In episode 399, host Mike Petrusky speaks with Dr. Liane Davey, a keynote speaker, New York Times bestselling author, and co-founder of 3COze, Inc., where she focuses on building high-performing teams in a world of perpetual change, conflict, and burnout. She explains the central idea of her brand-new book, “Thoughtload: Manage the Madness and Free Your Team to Do Great Work“: the root cause of declining productivity isn’t workload but “thoughtload” — the combination of cognitive demands, emotional burdens, and depleted energy reserves affecting individuals and teams. She explains how workplace leaders should shift their focus from activity and output to meaningful outcomes, ensuring team efforts are aligned with organizational goals. Drawing on compelling metaphors like being “behind the power curve” and the hero’s quest, Liane explains how open office designs and constant interruptions measurably impact focus and wellbeing, while intentional rest can restore creativity and energy.
Agenda
- Why “thoughtload” encompasses more than workload — cognitive, emotional, and energy factors all matter
- How workplace leaders should focus on outcomes rather than activity or output to drive effectiveness
- Why open office designs and constant interruptions create measurable negative impacts on productivity
- How intentional rest and “doing more nothing” can restore creativity and energy reserves
- How clarity about your “quest” helps teams prioritize meaningful work over busywork
What you need to know: Workplace takeaways
Takeaway 1: Thoughtload is the invisible tax on performance that goes beyond workload
Liane explains that the concept of “thoughtload” is different than workload. It encompasses not just the tasks we need to complete, but the cognitive demands of processing information, the emotional burdens we carry, and our depleted energy reserves.
According to Liane, many executives find themselves operating “behind the power curve” — at full throttle but losing altitude instead of gaining it.
It’s an idea that applies directly to facility management and workplace leaders who are juggling physical space management, team leadership, vendor coordination, and strategic planning simultaneously.
The problem isn’t just having too much to do. It’s the mental and emotional weight of keeping track of it all, making decisions without complete information, managing interpersonal dynamics, and doing it all while running on empty.
Takeaway 2: Leaders must shift focus from activity and output to meaningful outcomes
Liane explains that most leaders pay too much attention to activity — whether people are busy, active, and responsive. Some pay attention to output — did they complete the RFP, send the report, or finish the project? But it’s only when leaders focus on outcomes — the actual change we’re trying to create in the world — that organizations get truly effective people.
“If we pay attention to activity, we’re going to get busy people. If we pay attention to output, we’re going to get productive people. And that’s the biggest trap in 2026. We are happy to have productive people… Only if we pay attention to outcomes are we going to get effective people.”
For workplace leaders, this means getting crystal clear about the organizational goals your team is working toward.
Are you trying to increase employee engagement? Improve space utilization? Enhance workplace safety? Reduce operational costs? When teams understand the outcomes they’re accountable for — not just the tasks they need to complete — they can make better decisions about where to focus their energy and what distractions to ignore.
Takeaway 3: Open offices and constant interruptions have measurable negative impacts
Liane directly addresses how physical workspace design affects thoughtload and productivity. Open office environments, while designed to promote collaboration, create constant interruptions and distractions that fragment attention and deplete cognitive resources, she warns.
She also acknowledges the complexity facing facility management professionals.
“I really appreciate the tough position you as facility managers are in where you’re being asked to create this environment that maybe everyone has an opinion about.” The solution isn’t necessarily going back to private offices for everyone, but rather creating intentional spaces that support different types of work — focus zones, collaboration areas, and what she calls spaces for people to “restore and reset.”
Physical environment, emotional factors, and behavioral patterns all amplify each other, making holistic approaches to workplace wellness and productivity essential. Leaders need to think beyond just the physical layout to how the space supports the cognitive and emotional needs of the workforce.
Takeaway 4: Counterintuitively, doing “more nothing” restores energy and creativity
Liane shares a personal story of returning from a demanding keynote in Seattle, facing a long list of urgent tasks, but recognizing she was exhausted. Instead of powering through, she took 30 minutes for a jacuzzi bath in the middle of the workday — no podcast, no book, no input of any kind.
“At about 25 minutes, I had to jump out because I had so many ideas and I had so much energy to do the tasks I needed to do.”
For workplace leaders, this means creating cultures that value and protect rest, recovery, and white space in schedules. It means encouraging teams to take real breaks, go for walks, or simply let their minds wander. And it means modeling this behavior yourself — recognizing that relentless hustle and activity aren’t the same as effectiveness or innovation.
Takeaway 5: Define your “quest” to prioritize meaningful work over busywork
Using the hero’s journey as a framework, Liane introduces the concept of your professional “quest” — the unique value you’re paid to create, the most important outcome you’re working toward.
She encourages people to spend most of their time on their quest, some time contributing to others’ noble quests, and a bit of time on “side quests” like compliance training or administrative tasks.
“What I find is that most people fill their calendar with tasks like responding to Slack messages or replying to emails. That takes 11 hours for the average person. Then you put in the sort of side quest next, and the thing that gets shoved out of your calendar is actually your quest.”
The quest then gets relegated to evenings and weekends, done when you’re “one notch above drooling on the desk.” By clearly defining your quest and protecting time for it during your peak energy hours, you ensure that meaningful work gets done — not just busy work. This requires ruthless prioritization and the courage to say no to activities that don’t serve your quest or your organization’s most important outcomes.
Workplace management insights
- Thoughtload encompasses cognitive demands, emotional burdens, and depleted energy reserves — not just workload.
- Leaders who focus on outcomes (not activity or output) develop truly effective teams rather than just busy or productive ones.
- Open office designs create measurable interruptions, and it takes people a long time to rebound.
- Physical environment, emotional factors, and behavioral patterns amplify each other in workplace productivity.
- Intentional rest and “doing more nothing” (no input of any kind) restores creativity and cognitive energy.
- Clarity about your professional “quest” — your unique value and most important outcome — enables better prioritization.
- Facility managers must create spaces that support both collaboration and focus, including areas for restoration and reset.
- Activity doesn’t equal effectiveness; outputs don’t guarantee outcomes; only outcome-focused work creates real change.
Learn more about Eptura’s Flex/26 New York and explore the full library of Workplace Innovator podcast episodes for an in‑depth look at workplace insights.
Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/-F5J3iunbOM?si=rRYzBhEBlvQI1dDF
