THE LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY

Some problems are easier to solve once you can see what you’re looking at.

Organisations are complicated. One problem can look like ten. Symptoms get mistaken for causes. Sensible decisions accumulate in ways nobody intended.

But the same things happen surprisingly often. I’ve collected them here as Patterns, Rational-Lies and Laws. Not to give everything a label, but because having language for something can make it much easier to see.

You don’t need to know where to start. Start with something you recognise.

Start with what you’re seeing.

SOUNDS FAMILIAR? START HERE.

We keep starting things, but nothing seems to get finished: the Starting Illusion →

Everything depends on the same few people: the Dependency Spiral →

Everyone is incredibly busy, but progress is painfully slow: the Velocity Trap →

We keep fixing problems, but they keep coming back: the Superficial Diagnosis Loop →

The people at the top and the people doing the work seem to be seeing different things: the Context Gap → the Filtered Signal →

We agree on the strategy, but everyday decisions keep pulling us in different directions: the Vision Vacuum → the Alignment Mirage →

SEARCH THE LIBRARY

Search the library, or describe what’s happening in your organisation.

You don’t need to know what I call it. Search for what you’re experiencing.

EXPLORE THE LIBRARY

Follow your curiosity

There is no right order.

Start with something that sounds familiar, something you disagree with, or simply something that makes you wonder what it means.

There are three types of library entries: patterns, rational-lies and universal laws.

PATTERNS

Spot something you’ve seen before, and how it applies to you.

Things that happen often enough to recognise, once you know what you’re looking for.

RATIONAL-LIES

Question the explanation that makes perfect sense.

Things we tell ourselves for good reason, but which stop us looking a little further.

UNIVERSAL LAWS

See why some problems keep happening.

Simple ideas that explain why certain choices produce surprisingly predictable consequences.

Browse the library