The Cabrera Lab Podcast
Join Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera from Cornell University as they inspire you to approach life's challenges with a fresh perspective. Witness their use of GOAT-level thinking to enhance your problem-solving skills. Discover new possibilities, approaches, and solutions you never knew existed. Elevate your thinking and get better every day with their entertaining guidance.
The Cabrera Lab Podcast
#100: The Top 10 Systems Thinking Lessons from 100 Episodes
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In this special milestone episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University celebrate the 100th episode of the Cabrera Lab Podcast by doing something big: ranking the top 10 themes that have emerged across the entire show.
From simple rules creating complex results to embracing both-and thinking, from culture as shared mental models to seeing webs of causality instead of root causes, they revisit the ideas that show up again and again—because they matter. These aren’t just abstract concepts; they’re practical mental models that shape how we parent, lead, learn, feel, and make decisions.
They also unpack the biggest ideas behind the work itself: why thinking is a trainable and measurable skill, why systems thinking is a life skill, not just a work skill, why loving reality beats wishful thinking every time, and why mental models sit beneath everything we do.
This episode is part reflection, part greatest-hits tour, and part invitation—an invitation to stop reacting at the surface and start seeing the structure underneath your life. If you’re new to the podcast, this is the perfect place to start. If you’ve been here from the beginning, it’s a powerful reminder of why this work matters.