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Why do so many organisations struggle to improve productivity - even when they invest heavily in strategy, transformation and new ways of working?

Nelson Repenning, co-author of There’s Got to Be a Better Way, describes the hidden systems that shape how work actually gets done. Drawing on decades of research at MIT and real-world organisational transformation, Nelson unpacks why well-intentioned improvements often fail - and what leaders can do differently.

We explore the core ideas behind work design, the structural causes of inefficiency, and why fixing productivity isn’t about working harder, but redesigning how work flows across teams and systems. This conversation gets underneath the surface of strategy execution, operational performance, and organisational effectiveness - offering practical insight for leaders, HR, and OD practitioners trying to make change stick.

If you’re dealing with slow execution, overloaded teams, or initiatives that never quite land, this episode will help you see the system differently - and act on it

Wish you had a handy recap of the episode? So did we.

That’s why each week in our Next Step to Better newsletter, we’re sharing From Pod to Practice – a 2-page visual summary of each episode designed to help you take the learning from the podcast and into your work.

You’ll get:
■ Key insights from the episode
■ A reflection prompt
■ A suggested action

Sign up now to get From Pod to Practice delivered to your inbox each week: https://distinction.live/keep-in-touch/

About Us

We’re Dani and Garin – Organisation Development (OD) practitioners who help leaders and people professionals tackle the messiness of organisational life. We focus on building leadership capability, strengthening team effectiveness, and designing practical, systemic development programmes that help you deliver on your team and organisational goals. We also offer coaching to support individual growth and change.

Find out more at www.distinction.live

We'd love to connect with you on Linked In:
linkedin.com/in/danibacon478
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garinrouch

We'd love to hear from you so send us a message!

Why do leadership teams say the future matters - and then fail to make time for it?

This episode examines a common pattern inside organisations: strong strategies, but limited execution. We explore how top teams prioritise, make decisions, and enable strategic change, and why leadership effectiveness is often constrained not by capability, but by how time, attention, and work are structured.

Here are the links to Stefan’s latest editorials:

Why strategy fails – the five tensions future-ready executive teams learn to steward:

https://www.hultashridge.com/en/insights/article/strategy-and-transformation/

Your executive team doesn’t have a strategy problem – they have a time problem:

https://www.hultashridge.com/en/insights/article/faculty-column-transformation/

Wish you had a handy recap of the episode? So did we.

That’s why each week in our Next Step to Better newsletter, we’re sharing From Pod to Practice – a 2-page visual summary of each episode designed to help you take the learning from the podcast and into your work.

You’ll get:
■ Key insights from the episode
■ A reflection prompt
■ A suggested action

Sign up now to get From Pod to Practice delivered to your inbox each week: https://distinction.live/keep-in-touch/

About Us

We’re Dani and Garin – Organisation Development (OD) practitioners who help leaders and people professionals tackle the messiness of organisational life. We focus on building leadership capability, strengthening team effectiveness, and designing practical, systemic development programmes that help you deliver on your team and organisational goals. We also offer coaching to support individual growth and change.

Find out more at www.distinction.live

We'd love to connect with you on Linked In:
linkedin.com/in/danibacon478
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garinrouch

We'd love to hear from you so send us a message!

In this episode, Dr Jean Boulton joins us to explore how ideas from complexity science can help leaders understand strategy, power and change in uncertain environments.

What really drives change in organisations - and what quietly kills it? Why do some initiatives gain traction while others fade away, even when the intent is strong?
Originally trained as a physicist and now a strategy practitioner, Jean brings a distinctive perspective on why organisations rarely behave in the neat, predictable ways our plans assume.

We discuss why traditional approaches to strategy often struggle in complex systems, how power and relationships shape outcomes inside organisations, and what leaders can do when cause and effect are not clear.

If you're interested in complexity thinking, strategy under uncertainty and leading organisational change, this conversation offers a practical way to think about the messy reality of organisational life.

Wish you had a handy recap of the episode? So did we.

That’s why each week in our Next Step to Better newsletter, we’re sharing From Pod to Practice – a 2-page visual summary of each episode designed to help you take the learning from the podcast and into your work.

You’ll get:
■ Key insights from the episode
■ A reflection prompt
■ A suggested action

Sign up now to get From Pod to Practice delivered to your inbox each week: https://distinction.live/keep-in-touch/

About Us

We’re Dani and Garin – Organisation Development (OD) practitioners who help leaders and people professionals tackle the messiness of organisational life. We focus on building leadership capability, strengthening team effectiveness, and designing practical, systemic development programmes that help you deliver on your team and organisational goals. We also offer coaching to support individual growth and change.

Find out more at www.distinction.live

We'd love to connect with you on Linked In:
linkedin.com/in/danibacon478
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garinrouch