Sign in Subscribe

Work in Practice

Work in Practice - practical, tactical, super usable.

The Danish Beer Debrief

Learning & Practice

The Danish Beer Debrief

A flopped afternoon workshop in Copenhagen turned into the best lesson in teaching I've had in years — given to me, generously, by the person at the front. On what actually holds a room, and the craft of helping people learn.

The Skills You Learn on a Market Stall

Learning & Practice

The Skills You Learn on a Market Stall

What trade skills, commercial awareness and practical judgement can teach us about turning ideas into value.

What We're Really Managing

What We're Really Managing

Most organisations think they're managing projects, products or people. But what if the thing being managed is the idea — and everything else is infrastructure?

The Circles of Contribution

The Circles of Contribution

A model of how contribution actually travels across a working life. Four concentric modes — Practitioner, Multiplier, Reader, Author — communication as the carrier, and the practice underneath that keeps good ideas moving through work rather than dying on a Thursday afternoon.

Speaking as Sense-Making: Why Public Speaking Shapes Leadership

Speaking as Sense-Making: Why Public Speaking Shapes Leadership

Being good at the work isn't the same as being good at explaining it. Public speaking is how ideas move through an organisation — and how to make yours travel.

Animal Communication Styles: Lion, T-Rex, Mouse and Monkey Explained

Animal Communication Styles: Lion, T-Rex, Mouse and Monkey Explained

A practical breakdown of the Lion, T-Rex, Mouse and Monkey communication styles—and how to adapt your behaviour for clearer, more effective communication at work.

Six meetings to buy broadband

Six meetings to buy broadband

Ten executives spent six meetings deciding a thousand-pound broadband upgrade. On why debate without evidence is cost — and the smallest test is the fastest path forward.

Meet Dave - a response to the stick

Meet Dave - a response to the stick

A leader once ended a call saying she wanted "a stick to hit them with." On ranking teams, gaming the numbers, and why a team's metrics are a mirror — not a lever.

Turning around a struggling team — a six-stage approach

Orientation & Direction

Turning around a struggling team — a six-stage approach

Most struggling teams are not suffering from a lack of activity. They are suffering from a lack of understanding. Before you change anything, you need to see it clearly. This is the approach I have used — and coached others in — for turning around struggling teams.

The Subtotal Button — What a Supermarket Checkout Taught Me About Metrics

The Subtotal Button — What a Supermarket Checkout Taught Me About Metrics

In the summer of 1996, I discovered a button that paused the performance clock. Within weeks I was the fastest checkout operator in the West of Sheffield, then the company. Productivity, according to the numbers, had exploded. Cash in the bank had not.

The new player at the table

Climate & Creativity

The new player at the table

Every new player slows the poker game while everyone re-explains the rules. Plenty of workplaces run the same way — on why stable teams compound, and why you flow work to teams, not teams to work.

Third of Three

Climate & Creativity

Third of Three

Aged thirteen, I had NBA dreams and a basketball team that finished third of three. On the question everyone skips when chasing something ambitious — is this the team to get it done?