I have been thinking about this for a while and I think the motivation behind it comes from a peculiar but persistent observation. Whenever the conversation about complexity is raised with business clients, partners or colleagues, I notice that almost immediately the discourse begins to contain it. Complexity […]
“The problem for nature is the foundation of societies which are structured with high complexity and at the same time unspecialised.” — Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality There are moments when language must change before anything else can. The way we speak about the Great Barrier Reef, […]
We live in an age of complexity where data alone can’t guide us. Meaning-making and the courage to trust intuition becomes essential. Courage is not only summoned; it can be created by daring to see differently. Without it, we remain bewildered. With it, even the most tangled situations can yield clarity and purpose.
We tend to think a thank you is always harmless. In teams, it might be the quietest killer of collaboration.
Why? Because in flat, peer-led projects, the person who says “Thanks everyone, great job” often does more than express gratitude — they assume the role of evaluator. Recognition flows down, not across. Without meaning to, they create hierarchy where none was intended.
Collaboration depends on fairness, psychological safety, and shared ownership. A misplaced thank you can erode all three.
Gratitude isn’t the problem, but the way we structure it is. In my latest Roadmender blog, I explore how recognition can either strengthen or sabotage collaboration, and what simple governance tools can fix it.
An anthropologist learns early to resist the lure of the “now” as the only reality worth studying. Cultures carry their past within them. Patterns of thought, the metaphors that shape our stories, the values that determine what we ignore and what we celebrate. These change far more slowly than market conditions. The same is true in organisations. Beneath the fresh branding and the new strategic frameworks, much of the underlying thinking is amazingly persistent. What changes most is the language in which it is dressed.
This blog introduces the Open Shift Protocol—a simple yet profound method for enhancing collaborative thinking and decision-making. By encouraging individuals and teams to iteratively adopt and emotionally inhabit opposing perspectives, the method loosens rigid thought patterns and fosters deeper, more creative insight. Drawing on principles from emotional intelligence, dialectical reasoning, and creativity research, it offers a unique and structured approach to co-creation that transcends conventional brainstorming or debate, making space for innovation to emerge from complexity and discomfort.
Every enterprise faces risks. Managing them is like doing homework we often try to skip in favour of more exciting pursuits. Managers know they must deal with risk. But many prefer to focus on innovation, growth, or strategy. And yet, nothing truly exciting in business can happen without […]
The long-standing assumption that complexity arises from simplicity is intuitive, but possibly incorrect. Our tendency to see simple components giving rise to complex systems is shaped not by reality itself, but by the limits of our observation. A seed becomes a tree. Molecules form proteins. Words form languages. All of these give the appearance of complexity emerging from simplicity. But this is not necessarily how complexity works.
Strategy doesn’t begin with answers. It begins with orientation and orientation begins with perception. The Groundwork Model invites us to slow down and prepare the ground before acting, so that strategy becomes an emergent response to complexity not a reflex to anxiety. It’s about creating the conditions for clarity, not forcing clarity too soon.
This piece proposes that complexity thinking is not just a methodology. It’s a moral and epistemic stance. It begins with the unsettling truth that we are not neutral observers of a system, but implicated participants. It asks us to let go of managerial comfort, inherited roles, and stakeholder entitlements and to dwell in ambiguity as a source of real possibility.
Organisations, like molecules, can become locked into a particular configuration. Old routines. Entrenched identities. Layers of habit that make change feel uphill. Conventional thinking tells us to overcome these barriers, kick off another reform, realign the structure, or roll out a new “change management” strategy.
But what if the most interesting changes don’t start that way?
By Jelenko Dragisic and Dr Keith Noble At a recent gathering of urban and regional planning professionals, we introduced the concept of the Reef Economic Zone. As part of our session, we ran a short, informal survey designed to offer a glimpse into how this professional cohort views […]
People aren’t apps, and motivation isn’t something you can install. Unlike money or tech, human beings can’t be managed—they choose, adapt, protect, or engage depending on the culture around them. Enterprise roadmending is about spotting the quiet cracks before they break the whole system. It’s not about control, but conditions. You don’t engineer trust or performance—you make them possible. In the digital age, real leadership means tending the soil, not writing the code.
There is a great deal of talk these days about systems thinking. Whole libraries are dedicated to it, workshops branded in its name, consultants selling it as the next evolution in leadership or strategy. It is, at first glance, an attractive proposition. After all, who wouldn’t want to […]
Climate models offer valuable scenarios, but they are still bounded by known variables and assumptions. When these scenarios are treated as definitive futures rather than possibilities, adaptation strategies risk becoming rigid and obsolete as new emergent conditions unfold. This fosters a tendency toward reactive planning, where strategies prepare for specific anticipated futures rather than a range of possible, unknowable futures.
As a leader, have you hit your targets and achieved success but still feel something’s missing? I’ve been there, and you’re not alone. In this article, I unpack the paradox of success versus meaning and explore how collaboration can help uncover a deeper sense of purpose in your […]
The choice of dialogue is also a matter of strategy. In business that choice can add competitive advantage to enterprises willing to collaborate.
By creating space for reflective thinking, teams can sidestep the simplicity trap and engage with the strategic planning process at a level that leads to truly impactful outcomes.
When discussing collaboration, it’s crucial to differentiate it from cooperation. While often used interchangeably, their distinctions are significant. Cooperation involves individual responsibilities, while collaboration entails a broader, interconnected approach. The mindset also differs, with cooperation focusing on individual tasks and collaboration emphasizing collective contribution and innovation, essential for workplace success and effective leadership.
The living stakeholder approach emphasizes ongoing interaction and adaptation over predictability and familiarity. It challenges the conventional static view of stakeholders, recognizing their dynamic and complex nature. This continuous engagement fosters deeper involvement, creativity, and problem-solving, leading to a culture of innovation and a stream of fresh insights and solutions.
“We know that workplace productivity is linked not only to person’s skills but also to their sense of identity and esteem.” – Jelenko Dragisic, Author of ‘The Collaboration Instinct‘ Small selection of collaboration insights to help managers improve their team performance with simple culture shift towards real collaboration.
Urban agriculture as one of the oldest activities in human history, has experienced a renaissance in the past two decades. Predictions made only a decade ago that UA will become a global reality as much as global necessity have proved to be accurate. Those predictions are reflected in […]
.ROADMENDER 