I live in Western Australia where shark attacks are a thing. They’re rare, but the human behaviour around them is fascinating – and it’s taught me about how poorly we often deal with remote – but scary – risks. On a typical summer morning, there…
“Everybody is so change resistant” is code for “I’m not very good at leading change”. I’ve heard this a lot. I’ve said it before. But describing others as change resistant is what we say when we’ve failed to drive through a change that sticks. It’s…
Just because things worked out well, it doesn’t mean you made the right decision. A big trap in management is to judge decisions on single outcomes. We think people get the decision right when things work out well. And we think people get the decision…
We blame men for being men, workers for being workers and managers for being managers. But maybe there’s another explanation… When management doesn’t like what workers do, we often roll our eyes and think “typical workers”. And when workers don’t like what management does, they…
Here’s a thought: workplaces should be psychologically safe – but intellectually dangerous 🤔. People must feel psychologically (and physically) safe in any workplace. But at the same time, workplaces should have a strong intellectual immune response against bad ideas. This distinction sounds easy in theory,…
Want to know how your strategic planning compares to everyone else’s? I’ve been looking at the data from our Impact Society Strategic Plan Audit tool. This free 5 minute tool lets any manager check the health of their team or organisation’s strategic planning – both…
Hoping your team hasn’t noticed the elephant in the room? Too late, they have. This is a common issue in workplaces, where managers avoid addressing a situation directly and in doing so leave an abundance of space for people to make up their own stories.…
89% of leaders say they have values – but only 40% make them real. So it’s no surprise that most cultural change fails. I’ve been looking at the data from our Impact Society Strategic Plan Audit tool, which helps any leader check the health of…
Old Management loves using ‘confidentiality’ to avoid explaining decisions. And it usually works. When senior people say something is ‘confidential’ – it gives a thin aura of legitimacy and most people instinctively back off without questioning it. But, too often the problem is that leaders…
“I don’t want to set a precedent” might be the laziest sentence in leadership. Here’s why. Too many leaders obsess about setting a precedent when making a tough decision. Because it’s too often used as a kind of get out of jail free card to…
When someone messes up at work, is your first thought “what an a***hole”? Next time, try these two things before making any snap judgements. First, reflect on the question “why would a reasonable, rational and decent person do this?”. We usually assume that others behave…
AI is breaking my heart. Because while people are speaking more, they’re saying less. I love seeing people putting themselves out there, whether on LinkedIn or out there in the real world. But we’re losing something important in the process. More and more writing is…
Can crucial conversations co-exist with neuroinclusive workplaces? My psychologist asked me this last week. And it stumped me. Because it instantly revealed how little thought I’d given this obvious and fair question. I need to give it more thought. And I must educate myself better…
There’s no such thing as a lazy employee. Do you agree? Here’s what I think… Have you ever managed someone who you just thought to yourself, They’re just plain lazy. Maybe you even described them like that to others. As people, we seem to have…
Does your safety system reduce risk? Or just soothe executive anxiety? I’m no expert on safety systems, but I get the feeling sometimes that they’re too often filled with controls that do more to make executives feel better about themselves than they are effective in…
Here’s another leadership lesson from driving in Italy. In Italy, everyone speeds. Whatever the speed limit is, they go faster. Well, most of the time. Sometimes they don’t. Which is deeply confusing as a visitor. In Australia, if you speed, you’ll almost certainly get caught…
Last week, I had the good fortune of driving around northern Italy. And the misfortune of stalling the car in front of a queue of irate Italian drivers 😆. I was driving out of Como when I stalled the car at the lights. Multiple cars…
Leadership isn’t about choosing between people and performance. It’s about aligning them Sustainably high performance is only possible where the needs of both the organisation and its workers are consistently met over the long term. It’s not a zero sum game – the better an…
I remember sitting at my desk at 6 am, having worked all night. I was exhausted but proud, thinking: this is what success looks like 🤦♂️. Because, when I first started working after university, I worked very long hours. Always on weekdays, but usually on the weekends…
Dethatching is a gardening concept that every organisation should steal. Thatch is the layer of dead matter that builds up between the grass and the soil. It blocks water, air and nutrients from reaching the roots. So every now and then, you rake it out…