Metacognition: The New Essential Skill for an AI World | Anthea Roberts

Anthea Roberts began her career in international law. But after years of studying global conflict and power, she realized the real problem wasn’t policy—it was perspective. People weren’t just disagreeing on solutions; they weren’t even seeing the same problems. This realization led Anthea to develop "Dragonfly Thinking," a framework designed to help individuals and organizations view challenges through multiple lenses. She is now creating AI tools to apply this methodology to real-world decision-making. In this episode, Dart and Anthea talk about designing better thinking, why diverse mental frames matter, and what it means to build tools that make us better thinkers, not just faster ones.

Anthea Roberts is the founding CEO of Dragonfly Thinking and a Professor at the Australian National University. Her award-winning book Six Faces of Globalization explores competing narratives shaping the global order, and her work blends law, systems, and cognition to help people and institutions think better at scale.

In this episode, Dart and Anthea discuss:
- Why thinking better—not faster—is the key to solving complex problems
- How to help teams see their blind spots and cognitive defaults
- What AI can and can’t do to improve decision-making
- Why tools must fit the human hand (and mind)
- The value of metaphor and reframing in shaping insight
- How to operationalize integrative complexity inside organizations
- And other topics…

Anthea Roberts is a Professor at the Australian National University’s School of Regulation and Global Governance and a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School. A globally recognized legal scholar and systems thinker, she created “Dragonfly Thinking,” a framework for navigating complexity through multiple perspectives. Anthea is the award-winning author of Is International Law International? and co-author of Six Faces of Globalization, named one of the Best Books of 2021 by the Financial Times and Fortune. Through her company Dragonfly Thinking, she is developing AI tools to support better decision-making in complex environments.

Resources Mentioned:
Anthea’s website: anthearoberts.com
Dragonfly Thinking: dragonflythinking.net
Six Faces of Globalization, by Anthea Roberts and Nicolas Lamp: amazon.com/Six-Faces-Globalization-Loses-Matters/dp/0674245954
Superforecasting, by Philip Tetlock: amazon.com/Superforecasting-Science-Prediction-Philip-Tetlock/dp/0804136718
Images of Organization, by Gareth Morgan: amazon.com/Images-Organization-Gareth-Morgan/dp/1412939798
Kate Griggs on Work for Humans: open.spotify.com/episode/6JogZDTsIeABNKsuCGV6Ve

Connect with Anthea:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthea-roberts-a8596b142/ 

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.