Tentacles - the podcast from Crown & Reach

You're doing everything right. The team is working hard, the process looks sensible, the effort is real. And yet — somehow — it's still not working. And nobody quite wants to say why.In this one, we use our own dance teaching as a live case study in kill, pivot, commit decisions: two years of tweaks, probes, and exhausted options before one unexpected forcing function finally made the decision for them.Why the real problem is often visible — but no one can look at it straight onThe difference between a panicked pivot and one that feels like settling (the good kind)How "problems grow to the size they need to" before you can act — and what that costs in the meantimeThe invisible organisational boundaries that make the logical option impossibleWhy loyalty to early customers makes the necessary pivot harder than it should beThe Transactional Analysis trap that turns your friends into an audience for a problem you don't actually want solvedFat Duck or McDonald's — and why the middle is the worst place to beFor anyone who's been doing the sensible thing for long enough to suspect the sensible thing isn't working.Links & ReferencesLuca Dellanna's 100 Truths You Will Learn Too Late https://luca-dellanna.com/books Eric Berne's Games People Play, including "Why Don't You — Yes But" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_People_Play_(book)Adam Mastroianni's Experimental History https://www.experimental-history.com/p/two-stupid-facts-that-rule-the-worldFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Being strategic sounds like it should be serious business. It turns out the seriousness can be exactly what gets in the way.Following on from episode 136, Tom and Corissa pick up a listener thread about strategy being a zero-sum status game at the company level — then take a sharp left turn into why most people are stuck in exactly the wrong zone for doing anything useful with uncertainty.The conversation weaves together Lindy Hop, improv theatre, Pitch Provocations, and a fairly bleak observation about time — into something unexpectedly practical.The barbell approach to play: why chronic 6/7 stress is actually the worst place to be for innovation, and what the 0 and 10 extremes have in commonWhy "just be more playful" is almost as useless as "just be more strategic" — and practical stuff you can do insteadUncertainty bubbles: how to artificially impose the right kind of pressure so that different things can emergeFront-loading the nightmare — and why Pitch Provocations deliberately generates high-signal feedback when everything is still wrongThe hidden cost of over-investing before you've tested: stress that balloons, sunk costs, and projects that polish the wrong thingWhy improv, Lindy Hop, and safe-to-fail experiments are the same muscle — and how to build it somewhere low-stakes firstStrategy as fractal: you don't need "strategy" in your job title to be doing more of it right nowFor anyone who suspects the rules they're playing by are made up — and wants somewhere safe to test that hypothesis.Drop us a line: tentacles@crownandreach.comReferences and links:Episode 136: When they tell you to 'be more strategic' (but not what that actually means) https://shows.acast.com/tentacles/episodes/698de53934f221647e8927eaDonald Cox – friend of Tentacles who shared the point that there's only a little strategy at any one time at the company levelViktor Frankl — Man's Search for MeaningDave Snowden — stress, innovation, and exaptationMemento MoriInternal locus of controlPitch Provocations method (episodes 007–009 for intro)Uncertainty bubbles — Crown & Reach concept, find out more when we share at https://reach.crownandreach.comMultiverse Mapping — https://multiversemapping.comAngie Lina — improv teacher and strategy/sense-making practitioner, former LSE Lindy Hop studentFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When your boss tells you to "be more strategic," what do they actually mean?Sometimes it's genuine - they see you working hard on the wrong things and want to help you refocus. Sometimes it's politics - they need you to read between the lines they can't legally spell out. And sometimes it's just offloading risk. The problem? You're supposed to figure out which story is true, and then what to do about it, with no guidance and zero training budget.In this episode, we walk (literally - five-months-pregnant Corissa sets the pace) through the murky reality of being told to level up without a map. We explore why "strategic" is a suitcase word people pack with whatever they like, how to decode what's actually being prioritised vs. what's officially