Essays & Insights

Through Angie Thokden's morning chaos, discover why changing people defies physics. From professional burnout to family resistance, explore the fundamental impossibility that shapes every helping relationship. The opening salvo of a series examining why good intentions aren't enough when facing biological imperatives.

Why the brain's 12.5 watts can't overcome 3.5 billion years of evolution. Through mathematical principles and Kahneman's psychology, discover why resistance increases with pressure and how cognitive architecture makes change neurologically implausible. The science behind why trying harder makes things worse.

How evolution's complete 'nonsense' is pure biological genius. From the giraffe's five-metre nerve detour to human resistance patterns, discover why our psychological responses developed as survival mechanisms, not design flaws. Featuring insights from Richard Dawkins and E.O. Wilson on the evolutionary debates that explain why change resistance isn't pathology—it's ancient wisdom operating in modern contexts.

The moral injury of promising impossible transformations. Following Angie Thokden through her professional crucifixion—stretched between political demands for change and evolutionary reality of resistance. How workers become unwilling participants in systematic harm whilst trying to help. From morning supervision to evening exhaustion, witness the gap between what we promise and what actually works.

What Darwin actually taught us about adaptation versus change. How influence works through environmental adjustment, not direct intervention. The biological approach to supporting human development without triggering resistance mechanisms. Understanding the difference between forcing change and creating conditions for natural adaptation.

Understanding the impasse between what we want and what's possible. Series synthesis exploring implications for practice, policy, and personal life. How to work with rather than against human nature in family development and professional practice. A compassionate examination of why we keep trying to change others despite knowing it doesn't work.

Deep insights into how termite mounds, human societies, and the brain all demonstrate the same universal principle: intelligence emerges not from individual units, but from coordinated networks of specialised parts working together.

When organisations ask "How are we doing?" they reveal they haven't been paying attention. Through the lens of Macnamara's research on organisational listening, discover why formal feedback requests signal absence rather than presence, and how the "sugar hit" of consultation creates cycles of hope and betrayal that damage trust at a biological level.

Examining mob behaviour as evolutionary adaptation, from civil unrest looting to the Post Office Horizon scandal. How professional teams become mobs through Drama Triangle dynamics, projective identification, and the stroke economy that silences dissent.

Through drummer Nick D'Virgilio's methodical practice for a Genesis tour, discover profound insights about brain preparation for high-stakes performance. From job interviews to team collaboration, explore the difference between earned confidence and false bravado, why the arrogance-ignorance-incompetence matrix matters, and how genuine preparation enables collective excellence.

Applying the principles of collective intelligence to everyday life: how stress responses, transitions, and play work the same way in families, workplaces, and communities. Practical insights for leaders and parents.

How quiet confidence shapes social dynamics in professional settings. From boardroom peacocking to authentic presence, discover why internal confidence matters more than external displays of power and how genuine influence emerges from steadiness, not showmanship.

How childhood dynamics shape adult leadership through the contrasting paths of Christopher and Peter Hitchens. From a father's peace treaty to public intellectual opposition, discover how early family patterns influence professional styles and the value of constructive disagreement.

Like an overburdened Victoria sponge collapsing under too many layers, our children's services fragment under impossible expectations. From Sure Start's promise to current crisis, this structural analysis proposes parish-based integration where services meet families naturally, not through institutional gatekeeping.

From personal anecdotes to fabricated abuse disclosures, exploring the landscape of deception in safeguarding. When truth becomes transactional, how do professionals navigate between protection and manipulation?

A terrible film that won't stop spreading its hidden code. Through the lens of syntropy—order emerging from chaos—explore how Hackers (1995) accidentally prophesied cybersecurity's importance, encoded alternative counterculture identity, and continues finding new receivers thirty years later. From hacker culture to queer coding, discover why this failed movie succeeded at something unmeasurable.