The Creator Mindset

If you’ve ever rehearsed an imaginary argument in the shower with a coworker who has no idea you’re mad at them?

Then this one’s for you:

https://lnkd.in/eQssjpzp

We’ve all worked with that person: the one convinced the office coffee machine is plotting against them, every email is “passive aggressive,” and a missed promotion is clearly the result of a secret HR conspiracy.

Plot twist: sometimes -- well -- we’re that person. 😅

In this piece by Psychology Today contributor Nir Bashan reminds us that our biggest obstacle at work usually isn’t our boss, our coworkers, or even Monday mornings—it’s the running commentary inside our own heads.

Three takeaways that hit home:

• Stay flexible. A rigid mindset is like trying to parallel park a cruise ship.

• Celebrate "little victories". You don’t need to “change the world by Thursday.' Sometimes answering emails before noon is heroic enough.

• Stop taking everything personally. Karen from accounting probably isn’t orchestrating your downfall. She’s just trying to survive Q2 like the rest of us.

The article is funny, painfully relatable, and a solid reminder that creativity and growth happen when we stop fighting ourselves and start solving problems instead.

There’s a new neuroscience study out that basically confirms something I’ve suspected for years:

The longer humans think about something, the stranger we become.

Researchers studied professional chess players and found that the faster they made decisions, the better those decisions were.

Which means somewhere out there, a grandmaster is making brilliant moves in three seconds while I’m standing in CVS trying to decide if I need shampoo and conditioner or if that’s just what Big Hair wants me to believe.

But the study makes a profound point: Human beings are actually incredible at intuitive decision making. Not impulsive decision making. Not emotional chaos.

Intuition.

Your brain is constantly processing patterns, experiences, failures, observations, instincts, millions of tiny data points you don’t even realize you’ve collected. And then somewhere along the way we were taught not to trust any of it until we’ve overthought it into dust.

That’s where fear sneaks in. Fear loves overanalysis because overanalysis feels productive.You’re not procrastinating, you’re “evaluating options.”You’re not avoiding the decision, you’re “gathering more data.”

Meanwhile your intuition is sitting quietly in the corner like:

“We literally had the answer 45 minutes ago. WTF.”

Some of the best decisions I’ve ever made happened quickly. Some of the worst happened after I asked 17 people for advice, opened 39 browser tabs, made a spreadsheet, ignored my gut, and somehow ended up more confused than when I started.

Creativity requires movement. Innovation requires trust. And sometimes your brain already knows long before your fear catches up.

Also, this study explains why ordering food with another person is one of the most psychologically exhausting experiences known to humanity.

“I don’t care, you pick.” No one has ever meant that sentence. 😅

https://neurosciencenews.com/decision-speed-intuition-30715/

Only 20% of employees are engaged at work right now. Forbes

Stop and read this now:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nirbashan/2026/05/05/the-engagement-crisis-at-work/

Because that means 4 out of 5 people are showing up disconnected, checked out, or simply going through the motions.

And the scariest part? Most leaders still think their teams are doing fine.

In my latest Forbes article, I break down why the engagement crisis is getting worse -- especially in the age of AI -- and what creative leaders can do about it before their culture quietly collapses.

Here’s what I’ve learned: People don’t disengage because they’re lazy.
They disengage because they stop feeling seen, trusted, and connected. The companies that will thrive in the next decade won’t be the ones with the most data or the most automation.

They’ll be the ones that know how to make people feel human again.

In the article, I share 3 practical ways leaders can reignite engagement immediately:
• Genuine connection
• Breaking destructive routines
• Giving employees more autonomy

Culture isn’t built in quarterly all-hands meetings, posters or mission statements. It’s built in the small moments where people either feel valued, or disposable.
Read the full Forbes piece here:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nirbashan/2026/05/05/the-engagement-crisis-at-work/

DO.

NOT.

QUIT.

My latest for / Forbes is for everyone who thinks they’re ahead because they use AI.

They’re not:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nirbashan/2026/05/24/why-creativity-is-the-only-competitive-advantage-left-in-the-age-of-ai/

You don’t have a competitive advantage because you opened ChatGPT or Claude before someone else did. We all have the same tools now. Same prompts. Same outputs. Same recycled “genius.”

AI is rapidly becoming the new calculator — useful, accessible, and completely democratized.

