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Work in Practice

Work in Practice - practical, tactical, super usable.

The art of bricolage — how managers create value from constraints

Climate & Creativity

The art of bricolage — how managers create value from constraints

Management is not execution against a perfect plan. It is the quiet craft of assembling people, tools, and constraints into something that works. This essay explores bricolage — the creative act of building with what you have — and why it sits at the heart of resilient leadership.

Clarity in speech — how you speak shapes whether people learn

Clarity in speech — how you speak shapes whether people learn

The way you speak shapes whether people understand, engage, and remember what you teach. In workshops, business sessions, and conferences, clarity is everything.

Teaching at work is a core leadership skill

Learning & Practice

Teaching at work is a core leadership skill

Teaching is not a training function — it is daily leadership practice. A reflective essay on learning, leadership, and organisational capability.

The Best Plan Is Not the Best

The Best Plan Is Not the Best

Planning sharpens thinking, but plans often become bureaucratic artefacts. A reflection on why “very good” plans outperform perfect ones in real organisations.

Avoid Dullness — Attention as the Hidden Currency of Learning

Climate & Creativity

Avoid Dullness — Attention as the Hidden Currency of Learning

A reflection on teaching, attention, and why dullness is a systemic risk in learning environments. Energy, not information, determines whether ideas land.

Aim, Method, Proceed

Work in Practice

Aim, Method, Proceed

A reflective framework for leaders: clarify the aim, choose a method, and proceed. Why most organisations stall, and how a simple triad can restore momentum.

What we choose to count

What we choose to count

On interviewing people about success, the man who wouldn't answer with a number, and why measurement is a statement of what you value.

The Gap a Mistake Opens

Learning & Practice

The Gap a Mistake Opens

Fail faster is catchy, and half an idea. Every mistake opens a gap between what you expected and what happened — and the honest information is sitting inside it, if anyone looks.

There's a camel in the room

Orientation & Direction

There's a camel in the room

Management by committee rarely looks like a committee. It looks like a kind manager who wants everyone heard. On keeping the kindness, adding a decision, and a car that seats four in ten feet.

The Basics of a Good Induction Process

The Basics of a Good Induction Process

A good induction reassures new hires and helps them contribute quickly. Here’s a practical approach to onboarding that builds clarity, confidence, and momentum.

Rules for a modern manager

Climate & Creativity

Rules for a modern manager

Most leadership advice reads like it was written at an airport gate. The real work is smaller and more interesting: the good coffee, the quiet corner, the books on the shelf, whether anyone learns your name. Rules for the modern manager — none of which will trouble a competency framework.

Communication is a superpower, not a soft skill

Communication is a superpower, not a soft skill

Efficient and effective are not the same thing. On why communication isn't a soft skill at all, but the most portable capability you can build.