Part 3: Brains on: ways of working

Over the past few weeks I’ve shared how AI may be reshaping our thinking and why we still need to nurture the parts of the brain that make us, us. 

If you haven’t read the other posts in this series, catch up on Part 1 (Brains On) and Part 2 (The Thinking Modes).

This third part turns those ideas into a few everyday practices so teams can do their best thinking on purpose.

Why this matters for your team

Work feels chaotic, lots happening, but we’re not always moving forward (some days it feels like the brakes are on). People are tired, AI is everywhere, and many of us are quietly wondering what our jobs look like a year from now. The skills that will make all the difference - analytical and creative thinking, flexibility, learning fast, and working well with others—are exactly what global 2030 skills outlooks keep putting at the top. We need to protect our thinking, not outsource it. I see this more and more in organisations, “we can’t change that system because we don’t have the skill”. We’re already conditioning people not to flex these critical skills.

Ways of working, designed for people

Most operating model transformations stop at strategy, processes and tools. I go further: I design the work so people can think well together. That means caring about the relational side of change, how thinking is protected, how information flows, how decisions get made, and where AI genuinely helps. When ideas bounce and build, you get collective genius pointed at the right problems. That’s the goal: ways of working that deliberately enable a team’s best thinking, not get in its way.

Design for Thinking is a set of clear principles and habits I use in organisation design and leadership to future-proof teams. It’s even more crucial in the age of AI, as early evidence suggests heavy use can reduce active engagement in our own thinking.

What we’re aiming for 

We’re building a way of working that makes work sensible and manageable, calms the chaos, and leaves room for real thinking, innovation and creativity. We set up the right systems and tools so people connect well, and AI supports rather than takes over.

• Outcomes, not hours. Work that’s useful, valuable and visible. We show progress and impact, not just hours logged and ticking boxes

• Speed with sense. Quick test-and-learn, clear decisions, and simple AI guardrails so pace doesn’t steamroll judgement

• Brains on by default. Ways of working that protect attention, especially when things get hectic

• People who stay relevant. We keep building the skills that matter with AI in the mix- analytical, creative, strategic, flexible.

• Flow, not chaos. Fewer things at once, clean handovers, and a shared definition of “done” that everyone can see.

Underneath it all is self-efficacy. People’s belief that they can adapt and make progress. It grows when teams see evidence of their own good decisions and results, so we make those wins visible and repeatable.

Brain-friendly practices  

Most of these aren’t new ideas, yet most teams let them slip. Each one strengthens your thinking modes and keeps AI as an assist, not a crutch. Choose a couple to add to your team's ways of working:

1) Limit what’s in flight

Why it helps: Less juggling → fewer context switches → better work.
Try this: Give each person one main focus; pause the rest in a visible backlog. Add a small “Done this week” line in a shared doc/chat. Celebrate movement, not busyness.
FOCUS = Follow One Course Until Success.

2) Protect focus

Why it helps: Interruptions drain attention and raise errors; getting back into deep work takes time and energy. 
Try this: Block two 60–90 minute deep-work windows and protect them like meetings. Do the hard thing first. Group similar tasks. Push small admin tasks to the afternoon. Swap a status meeting for a visual board or a short written update.

3) Make decisions easy to see 

Why it helps: Writing the why reduces random decisions and increases ability for faster action next time. It also builds transparency and trust. 
Try this: After any meaningful decision, post a single line in a shared spot:

Decision | Owner | Why this should work | Review date. 

Keep it lean: Agree what counts as “post-worthy” so you avoid long decision dumps. If visibility makes people tense, that’s a cue to invest in psychological safety and clear decision rights (an empowerment workshop helps).

4) Use AI on the right work (simple boundaries) 

Why it helps: Being clear on how and when to use AI lowers anxiety and stops “is this OK?” debates.
Try this (traffic light the work your team does) 

• Green: summaries, first drafts, option lists, “argue the opposite.” 

• Yellow: anything customer-facing. Always needs a human lens

• Red: final risk decisions, sensitive comms without review, or anything without source and date. 

Have discussions in your weekly cadence about where AI can help with work and weekly priorities.

5) Keep work moving between people and teams

Why it helps: Fewer dropped balls; faster follow-through
Try this: Before you pass work on, write a six-line summary

Goal | Status | Risks | Next step | Owner | Due date

It forces a quick self-check that your work is actually complete, and it makes the handover clear so the next person is aligned.

Tip: if you can’t fill a field, it’s a sign the work isn’t ready to move.

impacts you can expect

Once a few of these practices are embedded in your ways of working, you’ll notice the changes:

• Faster decisions: you move from “in review” to “decided” sooner.

• Better decisions: a visible why speeds follow-through and learning.

• Less on the go: each person has about three active items, not nine. (Leaders - don’t panic, outcomes and impact go up - not down!)

• More real focus time: two protected blocks most days. 

• Outcome moves: pick one team metric (eg NPS) and review it weekly. 

Design for Thinking, in practice

We can’t predict the next six months of AI, let alone five years. But we can design a way of working that keeps people thinking as new tools arrive and the tech speeds up. We can calm the chaos and stay in control by deliberately flexing the different parts of our brains. Start with a few small practices. Use AI as a power-assist, not a replacement.

That’s Design for Thinking - a deliberate way for organisations to operate so they get the best from their people. A deeper dive into the framework is coming. If you’d like a one-pager, or to talk through how this could help your team, get in touch.

Resources (AU-friendly) 

• TEQSA Gen-AI Knowledge Hub – practical guides and examples for safe, effective use. https://www.teqsa.gov.au/guides-resources/higher-education-good-practice-hub/gen-ai-knowledge-hub

• Australian Government AI Ethics Principles – easy guardrails you can adapt for teams. https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/australias-artificial-intelligence-ethics-principles/australias-ai-ethics-principles

• OAIC privacy guidance on AI – simple do’s and don’ts for handling personal information. https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-guidance-for-organisations-and-government-agencies/guidance-on-privacy-and-the-use-of-commercially-available-ai-products