Boring AI: why safety and predictability matter more than cleverness

There is more value in small, safe, well-governed AI interventions than in flashy experiments that frequently fail. This article argues for a “boring AI” approach.

Five questions to ask before automating anything

Before committing to automation, leaders should ask a small set of questions about failure modes, escalation, and impact. This piece provides a concise checklist.

Shadow AI: what’s already happening in your organisation

Shadow AI: what's already happening in your organisation

Even without formal initiatives, staff are already using AI tools in quiet, local ways. This article explains how to discover that usage without causing panic, and how to decide what to formalise or stop.

Building a season you can survive, not just a season you can dream about

Ambitious plans that ignore staff capacity, financial strain, and structural weaknesses are easy to announce and hard to live through. This essay offers a framework for designing seasons that are survivable first and ambitious second.

Supporters trusts as an early-warning system

Supporters trusts can highlight risk earlier than formal reporting channels, if they are treated as part of the system rather than as an afterthought. This article explores how to use trusts as a structural early-warning mechanism.

Why clubs repeat the same mistakes every three seasons

Many clubs experience a repeating cycle of hope, overreach, crisis, and reset. This piece explains the structural patterns behind that cycle and what changes are needed to break it.

Calm systems in high-pressure environments

High-pressure environments do not benefit from more urgency and more dashboards. They benefit from fewer surprises, tighter feedback loops, and decisions that are easier to make correctly. This article looks at practical ways to build calmer systems.

Mind • Method • Machine: a small operating model for messy organisations

This piece introduces the Mind • Method • Machine lens and shows how it can be applied to organisations that feel chaotic, reactive, or overly dependent on a few people. The model is deliberately small so it can be remembered and used during real decisions.

Why most strategy problems are actually system problems

Leaders often treat underperformance as a strategy issue, when in reality the underlying structure of decisions, information, and responsibility is misaligned. This article outlines how to recognise system problems and why rewriting the vision rarely helps on its own.