Possibility Principle of Design | Systems & Design Leadership

On attention, timing, and how decisions form before we notice them

Design is usually talked about as a way of making things. Products, interfaces, services. Things you can see, evaluate, and improve once they exist. That association makes sense. Making is tangible. It gives teams something concrete to focus on and something visible to react to. But it also means that

When noticing comes too late

If you’ve ever sat in a leadership conversation where everyone agrees that something is changing, yet nothing quite shifts in how decisions are made, you’re in familiar territory. Most leaders recognise that moment. You can sense the ground moving. You talk about it openly. And still, the organisation

What happens when the world moves faster than your architecture.

If you’ve ever sat in a leadership meeting where everyone recognises how much the world has changed, yet the discussion still turns back to internal fixes, you’re in familiar territory. Many leaders describe the same experience. You can see the shifts happening outside, you talk about them, but

Seeing the system before shifting the work

Every organisation has a moment when its inner world and the outer world meet. For me, that moment often appears in a room I have encountered in many forms over the years. The table changes, the industry changes, the cultural backdrop changes, yet the conversation follows a rhythm so familiar

The moment

I was in a cab leaving a client site when it hit me, and I couldn't shake it for the entire ride back. We'd just finished presenting the results of an eighteen-month transformation program with a beautiful deck, clear metrics, success stories from pilot teams, and

On designing places where Monday doesn't kill your vision

Or: How I learned to stop worrying about the next big idea and start designing places where ideas can actually live. Let me tell you about the most awkward meeting I ever facilitated. A leadership team, bright people, genuinely committed. We'd spent six months on a transformation initiative

From design thinking to design leadership: The Possibility Principle of Design

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about The Possibility Principle of Design. Some are curious. Others skeptical. A few ask, “Isn’t this just design thinking with better lighting?” And honestly, I don’t blame them. Design has had more reinventions than I’ve had laptops. I’

We become what we celebrate.

I often talk about the importance of discovery. About taking time to understand before deciding. About slowing down to learn before rushing to deliver. And then, a week later, I’m the one asking, “So, when will we have something to show?” That’s when I feel the sting of

Why presence, not performance, builds trust

Most of us in corporate life are trained actors. We just never got the Oscar. From the moment you land your first “real” job, the lesson is clear: look confident, sound confident, and for the love of quarterly earnings, never admit you do not know what is going on. I

Why curiosity, not certainty, unlocks possibility

I often feel the urge to provide answers. It happens in meetings when silence hangs in the air and people look at me. It happens when a project slows down and the team seems unsure of the next step. I know that if I speak, my words will move things

Why trust, not control, unlocks real change

Over the past year my role has been shifting. For a long time, I was close to the work. I ran forums, shaped decisions, and made sure things moved forward. If something felt unclear, I stepped in. If momentum slowed, I found ways to push it along. Being close gave

Trust isn't something you earn once. It's something you sustain.

When I think about my own path as a leader, one word keeps coming back. Trust. Trust isn't something you earn once and then carry forever. It has to be sustained. It grows through small choices, tested in uncertain moments, and strengthened when people show they believe in

Designing rhythms that make progress last.

Ideas rarely fail at launch. They fade in the silence that follows. Rhythm is what keeps them breathing and what turns ambition into progress. In the global design team I'm fortunate to lead, we have a rhythm every second week where we pause to look back at our

The difference between Kodak and Apple? One knew how to decide.

In the 1970s, Kodak invented the first digital camera. The prototype worked, the potential was obvious, and the engineers were excited. But leadership hesitated. Should they pursue digital and risk cannibalizing their film business? Should they wait and watch the market? Should they double down on what already made them

Same project. Same people. Three different languages.

In one workshop I facilitated, two teams were convinced they were working on the same initiative. "We're building a tool," one manager said confidently. "No, it's not a tool, it's a process," another insisted. A leader in the room added,

The spark is easy.The architecture is what kills you.

The pause was quiet. But it wasn't idle. I stepped back from the churn. You know the one. The meetings, the deliverables, the relentless forward motion that makes you feel productive while slowly grinding down your ability to actually think. And in that stillness, I finally saw what

The possibility in pausing

“The space between where you are and where you want to be is where leadership lives.” — Brené Brown Design thrives in motion. But it deepens in stillness. I've spent the past year immersed in The Possibility Principle of Design. Exploring how we lead change, shape systems, move with

We confuse progress with movement.

“Speed is useful only if you are running in the right direction.” Bill Gates Many years ago, I worked with a client that looked like they were winning. Sharp team. Generous budget. A roadmap packed with features. Processes were tight. Sprints were smooth. Velocity was high. They were shipping constantly.

Ambiguity isn't something to escape. It's something to design with.

“Ambiguity is the playground of the possible.” — Michael Bungay Stanier, author of The Coaching Habit Michael Bungay Stanier has a way of naming what most frameworks skip over. That uncertainty isn't the enemy. It's the entry point. That's stayed with me for years. Because

Writing through the ambiguity.

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” — Albert Einstein Writing The Possibility Principle of Design isn't just about organizing ideas. It's about staying with the very tension the book is trying to name. Because real change doesn't start with clarity. It

We reward control. Then wonder why transformation never takes.

Most systems reward what's easy to control. Timelines. Forecasts. Plans you can track in a spreadsheet. We manage what we can measure. We fund what we can predict. And then we wonder why transformation never quite takes. Here's the quiet strain most leaders carry but rarely

Design Thinking gave us process. We need posture.

I've spent years being called in after the decisions are made. The strategy's locked. The vision's set. The direction's been blessed by leadership. And then the brief arrives: "Make this work. Make it usable. Make it beautiful." I know this

I'm writing a book I swore I'd never write

I'm writing a book I swore I'd never write. Not because I lack opinions. God knows I have plenty. I've been that guy with the uncomfortable observation for 30 years. The one pointing out what everyone's politely ignoring. My colleagues have loved

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Designing what’s next: Why I’m writing this book

I've been in this field for close to three decades now, and the work still gives me energy. Not because design hands you answers. It almost never does. But because I get to build alongside people who can sense possibility long before it becomes obvious. That spark hasn&