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Practical reads on all things strategy, change, and leadership. 

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Strategy and strategic planning

1 min read

Pick your path: stress, guilt, fear

What problems are you battling with right now? If it's one of these three things, I have some useful stuff that might help.

2 min read

Pick your path: boundaries, decisions, focus

What problems are you battling with this week? If it's one of these three things, I have some useful stuff that might help.

6 min read

How to make hard decisions more easily

Have you got a hard choice to make? Whether it's at work, or at home, having tricky choices ahead weighs on you, even when you aren't actively...

2 min read

Make peace with problems

Let me paint you a picture of a workshop I facilitated recently. Fourteen senior leaders crowd around the boardroom table of an artful...

4 min read

Understanding idea technology

Idea technology, a term by Barry Schwartz, is an excellent framework for thinking about the ideas that drive our thinking and decisions.

3 min read

7 ways to feel better about your job

Work is a pain in the proverbial. It's also where most of us will spend most of our waking hours. The average person spends over 13 years of their...

1 min read

Save your relationships with quality questions

Bad questions kill relationships. When we turn up to a meeting, conversation, or email powered by judgement and annoyance, our questions reflect...

2 min read

Big questions enable bold choices

Most meetings and workshops are a waste of time. They're full of people resolving trivial issues that could be handled by email or delegation with...

2 min read

Master the world’s most valuable skill

Critical thinking is the world’s most valuable skill. Unfortunately, being overworked and overwhelmed keeps people from learning how to do it. They...

1 min read

The problem is never the problem

Picture this: you're frustrated with your partner. They've loaded the dishwasher wrong, again, and they've left the door wide open for you to knock...

4 min read

Business Planning in a Recession with Bright Spot Thinking

Earlier this week, I was working with leaders from a large corporate to set some strategic priorities. Talk quickly turned to how to survive the...

2 min read

Don't Be Afraid to Narrow Down

Little known fact: the more specific you are about what you want, what you'll do, and what you won't do, the more likely you are to get it. When you...

2 min read

Create Systems Change

Ever started a job and had that new-starter clarity? You're baffled by all the things that don’t make sense and say annoying things in meetings like:...

3 min read

Strategists Get Whatever They Want

Here's something strategists know that not everyone else does: you can have literally anything you want, at work, home or in your life. Nothing is...

3 min read

How to Care About Your Job Again

If you've woken up today with a sense of dread about what awaits you at your desk, you're not alone. A 2019 Gallup poll found that out of the world's...

3 min read

Unwinnable Games

On Sunday, I got busy organising and optimising for a packed week. Between school runs, home maintenance disasters, travel and work, I knew I was in...

4 min read

Nail Your Next 8 Weeks: How to keep strategy alive

In this article: How to run a great strategic check-in Free template for a 2-day strategy session Strategies are great, and 3-5 year plans are...

5 min read

Find Your Why Journey Update #2

I recently sent out a Wednesday Wisdom about a traumatic time I've experienced in my personal life and business.

2 min read

Stop Using Meetings to Build Your Culture

When I run Meetings that Matter, I challenge learners with this controversial idea:

4 min read

Why Your Team Needs A Meeting Policy - and What To Include

Take charge of your conversations I'm a big fan of individuals taking charge of the meetings they're in. In fact, I'd love to banish boring and...

5 min read

Find Your Why Journey Update #1

I recently sent out a Wednesday Wisdom about a traumatic time I've experienced in my personal life and business.

4 min read

Tell, Don't Sell: How to get what you want at work

I had a great conversation with an IT leader in Australia this week. She was doing good work, but she was feeling increasingly frustrated by people...

1 min read

Meetings are Murder

Every session I run, in every organisation, inevitably turns to the meeting problem.

3 min read

Get your meetings under control: 6 questions to help you banish back-to-backs

Everyone is having too many meetings. In many teams, people click from one conversation to another, becoming paradoxically more bored and overwhelmed...