Cognitive Synthesis and Neural Athletes

The podcast explores the intersection of AI, innovation, and human empathy in organizational leadership with Deb Golden, Chief Innovation Officer at Deloitte. Golden shares her personal journey of overcoming adversity and unlearning established logic to foster innovation. She emphasizes the necessity of vulnerability and empathy in leadership, especially in navigating the complexities and emotional challenges brought on by AI adoption. The discussion highlights the cognitive load and potential brittleness induced by constant context-switching and the need for "neural athletes" who can synthesize information effectively. Golden advocates for embracing failure as a learning opportunity and designing technology with ethical considerations and the needs of others in mind, drawing parallels to her experience training service dogs.