In this episode of The Leader's Kitbag, Ben Morton and two co‑hosts explain why our most creative breakthroughs often happen when we are not intensely focused on a task. They describe two brain networks – the Central Executive Network (CEN), which drives goal‑directed, task‑focused thinking, and the Default Mode Network (DMN), which becomes active during routine, low‑attention activities and supports reflection, perspective‑taking, and associative thinking. The hosts argue that when leaders spend most of their time in CEN mode (back‑to‑back meetings, constant decision‑making, endless email), the DMN is suppressed, limiting creative problem‑solving and emotional insight. To counter this, they recommend deliberately scheduling “default‑mode” activities such as walks, exercise, solitude, or other routine tasks that free the mind to wander. By balancing CEN and DMN time, leaders can maintain task execution while also cultivating the perspective and empathy needed to lead people effectively. The episode ends with two reflective questions for listeners: when will you create non‑task‑focused time, and what specific DMN‑activating activities will you schedule?
Chapters
Think about this for a moment. Where are you physically in the world when you get your very best ideas? Where are you when you suddenly find the solution to that problem you've been wrestling with for, for days or even weeks? I'm fairly sure if you're like most people, it's rarely when you're sitting at your desk. More likely, it's when you are driving your familiar commute to work, maybe when you're swimming laps up and down in the pool, out jogging on a familiar route, or perhaps it's even when you're in the outdoors somewhere like this. And there's a very good scientific reason behind that.
There are two key brain networks at play here. The first is called the central executive network, and this is your task-positive mode. It's active when you're focused on an external task, things like analyzing data, making decisions, solving problems, or contributing in meetings. And it's the network we rely on for deliberate, goal-directed thinking. And as leaders, we spend a lot of time here. The second network is called the default mode network. This becomes much more active when our attention isn't focused on an external task. When we are just chatting informally with friends or colleagues. Maybe when we are driving a familiar route, showering, or doing something routine. In these circumstances or situations, we're still thinking, but our thinking becomes more reflective. More associative. This is where we start to process experiences. It's where we make sense of our emotions and other people's. And it's heavily involved in perspective, understanding team dynamics, and connecting ideas in new and different ways. In simple terms, the Central Executive Network helps you to do the work, The default mode network helps you understand the work and the people that are doing it. And here's the important part. These two networks tend to work in opposition. When one is dominant, the other quietens right down.
So, when your central executive network is fully engaged, In activities such as back-to-back meetings, constant decision-making, and endless emailing, it means our default mode network is far less active. And this means that the brain network or region that we rely upon for reflection, perspective, and deeper meaning and sense-making is dialed right back. Almost to zero. So in this respect then, finding time to disconnect and schedule activities that allow you to come up with your very best ideas and breakthrough solutions isn't just an indulgence or something to do when you have the time. It's a neurological performance-enhancing leadership necessity.
Fundamentally, leadership is about two things: tasks and people. The Central Executive Network helps us manage the tasks. The Default Mode Network helps us to understand the people. And if we live permanently in task mode, yes, we might gain some short-term efficiency, but we start to lose perspective. We lose the space needed for creative problem-solving. And we reduce our capacity to process emotion, both ours and other people's. And perspective is one of the most valuable things a leader can offer. If our job is to support, develop, and look after the people we have the privilege and responsibility to lead, so that they can deliver the results we're accountable for, then we need access to both modes of thinking. We need to be able to access the Central Executive Network and the Default Mode Network. We need that focused execution, and we need the time and space to reflect. I very nearly didn't go on this walk in the mountains. I was doing some work up here just on the edge of the lakes, and I wrestled for 2 weeks with whether or not to tag an extra day on to the trip. If I'm honest, at times it felt indulgent, it felt unnecessary, and there was always this voice in the back of my head saying I could be doing something much more productive in the office. But this, This is leadership time, and if we don't schedule it deliberately, it simply does not happen. The urgent will always crowd out the important, every single time.
So here are two questions for you to think about and act upon as a result of this episode of The Leader's Kitbag. Number 1: When do you create the time and space where your focus isn't locked on to a specific task. And number 2, what are your default mode network activities that enable you to come up with those brilliant ideas? Is it been on a long walk in the countryside with your dog, yoga, gardening, or like me, being in the great outdoors and the mountains? And here's the key point, whatever those activities are, we must prioritise them and get them scheduled into our diaries. Because for the leaders amongst us, we're not just paid to do, we're paid to think, to reflect, and bring perspective. And to do that, we need to activate our default mode network. That's it for this episode of The Leader's Kitbag. Look after yourself and those you've got the privilege and responsibility to lead. And until next time, lead on.
