How the Brain Shapes War and War Shapes the Brain with Nicholas Wright

How the Brain Shapes War and War Shapes the Brain with Nicholas Wright

How much of global conflict is driven by our own biology? In this episode of The Mindset Economy, we are joined by Dr. Nicholas Wright to examine the "brain-war" connection through the lens of neuroscience and military strategy. We explore the neuroscience of war, how our evolutionary wiring influences modern battlefields and how the experience of conflict fundamentally reshapes the human brain. Nicholas breaks down the cognitive biases that lead to escalation and shares insights on how understanding cognitive psychology and military psychology can help us navigate a more stable future. In this episode, we discuss: - The biological origins of human conflict and aggression. - How war physically alters brain function across societies. - Overcoming cognitive pitfalls in high-stakes strategic decision-making. - The future of neuro-influence and its role in international relations. - The impact of AI on warfare and autonomous drones. Resources Mentioned: Nicholas Wright's book, Warhead: How the Brain Shapes War and How War Shapes the Brain, is available now. Reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:  Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, Wiley, 2023)  The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, Baker Books, 2023)   Social: Instagram           @mindseteconomypodcast LinkedIn             The Mindset Economy Podcast Bluesky            @mindseteconomy.bsky.social YouTube           @TheMindsetEconomy   The Mindset Economy Podcast is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside Consulting Ltd production.

'How to Stop Automating Broken Healthcare Systems' with Leo Anthony Celi

AI is not failing because of bad technology. It is failing because of bad questions. Dr. Leo Anthony Celi [https://www.linkedin.com/in/leo-anthony-celi-b25131/], critical care physician and researcher at MIT, has spent years exposing a problem that the machine learning community would rather not face. The datasets training our most powerful healthcare AI do not just underrepresent certain populations. They reflect, and quietly reinforce the inequalities already baked into our systems. Building bigger models on broken foundations does not fix medicine, it scales the dysfunction. In this conversation with Jean Gomes [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jean-gomes-7a2244/] and Scott Allender [https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-allender-4170465/], Celi makes a counterintuitive case; that AI could become a Trojan horse for genuine transformation, not because the technology will save us but because confronting its failures might force us to ask better questions about who gets seen, who gets studied, and who gets to shape the tools that increasingly govern our lives. Dr Celi shares why he is bringing musicians, indigenous philosophers, and religious communities into rooms usually reserved for data scientists, what a basketball game and a tangled net reveal about who actually solves hard problems, and why the four qualities most needed from AI are the same ones most needed from leaders: creativity, humility, curiosity, and a healthy scepticism toward easy answers. For leaders navigating the AI era, this is a conversation about what it really means to build systems worthy of human trust. Reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:  Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, Wiley, 2023)   The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, Baker Books, 2023)   Social: Instagram           @mindseteconomypodcast LinkedIn             The Mindset Economy Podcast Bluesky            @mindseteconomy.bsky.social YouTube           @TheMindsetEconomy   The Mindset Economy Podcast is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside Consulting Ltd production.

'How To Lead When Nobody Knows What’s Coming' with Chris Hirst

What does leadership look like when nobody really knows what’s coming next? In this episode, Jean Gomes and Scott Allender are joined by Chris Hirst, former global CEO and leadership advisor, to explore how leaders and individuals make decisions in a world shaped by uncertainty and AI. Chris challenges some familiar ideas, arguing that working hard is not enough, and that the real differentiator is how you show up, not just what you can do. What follows is a fascinating conversation about ownership, mindset, and the small behaviours that compound over time, from how people actually get hired and promoted, to why complaining and blaming quietly hold us back. This episode offers a practical lens on what creates real value and what does not. It is less about theory, and more about what it takes to move forward when the rules are no longer clear. Reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:  Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, Wiley, 2023)  The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, Baker Books, 2023) Social: Instagram           @mindseteconomypodcast LinkedIn             The Mindset Economy Podcast Bluesky            @mindseteconomy.bsky.social YouTube           @TheMindsetEconomy The Mindset Economy Podcast is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside Consulting Ltd production.

How To Stay Human While Technology Shapes the World with Ja-Naé Duane and Steve Fisher

The rules that got you here may be the very thing holding you back. Ja-Naé Duane and Steve Fisher call them super shifts, fundamental changes so significant that many of the assumptions underpinning how we work, lead, and create value are quietly becoming obsolete. Expertise, control, certainty: the frameworks that once provided stability are starting to break down. Most organisations are yet to reckon with what that actually means. Jean Gomes and Scott Allender, leadership authors and advisors who have spent their careers working at the sharp end of organisational change, push Duane and Fisher on what this means practically for leaders who are already stretched, already uncertain, already looking for ground that holds. Together they examine why our sense of agency may be more fragile than we think, why the shift from control to co-creation is not optional, and what kind of mindset is required when the past is no longer a reliable guide. If you sense that something fundamental has shifted but struggle to articulate what, or what to do about it, this episode is a good place to start. Reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:  Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, Wiley, 2023)  The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, Baker Books, 2023) Social: Instagram           @mindseteconomypodcast LinkedIn             The Mindset Economy Podcast Bluesky            @mindseteconomy.bsky.social YouTube           @TheMindsetEconomy The Mindset Economy Podcast is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside Consulting Ltd production.

How To Create Conditions That Maximise Human Impact with Amy Edmondson

Most leaders say they want candour. Almost none of them have it. Amy Edmondson, Harvard professor and the world's leading researcher on psychological safety, argues that the problem isn't culture, it isn't trust, it isn't people. It's the invisible interpersonal risk that makes speaking up feel more dangerous than staying quiet. In a world where AI is accelerating the pace of change, that silence is becoming increasingly costly. Edmondson sits down with Jean Gomes and Scott Allender, authors and leadership experts who have spent their careers working at the sharp end of organisational change, to reframe psychological safety not as comfort, but as permission for candour, a subtle but important distinction that changes how leaders should think about the environments they create. She explains why intelligent failure is a capability to be built, not a mistake to be tolerated, while learning, not knowing, is fast becoming the defining leadership skill of the AI era. For anyone leading teams through uncertainty, this episode offers a sharper understanding of why high-quality conversations are the most underleveraged asset in most organisations, and what it actually takes to have them. Reading from Amy Edmondson: Right Kind of Wrong: How the Best Teams Use Failure to Succeed (Penguin, 2024) The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth (Wiley, 2025) Reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:  Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, Wiley, 2023)  The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, Baker Books, 2023) Social: Instagram           @mindseteconomypodcast LinkedIn             The Mindset Economy Podcast Bluesky            @mindseteconomy.bsky.social YouTube           @TheMindsetEconomy The Mindset Economy Podcast is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside Consulting Ltd production.