important, and a simple framework you can use today to start getting better signal from your manager.Including-but-not-limited-to:Why "be more strategic" often secretly means "be more politically savvy" (and what to do about that)The official game vs. the real game - and how to play both without burning outSignal > Stories > Options: how telling yourself different stories unlocks different actionsContext, Proposition, Triggers (CPT) - a back-briefing technique that helps you test assumptions and get clearer directionWhy diligent people can get penalised for doing exactly what the organisation says it wantsWhen half-arsing the official work is actually the strategic moveThis one's for anyone who's doing good work, getting mixed signals, and wondering why their effort isn't translating into recognition or progress.Drop us a line with your own "be more strategic" stories: tentacles@crownandreach.comReferences and linky goodness:John Grant (labour market researcher, Cynefin Slack community member)Dave SnowdenStealing the Corner Office by Brendan ReidSignal > Stories > Options framework (Crown & Reach) https://triggerstrategy.substack.com/p/signals-stories-optionsContext, Proposition, Triggers (CPT) https://reach.crownandreach.com/posts/mini-pitchesMultiverse Mapping: https://multiversemapping.comPitch Provocations method (referenced, episodes 007-009): https://shows.acast.com/triggerstrategyCynefin Co's upcoming training (covers all seven frameworks including Estuarine Mapping) https://thecynefin.co/product/masterclass-7-frameworks-uk-2026-2/Find out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does a comedian's unfinished show, a five-year plan gathering dust, and your CEO's quiet plea to "go back to normal" have in common?They're all wrestling with the sense that eventually, things will settle down, right? That the chaos is only temporary. That once this transformation/restructure/market shift is done, we can finally get back to business as usual.In this one, with plenty of traditional traffic noise and some moments of getting lost, we start off with the Stewart Lee gig we went to last night, move through organisational transformation war stories, and end up at Estuarine Mapping – a method for navigating strategy when your substrate keeps shifting beneath you.Including-but-not-limited-to:Why the most dangerous person in the room is the one waiting for certainty to returnThe CEO confession that reveals what most executives are actually thinking during transformationWhat happens when you're getting your product (show, strategy, service, ...) ready in the way that normally works ... but the context keeps changingSubstrate, salt marshes, and granite cliffs: why your strategic estuary has different pace layers (and how to tell them apart)The counterintuitive move that matters way more than better planningWhy accepting that things won't settle is weirdly when things can start to shift for youThis one's for anyone who's ready to stop waiting for things to calm down already.ReferencesBen Sauer https://bensauer.net/Stewart Lee https://www.stewartlee.co.uk/Dishoom https://www.dishoom.com/Estuarine Mapping https://reach.crownandreach.com/posts/a-trip-into-the-estuaryFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Geoff" has been running critical parts of every business on a Byzantine spreadsheet empire for 20 years. Every IT department wants to regulate him. Who's right? (Trick question: you need both.)In this episode, we feel our way through the murky territory of protocols—from life-saving surgical checklists to shadow IT empires built by people like Geoff, who just want to get their jobs done without asking permission. What we discovered: protocols aren't the enemy. Neither are the people who break them. You need both, and—whether you like it or not—you're going to get both anyway.Fascinations:Why giving someone just enough control over how they wash dishes is a vital part of managementThe novel "tracer dye" method for tracking shadow IT (and why Geoff will quickly find a way around it)How a 19th-century doctor was ejected from the medical community for [gasp!] suggesting surgeons wash their handsHow expert oil rig workers can land helicopters in storms through tacit knowledge no checklist could captureThe difference between a checklist, a flow chart, and knowing when neither will save youHow social norms function as soft protocols (and why London Tube etiquette is more fragile than you think)This one's for anyone who's ever tried to bring order to chaos — and for anyone resisting someone else's attempt to do the same.Links and referencesVenkatesh Rao – "Summer of Protocols" / protocolization conceptVaughn