News Spotlight

Resentful workers prepare for the next resignation. A stagnant labor market is causing employees to feel stuck and resentful in their current jobs, a phenomenon known as "job hugging," which is expected to fuel a new wave of resignations once market conditions improve (Fortune).

Working mothers leave jobs over flexibility. Working mothers who returned to the workforce after the pandemic are now leaving in large numbers, as the end of remote work and flexible schedules forces a reversal of their post-pandemic employment gains (Washington Post).

Modern leaders must be tough and empathetic. Today's leaders are expected to be empathetic, a quality once considered a weakness, and must intentionally connect with employees during uncertain times rather than just focusing on short-term profits (Harvard Business Review).

Stat of the Week

A new study finds that about 70% of working Americans have considered delaying retirement, with nearly half citing fear of not having enough money.

HR leaders must proactively address the widespread financial anxieties causing a majority of the workforce to consider delaying retirement. This trend requires a strategic shift to enhance financial wellness and retirement planning support, moving beyond traditional benefits to provide robust education on savings, debt management, and investing. HR should explore and implement flexible work arrangements and phased retirement options that allow older employees to transition gradually, enabling the retention of invaluable institutional knowledge and a smoother succession planning process. By openly communicating about these resources and tailoring programs to address the specific financial fears of employees, HR can build a more secure and loyal workforce while ensuring the organization is prepared for the demographic shifts ahead.

Deep Dive Article

How Movement, Thought, and Rest Are the New Pillars of Productivity

In an era dominated by the rapid acceleration of AI and automation, many organizations are grappling with the fear of technological disruption and its potential to replace jobs. However, this is not merely a tech revolution, but a human revolution. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly capable of handling routine tasks quickly, our uniquely human capacities for imagination, creativity, and adaptability become the true currency of the new economy. These capabilities are our infinite resource and greatest asset in this new era, and understanding how to cultivate them is the key to not just surviving, but thriving alongside technology. This pivotal moment presents an opportunity to shift our focus from mere efficiency to the flourishing of our most valuable human traits.

Natalie Nixon, CEO of Figure 8 Thinking, has earned the moniker "the creativity whisperer to the C-Suite". In her capacity as a consultant, she advises global leaders on how to embed creativity into their company's culture, leadership, and growth strategies. Nixon leverages her unique approach, which she calls WonderRigor™, to help organizations achieve real business results.

Her work is centered on redefining productivity and our relationship with time. In a world of continuous technological demands, her book, Move. Think. Rest.: Redefining Productivity & Our Relationship with Time, proposes that true productivity is found by integrating these three elements. The following conversation explores how individuals and organizations can adopt this integration to prevent burnout and foster sustainable well-being in a technology-saturated world.

Dan Schawbel: Your book proposes that real productivity comes from integrating movement, thought, and rest. Could you elaborate on what this integration looks like in practice for an individual, especially in the context of preventing burnout and fostering sustainable well-being amidst continuous technological demands?

Natalie Nixon: Humans are designed to move—that's actually the foundation of our most productive selves. When we're stagnant our thinking isn't as sharp or creative, and we don't rest fully because we're not physically tapped… more like just stressed.

For individuals navigating a life saturated with technology, MTR (pronounced "motor") integration looks like deliberately stepping away from screens for walking meetings, embedding 5-minute microbreaks every 30-40 minutes, integrating play into the day, and treating rest not as laziness but as essential brain maintenance. I drew on neuroscientist John Medina's research (Brain Rules) showing how regular exercise, adequate sleep, and stress management form the cognitive foundation for peak performance. When we honor these needs, we move from surviving to flourishing.

The magic really happens when teams and organizations also embrace this framework collectively. During my research, I visited Le Truc, Publicis's internal creativity catalyst, designed with biodiverse workspaces—from comforting cocoons for deep thinking to collaborative bright spaces with southern-facing windows. Employees can literally choose their own work adventure. This design philosophy recognizes that "organizations are organisms" composed of humans who think, feel, and create differently throughout the day.

I've seen progressive companies implementing MTR principles through policies like sabbaticals every five years or "No Meeting Wednesdays" that protect time for focused thought and create accessible rest areas. These aren't perks—they're strategic investments to prevent burnout and foster innovation.

When we stop treating humans like machines and instead create conditions for movement, thought, and rest, both individuals and teams discover their capacity for sustained creativity in our technology-saturated world.

Dan: You highlight the importance of carving out "liminal space" for strategic thinking and creative problem-solving. How can busy professionals effectively create and utilize this kind of space in their daily workflows, and what immediate benefits might they see in their decision-making processes?

Natalie: I love ambiguity. I know that's probably not a very popularly held sentiment, because most of us err on the side of certainty. That's how we've been educated, and that's generally how we get evaluated for success. The challenge is that if we're honest, most of life is grey and we must get better at process. Markets are uncertain too, so equipping ourselves with tools to navigate uncertainty—question framing, scenario planning, integrating intuition with rational thought—sets us up for success.

Liminal space is the magical "in-between" time when you're not actively "doing" traditional work at your desk, but your brain is still churning and connecting ideas in the background. I call these the "sexy bits of productivity" because they often yield our most exciting, innovative ideas.

