Lost Consultants

Over the past weeks, we explored how AI is changing the foundations of organisations. We looked at: work becoming cheaper and faster roles starting to blur planning losing part of its purpose workflows becoming invisible thinking becoming the new bottleneck leadership shifting from control to clarity None of these changes happen overnight. But together they point in the same…

For a long time, leadership and control were closely linked. Not always explicitly.But structurally. Leaders were expected to: assign work track progress remove blockers ensure delivery And that made sense. Because execution was the problem. Control Was a Rational Strategy If work is: slow complex dependent on individuals Then control becomes a way to reduce risk. You define: who…

For a long time, organisations were constrained by execution. Getting things done was: slow expensive unpredictable That’s why we built systems around it: roles to divide work (as explored in The Death of Roles) planning to reduce uncertainty (see Why Planning Breaks When Execution Stops Being the Problem) workflows to coordinate effort (as described in Workflows Without Humans) All of…

Workflows are everywhere. They define: how work moves who does what when something is “done” In many organisations, workflows are the operating model. They create order. They create clarity. And most importantly: They make human collaboration possible at scale. Why Workflows Exist in the First Place Workflows were never designed for elegance. They were designed to solve a very…

Planning has always been about one thing: Dealing with uncertainty. We plan because we don’t know: how long something will take what problems will appear how complex the work really is So we: estimate sequence prioritize allocate resources Planning is our way of creating predictability in an unpredictable world. Execution Used to Be the Risk Most planning practices are built on a…

In most organisations, one question defines everything: “What is your role?” It determines: what you work on what you’re responsible for how you’re evaluated how others interact with you Roles create structure. They make organisations understandable. They give people a place. Why Roles Ever Made Sense Roles were never arbitrary. They emerged because work needed to…

For years, organisations have tried to improve how work gets done. better processes clearer roles faster delivery more efficiency And for a long time, that made sense. Because work was the constraint. Work Was Always the Bottleneck Most operating models, workflows, and management practices are built on one assumption: Human effort is scarce, slow, and expensive. That’s why we: plan…

Over the past weeks, this series explored a shift: From control → to trust. But trust is not a simple concept. It is influenced by: system design power structures incentives human psychology And depending on where you look, trust can appear as: a leadership principle a structural outcome or even an illusion To close this series, here are five books that challenge and expand how we…

“Just let go.” It sounds simple. But for many leaders, it feels unrealistic. Because letting go is often associated with: losing control losing visibility losing accountability And ultimately: losing responsibility for outcomes So leaders hold on. Not because they want control. But because they don’t see a viable alternative. The Real Fear Behind Letting Go Letting go is not…

Trust is often framed as a leadership quality. “Good leaders trust their teams.”“Organisations need a culture of trust.” But this framing misses something important. Trust is not just a belief. It is a response to the environment. And in many organisations, that environment makes trust feel risky. Why Trust Often Feels Irrational In the previous articles, we explored: why control feels…

Micromanagement has a bad reputation. It is often described as: a lack of trust a need for power poor leadership behavior And while all of these can be true, they rarely explain why micromanagement actually happens. Because micromanagement is not just about control. More often, it is about anxiety. Understanding this changes how we respond to it. A Pattern Across…

Organisations invest enormous effort into creating predictability. Roadmaps.Quarterly plans.Detailed forecasts.Weekly reporting. The assumption is simple: More information should create more predictability. But in many organisations the opposite happens. Despite increasing amounts of reporting and oversight, outcomes remain just as uncertain. What changes is not predictability. What…

Most leaders say they want empowered teams. But their calendars tell a different story. Status meetings.Progress reports.Approval checkpoints.Detailed planning sessions. Control is everywhere. Not necessarily because leaders distrust their teams.But because control feels safer than trust. Understanding this dynamic is the starting point for changing it. This article begins a six-part series…

Curiosity precedes clarity. Before we can make sense of complexity, we must admit we don’t yet — and be willing to explore what we don’t know. These books helped me see curiosity not as a whimsical trait, but as a disciplined practice that leads to deeper understanding. This is not a generic “best books on curiosity” list.As part of Books Worth Sitting With, it’s a curated reading list for…

Curiosity is often framed as a nice extra. Something for innovation days.Something for personal development.Something optional. That framing misses the point. Lack of curiosity doesn’t look like failure. It looks like normal operation. And that’s exactly why its cost is so hard to see. Why We Rarely Miss Curiosity When curiosity is absent, nothing breaks immediately. Projects still…

Most change efforts start in the wrong place. They start with answers.With solutions.With frameworks. And they stall — not because the solutions are bad, but because they arrived too early. Clarity doesn’t start with answers. It starts with curiosity. Why We Rush Toward Clarity Clarity feels productive. It signals: competence control leadership Saying “we know what to do” calms people…

“We need more clarity.” It’s one of the most reasonable-sounding sentences in organisational life.It sounds professional. Responsible. Mature. And yet, more often than not, it quietly blocks the very thing it claims to want. Because before clarity comes curiosity. Why do we reach for clarity so quickly? When people ask for clarity, they rarely mean understanding. What they usually mean is…