Wisdom, I’ve spoken with some of the world’s most brilliant minds. Entrepreneurs. Creators. Visionaries. And what’s become crystal clear is this: the way we think about thinking has massive consequences for how we lead, how we learn, and how we grow.
So today, I want to break down five big misunderstandings about how our brains work — and why they matter deeply in a business and learning context. These are not just neuroscience trivia. These are leadership levers. Culture changers. Growth hacks in the truest sense of the word.
Multitasking Is a Lie That Kills Productivity
Let’s start with a big one: multitasking.
We love the idea that we can juggle. That we’re efficient. That we’re slaying emails while crushing strategy sessions and hopping between calls.
But here’s the truth: the human brain doesn’t multitask. It switches tasks — and every switch has a cost.
Studies show that switching between tasks reduces productivity by up to 40%. Not only that, it increases error rates, stress levels, and fatigue. Each switch forces your brain to refocus, reorient, and reload working memory. It’s like trying to write three different books at the same time on one page.
“When we try to do everything at once, we end up doing nothing with excellence.”
Think about your leadership meetings, your onboarding sessions, your own day-to-day. How many times are we encouraging distraction? Multitasking isn’t a sign of mastery. It’s a sign of mental drain.
Wisdom in Action: Design your day — and your team’s day — for focused, single-task work. Turn off notifications. Protect deep work blocks. Celebrate presence over busyness.
More Information Doesn’t Equal More Learning
This one hits close to home.
We’ve all sat through the endless PowerPoint decks, the firehose-style webinars, the data dumps that masquerade as training. And in business, we often confuse information transfer with learning.
But the brain doesn’t learn through exposure alone. It learns through engagement. Through emotional resonance. Through repetition and reflection. We remember what we use — not what we’re told.
“Learning happens when the brain connects ideas to real life, not when it absorbs them passively.”
In the world of business, this changes everything. If your onboarding program overwhelms new hires with knowledge but gives them no space to apply it — they’ll forget it. If your leadership retreats inspire but don’t activate — the transformation won’t last. If your training modules don’t involve feedback loops or storytelling — they won’t stick.
Wisdom in Action: Make learning active. Use storytelling. Encourage application. Ask questions that connect head to heart. Help people feel the why behind the what.
Stress Doesn’t Create Diamonds
It Shrinks Brains We’ve romanticized stress in business.
The “no pain, no gain” mindset. The hustle porn. The sleep-when-you’re-dead culture. We think that urgency creates performance. But chronic stress — especially emotional stress — actually shuts down the part of the brain that makes good decisions.
The prefrontal cortex, which governs strategy, logic, self-regulation, and creativity, literally goes offline under long-term stress. The amygdala — the part that triggers fear and survival responses — takes over.
“A stressed-out team is not a high-performing team. It’s a team in survival mode.”
This has huge implications for leaders. If your culture is driven by fear or pressure, you’re not creating innovation — you’re creating reactivity. If your managers lead through anxiety, they’re getting compliance, not commitment.
And on the personal side? If you’re making big decisions in a burnout state, you’re not leading with clarity. You’re just trying to make the discomfort stop.
Wisdom in Action: Build safety before urgency. Create space for recovery. Encourage mindfulness, not just metrics. Lead with curiosity instead of control.
Rest Is Not a Reward — It’s a Requirement
Let me be blunt: rest is not laziness.
We’ve been trained to think that rest comes after the work is done. That recovery is indulgence. But the science says something different — and radically empowering.
During rest, especially sleep, the brain consolidates memories, repairs tissue, and processes learning. The default mode network activates during daydreaming, allowing for insight, problem-solving, and creativity.
That “aha!” moment you had in the shower or on a walk? That wasn’t random. It was your resting brain doing its job.
“Recovery is where growth happens. Without rest, there is no mastery.”
When we rob ourselves (and our teams) of rest, we don’t just burn out — we underperform. We make worse decisions. We miss the big picture. We run fast in the wrong direction.
Wisdom in Action: Normalize breaks. Prioritize sleep. Schedule thinking time. Encourage walk-and-talk meetings. Celebrate pace, not just hustle.
Emotions Aren’t the Enemy of Logic — They’re the Gateway
For a long time, especially in business, we were told to check our emotions at the door.
Be professional. Be logical. Be dispassionate.
But neuroscience has flipped that script. The emotional centers of the brain (like the limbic system) are essential for decision-making, memory, and motivation. In fact, patients with damage to their emotional centers often can’t make decisions at all.
We remember what moves us. We act on what matters to us. We commit to what we care about.
“If the brain doesn’t care, the brain doesn’t change.”
