There was a time when backing a brand felt like backing a belief.
Not just buying the product, but buying into the story.
The rebellion. The identity. The idea that you were part of something different.
And for a while, it works.
Until the story and the system begin to drift apart.
I’ve just published a new piece exploring what happens when a brand built on rebellion scales into something else entirely.
In short, I’ve written about BrewDog.
In 1944, as the Second World War ground across continents, a slim document circulated quietly among selected operatives. It did not describe explosives or covert assassinations. Instead, it offered something subtler. It explained how ordinary people could undermine an organisation […]
There is an image that often comes to mind when we talk about effective teams. A group of people in a boat, oars dipping into the water in steady rhythm, each movement coordinated with the next. The timing is good. […]
Picture a tightrope walker. Arms steady, eyes fixed ahead, each step calculated. To lean too far in either direction means losing balance and falling. For leaders and organisations striving for high performance, the tightrope isn’t made of rope, but of […]
In a vast, sunlit library, every book has been rearranged according to the decade it was published. The shelves no longer speak of poetry, philosophy, business, or fiction; they shout only “1970s,” “1980s,” “1990s.” A dense work of existential philosophy […]
I hate HR. And, whilst we’re at it, I also hate teaching, policing, and the National Health Service. Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that I hate HR people. Nor am I suggesting teachers, police officers, or employees within the NHS […]
Imagine two orchestras. In the first, every musician shows up on time, their instruments tuned, each note played correctly. The conductor sticks to the score. It’s technically perfect. In the second, the same score is played. But this time, the […]
When delivering service with a smile, what issues are we unintentionally creating?
Why does leaving a role sometimes feel like a bad break-up?
A stable owner had two horses. One was strong and swift; the other slower but determined. Wanting to improve their speed, he introduced a reward system: for every race won, the victor would receive a sugar cube. At first, the […]
