Category: Thinking About Business

Over many years in business, I’ve watched organisations invest enormous amounts of time and money into improving performance. New strategies.New structures.New leadership programmes.New communication initiatives. And yet, despite all of this effort, the same patterns often continue to appear: • defensive leadership• poor communication• blame cultures• resistance to change• disengagement•…

One of the most important things I have learned about people is this: Most reactions are not caused by the event itself. They are caused by the meaning the mind attaches to the event. The same conversation can leave one person calm and another deeply defensive. The same piece of…

Change doesn’t usually fail where we think it does. We point to execution:– “We didn’t land it well”– “Adoption was too slow”– “People resisted” But by the time we’re talking about execution, the outcome is already set. Because change doesn’t fail at the end. It fails much earlier. It fails…

I used to spend most of my time on the plan. Clarifying it. Strengthening it. Stress-testing it. Because I believed that if the plan was good enough, the change would follow. It rarely did. What I’ve come to realise is this: Most plans fail not because they’re wrong… …but because…

“We need to change” is one of the most common phrases in business. It’s also one of the most misleading. Because recognising the need for change is not the same as being ready for it. Readiness isn’t about intent.It’s about conditions. • Are leaders aligned — or just agreeing in…

Looking back, most failed transformations don’t collapse because of poor strategy. They collapse because readiness was assumed. We assumed:– Alignment meant commitment– Agreement meant understanding– Urgency meant capability But underneath, the organisation was still operating exactly as before. Same behaviours.Same incentives.Same unspoken rules. We tried to layer change onto a…

Resistance to change is one of the most persistent misdiagnoses in leadership. We see hesitation and call it resistance.We see challenge and call it pushback.We see silence and assume disengagement. But most of the time, it’s none of those things. It’s a fear response. Not irrational fear — informed, experienced,…

There’s a moment in every change effort that matters more than most people realise. It’s not the launch.It’s not the plan.It’s not the communication. It’s the moment someone hesitates. Questions get asked.Energy shifts.Progress slows. And a decision gets made — often unconsciously. “We’re meeting resistance.” The label goes on.And from…

We talk a lot about accountability in organisations. Usually as if it’s a people problem. People need to step up.Take ownership.Be more accountable. But in most cases, that’s not where the issue sits. Because accountability doesn’t break down through intent.It breaks down through ambiguity. When it’s unclear:– who actually owns…

It’s easy to assume that when people step back, they’re avoiding responsibility. But that’s rarely what’s actually happening. What people are really avoiding… is exposure. Exposure to being wrong.Exposure to overstepping.Exposure to being judged or undermined. And that tends to show up most in environments where: – expectations aren’t fully…