Most organisations misuse the word risk, and the consequences can be severe.

In this episode of Strategy Meets Reality, Mike Jones sits down with Professor Denis Fischbacher Smith, Professor of Risk and Resilience at the University of Glasgow, to unpack decades of insight from analysing system failures, organisational breakdowns and multi fatality accidents.

Denis explains why humans will never be perfectly rational, why managers exist to deal with uncertainty, and why risk frameworks often hide the very vulnerabilities leaders need to confront. From rule violations to bureaucracy, informal networks, degraded controls and the myths that mislead executives, this is a deep, practical exploration of organisational reality.

🔍 In this episode:

• Why rationality is a false construct
• Human behaviour, bounded perspective and mental models
• Why managers exist to manage uncertainty
• The misuse of risk in organisations
• Understanding threats, vulnerabilities and degraded controls
• What rule violations really tell you
• The myth of the all knowing board
• How bureaucracy distorts work and decision making
• Listening, engagement and the value of middle management
• Learning from failures and why “it never happened before” is not a strategy
• Strategic thinking in complex and uncertain environments

🎧 Keywords: Risk, Resilience, Organisational Failure, Decision Making, Vulnerabilities, Threats, Human Factors, Systems Thinking, Leadership, Safety, Complexity, Strategy

📘 Connect with Denis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denis-fischbacher-smith-1aa6453/
📬 Connect with Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones
🌐 Full episodes: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategy-meets-reality

The brain is your most powerful strategic tool—if you know how to use it.

In this episode of Strategy Meets Reality, Mike Jones talks with Dr. Delia McCabe—neuroscientist and expert in nutritional neuroscience—about how neuroplasticity, nutrition, and stress shape leaders’ ability to think, decide, and adapt. They dive deep into the biology of creativity, the traps of mental fatigue, and why the structure of your brain determines the structure of your strategy.

Dr. McCabe explains how chronic stress, poor sleep, and cognitive overload literally close down creativity—while the right nutrients, rest, and mental frameworks can rewire your brain for better decision-making. From “additive thinking” and uncertainty fatigue to the dangers of believing what you feel, this is a masterclass in how to think better, not just faster.

🔍 In this episode:

• How brain structure shapes creative thinking
• Why stress kills neuroplasticity and creativity
• The additive problem—and why leaders avoid subtraction
• Information overload and the myth of productivity
• How to build resilience to uncertainty
• Changing minds through emotion and safety
• The “feeling of knowing” and decision-making traps
• The delicate balance between human cognition and AI

🎧 Keywords: Neuroplasticity, brain health, leadership, neuroscience, cognitive load, uncertainty, stress, nutrition, decision-making, creativity, mental resilience, emotional intelligence, organisational change, AI and cognition

📘 Learn more about Dr. Delia McCabe:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-delia-mccabe/
Substack: https://deliamccabe.substack.com/

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🔗 Full episodes, show notes, and resources: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast

📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@StrategyMeetsReality
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout

💬 Connect with host Mike Jones → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/

What if the future of health isn’t just about fixing sickness—but creating value in how we live?

In this episode of Strategy Meets Reality, Mike Jones is joined by Andy Wilkins—founder of Future of Health, futures strategist, and author—to rethink what strategy means in health and care systems.

They explore why efficiency often works against long-term health outcomes, how integrated care and lived experience must shape policy, and why the next generation of strategy must learn faster than the systems it’s trying to change. This is a forward-looking, systems-based conversation on rethinking health, leadership, and public value.

🔍 In this episode:

• Why healthcare strategy must move beyond efficiency
• From treating sickness to building resilience
• Using lived experience and Three Horizons thinking
• Rethinking leadership and the role of AI
• Designing health systems that adapt and learn

🎧 Keywords: Healthcare Strategy, Value in Health, Futures Thinking, Systems Change, Integrated Care, Three Horizons, Public Sector Leadership, AI in Health, Resilience, Andy Wilkins

📘 Learn more about Andy’s work: https://www.vision4health.co.uk/

📬 Connect with Andy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andywilkins/

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🔗 Full episodes, show notes, and resources: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast

📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@StrategyMeetsReality
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout

💬 Connect with host Mike Jones → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/

Strategy isn’t a performance—it’s a practice.

In this special solo episode, host Mike Jones reflects on what 30 episodes of Strategy Meets Reality have revealed about the state of modern strategy. He explores why strategy fails first in perception, not execution, and how organisations confuse alignment with coherence, performance with action, and control with orientation.

Drawing on lessons from Boyd, Sun Tzu, and the 30+ guests who’ve shaped this journey, Mike challenges the branding-led view of strategy and calls for a return to strategy as movement—anchored in perceptual clarity, structural capability, and a shared sense of reality.

🔍 In this episode:

• Why strategy fails in the boardroom, not the field
• The perceptual complexity behind strategic failure
• How structural inertia widens the decision-to-action gap
• Why coherence beats alignment in turbulent environments
• The role of freedom of action in resilient execution
• How we lost the art of manoeuvre—and how to bring it back

Follow Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/

Learn more: https://substack.com/@strategymeetsreality https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast

🎧 Keywords: Strategy, Execution, Leadership, Coherence, Perception, Structure, OODA Loop, Viability, Emergence, Strategic Orientation, Adaptive Organisations, Boyd, Sun Tzu, Viable System Model

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🔗 Full episodes, show notes, and resources: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast

📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@StrategyMeetsReality
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout

💬 Connect with host Mike Jones → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/

Success can be blinding. Strategy is often where complacency hides best.

