Observation 002: The state of the receiver
Even our best work can fail before anyone reads a word of it. Every organisation I’ve worked with, in the middle of change, reaches for the same lever: tell people more, tell them sooner, explain it again. It’s the right instinct. The alternative, silence, is genuinely corrosive. For a long time, I believed that was […]
Observation 001: What people learn to notice
Train everyone to the same standard, and you can still end up with ten capable people responding ten different ways when it matters most. For a long time, I assumed that meant some people understood the standard better than others. It seemed obvious: if people were delivering different experiences, surely they weren’t equally capable. The […]
The Six Environments: Designing the Conditions
Across this series, we have explored what happens when pressure exceeds capacity, the patterns that emerge under strain, and the internal dimensions that help people stay resourced and effective. However, people do not operate in isolation. Every team operates inside an environment, and those environments shape performance far more than we often realise. There is […]
Capacity Under Pressure Series | Part 3 of 4
The three dimensions that expand capacity In the first two blogs, we explored what happens when pressure exceeds capacity and the predictable patterns that begin to emerge underneath sustained strain. However, capacity is not fixed. It expands and contracts based on several factors, many of which we rarely pay enough attention to until performance begins […]
Capacity Under Pressure Series | Part 2 of 4
The four human patterns under pressure In the first blog, we explored the capacity crisis, when the volume and pace of change exceed what people can realistically absorb. But what does that look like in practice? When capacity tightens, we don’t respond randomly; we respond predictably. There are four patterns that show up repeatedly across […]
Capacity Under Pressure Series | Part 1 of 4
The capacity crisis: why good people are burning out The strategy is sound, the deadlines are being met, and the transformation programme is moving forward. Yet underneath the delivery, things still feel strained. People are more tired than they used to be, decisions take longer, and managers are carrying more than anyone realises. In addition, […]
Can You Build Trust While Leading with Fear or Control?
In times of pressure, leaders don’t always shout. Sometimes we just stop listening. Instructions replace conversations. Context disappears. People stay quiet, not because they’re aligned, but because it feels safer to nod than to speak. It’s easy to mistake that for buy-in. But silence isn’t commitment. And obedience isn’t performance. When pressure rises, control often […]
Change: A Complex Topic
So much written about it, so many models and approaches, entire businesses set up and created on the back of it. Yet successful change and transformation still proves elusive. And, it’s not as though we can’t adapt and grow through change. Change is, after all, the signature tune of our civilisation. Perhaps it’s not change […]
Regaining the Lost Art of Focused Attention
High quality output requires focus and concentration. Yet many of us are so distracted these days that setting time aside for deep work can seem like an out of reach luxury. Those pings and dings just keep on coming. Even though we know it takes anywhere from 6 to 24-minutes for concentration to return to […]
Which Wolf Wins?
You may have heard this little fabel, however, it never loses its magic: There was an old Indian Chief talking with his young grandson. He explained to his grandson that within the mind there lives two wolves 🐺 and these two wolves are always in constant battle with each other. One wolf only ever focuses […]