Tan – "boring tiny tools" concept https://vaughntan.org/bttparadigmIgnaz Semmelweis – 19th-century physician who pioneered handwashingAtul Gawande – Author of The Checklist ManifestoDave Snowden – Cynefin framework / oil rig helicopter storyGary Klein – Expert intuition and pattern recognitionProcrustes – Greek mythology (innkeeper with the "one-size-fits-all" bed)Chick sexing – Example of tacit knowledge that can't be articulatedSocial protocols – Norms like cheek-kissing customs across culturesSimple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) / Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) – Technical protocol examplesFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the start of 2025, we faced a question: should we pack in our business and get [gasp] proper jobs? Our old brand felt like rotten decking – layers of horrible surprises with no clear foundation.But instead of quitting, we found an octopus, embraced distinctiveness over differentiation, and built something we're actually excited about.In this year-in-review, we trace a tangled thread from near-shutdown to genuine transformation, exploring what worked (uncertainty bubbles, relationship-driven growth, really good sandwiches) and what didn't (cold outreach, content marketing as a silver bullet, biscuits). Along the way, we workshop potential themes for 2026: bubbles, relationships, or possibly giant fluffy hats.Including but not limited to:Why Byron Sharp's evidence-based marketing vindicated our octopus obsession (distinctiveness > differentiation)The brutal realisation: thought leadership doesn't automatically convert to clients ... so what does?"The only thing worse than having a struggling business is having a successful business that you hate running"How our iterative approach to website messaging revealed insights no "big bang rebrand" could surface"Uncertainty bubbles" - presenting external certainty while protecting internal space for emergenceWhy we'll never do much cold outreach, even though it works for others, and what we're doing insteadThe hot seat moment that changed Tom's career: when someone just picked up the phone instead of planningThis one's for anyone building something that doesn't quite fit the playbook, wondering whether there's a way to grow without becoming someone you don't recognise.Links and references:Byron Sharp (marketing researcher, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute)Dolly Parton: "Figure out who you are and then do it on purpose"Adrian Tchaikovsky (author, Children of Ruin - source of crown & reach octopus metaphor)Ehrenberg-Bass Institute (evidence-based marketing research)Distinctiveness vs differentiation (branding principle)Uncertainty bubbles (concept from Tom's Deel masterclass)Safe-to-fail probes (complexity/Cynefin principle)4U Framework: Unpack, Undergo and Unfold UncertaintyGranularity, disintermediation and iteration (our hidden facilitation principles)Innovation Tactics (Tom's Pip Decks card deck - 50+ methods) https://collabs.shop/yxzsjgDecking metaphor episode (our previous year-in-review)What's your theme for the year? Did anything in this episode trigger a thought for you? tentacles@crownandreach.comFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the reason you can't find the right name for your experiments is because you're asking the wrong question?In this one, we tackle a deceptively simple question from friend-of-Tentacles Matti about behavioural scientists, voting SMS messages, and which Cynefin domain they're playing in. This spirals into a wonderfully messy exploration of why simulation has limits, why "safe to fail" needs better words, and what ice hockey can teach us about working in uncertainty.Including-but-not-limited-to:Why the person who thinks they can predict things in complexity is the most wrong of allAn ice hockey metaphor that might finally make Cynefin dynamics click (featuring goosebumps, but not just because it's cold)How Multiverse Mapping deploys simulation for coherence testing, not fortune tellingThe liminal zone between complicated and complex – and why most "experiments" live thereWhy you can't measure a system without changing itThe profound difference between "conditions and consequences" vs "cause and effect" thinkingWhy "poking reality" might be better than probes, scouts, or bets (or why we still can't decide)This one's for anyone who's tired of treating complex human behaviour like it's a physics problem – and anyone who's wondered why their "experiments" keep failing even though the logic seemed sound.Links and references:Matti J Heino (posed the question about voting SMS)Dave Snowden (Cynefin framework, Ritual