In this episode of Strategy Meets Reality, Mike Jones speaks with Saul Betmead de Chasteigner—strategic advisor and transformation leader—about the hidden traps in organisations that seem to be “winning.” They unpack how strategy becomes theatre, why organisations resist feedback when things are going well, and how real transformation depends on psychological safety, clarity, and structural intent.

From autonomy and structure to feedback loops and values, this is a conversation about the inner work of organisational change—why it’s not just a structural fix, but a mindset shift.

🔍 In this episode:

• Why strategy breaks when we confuse motion for progress
• How “success syndrome” creates blind spots
• Autonomy, structure, and the tension in between
• The value of anti-complacency systems and lived feedback
• Why real transformation challenges power—not people

🎧 Keywords: Strategy, organisational change, transformation, autonomy, structure, feedback, success syndrome, leadership, psychological safety, execution, decision-making

📘 Learn more about Saul’s work: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saul-betmead/

Send Mike a Message

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🔗 Full episodes, show notes, and resources: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast

📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@StrategyMeetsReality
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout

💬 Connect with host Mike Jones → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/

Viability doesn’t come from vision. It comes from feedback, iteration, and the courage to learn.

In this episode of Strategy Meets Reality, Mike Jones is joined by Mick Brian—a consultant with a military background and a passion for learning systems—to unpack how organisations can survive and thrive in complex environments.

They explore what bees can teach us about decentralised decision-making, how the OODA Loop supports learning under pressure, and why real-time feedback is the foundation of strategic adaptability. From AI adoption to after-action reviews, this conversation connects lived experience, strategic thinking, and practical tools for evolving organisations.

🔍 In this episode:

• What organisations can learn from bee colonies
• Why after-action reviews matter more than performance reviews
• How the OODA Loop supports emergent learning
• The role of AI, autonomy, and self-organisation
• Why sensemaking starts with feedback
• The importance of collective purpose and decision-making at the edge

🎧 Keywords: Strategy, Feedback, Viability, Emergent Learning, OODA Loop, After-Action Reviews, Complexity, Beekeeping, Leadership, AI Adoption, Organisational Learning

📘 Learn more about Mick’s work: Agile on the Beach Sketch

📬 Connect with Mick: Mick Brian on LinkedIn

Send Mike a Message

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🔗 Full episodes, show notes, and resources: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast

📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@StrategyMeetsReality
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout

💬 Connect with host Mike Jones → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/

Are your goals helping you adapt—or just perform?

In this episode of Strategy Meets Reality, Radhika Dutt joins Mike Jones to expose the hidden trap of OKRs and KPI-led management. Drawing on her latest work and the OHL Toolkit, Radhika introduces a radical shift: move from setting performance targets to setting puzzles.

They explore how metrics create fragility, why freedom of action matters, and how to scaffold real learning without losing direction. From military concepts to corporate leadership, this is a sharp critique of goal setting gone wrong—and a practical alternative for those ready to rethink success.

📥 Download the OHL Toolkit

🌐 Visit Radhika’s Website

🔗 Connect with Radhika on LinkedIn

🔍 In this episode:

• Why OKRs often create performance theatre
• Puzzle setting vs puzzle solving
• How scaffolding enables experimentation
• Freedom of action without losing control
• Rethinking what good leadership looks like
• The danger of mistaking metrics for outcomes

🎧 Keywords: OKRs, KPIs, leadership, complexity, adaptability, performance theatre, puzzle mindset, experimentation, scaffolding, radical product thinking, Radhika Dutt

Send Mike a Message

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Subscribe and leave a review on your favourite platform — it helps more people find the podcast.

🔗 Full episodes, show notes, and resources: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast

📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@StrategyMeetsReality
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout

💬 Connect with host Mike Jones → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/

Most nonsense in organisations isn’t malicious—it’s magnetic.

In this episode of Strategy Meets Reality, Mike Jones is joined by Paul Sweeney—author of Magnetic Nonsense: A Short History of Bullshit at Work—to unpack the rituals, myths, and illusions that derail progress inside organisations.

They dive into the dangers of detached leadership, the myth of heroic CEOs, and why so many change programmes fail before they begin. From performance theatre and wellbeing platitudes to the real impact of meetings, Paul exposes how nonsense embeds itself in culture—and what it takes to replace it with something better.

🔍 In this episode:

• Why magnetic nonsense is so attractive—and so hard to spot
• The gap between executive fantasy and frontline reality
• How buzzwords and best practices become blockers
• The illusion of change and the truth about transformation
• What critical thinking really looks like in leadership
• The importance of autonomy and design that fits reality

🎧 Keywords: Critical Thinking, Leadership, Culture, Organisational Nonsense, Change, Strategy Execution, Transformation, Autonomy, Corporate Myths

📘 Learn more about Paul’s book: Magnetic Nonsense

📬 Connect with Paul: Paul Sweeney on LinkedIn

Send Mike a Message

👂 Enjoying the show?
Subscribe and leave a review on your favourite platform — it helps more people find the podcast.

🔗 Full episodes, show notes, and resources: https://www.lbiconsulting.com/strategymeetsreality-podcast

📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@StrategyMeetsReality
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout

💬 Connect with host Mike Jones → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-h-jones/