Busy professionals can create this space by recognizing that not all valuable work looks like "work." Instead of constantly checking your phone while waiting in line for coffee or at a red light, take a moment to breathe, observe your surroundings, or simply daydream. Daydreaming activates your brain's default mode network (DMN), which Susan Magsamen, co-author of Your Brain on Art, describes as the "meaning-making part of the brain." I think of the DMN as the brain's washing machine.

When you allow your DMN to engage, you free up cognitive load and activate synapses that lead to "aha moments." This space helps with intuitive sense-making, allowing you to tap into gut feelings that are scientifically linked to better strategic decisions. It's about letting your system reset, leading to renewed clarity and focus.

Dan: The book discusses redefining performance for the "Imagination Era," shifting away from short-term metrics to prioritize adaptability, creative output, and long-term value. What are some concrete examples of new KPIs or performance models that organizations and individuals can adopt to measure this redefined productivity?

Natalie: Old productivity models, rooted in the 1st Industrial Revolution, no longer make sense. They have an either-or focus on tangible outputs, speed, and efficiency. But in a world where AI can handle routine tasks quickly, our uniquely human capacity for imagination, creativity, and adaptability becomes the true currency. Consider that our GDP metrics still don't capture search engines or email—two of the dominant drivers of productivity today.

Instead of asking "How might I be more productive this quarter?", we should ask "What might I cultivate this quarter?" This shift to a cultivation mindset is a both-and model that values fast and slow, the solo practitioner and the collective, work that's measurable on the visible domain and tacit on the dormant dimension.

Here are 3 examples of new KPIs that organizations and individuals can adopt to measure this redefined productivity:

• Meaning: How connected do employees feel to the significance and impact of their work beyond just profits. This can be gauged through surveys before and after projects.
• Value Creation Through Ideas and Experimentation: Shifting success metrics to include the generation of novel ideas and small-scale prototypes created to test new concepts, rather than just sheer output like hours worked. This values time to think, ponder, and embrace failure as learning.
• Reduced Stress and Wellbeing: Assessing employee stress levels through regular wellness evaluations. Research shows burnout has significant business costs, including increased sick days and turnover.

These KPIs acknowledge that our "output" is increasingly intangible and that flourishing drives long-term sustainable success.

Dan: What specific practices or strategies do you recommend leaders implement to ensure they are truly resting in ways that enhance their performance and resilience?

Natalie: We spend an awful lot of time focused on how we perform—and much less time on recovery, especially emotional recovery, which is key in stressful economic environments of job insecurity. If we under-recover, we will perform suboptimally.

One of the most important strategies is embracing macromanagement over micromanagement. This requires trusting that employees will autonomously manage their work when given space and time to manage their energy.

Beyond large-scale policies, leaders can integrate and encourage:

• Microbreaks: Even brief, intentional pauses throughout the day sustain performance and improve well-being. For example, I schedule at least one ninety-second daydream break daily and return to work energized and clear-headed.
• Meeting Moratoriums: Meetings reveal organizational culture. Periodically cancelling or reducing certain meetings frees up calendar space, adds efficiency, and builds trust. This challenges the assumption that constant meetings equal productivity.
• Sabbaticals: For leaders, taking extended breaks demonstrates that rest is valued, not detrimental to career progression. Becca Foy at META found sabbaticals helped her return "fresher" with "different ideas."
• Emotional Recovery: Scott Peltin, co-founder of Tignum, emphasizes that emotional recovery through meditation and visualization techniques is as critical as physical recovery for managing leadership's immense emotional fatigue.

By integrating these practices, leaders prevent rumination and ensure their energy reservoir is replenished.

Dan: With the rise of AI, your book promises to help readers "thrive as a creative human in the age of AI". Could you expand on how the Move. Think. Rest. framework specifically enables individuals to build their personal "MTR operating system" to remain innovative and impactful alongside artificial intelligence?

Natalie: In the midst of the rapid rise of AI, automation, and robotics, we're not facing a tech revolution, but a human revolution. That's because we can arrive at answers more quickly, make time for spaciousness, wrestle with ambiguity that takes us to the brink of new discovery, and have eyeball-to-eyeball collaborative conversations. Our uniquely human capabilities are our infinite resource and greatest asset in this new era.

The MTR framework enables individuals to remain innovative and impactful alongside AI by:

• Amplifying Human Creativity: AI excels at processing information, but it doesn't possess imagination or intuition. MTR activities "unstick our minds" and cultivate these human traits. Movement "rewires not just our bodies but our hearts, emotions, senses, and minds," catalyzing cellular rewiring that allows us to imagine more for ourselves.
• Enhancing Deep Thinking: AI provides quick answers, but humans ask better questions and discern meaning. The "Think" dimension encourages daydreaming and metacognition, activating the brain's default mode network for synthesis—crucial for interpreting "deep data" that AI can't grasp.
• Prioritizing Intuition: My work in global fashion sourcing showed me that breakthrough work manifests when we engage both brain and body, working from the gut up to tap into subtle signals. MTR helps us tune into this interoceptive awareness, linked to better strategic decision-making.
• Fostering Rest for Renewal: As Katherine May's Wintering illustrates, dormancy isn't inactivity but a different activity where the brain powers up alternate synapses.

AI frees bandwidth for us to cultivate what makes us inherently human… isn’t that the goal?

Thanks for reading — be sure to join the conversation on LinkedIn and let me know your thoughts on this topic!

Quote of the Week

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s life in your years.”
​Abraham Lincoln