Small change: give up

First published on
Mar 10, 2025

Writing Small Change Business development Culture in companies Getting change done High performing teams 2025

“Chewing the scenery” is how we describe a style of acting that tends towards the hammy. It’s amusing to watch for five minutes, but exhausting after that.

Sadly, this behaviour isn’t confined to the stage; it also happens at work. So much energy can get poured into trivial, non-urgent, or strategically meaningless issues — with the kind of fierce intensity that would make a Spanish soap opera star blush.

More often than not, when confronted with a potential issue, the best move is to do nothing at all. Don’t waste a single drop of energy on it. Instead, step back and see how things unfold. You’ll be surprised how many problems sort themselves out. And the ones that don’t? At least you’ll have all your energy ready to tackle them head-on.

Something to consider: what if we didn’t bother with this?

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Giving a team the inspiration and technique to scale ideas

“Brilliant, astute, knowledgeable, and witty.

Phil grasped our business challenge with incredible speed and led us to rethink how we do business.”

SARAH MASON – CMO, COSMOS

REPAIRING A BUSINESS-CRITICAL RELATIONSHIP

“I’m not sure, but Phil might be a magician.”

JULIE BISHOP – CO-CEO, IT NATURALLY

Getting change past the post in a complicated context

“Transformational for both my personal and professional growth.”

STUART WILLIAMSON — CHIEF CORPORATE AFFAIRS OFFICER, THE JOCKEY CLUB

Instilling accountability to help a great team do great things

“Real smarts, and the external perspective we needed.

We are now securing industry standards of margin.”

NEIL CRUMP – CEO, AURORA HEALTHCARE

COMPREHENSIVE STRUCTURAL CHANGE

“Incredibly responsive and empathetic to our specific challenges and ambition.

Phil inspired and challenged our leadership team to ensure that our transformation had our people at its heart.”

Darina Garland, Co-CEO, Ooni

Enabling a Board to work to its full potential

“His years of experience allow for a highly credible, disciplined and empathic approach.

Phil offers the right balance of push and encouragement.”

VIV HSU – PARTNER, JBI

Small change: give up

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