4 min read
You can be the one who changes things
It's never been more possible to do great work You are always free to choose a different path Your employer wants you to shake it up. It's never been...
Systems thinking
4 min read
Before you restructure, read this
In a client mentoring session on Friday, I was looking forward to hearing how a job interview had gone. After an extended secondment and a long...
2 min read
How to ask bigger questions
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...
1 min read
Stop being a hero
I used to think I was a bit of a hero—I was even proud of it. Beating the odds, I shifted my life story from high school dropout, teen mum, and...
2 min read
My top leadership reads 2021
I love to read - ever since I was a kid, I’ve spent as much of my free time as possible engrossed in a book. Childhood me would be pretty stoked I...
2 min read
Internal functions are the strategy engine room
Have you ever heard that cliché about the janitor at NASA? You know, the guy who knew his job was putting astronauts on the moon? Like most...
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.
2 min read
The future of work belongs to the strategist
ATMs and Strategy When ATMs were first rolled out, economists, politicians, and the media panicked. Automation was to rob bank tellers of their jobs!...
2 min read
Stop being a hero
I've always been a bit of a hero. Beating the odds, I shifted my life story from high school dropout, teen mum, and no-hope foster kid to university...
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...
6 min read
This is an intervention: it's time to get unstuck
In this post: What to do when you're feeling stuck Strategic leadership: skills to change your life Stop planning, start strategising: how to stay on...
1 min read
If you were them, you'd be a jerk too
Change is hard to talk about because people feel personally attacked. If we're not careful, "let's make it better" sounds more like "You're doing it...
4 min read
Hope is a terrible recipe for change
The planning fallacy Hope is not a recipe for change How to create realistic plans and strategies
4 min read
That restructure will not fix your organisational culture
In a client mentoring session on Friday, I was looking forward to hearing how a job interview had gone. After an extended secondment and a long...
6 min read
Why change gets worse before it gets better
Angela, a Wednesday Wisdom reader, asked me to write about the immediate impact of organisational change on productivity. She wrote:
1 min read
Don't worry about your culture
I hear a lot about organisational culture. It’s pretty trendy, and seems to be blamed for a full spectrum of ills at work. Makes sense, it’s nice and...
3 min read
Work towards the grain
One of my coaching clients is an exceptional leader. She has a rare combination of strategic, systems-focused perspective along with a burning desire...
4 min read
Why your strategy is failing and how to fix it
Many of us have the wrong idea about strategy. We think it's about workshops and documents and then struggle to understand why everyone's still doing...
2 min read
10 business and self-help books for your summer
Over the past 10 years, I reckon I've read over 500 self-development and business books. (That's why I instituted a three-month non-fiction ban in...
2 min read
Serve the room: questions to ask for leadership success
In local government, many elected members think they must be approachable and responsive to their constituents. They personally follow up on service...
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
Create systems change
Have you 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...
4 min read
Good people and bad systems
Change is hard to talk about, because people tend to feel personally attacked. They have good reason to feel that way. When we talk about the things...