As leaders, we need to understand that emotion is not a distraction. It’s a catalyst. It’s what drives storytelling, belonging, purpose, and action. It’s what makes learning stick and vision come alive.
Wisdom in Action: Lead with empathy. Connect to purpose. Use stories, not just stats. Don’t just manage behavior — understand what’s behind it.
So What Do We Do With This?
What’s incredible — and humbling — is that the more we learn about the brain, the more we see how much wisdom we’ve missed.
We’ve been designing businesses and learning environments around outdated assumptions:
- That speed equals performance
- That pressure equals excellence
- That logic trumps emotion
- That more equals better
- That rest is optional
- That multitasking is power
But here’s the thing: when we stop trying to work against our brains, and start working with them — everything changes.
We create cultures that thrive, not just survive.
We build teams that learn deeply and lead powerfully.
We design systems that don’t burn people out — they bring people alive.
And ultimately, we create businesses that are not just productive, but human. Businesses that serve people, not just profits.
The Napkin Moment
If you’ve read this far, I want to challenge you — right now — to grab a napkin.
Ask yourself:
📝 What’s one small shift I can make in my leadership or business today that honors how the brain actually works?
- Maybe it’s protecting your deep work time.
- Maybe it’s giving your team a real break.
- Maybe it’s adding story and emotion to your next presentation.
Whatever it is — write it down. Take a picture. Post it with the hashtag #PaperNapkinWisdom and tag me. Let’s build a movement of leaders who are brain-smart, heart-open, and wisdom-driven.
Because the best businesses — and the best leaders — don’t just work hard. They work wise.
How to Stop Working Against Your Brain and Start Leading with It
Using the Focus–Align–Act Framework to Rewire the Way We Work
So far, we have unpacked five of the most incredible — and dangerous — ways business misunderstands the brain. And let’s be honest: these aren’t small issues.
- We’re building systems that reward multitasking when our brains thrive in deep focus.
- We flood teams with information when they need connection and clarity.
- We run people on stress and burnout and wonder why creativity and culture suffer.
But here’s the good news: we can change this.
We don’t need to tear everything down. We just need a new lens — one that lets us lead in alignment with how the brain is actually designed to work.
That’s where Focus–Align–Act comes in.
This isn’t just a model. It’s a mindset. A filter. A practical tool for leaders and teams who want to lead smarter, learn faster, and build cultures that actually work for humans.
Let’s dive in.
🔎 FOCUS: Understand What Really Matters
Focus is about identifying what’s essential — not just urgent. It’s about asking:
Where is our attention going?
What are we actually solving for?
So let’s zoom in on the 5 brain truths from the last post, and ask: what’s the real issue behind each one?
❌ Multitasking
What’s really going on?
We confuse busyness with productivity. We overload our focus, thinking we’re getting more done.
The truth: The brain can’t handle multiple high-focus tasks at once. Task-switching drains cognitive fuel and leads to shallow thinking.
“We’re not built for speed. We’re built for depth.”
❌ Information Overload
What’s really going on?
We equate learning with exposure. We think more slides, more emails, and more data equals smarter teams.
The truth: The brain learns through emotion, application, and relevance. Information without context is forgettable.
❌ Stress Culture
What’s really going on?
We’ve mistaken pressure for performance. We lead through urgency instead of understanding.
The truth: Chronic stress shuts down the prefrontal cortex — the brain’s executive center — and activates survival mode. That’s not leadership. That’s fight or flight.
❌ Ignoring Rest
What’s really going on?
We treat rest like a reward, something we earn after the grind.
The truth: Rest isn’t recovery from work — it’s a part of the work. Without it, the brain can’t consolidate learning or generate new insights.
❌ Suppressing Emotion
What’s really going on?
We see emotion as unprofessional — a threat to logic.
The truth: Emotion drives memory, motivation, and meaning. A brain that doesn’t care doesn’t learn, decide, or act.
By focusing on what really matters — what’s going on beneath the surface — we create clarity. We stop solving the wrong problems.
🔄 ALIGN: Shift Your Systems to Match the Brain’s Design
Align is about bringing your systems and strategies into sync with what you now know. This is where the real work begins — rewiring culture, communication, and habits around how humans actually operate.
Let’s bring each of these brain insights into alignment with better business practices.
✅ From Multitasking → Time-Blocking Deep Work
Create team norms around focused time.
Turn off Slack. Mute notifications.
Normalize “Do Not Disturb” hours.
Try This: Create a team-wide 90-minute block of uninterrupted focus time every morning. Make it sacred. Track what gets done — not just how many hours were worked.
✅ From Info Dumping → Designing for Learning Retention
Shift from monologue to interaction.
Train through story, real-life scenarios, and applied learning.
Try This: End every training with “Now, apply it” — give people a way to use the idea immediately in their day-to-day work.
