Old Wiring vs. New Wiring: Why Curiosity Beats Cognitive Bias

"Cognitive bias is old wiring. Curiosity is new wiring."

This quote captures a core truth at the heart of both neuroscience and the Built to Deliver (BTD) strategy framework: the way we think is shaped by how our brains are wired. And while past wiring makes us fast, it doesn’t always make us right.

If we want better outcomes, we need better inputs—starting with curiosity.

What Is “Old Wiring”?

Cognitive biases are not character flaws. They’re efficient mental shortcuts—quick patterns our brains developed to help us survive and make snap decisions. The problem? These same patterns can distort our thinking today.

Some familiar examples:

• Confirmation bias: We seek evidence that supports what we already believe.

• Status quo bias: We stick with what’s familiar, even when better options exist.

• Present bias: We act quickly to relieve uncertainty—even if we’re not ready.

These habits come from “old wiring”—neural pathways formed through repetition and reinforced over time. They aren’t bad. They’re just limiting.

Curiosity = New Wiring

Curiosity interrupts old patterns. It triggers the formation of new neural pathways—the very ones needed for creativity, empathy, and breakthrough insight.

Neuroscientifically, this happens in a part of the brain called the Default Mode Network (DMN). The DMN is most active when we’re not actively solving problems, checking boxes, or reacting to emails. It’s engaged during moments of reflection, imagination, storytelling, and wondering. This is the brain’s idea space.

If the Task Mode is for doing, the DMN is for thinking.

The Built to Deliver framework protects this thinking space deliberately. It builds in time for what many leaders skip: curiosity before conclusions. And it uses “I wonder…” framing to invite teams into DMN activation—where insight becomes possible.

Why This Matters for Strategy

Execution without curiosity simply reinforces the past.

Leaders who jump into planning and decision-making too soon are often pulling from what they already know—their existing wiring. That’s why BTD insists on starting not with answers, but with calibration experiences, strategic reflection, and neurological readiness.

You can’t wire for innovation if your brain is stuck in survival mode.

What Is a Calibration Experience?

A calibration experience is an intentional exposure to a world-class example that challenges your team’s assumptions, stretches their sense of possibility, and rewires what they notice and value.

These are not site visits or benchmarking trips. They are neurological interventions.

The goal is not to copy what others are doing—but to see differently:

• To witness excellence or dysfunction up close

• To confront uncomfortable contrast

• To activate the brain’s Default Mode Network (DMN)—where new neural pathways form through surprise, reflection, and meaning-making

Why it matters:

You can’t design for excellence if your internal reference point is average. Calibration gives your brain new inputs so your strategic outputs are built on a higher standard of what’s possible.

Leadership Reflection: What Are You Reinforcing?

Instead of asking, Are we moving fast enough?, consider:

• Are we creating protected time for strategic thinking?

• Are we asking questions that trigger curiosity, not just compliance?

• Are we designing systems that invite new wiring—or reinforce the old?

The more we normalize fast decisions and short-term tasking, the more we shrink our strategic capacity.

Final Takeaway

Bias is a memory.

Curiosity is a rewiring.

When leaders create space for curiosity—and protect it through rhythms, protocols, and language—they unleash not just better ideas, but better brains.

Reflection Prompt:

What’s something your team used to believe… that you’ve recently “unseen” because of a new insight or exposure?

What does that tell you about your wiring—and what’s ready to be rewired next?