I treat new ideas as hypotheses to be tested. Archives

Mini Activity / Insight

Test your innovation skills

Get a random reflection prompt, a quick action to try today, or a "this or that" dilemma to see how you compare to others. Each one takes 30 seconds and is based on the i2 skills framework.

Click the button to get started

Future of Work

Outputs vs. Outcomes

When AI can produce anything, the only thing that matters is what you do with it. The Direction of Travel AI doesn’t hallucinate the way it did two years ago. It won’t hallucinate the way…

11 Jun 2026 1 min read

Future of Work

AI Brain Fry and Shadow AI: Why Human-AI Collaboration Is the Skill Set Nobody Is Training For

AI brain fry and shadow AI are two sides of the same problem: organisations have rolled out AI faster than they have built the human capability to use it well. The real work is not about better tools or tighter policies. It is about developing the meta skills that enable healthy, productive collaboration with AI.

13 Apr 2026 7 min read

When listening to someone, do you focus on…

A colleague is telling you about a problem they’re facing. What do you focus on?

Facts tell you what happened. Emotions tell you why it matters. Human-centred design requires both — understanding someone's experience means hearing the content and sensing the feeling underneath it.

5 people have answered

Skills & Frameworks

Reflection Skills: The Quiet Capability That Makes Everything Else Work Better

Reflection is the skill most people overlook and the one that makes every other capability work better. It is the ability to step back, notice your own patterns, and learn from experience in a way that actually changes what you do next. Research shows it is the strongest predictor of growth across all innovation skills.

9 Apr 2026 7 min read

Research & Evidence

What a Decade of Research Tells Us About How People Actually Learn to Innovate

A decade of academic research led by Dr Jeanne Liedtka reveals five specific skill clusters that drive innovation, and shows they are learnable, measurable, and developable in virtually anyone. The findings challenge common assumptions about talent, training, and what it really takes to build innovation capability.

9 Apr 2026 7 min read

Try this today

Say “Yes, And…”

When a colleague shares an idea, resist the urge to improve it from scratch. Instead, say “Yes, and…” and add one building block to what they’ve already started.

Relationship Skills

Learning & Development

Why Most Training Does Not Change Behaviour (And What to Do Instead)

Most training programmes deliver knowledge but do not change behaviour. The programmes that actually work treat capability building as an ongoing journey, not a one off event, using assessment, micro learning, and real world practice to make development stick.

9 Apr 2026 8 min read

Leadership & Teams

Why Your Team Agrees Too Quickly (And What It Is Costing You)

Quick agreement in meetings often looks like alignment, but it can mask a deeper problem: teams have stopped genuinely challenging each other. The cost shows up later in missed opportunities, weak decisions, and stalled innovation.

9 Apr 2026 6 min read

Try this today

Sit With the Mess

When you feel the urge to tidy up ambiguous data or force a conclusion, stop. Write down what you don’t know yet. Carry that list for 24 hours before trying to resolve it.

Reflection Skills

Higher Education

Why Teaching Content Is No Longer Enough: Building Adaptive Capability in Higher Education

Students need more than academic knowledge to thrive in a changing world. Universities that weave adaptive skills into existing curricula, rather than bolting them on, are producing graduates who can think, collaborate, and lead in any field.

9 Apr 2026 6 min read

Future of Work

The Skills That AI Cannot Replace (And Why Most Organisations Are Underinvesting in Them)

AI is transforming the workplace, but the skills that matter most are deeply human. Most organisations are underinvesting in the capabilities that will define the next decade: adaptability, creative problem solving, and the ability to navigate uncertainty with confidence.

9 Apr 2026 5 min read

One skill, one question

When Did You Last Change Your Mind?

“When was the last time you changed your mind about something at work — and what made the difference?”

— Reflection Skills

Reflection Skills

x

Outputs vs. Outcomes

1 Jan 2020 1 min read

i2 Insights

Test your innovation skills

Outputs vs. Outcomes

AI Brain Fry and Shadow AI: Why Human-AI Collaboration Is the Skill Set Nobody Is Training For

When listening to someone, do you focus on…

Reflection Skills: The Quiet Capability That Makes Everything Else Work Better

What a Decade of Research Tells Us About How People Actually Learn to Innovate

Say “Yes, And…”

Why Most Training Does Not Change Behaviour (And What to Do Instead)

Why Your Team Agrees Too Quickly (And What It Is Costing You)

Sit With the Mess

Why Teaching Content Is No Longer Enough: Building Adaptive Capability in Higher Education

The Skills That AI Cannot Replace (And Why Most Organisations Are Underinvesting in Them)

When Did You Last Change Your Mind?

x