Cognitive Load at WorkThe science of overload and decision fatigue — and how to structure work for clarity
Research from cognitive psychology shows that working memory can only hold about four chunks of information at once (Cowan, 2010). Beyond that, our brains start compensating by dropping information, skipping steps, or defaulting to easier, habitual answers. In a business context, that means your best thinkers are often too taxed to actually think.
Audit Your People Strategy in 5 Questions
In a study of 1,000 companies by Zenger & Folkman (2019), only 27% of leaders were rated as effective coaches. Coaching and decision-making are not soft skills. They are teachable, behavioral capabilities with real outcomes.
The Science of Strong Teams: What Actually Works
When cohesion and psychological safety work together, teams become significantly more capable of navigating uncertainty, integrating diverse perspectives, and executing complex tasks. A 2021 meta-analysis by Frazier et al. found that psychological safety was strongly correlated with performance, especially when teams had a high degree of interdependence and were tasked with problem-solving.
Importantly, cohesion can support the development of psychological safety by fostering trust and mutual understanding. At the same time, psychological safety can accelerate cohesion by encouraging open communication and vulnerability. These two dynamics reinforce each other, creating what researchers call a virtuous cycle of performance (Newman et al., 2017).