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Some of our latest thinking and thought leaders.
Don’t let 2026 be a copy-paste of 2025
Most strategies don’t fail because they’re wrong. They fail because no one knows what to do differently on a Monday morning.
Don’t let 2026 be a copy-paste of 2025. To really shift the needle, we need to think — and act — differently.
The start of a new year often comes with a fresh set of strategic objectives.
But how many people across your organisation actually know what they are?
And more importantly — do they understand how to translate those objectives into the decisions, priorities, and behaviours required within their own roles?
This is where strategy so often breaks down.
The Irony of Strategy and Execution
In many organisations, the hurdles appear before we’ve even left the starting blocks:
Budgets are locked in well before strategic objectives are clearly defined, leading to finger-in-the-wind forecasting based on last year’s assumptions
Fast-paced environments, high workloads, and dispersed teams leave little space for true strategic planning or joined-up thinking
Joined-up thinking doesn’t happen by accident — it requires leadership. Without it, teams default to silos
Strategic objectives are often reserved for a select few, shared late in the year, or delivered via a slide deck that creates little traction beyond senior leadership
Managers are expected to ‘set strategy’, yet few are ever given a practical guide on how to do it well
Copy-paste strategy usually looks like this in practice:
The same priorities with new labels.
The same initiatives rebranded.
The same behaviours rewarded — while expecting different outcomes.
The Patterns Are Well-Known
Across many organisations, the same themes appear again and again in culture and engagement surveys:
Lack of role clarity
Limited awareness of company direction and long-term goals
Unclear understanding of strategic priorities
These aren’t just survey results — they’re signals of real friction.
Leaders feel it when strategy doesn’t cascade into meaningful action.
Teams feel it when they’re unsure where to focus their energy.
And organisations feel it when effort becomes scattered instead of aligned.
If You Want to Achieve Something Different, You Have to Do Something Different
The good news? Businesses are richer in data than ever before:
Business intelligence: operational performance, competitor insights, culture and climate surveys, turnover data, talent metrics, etc.
Customer feedback
Team Member feedback
Stakeholder feedback and guidance on priorities
KPIs, goals, and financial performance
Yet how many departments pause to honestly review what’s already available — and use current data to inform decisions — instead of copy-pasting last year’s strategy with a new date on the front?
Research suggests up to 95% of our behaviour is habitual. At work, we default to what’s familiar and easy. Strategy is no different.
If we want to genuinely shift the needle, we need to consciously disrupt the status quo — creating new behaviours, new focus areas, and new objectives.
A simple test I often share with leadership teams is this:
If you never shared your strategy deck again, could each team clearly articulate how the strategy changes their decisions, priorities, and behaviours?
If the answer is no, alignment hasn’t landed yet.
This Matters More Than Ever
This is especially true for organisations navigating transformation, financial pressure, or significant growth.
If nothing changes, nothing changes – and your teams won’t be singing from the same hymn sheet.
Whether you’re setting objectives now or preparing for the next fiscal cycle, investing time upfront to create clarity and alignment is one of the highest-leverage actions you can take.
It’s a genuine game-changer for:
Business performance
Customer experience
Employee engagement
Team retention
2026 shouldn’t just be a repeat of 2025. It should be better — by design.
What would genuinely need to change in your organisation for 2026 to feel meaningfully different?
We run bespoke workshops that help teams move from abstract strategy to clear, shared focus — so energy is aligned, decisions are faster, and priorities are unmistakable. Get in touch to learn more.
Performance Reviews as a Strategic Lever — Not an Annual Chore
It’s that time of year again…
Talent & Performance Review season.
Cue:
– the harsh inner critic in employees
– the quiet panic of time-poor managers
– and the organisational chaos of trying to get everyone neatly reviewed, calibrated and boxed
But what if it doesn’t have to feel like this?
At its core, Talent & Performance review season has three very good intentions:
1. For employees
Dedicated time with their Line Manager to reflect on achievements, challenges, support needs and career aspirations. A moment to take stock of their career capital and set themselves up for future success.
2. For managers
Time to recognise great work, give meaningful feedback, offer guidance, and understand how both they and the organisation can better support their people. This is essential data for shaping a thoughtful talent strategy for the year ahead.
3. For companies
Clean, useful talent data to support workforce planning, merit and bonus decisions, DEI analysis, development investment, risk management and – critically – retention of top talent.
So… what gets in the way? And how do we do this better?
Employees must take ownership of their development.
Performance reviews shouldn’t be something that happens to you. Employees should be just as prepared (if not more so) than their managers – clearly articulating their contribution, being honest about challenges, and thinking intentionally about their progression.
Jobs are a value exchange. Companies are excellent at extracting value for their investment – but employees often forget to ask: How am I building my own career capital here? Approaching reviews from this mindset transforms the conversation into a true partnership.
Managers need to invest time to save time.
A well-prepared, well-run performance conversation pays ten-fold dividends. Trust deepens. Alignment improves. Transparency increases.
Managers can clearly decide what’s needed next – development, stretch, support, or performance improvement – and step fully into their role as leaders and performance maximisers, not just reviewers.
Companies must actually use the data.
Too many organisations treat performance reviews as a tick-box exercise – and then do nothing with the insights.
Your talent data tells a story about the health of your organisation:
– where underperformance needs support
– where managers need help managing performance
– who your consistent high performers are
– who’s at flight risk
– who’s ready for more
– and where DEI patterns deserve attention
If you’re not actively using this data, you’re missing one of the simplest levers for organisational health.
So whether you’re sitting in the seat of employee, Line Manager, or company leader – don’t wish this process away.
If you’re doing it, invest in it. Maximise it for everything it can offer. And use it as a line in the sand to reset good habits – especially regular, high-quality 1:1s throughout the year.
Keep it simple.
Value the conversation above all else.
And use the data to make things better for everyone.
