Stop Being Realistic "Be realistic" is the most common advice given to anyone with a vision, and it's usually wrong. Neverland, Wonderland, Dreamland — none of them were ever meant to be realistic. They exist so imagination has somewhere to go. When you're setting...
The Only Thing I Want From a Leader Most leadership advice is complicated. A framework, a maturity model, a five-stage transformation curve — anything that turns leadership into a discipline you can study your way out of practicing. Here is the uncomplicated version....
The Trap of "I" I sat down this morning and mapped where my mind actually goes. Shopping, giving, association, hard work, a fight worth having — different doors, same room. Each one, underneath, is there to make me feel good, important, valued, confident. Draw a...
The Mind You are Trying to Influence Was Never Listening to Your Logic You've built the business case. Fifteen slides. Cost-benefit clearly laid out. Risk register attached as an appendix. You walk into the steering committee, present it cleanly, and watch three...
Four Questions Every Project Sponsor Is Asking Wrong Most project sponsors think they're doing their job well. They track the budget. They chase the timeline. They ask hard questions at steering committee. They read every status report before it's presented. None of...
Every transformation deck has the same four words on a slide somewhere: Vision, Architecture, Structure, Governance. Draw the boxes, connect the arrows, and it looks complete. It isn't. Vision is where you want to go — what you want to become, or the difference...
The Vessel Our body is a vessel. So is the organisation you lead. Your environment doesn't just surround the vessel — it conditions it. Every report you sign off without questioning it, every steering committee you sit through half-present, every hard conversation you...
The Story Sounds Right. That's the Problem. Narratives are great. We feel connected to them, we relate, we draw a conclusion, and we move on. That's the whole appeal — a good story lets you stop thinking. It's also why sponsors get blindsided. You are not paid to feel...