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One of the best parts of being human is the thrill of discovery. We can be delighted by an idea that makes us see the worldly differently or a genuine connection with someone new. I think it’s one reason the collective aversion to AI-generated communication is getting so intense.

We seek originality, both in our experiences and in the people we follow. I think deep down, we know an original thought cannot come from a machine whose entire job is to predict the most probable next word based on what has already been said.

Today, part of building your influence as a leader is protecting a critical ingredient to developing your and your team’s original thinking. 

So how do we get into that original thinking mode?

In 1926, Graham Wallas, a social psychologist and co-founder of the London School of Economics, outlined the four non-negotiable stages of the creative process:¹

But what I notice happening today is under the pressure to constantly produce, we sit at our desks cranking with ChatGPT for 45 minutes trying to force the breakthrough. We try to skip from preparation to illumination, and in the process get the average of what's already been said.

Incubation is a step for a reason. In this step your unconscious brain continues processing and filtering information even when you’re not actively focused on the problem. While it may seem like you’re doing nothing, your brain is activating the Default Mode Network (DMN),² a neural network specifically designed to handle this complex work.

According to psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis' Unconscious Thought Theory (UTT),³ the conscious mind can only juggle a limited number of variables at once. When you step away from a problem, your brain shifts from the constrained focus of conscious thought to a state of relaxed, parallel processing in the DMN. This is where your brain connects disparate ideas, processes volumes of information, and arrives at surprising, original insights.

If incubation is a non-negotiable part of the creative process that produces original thinking, we have to actually bake it into our schedules.

I often remind the executives I coach that part of doing great work is knowing how you do great work. We work on recognizing the conditions they need to feel creative and resourceful rather than just trying to brute-force the output.

What would it look like to intentionally design incubation into your week? Try testing one of these:

Instead of scheduling a 4-hour block to grind out a strategic plan from scratch to finish, work backward. Do the prep, write a messy brain dump, and then intentionally walk away for 24 hours before returning to it. Let your brain do the background work.

When a direct report is stuck figuring out a complex problem, normalize the science of how our brains work. Tell them to close their laptop and take a walk. Make incubation a part of your team’s process, not a sign of slacking off.

You never know when the answer will emerge. And it can be fleeting. Build a low-friction system to hold onto the ideas when they crystallize. Leave physical notebooks around the house. Send yourself a voice note on your commute. If your phone is in the other room, ask your partner to text you the thought you just had (just me?).

You’ve experienced the jump from incubation to illumination when suddenly the missing piece of a puzzle clicks into place walking the dog or inspiration strikes right before you call asleep. 

Illumination happens after you’ve had dwell time. The dwell time is what creates an original point of view. It’s the process of you leaving your mark.

I get to incorporate incubation when writing this newsletter every week, and the reward of illumination is so satisfying.

I hope there’s a way for you to create those windows for original illumination in your work.

I partner with founders, VPs, and C-level leaders stepping into bigger roles with more visibility and more responsibility (and inevitably, more opportunities to second-guess yourself).

Together, we get clear on your distinct leadership style — the values, judgment, and point of view that set you apart from your peers (and AI).

I love helping clients walk out of high-stakes meetings with that deeply satisfying afterglow of having handled something hard, handled it well, and handled it your way.

Here’s a look at how I coach. If you’re dealing with a sticky dynamic right now, hit reply and tell me what’s on your mind.

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and saying human in the age of AI.