Most organisations assume critical thinking is about scepticism, analysis, or “thinking harder.” But in the context of Strategic Readiness, critical thinking has a far more precise meaning. Critical thinking is the discipline of seeing clearly — perceiving functional information without distortion. It is the capability that prevents organisations from acting on noise, assumptions, or inherited…
Generative thinking is the engine of organisational evolution. It’s the capability that enables teams to create new functional information—the kind of information that actually changes what the organisation can do. In earlier articles, we explored: how to judge functional information, and how functional information changes during transformation, and why generative thinking is the cognitive expression…
Most organisations talk about innovation, creativity, and problem‑solving as if they are separate competencies. But beneath all of these sits a deeper capability — one that determines whether an organisation can adapt, evolve, and move into better futures. That capability is generative thinking. Generative thinking is not brainstorming. It’s not “blue sky” ideation. And it’s…
In organisational life, we often talk about creativity, innovation, and problem‑solving as if they are separate skills. But beneath all of these sits something deeper and more fundamental — a capability that determines whether an organisation can adapt, evolve, and move into better futures. That capability is generative thinking. Generative thinking is not brainstorming. It’s…
When organisations change, what actually changes? Most leaders answer with familiar categories: behaviours, culture, processes, systems, structures, strategy. But beneath all of these sits something more fundamental — something that explains why change succeeds in some organisations and stalls in others: functional information. Functional information is the patterned, relational information that shapes what a system…
In my work on organisational readiness, I often talk about functional information — the kind of information that actually shapes what a system can do. But leaders frequently ask a deeper question: How do you judge how functional information is? It’s a crucial question, because not all information is equal. Some information changes nothing. Some…
For years, many of us have repeated the optimistic mantra that “anything is possible.” It’s an appealing idea — energising, liberating, and emotionally uplifting. But when we look closely at how real systems work, especially organisations operating under pressure, the statement doesn’t hold up. In fact, it obscures something far more important and far more…
Every organisation, whether it realises it or not, lives inside a field of possibilities. At any given moment, there are multiple futures available — some near and actionable, others distant and requiring more capability, alignment, or courage. This field is not static. It shifts constantly as markets move, technologies evolve, policies change, and social expectations…
Why some systems transform — and others stay stuck One of the most powerful insights I’ve gained over years of working with organisations is this: agency isn’t the ability to choose; it’s the readiness to choose. That distinction changes everything. We often assume that if people have options, they’ll take them. If they have solutions,…
When Kaplan and Norton introduced Strategy Maps, they gave leaders a way to make strategy visible. For the first time, organisations could see their value‑creation logic laid out in a clear, causal chain: how people, processes, customers, and financial outcomes connect. It was a breakthrough. And it still is. But in the years since, something…