The architecture of getting things done — and what most organizations left to chance.
Running on Default
Read in order or as a sequence — each piece interlocks with the others. The arc explains why coordinated dysfunction is rational behavior in an undesigned environment.
- 01MAR 25, 2026
That Excel Mike Built in 2013
AI will replace everything — except the load-bearing spreadsheet nobody understands, nobody can touch, and the entire reporting cycle runs through.
- 02MAR 25, 2026
The Last Checkpoint
Every transformation initiative has a Last Checkpoint. It's not the budget. It's not the technology. It's a person — and your org chart won't tell you who it is.
- 03MAR 31, 2026
Firing Them Won't Solve Anything
Before you fire the Last Checkpoint, defend them for a moment. The conditions that produced them are still running — and they'll produce another one the moment you do.
- 04APR 10, 2026
Coordinated Dysfunction
Your teams aren't misaligned. They're optimizing perfectly — just not for the same thing.
- 05APR 29, 2026
The Process Owns the Requirement
Every failed AI implementation has the same upstream error: the wrong question got asked before any tool was selected.
- 06MAY 05, 2026
Is Your HR Team Running Your People Strategy — Or Just Taking Notes?
HR owns performance, compensation, and org design — the levers that determine what behavior your environment selects for. Most HR teams are never asked to design that environment.
- 07APR 19, 2026
Nobody's Organized. And It Doesn't Matter Anymore
Being organized has always been the real constraint — not talent, not tools, not strategy. For the first time, the gap between what gets done and what gets documented is closeable.
Single shots.
You Know AI – You Just Can't Prove It
The people with the deepest AI capability are often the worst at signaling it. The market rewards legible credentials — and AI literacy is being defined by the people handing out the certificates.
You Don't Need More AI Tools
"Which AI tool should I use?" is the right instinct, wrong question. The real problem is rebuilding structure — not picking better tools.
AI Projects Fail Because Dishwashers Don't Have Arms
95% of enterprise AI pilots fail. The cause isn't data quality or governance — it's asking how to use AI instead of how to redesign the work.
Your Survey Data Is Lying to You
Customer experience already exists in your operational data — for 100% of customers. Surveys only capture 5%. Most organizations are optimizing the wrong layer.
The Real Challenge of Going Solo
The hardest part of going solo isn't the work. It's the context-switching tax — and the organizational context you used to take for granted.