Cognitive Flexibility to personal development: Introduction

Have you ever worked with someone who can focus on multiple high-stakes tasks at once with relative ease? Or someone who can come up with a novel idea under the pressure of a deadline?

These are all examples that help illustrate the definition of cognitive flexibility.

Adapt, pivot, innovate. These traits are often associated with great leaders, entrepreneurs, and inventors. Broadly speaking, cognitive flexibility is about moving between different tasks simultaneously, applying concepts from one context toward solving a problem in another unrelated or new situation. It’s also about evaluating strategies and generating novel solutions. This ability is generally considered part of the executive function of the brain.