Insights
Insights on leadership and human performance
What we are seeing in the work: behaviour change, human factors, and the gap between the classroom and Monday morning.
TEAM-RESET: Building and Aligning Executive Teams
28 September 2026 · Gerry de Vries
Part 5: Safe, Happy, Fast: a code of conduct that moves both dials
Safe, Happy, Fast raises psychological safety and accountability at the same time rather than trading one off against the other.
TEAM-RESET: Building and Aligning Executive Teams
28 September 2026 · Gerry de Vries
Part 4: Making honesty fast, and keeping it fast
Team Maintenance, feedback skills, structured reviews and a shared idea of commitment keep the agreements alive.
TEAM-RESET: Building and Aligning Executive Teams
28 September 2026 · Gerry de Vries
Part 3: Agreeing how we show up for each other
Eight to ten rules, each one an observable behaviour rather than a value.
TEAM-RESET: Building and Aligning Executive Teams
28 September 2026 · Gerry de Vries
Part 2: The fix, in summary, and how long it takes
About six months for most teams, introducing one or two components at a time.
TEAM-RESET: Building and Aligning Executive Teams
25 September 2026 · Gerry de Vries
Part 1: Did you fix the roof while the sun was shining?
They fail because they assumed something about themselves that turned out not to be true.
15 September 2026 · Rob Lewis
Making learning stick after the room
Most learning works beautifully in the room and then quietly disappears.
9 September 2026 · Rob Lewis
The execution gap: where learning goes to die
Sustainment and execution are the sharp end of any learning and development system — the point where commitments turn into actions.
9 September 2026 · Rob Lewis
If learning isn’t a system, it doesn’t exist
When learning isn’t a system it is just a series of disconnected events, and disconnected events don’t change organisations.
26 August 2026 · Rob Lewis
What turns line managers from accidental failure points into learning multipliers?
The line manager is the single relationship that decides whether new learning survives the journey back to the Monday-morning inbox.
10 August 2026 · Rob Lewis
How do you set learning goals that actually change behaviour?
Vague objectives feel like progress but drive nothing — a costly “false commitment.” Effective goals pair an output target (the destination) with behavioural goals (the daily actions that get you there).
1 August 2026 · Rob Lewis
Why does training design matter more than the content itself?
Understanding an organisation’s real constraints and environment predicts training success more than polished delivery.
6 July 2026 · Rob Lewis
How do you measure whether capability development is actually working?
Traditional capability surveys are slow and descriptive rather than diagnostic.
12 June 2026 · Rob Lewis
Why does training sequencing matter more than the content you teach?
Programmes fail from poor sequencing, not weak material — timing and preparation beat “what” you teach.
22 April 2026 · Rob Lewis
Does training success depend more on design or delivery?
Rigorous programme design — not delivery brilliance — is the primary driver of results; great facilitation can’t rescue a poor design.
14 April 2026 · Rob Lewis
Why doesn’t classroom learning translate into real-world behaviour?
True learning shows up only as changed behaviour — knowledge alone isn’t enough.
8 April 2026 · Rob Lewis
Why do most L&D programmes fail without anyone noticing?
Programmes fail silently from missing conditions — weak sponsorship, thin manager support, poor strategy alignment — not poor content.
27 March 2026 · Rob Lewis
What is the real unit of organisational transformation?
Behaviour change is the unit of transformation — and it must be deliberately designed, measured and reinforced.
19 February 2026 · Rob Lewis
What can elite athletes teach us about sustaining performance at work?
Elite performance depends on a support system, not individual heroics or one-off learning events.
26 August 2026 · Christiaan McLeod
The most dangerous assumption in high-reliability operations? That good people won’t make mistakes.
Your people are not the weakest link in the system — unless the system has been designed to make them one.
19 May 2026 · Rob Lewis
Is experiential learning still worth it in the age of AI?
Humans learn most powerfully through meaningful experience, not digital delivery alone.
