Across March I’ve been exploring the idea of operational debt. The small compromises businesses make over time that quietly accumulate friction....
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Operational Debt and the Cost of Doing Nothing
Over the past few weeks we’ve been exploring the idea of operational debt, the small compromises businesses make over time that quietly accumulate...
Operational Debt: When the Founder Is Still Cooking Every Dish
Last week I introduced the concept of operational debt, explaining that the small compromises businesses make over time that slowly add friction to...
Operational Debt and the Boiling Frog Problem
Across February I spoke about cash. Not how to make more of it. But as a first step, how to see it more clearly. When you can see your cash...
How Cash Clarity Changes Decisions
During February I have talked about: Why cash is a system Why guessing creates pressure Why weekly cadence replaces assumption This week ties this...
Ten Minutes That Prevent Surprises
I wrote last week about guessing, explaining how the majority of cash stress doesn’t come from recklessness, and how to gain knowledge by...
Stop Guessing About Cash
Last week, I talked about Moneyball. How the Oakland A’s stopped trusting instinct alone and built systems that showed what actually influenced...
Moneyball Thinking for Cash Flow
For years, professional sports teams were run on instinct. Managers trusted what they could see: how a player looked, how confident they felt, ...
Most Stress Comes from Re-deciding The Same Things under Pressure
By the end of January, you may be feeling one of two things. Either: over-planned and slightly boxed in, or under-planned and quietly uneasy Neither...
Choosing Less Is a Strategic Skill
Steve Jobs is mostly remembered for what he built, and likely much less so for what he deliberately killed. When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the...
Planning From Reality, Not Hope
Last week, I talked about why January isn’t really about goals; it’s about filters. This week is about how to build those filters properly, without...
What Actually Matters This Year
And so, at 10am on the first Monday of the year, Manchester United sacked Ruben Amorim. Another manager gone, As a long-suffering United fan, I’d...
Start the Year by Deciding Less
I wrote a weekly newsletter in 2025; it wasn’t about doing more, but about seeing more clearly. Seeing: where tolerance has crept in where effort...
What to Think About When You’re Finally Not Working
No single season destroyed United. Simply speaking: Tolerance is drift and drift becomes decline.
The Business Case for Letting Go
No single season destroyed United. Simply speaking: Tolerance is drift and drift becomes decline.
Tolerating things until they become the new normal
No single season destroyed United. Simply speaking: Tolerance is drift and drift becomes decline.
December Is the Real New Year
And so we have entered December, most of us are preparing for a break from work and some rest time with family and friends. I am reminded how a...
How you make pay decisions without guilt, fear, or guesswork
Last week, I talked about why people go the extra mile, and why the things that make a team fight for the cause rarely come down to money alone. ...
The Secret Behind Teams That Outperform Their Pay Grade
“People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise, and trust.” — Dale Carnegie As World Cup 2026 qualifying started to really...
The True Cost of a Bad Hire (and Why It’s Always More Than You Think)
“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur.” — Red Adair My Bad Hire Story A few years ago, I made what...
Let’s Keep Moving
We moved house this week, and it genuinely felt like more than just geography. It was a message to ourselves. The boxes are still half-packed, and...
A Halloween Story About Black Swans
Happy Halloween! We will be enjoying a Halloween tradition in our house, with wine, snacks and finding the cheesiest and worst scary movies we...
A Cash Guide for a Good Night’s Sleep
“Cash… is like oxygen — you don’t notice it until it’s gone.” Warren Buffett Before I talk about the cash in your business, I want to first talk...
Your Business Can’t Scale While You Email
You may have heard me speaking of this before, but a few years ago, I hit a wall. It was summer of 2018. We had been in Portugal for two years, the...