My latest thoughts

Weekly essays on intuition, data, and decision-making. Read the latest below, or follow along on Intuition Edge.

The bronze Domenico Modugno statue in Polignano a Mare, arms thrown wide above the sea
From Forty-Four Per Cent To ThreeSubstack

From Forty-Four Per Cent To Three

I have always struggled with overconfidence, mostly my own. I came up in an era…
14 September 2026
Street-art mural of two skull faces turned towards each other, with a round porthole framing the sea between them
Say It Out Loud Before You Type ItSubstack

Say It Out Loud Before You Type It

In 2008 I received a 16 inch shiny, incredibly tacky gold skull and it turned…
8 September 2026
Livia Bernardini speaking on the AI and Innovation stage at MAD//Fest 2026 about AI and creative work
You Can’t Test Childhood MemoriesMadfest

You Can’t Test Childhood Memories

An ice cream, a Fiat that used to break down, and a woman who finally…
7 September 2026
A tiny patterned sea snail shell resting in the palm of an open hand
Try Not To Be So PassionateSubstack

Try Not To Be So Passionate

If you ask ten people what are the top five things you can do with…
31 August 2026
A child running up a fenced grass path through fields near Henley-on-Thames in golden evening light
Your Best Ideas Are Waiting At Three Miles An HourSubstack

Your Best Ideas Are Waiting At Three Miles An Hour

During Covid, Chiara used to call me and sometimes, with her usual kindness, ask me…
24 August 2026
Livia Bernardini hosting the AI + Innovation Stage at MAD//Fest, presenting to an audience wearing silent-conference headphones
What the Machine Cannot Take Credit ForMadfest

What the Machine Cannot Take Credit For

From unoptimised taste and agents as brand activists to one surprisingly reassuring claim about AI…
17 August 2026
Livia Bernardini presenting the SPACE intuition framework to a team workshop, with participants raising their hands around the table
Your Best Prompt Is Not Written AloneSubstack

Your Best Prompt Is Not Written Alone

Last week I recommended putting four heads together to solve a problem, and in today’s…
17 August 2026
Livia Bernardini speaking on the AI + Innovation Stage at MAD//Fest, discussing why judgement is the new luxury
Intuitive Signals from the AI and Innovation Stage: Judgement Is the New LuxuryMadfest

Intuitive Signals from the AI and Innovation Stage: Judgement Is the New Luxury

Judgement is the new luxury. That's the hard truth at the centre of this second…
10 August 2026
A flock of sheep in a field, standing in for the shared bias a well-curated team is built to catch
Trust Yourself, But a Well Curated Team Even MoreSubstack

Trust Yourself, But a Well Curated Team Even More

There is a sheep at the top of this piece who becomes very relevant halfway…
10 August 2026
House centipede on a pale wall in a Puglian garden, symbol for using AI alone and the IKEA effect
Every Cockroach Is Beautiful To Its Own MotherSubstack

Every Cockroach Is Beautiful To Its Own Mother

I went hunting for a real cockroach in my garden in Puglia for this one,…
5 August 2026
Close-up of a spiky green seed pod on concrete, one of my own photos, next to the AI writing detector story
100% Human, 100% AI, 100% HumanSubstack

100% Human, 100% AI, 100% Human

Substack's new AI writing detector scored three paragraphs of mine three different ways: human, then…
27 July 2026
Red lifeguard rescue boat on an Italian beach, one of my own photos, next to the trained intuition and Because Claude Said So story
Because Claude Said So, And Other Things I Have Heard In Meetings.Substack

Because Claude Said So, And Other Things I Have Heard In Meetings.

I spent two weeks telling you to unplug and go find a possum or talk…
20 July 2026
Livia Bernardini speaking on the AI and Innovation stage at MAD//Fest 2026 about AI and creative work
Intuitive Signals from the AI and Innovation StageMadfest

Intuitive Signals from the AI and Innovation Stage

Chairing the AI and Innovation stage at MAD//Fest this summer was one of the most…
16 July 2026
Close-up of fern fronds, one of my own photos, showing the fractal pattern that helps with attention restoration
What A Fern Can Do For Your AttentionSubstack

What A Fern Can Do For Your Attention

It took less than three weeks living at the edge of a forest to get…
13 July 2026
Open window above a desk looking out over a green garden, one of my own photos, the view I step away to during the incubation effect
What A Possum Taught Me About ThinkingSubstack