✅ From Stress Leadership → Psychological Safety First
Build trust before you push performance.
Model vulnerability. Lead with curiosity.
Try This: Open every team meeting with a 2-minute check-in: “What’s one win and one challenge you’re navigating this week?” It opens hearts, not just agendas.
✅ From Ignoring Rest → Creating Recovery Loops
Protect rest the way you protect revenue.
Encourage walks, breaks, and recharge rituals.
Talk about rest like it's a performance enhancer — because it is.
Try This: Introduce “strategic pauses” — a 10-minute block after key meetings for reflection or recharge before jumping into the next thing.
✅ From Suppressing Emotion → Leading with Meaning
Bring purpose into every project.
Make space for emotion in feedback, learning, and goal-setting.
Try This: Ask in 1:1s: “What part of your work feels meaningful right now?” If the answer is “none,” you’ve got alignment work to do.
Alignment is the bridge between knowing and growing. This is where culture starts to shift — not through big declarations, but small repeated choices.
⚡️ ACT: Build New Habits That Reinforce the Shift
Act is about movement — consistent, intentional, meaningful steps. Action without focus is noise. Action without alignment is waste.
But action with focus and alignment? That’s how change sticks.
Let’s close the loop by translating everything above into micro-habits that reinforce better brain-based leadership.
🧠 Brain-Based Micro-Habits for Leaders & Teams
- Start every day with intention, not inbox.
Instead of checking emails first thing, ask: What’s the single most important thing I need to move forward today?
- Protect one block of deep work daily.
Use timers. Headphones. Closed doors. Make deep work the default, not the exception.
- Integrate learning through application.
End meetings and trainings with: “What’s one way you’ll use this in your work today?”
- Schedule your rest like a meeting.
Block time for walks. Create “meeting-free” hours. Rest fuels your best thinking.
- Use stories and purpose in every communication.
Replace “We need this done by Friday” with “Here’s why this matters and how it impacts our bigger mission.”
- Close every week with reflection.
Ask yourself or your team: What energized me this week? What drained me? What will I do differently next week?
📝 Paper Napkin Moment
If you’re a leader, entrepreneur, or difference-maker, this is your moment to pause.
Ask yourself:
👉 Where am I working against my brain — and expecting better results?
👉 Which system or habit can I align this week?
👉 What’s one action I can take in the next 24 hours that will help me lead more humanly — and more effectively?
Write your answer on a napkin. Snap a pic.
Post it with the hashtag #PaperNapkinWisdom and tag me. Let’s start rewiring leadership together — one small shift at a time.
Because you don’t need more willpower.
You need better wiring.
And your brain — when understood and honored — is your greatest business partner.
Two Blueprints, Need One?
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With small, actionable steps and a four-week plan, this guide will help you fix the root cause of weak demand, build trust-based sales relationships, and create real-time engagement that drives sustainable growth.
The Demand Blueprint is usually $9.99, but as a Paper Napkin Wisdom subscriber, you save 50%. For just $5, you’ll get a clear, step-by-step roadmap to help you move from inconsistent sales to predictable, scalable growth.
The Profit Blueprint (an e-book) gives you a simple, battle-tested system to take control of your finances—whether in your business or your household. With small, actionable steps and a four week plan, this guide will help you stop running out of money and start building financial freedom. The Profit Blueprint is usually $9.99 but as a Paper Napkin Wisdom subscriber you save 50%. For just $5, you’ll get a clear, step-by-step roadmap to turn profit into a habit, not an accident.
Week in review
This week on the Paper Napkin Wisdom podcast, we explored two transformative episodes that tackled impactful themes of leadership, resilience, and harnessing potential.
In Episode 228, Warren Rustand is back! He's a seasoned entrepreneur and former White House Appointments Secretary, emphasizes the significance of pausing after asking commitment-related questions, allowing space for thoughtful responses.He introduces his "Rhythm of Life," a daily practice focusing on physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and family intentions to cultivate discipline and intentional living. Warren underscores that genuine leadership is rooted in integrity and self-discipline, advocating for a shift from personal success to creating significance by positively impacting others. Listen now on Apple.
In Episode 229, Sheelagh Whittaker, a trailblazing Canadian business leader and former CEO of EDS Canada, shares her candid philosophy: "Tell the truth quickly." She emphasizes that delaying honesty only exacerbates challenges, advocating for prompt transparency to build trust and navigate complex situations effectively. Sheelagh also discusses the courage required in leadership, particularly for women striving to make their mark in traditionally male-dominated industries. Her insights underscore the transformative power of truth and integrity in fostering authentic and impactful leadership. Listen now on Apple.
Check them out here:
