It’s 3 a.m. and you’re up again tossing and turning, a stampede of wild thoughts running through your head about your latest work issue. Maybe it’s a project gone south, a recurring problem rearing its head again, or a difficult relationship with a coworker. Get stories like this in your inbox Either way, it’s up to you to calm your mind, talk yourself through your worries, and get a good night’s sleep.

“Wait. I don’t remember telling you the name of my hometown,” I said with an eyebrow cocked. “No, but I’m an intel analyst. So I know.” Truth be told, I was surprised the conversation hadn’t included more moments like this. I’m sitting in a tavern a few klicks down the road from the FBI’s training academy in Quantico, VA.

You’re a manager. You’re not one to pat yourself on the back, but you’ve got to admit: your team is doing pretty darn well. At least, that’s how it seems to you. Big projects are being checked off the list, deadlines are being met. You haven’t had to referee any heated conflicts, your inbox has no complaints. You’re good! But is that the whole story? Our research suggests your direct reports might describe the situation a wee bit differently.

Unless you build or program computers for a living, you could be forgiven for never having wondered what actually happens under the hood. How do computers make decisions? What do their instructions look like? Can they, y’know… think?