Musical genius Glenn Gould obviously spent hours at the piano, but he spent even more time doing mental rehearsals of scores with a unique technique that combined visualization and finger tapping. He practiced until his brain and hands worked in perfect harmony. His brilliance wasn’t talent alone—it was the result of rewiring his brain through deliberate practice.
And that’s something anyone, in any field, can do. Our brains are powerful, yet deeply flawed instruments. They can solve complex problems, forge connections, and dream up innovations. But they also trip us up—pulling us into the pitfalls of bias, shortsightedness, and emotional reactivity. For all their brilliance, our brains often work against us. The instincts that evolved to keep us alive can hold us back in high-stakes work environments where collaboration, creativity, and decision-making are essential.
The good news? You can outsmart your brain by leveraging neuroscience and psychology, bypassing mental traps and creating habits that enhance your performance and relationships at work. Here are four powerful brain reboots to help you innovate more, be a better teammate, and, ultimately, advance faster at work.
What Fires Together, Wires Together
We have 100 trillion potential connections in the brain. But, just like we may drive the same route to work everyday, we create well worn paths in our brains by repeatedly thinking and doing the same things. This is where the neurology principle "what fires together, wires together" comes from. When neurons are repeatedly activated together, those pathways get stronger. This is why practice makes perfect and why habits, good or bad, become so deeply ingrained.
In the workplace, this principle can work for or against you. If you constantly react to stress with frustration, those neural pathways become stronger, making it more likely that you’ll react with frustration in the future. But the same principle can be flipped to your advantage. By consciously creating positive associations and repeating behaviors that align with your goals, you can rewire your brain for success. Here’s what you can do:
Practice Gratitude
End your workday by reflecting on three things that went well. Over time, this helps your brain more automatically focus on the positive, boosting your mood and resilience.
Visualize Success
Athletes (and pianists) use visualization to enhance performance, and you can do the same. Before a presentation or meeting, mentally rehearse the outcome you want. This activates the same neural pathways as actual practice, making you more confident and prepared.
Replace Bad Habits With Good Ones
Instead of trying to break bad habits, replace them. For example, if your instinct is to interrupt during meetings, practice pausing and asking a question instead. Each time you do, you reinforce the new behavior.
By intentionally "firing" the thoughts and behaviors you want to cultivate, you can "wire" your brain for long-term success.
Challenge Confirmation Bias
One of the most entrenched and troublesome human traits is our tendency to seek out information that confirms what we already know or supports the decision we already want to make. Even the most highly educated people fall prey to this habit. In fact, one study found that psychologists are over 77% more likely to seek out information that supports an initial diagnosis than to explore conflicting evidence. This shortcut, known as confirmation bias, helps us make quick decisions but also limits our ability to see nuance, learn, or innovate.
At work, confirmation bias shows up when we cling to snap judgments about colleagues, favor familiar solutions over fresh ideas, shy away from ambiguity, or dismiss feedback that challenges our beliefs. Left unchecked, it stifles progress and perpetuates blind spots.
Removing our individual and organizational blinders is one of the most powerful moves we can make to improve workplace culture and performance. When we challenge our assumptions, suspend our 'known truths' long enough to be open to the beliefs of others, and expand our mental models—that’s when growth, learning, and innovation happen. Here are three approaches to opening your mind and reducing your bias:
Challenge Your Assumptions
Ask yourself: “What am I missing?” or “What evidence would disprove my assumption?” or “What if the opposite was true?”
Seek Out Dissent
Surround yourself with diverse perspectives and encourage constructive disagreement.
Reframe Feedback
When receiving feedback that contradicts your views, resist the urge to dismiss it and actively try to learn from it.
Your brain will always try to take the path of least resistance—your job is to take the wheel, pull it out of the rut, and build a new, intentional pathway.
Dismantle “Us Versus Them” Thinking
Our brains are tribal by design. For most of human history, survival depended on belonging to a group and distinguishing “us” (safe) from “them” (dangerous). Today, this evolutionary instinct shows up in the workplace as silos, rivalries, and biases.
Departments blame each other for missed deadlines. Leaders clash with employees over return-to-office policies. Teams compete for resources instead of working together toward shared goals.
"Us versus them" thinking erodes trust, stifles collaboration, and creates a toxic work environment. But, the truth is, most workplace conflicts are not about malice—they’re about misunderstandings. Our brains default to protecting “our side” rather than building the bridges we need to transcend divides and unite around shared purpose. Three ideas to let down your guard just enough to open your thinking:
Get To Know “Them”
Create spaces where people can meaningfully connect and get to know each other. When people see each other’s humanity, “us versus them” dissolves into “we.”
Focus On Shared Goals
Remind teams of the bigger picture. Shift the narrative from competition to collaboration by framing goals as collective rather than individual.
Expand Empathy
Humans are hardwired to offer empathy to people like us—not “them.” To build your empathy muscles, expand your relationships at work and actively seek to know and understand people different from you.
Overcoming "us versus them" thinking takes effort, but the rewards are profound. When teams rally together around a shared purpose, they unlock collective potential, creating an environment where trust and innovation flourish.
Embrace Failure As A Teacher
Failure activates the brain’s threat detection system, particularly the amygdala, triggering fight-or-flight and releasing stress hormones like cortisol. This can lead to avoidance behaviors: refusing to take risks, shying away from challenges, or blaming others when things go wrong.
Yet failure is an inevitable part of work—and growth. A fixed mindset sees failure as a reflection of one’s abilities, while a growth mindset sees it as an opportunity to learn and improve.
The problem is, our brains don’t naturally gravitate toward growth. They’re hardwired to avoid pain and seek comfort. To build resilience, you have to teach your brain to see failure not as a threat, but as a teacher. Three ways to do that:
Shift The Narrative
When you fail, replace self-criticism with self-compassion. Instead of saying, “I’m terrible at this,” say, “I’m learning, and this is part of the process.”
Reflect And Learn
After a setback, ask, “What can I learn from this?” or “What will I do differently next time?”
Celebrate Effort, Not Just Results
Acknowledge the courage it took to try something new, even if it didn’t work out.
Organizations can foster a growth mindset by normalizing failure and framing it as a necessary step toward innovation. When leaders share their own failures and the lessons they’ve learned, it sends a powerful message.
Every person on the planet uses the same tool every second of every day: the brain. Just like any complex technology, it needs a reboot every so often. Take a moment to unplug and look inward. What patterns no longer serve you? What biases need challenging? What bridges need building?
By reframing your brain’s default settings—rewiring habits, challenging biases, bridging divides, and embracing failure—you can replace reactive habits with deliberate ones designed not just for evolutionary survival but workplace success. Train your brain, transform your work.
Growth doesn’t happen overnight. But, as Glenn Gould’s meticulous practice reminds us, consistent, deliberate effort unlocks extraordinary performance.
First published on Forbes.com.
