Pocket Change: Media, Metacognition, and Management
Pocket Change is a monthly series of notes on disruption, authored by 18 Coffees co-founder Caleb Gardner. Be the first to read Pocket Change — subscribe to the email newsletter here.
Published: December 8, 2023
Current events are making me think a lot about how we think.
We are at historic levels of brain fog, during a time when discerning what’s important and what’s real has never been more difficult. The news is a mess, as individual content creators over take traditional news outlets as a source of truth, and the information underlying our disagreements (including in the workplace) isn’t always the most reliable.
Tense work environments make it hard for leaders to operate, and a lack of good information makes it hard for leaders to make good decisions. I’ve written at length about how we need digital media literacy skills (like pausing before we share) to create a better media environment. But there’s a more fundamental skill that many leaders could use as we navigate a complex decision-making environment: metacognition.
Being aware of our own thought processes and biases in our thinking can help us evaluate our learning and problem-solving approaches. This kind of reflection can be immensely useful in enhancing our ability to discern the truth—and it can be operationalized across our teams, as I outlined in my book, "No Point B."
Approaching information with a critical mindset—questioning the sources, biases, and motivations behind the news we consume—can enable us to navigate the complexities of current events with increased clarity and understanding. More than that, it’s a valuable strategic thinking skill for leaders.
Leaders have to go beyond surface-level information (sometimes given to us by our own people!) and delve deeper into the underlying patterns and macro themes that shape our world. By embracing curiosity, openness, and a willingness to challenge their own beliefs, good leaders develop a more nuanced understanding of issues and make more informed decisions. They approach complex subjects with more humility, navigating trade-offs more effectively.
The practice of metacognition is not always an easy one. No one is comfortable looking in the mirror too often to see all the ways they could be wrong. But I see challenging our own assumptions as a fundamental leadership skill for navigating complexity. And like any skill, good intentions aren’t enough. It takes practice.
Keeping an eye on:
AI GOVERNANCE – Nations are losing the race to regulate AI. Between that and the collapse of board governance at OpenAI, have the capitalists won?
MANAGER BURNOUT – Did 2023 break the spirit of middle managers? Maybe it’s because we haven’t taught them how to be effective coaches.
SWIFTIE ECONOMIES – Taylor Swift (TIME’s Person of the Year, for good reason) has a lot to teach business leaders. No wonder she’s becoming college subject matter.
TECH ENERGIES – AI might help us out of the climate crisis, but first we have to reconcile how much energy use GenAI takes. (Google’s already thinking creatively.)
ECONOMIC INDICATORS – Will the global economy perform better than expected in 2024? Or are we still at risk of a recession? I know which one team Biden is rooting for.
INCREASING WAGES – Some good news going into 2024: more than 20 states will be increasing their minimum wage rates on January 1.