So what happens when everyone sounds equally "smart"?

Creativity becomes the advantage. Innovation becomes the separator. Original thinking now becomes priceless!

The people who win next won’t be the ones using AI the most. They’ll be the ones thinking beyond it.

Positivity isn’t denial.

It’s strategy.

When you choose to look at a problem through the lens of possibility instead of limitation, your brain starts searching for answers instead of exits. Positivity becomes a conduit for solutions.

Every breakthrough I’ve ever seen -- in business, leadership, creativity, or life -- started with someone believing there had to be a better way.

That mindset changes everything.

The moment you stop asking “Why is this happening to me?” and start asking “What can this teach me?” you move from powerless to proactive.

Solutions rarely come from panic. They instead come from perspective.

Thank you for having me on your wonderful program!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAuLJa1UFeM

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

Because everywhere I go, I meet unbelievably smart people hiding incredible ideas behind phrases like:

- “This is probably stupid…”
- “I’m sure someone already thought of this…”
- “I didn’t want to speak up…”

Meanwhile, somewhere in a conference room, a guy named Brad is confidently presenting a 94-slide PowerPoint chatGPT or Claude made explaining how the company can “leverage synergy.” 😅

Do you have a "Brad" at your company too?

The truth is, the world changes because ordinary people choose to share extraordinary thoughts before they feel ready. Most breakthroughs don’t arrive polished and perfect. They arrive awkward. Vulnerable. Half-finished. Scribbled on napkins. Whispered in meetings.

Creativity is not about being fearless. It’s about speaking anyway.

And honestly, some of the greatest ideas in history probably sounded ridiculous at first.

“Hey, what if humans could fly?”
“Let’s put computers in our pockets.”
“What if pineapple belonged on pizza?”
(Okay maybe creativity has limits.)

If you have an idea, a solution, a perspective, or a dream that keeps tugging at you -- please share it!

The world doesn’t need more "Brads" It needs more people brave enough to contribute.

I wrote an article for Forbes about one of the most dangerous phrases in modern business:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nirbashan/2026/05/12/the-most-dangerous-phrase-at-work-lets-circle-back/

“Let’s circle back.”

Three innocent words that somehow translate into:

“We’ve solved absolutely nothing, but now it’s on next Tuesday’s calendar.” 😅

At this point, “circling back” has become less of a strategy and more of a hostage negotiation with productivity.

We’ve all been there:
• 14 meetings to discuss one email
• A follow-up meeting to prepare for the pre-meeting
• A financial report that takes a PhD to understand
• A Slack thread that requires a decoder ring and emotional support

But underneath the humor is something real:

A lot of organizations are exhausted.

Not because people don’t care. Because somewhere along the way, meetings replaced progress. Creativity doesn’t happen when every good idea gets trapped in an endless carousel of approvals, decks, and “quick syncs.”

Sometimes the most innovative thing a company can do is stop circling and actually decide.

The teams changing the world right now aren’t necessarily the loudest or busiest. They’re the ones brave enough to simplify, act, and solve problems before bureaucracy suffocates momentum.

Also, if you invite me to one more “alignment call” about another meeting, I may legally become a houseplant.

Would love to hear the workplace phrase that drives you crazy?

I spend a lot of time on airplanes.

And despite what my spine, sleep schedule, and airport sushi choices may suggest… it’s not because I love traveling.

Truthfully, being away from my family is the hardest part of what I do. There are birthdays I miss, dinners I FaceTime into, and mornings where the hotel coffee tastes especially depressing.

But every time I look out a plane window over another city, I think about something bigger:

Humanity does not have a shortage of problems.
What we have is a shortage of creative solutions.

And I genuinely believe creativity is one of the last great untapped forces capable of helping us solve the things that feel impossible -- in business, leadership, education, technology, and maybe even in how we treat one another.

So I keep getting on planes.

Not because it’s glamorous. (Anyone who’s sprinted through ORD carrying a dead laptop and a protein bar knows it’s not.)

I do it because if sharing ideas can help even one person think differently -- that ripple matters.

One conversation matters.
One idea matters.
One solution matters.

And maybe, collectively, those small sparks become something big enough to change the world.

Also, if any airline executives are reading this, creativity could absolutely solve the mystery of why boarding begins 47 minutes before takeoff, or boarding and deplaning.