Tag: business

THE COLLABORATION KILLER HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

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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.

HISTORY MATTERS: A COMPLEXITY VIEW OF STRATEGY

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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.

APPLYING THE OPEN SHIFT PROTOCOL TO BUSINESS COLLABORATION

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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.

people are not apps

PEOPLE ARE NOT APPS: THE HUMAN TRUTH BEHIND ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE

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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.