15 May 2026 · Matt Burgess
What can sales professionals learn from actors?
Salespeople can borrow the actor’s discipline of being “in the moment” to make client conversations authentic and engaging.
11 August 2026 · Rob Lewis
Why do talented teams with a clear strategy still underperform?
Most teams understand their mission — the failure is in the connections between people: weak information flow, uneven listening, and conflict avoidance.
21 October 2025 · Christiaan McLeod
Can AI improve workplace safety without replacing human judgment?
Modern safety pairs AI-driven risk analytics with human judgment and leadership — not one instead of the other.
16 May 2024
What is the cockpit gradient, and how does it affect drilling safety?
Cockpit gradient (authority gradient) is the authority gap between captain and first officer.
24 April 2024
How do you build psychological safety on a drilling crew?
Many Lost Time Incidents could be prevented if workers felt safe raising concerns without fear of blame.
23 May 2024
What can a sailing crew teach a business team?
Crewed sailing mirrors business — strategy, adaptation, collaboration and decisions under uncertainty.
10 April 2024 · Christiaan McLeod
Why aren’t safety management systems enough to prevent incidents?
Incidents are rising despite Safety Management Systems — the IADC reported an 18% rise in lost-time incidents.
23 July 2026
Which leadership skills still matter in the age of AI?
As AI automates routine cognitive work, “high potential” is being redefined around distinctly human capabilities — judgment, adaptability, ethical decision-making.
20 February 2024
How do you train technical teams to sell complex solutions?
Technical sales means convincing stakeholders who don’t yet recognise their need — that takes skilled communicators, not just good products.
21 October 2025
What does it take to re-certify as a B Corp — and why does it matter?
Mission Performance re-certified in 2025 under tougher standards, proving accountability has to evolve beyond a first certification.
20 February 2024
Is there a more credible alternative to carbon offsetting?
Traditional offset schemes often lack authenticity and transparency.
23 September 2025
What does Piper Alpha teach us about offshore safety?
Technology and regulation alone can’t prevent offshore disasters — communication, leadership and stress management remain decisive.
10 October 2025 · Justin Featherstone
What can indigenous leaders teach us about leading people?
The Cabécar leaders of Costa Rica practise stewardship — gentle guidance and enabling others’ growth rather than wielding authority.
1 October 2024
Should you train leaders on their own, or alongside their teams?
Train a leader in isolation and they return like “a prophet in their own land” — no buy-in, no shared context.
12 September 2025 · Matt Burgess
How can actor training make leaders better communicators?
Actor techniques build behavioural flexibility without compromising a leader’s authenticity.
9 April 2025
How can working with horses develop leadership self-awareness?
Horses give honest, non-judgmental feedback on how you relate to yourself and others — insight traditional training can’t replicate.
12 August 2024
How do you lead an organisation through major business-model change?
Big transitions stall on three barriers: cultural resistance, skill gaps and coordination across global operations.
20 February 2024
What does Gen Z really want from an employer?
Growing up online and globally connected has given Gen Z distinct environmental and social values.
7 June 2024
How does aviation’s Crew Resource Management improve drilling safety?
Oil & gas is adopting aviation’s CRM principles to strengthen safety culture.
16 April 2026 · Rob Lewis
What conditions make experiential learning actually change behaviour?
Experience combined with theory changes behaviour far more effectively than classroom instruction.
19 June 2024
How do human factors keep oil-rig decommissioning safe?
Decommissioning demands Human Factors Crew Resource Management — the non-technical skills of communication and situational awareness — to stay safe.
19 September 2025 · Kathie Knell
Can wilderness coaching create lasting personal change?
Bucket-list adventures deliver surface satisfaction but rarely deeper transformation.
20 April 2026 · Rob Lewis
How can you build global team identity on a small budget?
Meaningful global impact comes from clarity of purpose and distributed leadership, not big budgets and heavy governance.
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