What A Possum Taught Me About Thinking

When I moved from Rome to Melbourne I quit smoking and became convinced within months…
6 July 2026
Two doorways on a terracotta wall, one lighter one darker, one of my own photos, echoing the red flag green light decision grid
Red Flags, Green Lights 2.0Substack

Red Flags, Green Lights 2.0

Your body reaches a verdict before your mind has finished reading the evidence. You walk…
29 June 2026
Tiny heart shaped piece of moss resting on a metal railing, one of my own photos, a small sign worth learning to trust your intuition
The Two Conditions That Decide If Your Intuition Is Right.Substack

The Two Conditions That Decide If Your Intuition Is Right.

I was thirty-three before I could name a single real regret, and then a big…
22 June 2026
Sailboat off the coast of Puglia, one of my own photos, the sail that stays open to changing wind is the metaphor for open minded thinking
When Did You Last Change Your Mind On Purpose?Substack

When Did You Last Change Your Mind On Purpose?

I once held a confident, well reasoned, morally comfortable opinion, and it lasted about five…
15 June 2026
A line of ants walking across a plain wall, one of my own photos, a small picture of cognitive diversity and the collective at work
Your Best Career Hack Is The Collective.Substack

Your Best Career Hack Is The Collective.

The best work of your career almost certainly did not belong to you alone, and…
8 June 2026
Rippling water catching light, one of my own photos, close to the dark space full of light I found during meditation and opportunistic assimilation
Top Two Percent Yet Years of Failing.Substack

Top Two Percent Yet Years of Failing.

A doctor once told me I was on my way to a heart attack by…
1 June 2026
An octopus in deep blue water with its eight arms extended and curling in different directions, suckers visible along each one.
Be More OctopusMadfest

Be More Octopus

When I sat down to write about being more human for MAD//Fest's 2026 theme, I…
31 May 2026
Standing in a yellow field under a stormy sky, one of my own photos, the weather I use as a metaphor for atmospheric sensing
You Are the Weather. Why You Should Act Accordingly.Substack

You Are the Weather. Why You Should Act Accordingly.

Every meeting you walk into, your nervous system is already reading the room before you…
25 May 2026
Backlit dandelion seed head with one seed about to fly off, one of my own photos, the moment of noticing I nearly missed with saliency detection
The Filter Nobody Told You About.Substack

The Filter Nobody Told You About.

Before a climber takes the first move on a new wall, they stand at the…
15 May 2026
Cherry blossoms in Japan, one of my own photos, from the country that shaped how I think about interoception and embodied intelligence
Your Body Talks. Maybe You Should Listen.Substack

Your Body Talks. Maybe You Should Listen.

I lived in Japan in my twenties and I have never quite stopped thinking about…
8 May 2026
Standing on a beach in a rainbow dress facing the sea, one of my own photos, following your heart and its heart rate variability
Follow Your Heart But Don’t Tell HR.Substack

Follow Your Heart But Don’t Tell HR.

I once told an HR department, with a straight face, that my heart had skipped…
1 May 2026
A person walking through a narrow brick tunnel towards the light, one of my own photos, the tunnel vision the Einstellung effect can create
Know Too Much. See Too Little.Substack

Know Too Much. See Too Little.

There is a Mark Twain line I have used in more boardrooms than I can…
24 April 2026
A tree stump cut to reveal a natural heart shape in its rings, one of my own photos, from love to death and subconscious pattern recognition
From Love to Death. Why Your Brain Knows Before You Do.Substack

From Love to Death. Why Your Brain Knows Before You Do.

In 1983 the J. Paul Getty Museum spent just under ten million dollars on an…
17 April 2026
Close-up of bubble wrap catching the light, one of my own photos, the accidental invention that shows what an intuitive signal actually looks like
They Called It Luck. They Were Wrong.Substack

They Called It Luck. They Were Wrong.

In 1957 two engineers sealed two shower curtains together trying to invent textured wallpaper. Nobody…
10 April 2026
Standing inside a rock archway looking out at the sea, one of my own photos, a picture of what happens when you stop leaving intuition as data at the door
What If the Thing You Were Told to Leave at the Door Is Actually Your Sharpest Asset?Substack

What If the Thing You Were Told to Leave at the Door Is Actually Your Sharpest Asset?

I still remember pitching this idea to a room full of engineers at Ferrari and…
3 April 2026