Bad news rarely breaks trust; bad delivery does. Too often managers turn necessary cuts into needless cruelty. Yet, predictability, clear reasons, real control, and concrete compassion can preserve dignity and actually build trust even when decisions hurt.
Bad news rarely breaks trust; bad delivery does. Too often managers turn necessary cuts into needless cruelty. Yet, predictability, clear reasons, real control, and concrete compassion can preserve dignity and actually build trust even when decisions hurt.
A 2025 review of authority, trust, coherence and attention—plus a strategic outlook for 2026 on AI governance, provenance, regulation and decision quality. What to prioritise, what to ignore, and why clarity beats theatre.
A practical playbook for human-centred AI: redesigning workflows, building capability, governing judgment, and sustaining talent pipelines so AI amplifies human agency rather than hollowing out the organisation.
A practical guide for managers who need candid teams and consistent delivery. Six disciplined moves that sharpen judgment, normalise challenge, and build the structures that keep work honest, focused, and on track.
Psychological safety is often miscast as comfort. It's time to restore a harder edge: as a discipline that lets teams surface error early, challenge authority safely, and keep standards sharp—especially in hybrid work, where voice is fragile and candour is the real performance engine.
In an age when machines can mimic thought, the real question is who stands behind the words. A reflection on authorship, judgement, and the human presence that gives writing its authority.
AI models mirror WEIRD cultural norms while claiming universality. Alignment methods reinforce this bias, projecting one community’s “common sense” as global truth. Recognising plurality through Wittgenstein’s language-games and Popper’s falsification reframes alignment as provisional and adaptive,
Articles examining the distinction between leading and managing, the limits of managerialism, and the conditions under which authority, judgement, and responsibility can be exercised well.
All in Leadership & Management
Bad news rarely breaks trust; bad delivery does. Too often managers turn necessary cuts into needless cruelty. Yet, predictability, clear reasons, real control, and concrete compassion can preserve dignity and actually build trust even when decisions hurt.
Writing on boards, accountability, decision-making, and institutional design, with a focus on how governance either sustains or corrodes organisational legitimacy over time.
All in Governance
Many charities hire from big-name firms expecting transformation, only to find prestige doesn’t equal performance. The real divide isn’t charity versus business—it’s creators versus passengers. Creators build momentum from scarcity; passengers coast on brand halo. Recruitment must look for scars, no
Analysis of strategy, competition, and organisational coherence, drawing on classical strategy, contemporary practice, and scepticism toward fashionable frameworks.
All in Business & Strategy
A 2025 review of authority, trust, coherence and attention—plus a strategic outlook for 2026 on AI governance, provenance, regulation and decision quality. What to prioritise, what to ignore, and why clarity beats theatre.
Reflections on power, institutions, and public life, exploring how political ideas shape—and are shaped by—social norms, incentives, and cultural assumptions.
All in Society & Politics
Margaret Mead argued for keeping Santa as myth, not deception—preserving wonder while nurturing critical thinking. Treating Santa as symbolic and drawing on diverse traditions fosters imagination, honesty, and cultural insight.
Essays on the intellectual currents that influence how we think and work: philosophy, culture, language, and the often-unexamined ideas that structure everyday decisions.
All in Ideas & Culture
A 2025 review of authority, trust, coherence and attention—plus a strategic outlook for 2026 on AI governance, provenance, regulation and decision quality. What to prioritise, what to ignore, and why clarity beats theatre.
Writing on technological change, scientific authority, and their organisational and social consequences—separating genuine progress from inflated promise.
All in Science & Technology
Most companies use AI, but few achieve real impact. In part I of this series I explore why people—not tools—determine AI maturity, and why the next serious organisations will dominate the space between pilots and profit.
Observations on writing, publishing, and the media ecosystem, including the economics of attention, the craft of authorship, and the changing conditions of public discourse.
All in Publishing & Media
The em-dash has fallen under suspicion—treated as a tell-tale sign of artificial writing rather than what it has always been: a mark of care, rhythm, and thought in motion. It should return to good standing so we can recover linguistic standards we seem oddly eager to abandon.
