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What if strategy wasn't about predicting or controlling the future, but about helping organisations make better decisions in the face of uncertainty?

In this episode of the OrgDev Podcast, we're joined by Dr Matt Finch for a fascinating conversation about rethinking strategy, building foresight and navigating an increasingly uncertain world.

We explore why strategy needs to be a living process rather than a document produced every few years, how scenario planning can help us challenge our assumptions, and why thinking about the future shouldn't be reserved for specialists.

Matt shares some wonderful metaphors, including an island of relationships surrounded by a sea of uncertainty, and the OD practitioner as a midwife rather than a parent. We also explore the emotions, identities and hidden dynamics that influence strategic decisions, the importance of knowing where to intervene, and how to recognise opportunities when things don't go to plan.

Along the way, we discuss what it takes to work with discomfort, develop the judgement to improvise and help organisations build their own capacity to navigate uncertainty.

About our guest

Dr Matt Finch is a strategy and foresight practitioner working with organisations, governments and communities around the world. He is an Associate Fellow at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, where he teaches scenario planning, and brings experience spanning strategy, negotiation and facilitation across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

Explore Matt's work and resources

Since recording our conversation, Matt has published The Galway Questions, a practical, accessible approach to strategic foresight developed through his work at the University of Galway. It offers 16 questions to help individuals and organisations challenge their assumptions, explore possible futures and make more thoughtful decisions today.

Read The Galway Questions (free PDF):
https://www.universityofgalway.ie/media/collegeofartssocialsciencescelticstudies/schools/geographyarchaeology/geography/Dr.-Matt-Finch---The-Galway-Questions.pdf

Read more about the thinking behind them:
https://mechanicaldolphin.com/2026/09/24/launch-of-the-galway-questions/

Explore Matt's website and other work:
https://mechanicaldolphin.com

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!

Most organisation development work focuses on what we can see: structures, behaviours, processes, strategy and culture.

But some of the forces shaping organisations sit beneath the surface — in relationships, patterns, loyalties, tensions and dynamics that people can often feel without being able to clearly name.

In this episode of the OrgDev Podcast, we’re joined by Dr Ty Francis to explore systemic constellations and what they can reveal about individuals, teams and organisations.

Drawing on more than 25 years of work in transformation, coaching and organisational development, Ty explains how constellation-informed approaches can help make hidden organisational dynamics more visible, particularly in complex or difficult situations.

We discuss how systemic constellations differ from more traditional OD and coaching approaches, what they can reveal about relationships and organisational systems, and how leaders and practitioners can work with what is happening beneath the surface rather than focusing only on what is immediately visible.

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!

Practical lessons on organisational change, change leadership and making transformation stick.

Organisational change is rarely as straightforward as change management models suggest. Even well-intentioned transformation can create uncertainty, resistance, loss, competing priorities and unintended consequences.

In this session from the Org Dev Live conference, Dr Aidan Harney, Jules Siegel-Hawley and Valerie Yeo explore the realities of leading and supporting change in complex organisations. Drawing on their experience in organisation development, leadership, culture and large-scale transformation, they share what leaders and practitioners often underestimate, where change efforts g
et stuck, and what genuinely helps people move forward.
The session explores the human side of organisational change, including resistance, loss, leadership behaviour, culture, communication, involvement and the conditions that help change become sustainable rather than short lived.

Expect real examples, honest reflections and practical ideas for leaders, HR professionals, organisation development practitioners and anyone responsible for making change happen in complex, fast-moving organisations.

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