Articles
Thoughts on leadership, competence, organisational culture and the future of work
Workplace Performance
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How to Design a Competence Assessment Programme That Actually Works
Most organisations invest in training, yet struggle to prove whether any of it actually sticks. Employees complete courses, tick boxes, and move on, but the real question remains unanswered: can they actually…
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Organisational Culture Is a Leadership Problem, Not an HR One
When a company’s culture turns toxic, who gets the call? Almost always, it’s HR. Organisations hand them the problem, give them a budget for workshops and engagement surveys. And expect them to…
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Why Competence Keeps Failing Despite Record Investment
Something has broken at the heart of modern organisations, and the data leaves leaders unable to ignore it. Companies are spending more than ever on training programs, leadership development, and talent acquisition,…
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What Competence Actually Means Now and Why Most Frameworks Are Already Out of Date
The rules governing professional excellence have quietly shifted beneath our feet, and most organisations haven’t noticed yet. Competence, once a relatively stable benchmark defined by credentials, technical knowledge, and measurable outputs. Has…
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What Actually Builds Organisational Culture (And Why Most Leaders Are Looking in the Wrong Place)
Most leaders believe they are actively shaping their organisational culture through vision statements, away days, and carefully worded values pinned to the office wall. The uncomfortable truth is that these efforts, while…
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When Ideology Replaces Competence: Why Organisations Fail when Belief Matters More Than Performance
The Slow Drift from Excellence to Ideology Every successful organisation begins with a simple purpose. It exists to achieve an outcome. Businesses generate value for customers. Hospitals restore health. Schools educate. Armed…
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The Competence Crisis
The competence crisis is a Story Everyone Recognises but No One Says Out Loud It starts the same way it always does. A meeting invite lands in your calendar. No real agenda.…
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Bullshit Collapse
Why Failure Always Looks Sudden Every organisational collapse is described the same way. “No one saw it coming.”“It happened so fast.”“Everything was fine until it wasn’t.” That story is comforting. It suggests…
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Bullshit Endurance
How Organisations Learn to Live With Dysfunction Organisations rarely fail when the first things go wrong. They fail much later, after they’ve learned how to live with things being wrong. That is…
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The Bullshit Premium
Why Talking Well Now Pays Better Than Doing Well There was a time when competence was the currency. You learned how things worked.Understood failure modes.Earned trust because, when things went wrong, you…