Dissent)Jen Briselli (ice hockey player and fellow complexity wonk) https://medium.com/topology-insight/head-up-feet-moving-b56e60867190Wayne Gretzky (Canadian hockey player, "skate where the puck is going" quote)Ursula Le Guin (author, Earthsea series, concept of "true names")Sun Tzu (conditions and consequences thinking)Cynefin Dynamics https://cynefin.io/wiki/Cynefin_DynamicsLiminal Cynefin https://cynefin.io/wiki/Cynefin_DomainsTom's bounded applicability diagram https://triggerstrategy.com/pitch-provocationsMultiverse Mapping: https://multiversemapping.comMatthew principle / Matthew Effect ("to him that has riches, more will come")Schrodinger's cat / superpositionEpisode 131: Safe to Fail Boops: A Pragmatic Critique of Business Experimentation (mentioned as previous episode)Why Does the Pedlar Sing? (on advertising, branding, and fame)Find out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeff Bezos famously said not to overthink decisions you can just undo. But what if rolling back a change doesn't actually roll anything back?Tom and Corissa explore what can happen when you stack "reversible" experiments until the whole system collapses—from Facebook's slow degradation to an apocryphal Tesco story where undoing an experiment didn't fix what got broken.Along the way: sand pile criticality that can't be predicted, seaside penny waterfalls that cascade unpredictably, and why "safe-to-fail probes" might need a rebrand (spoiler: aliens).Including but not limited to:● The grain of sand you can't predict—and why that matters for your business experiments● When Subway cancelled unlimited salad and what it has in common with private equity acquisitions● The Tesco experiment that broke the camel's back● Throwing gravel from a boat in a storm● Three of the requirements for truly safe-to-fail experiments (and why most companies miss all three)● Boops vs. probes: finding language for experimentation that doesn't sound like something unpleasant that happens during an alien abductionThis one goes out to all our friends who suspect their "data-driven" culture is just pretending to control things it can't.References:● Jeff Bezos (Come on Jeff, get 'em!) – two-way door decisions concept● Heraclitus – "you can't step in the same river twice"● Sand pile and criticality (mathematical concept)● The Sorites Paradox – when does some sand become a pile of sand?● Enshittification – term and concept from Cory Doctorow● Rory Sutherland – restaurant story about private equity "meaner" portions● Tesco AB testing story (flagged as potentially apocryphal)● Dave Snowden – Cynefin framework and safe-to-fail probes● Path dependency (mentioned as topic of previous episode)● North Star metrics● Andrew Anderson – obliquely referenced in context of experimentation https://testingdiscipline.com/Questions, stories, or better names for "safe-to-fail boops"? Email us: tentacles@crownandreach.comFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Upton Sinclair said "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." But what if it goes deeper than salary? What if it's about identity itself?In this one, we explore why clear explanations often increase resistance, how an interior designer accidentally solved the change management problem, and what executive data analysis reveals when everyone plots different insights from the same numbers.From expert panels to Pimlico plumbers, we feel our way through the murky challenge of introducing ideas that threaten people's fundamental worldview – and discover that experience beats explanation every time.We get into:The Sinclair Effect: when understanding threatens identity (not just salary)Why simplifying your explanation can actually make your ideas MORE threateningThe executive data exercise that exposed beautiful chaos (everyone saw something different)The Winkler Constraint: how Caroline Winkler transformed her viewers' rooms with only three purchases allowed – and whyHow expertise shows up best under tight limitationsThe plumber parallel and why end customers don't care which wrench you useLeading with theory vs. leading with experience (and Tom's early mistakes)Opening portals vs planting flags, and the role of jammingWhy the saying "consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds" can hurt your career (ask us how we know)How to give people what they want while accidentally also giving them what they need (but without being manipulative about it)"You can't just not give people what they want. Then you are a blocker."References & linksUpton Sinclair - "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it"Jen Briselli and Kyle Godbey's "Field notes from the swamp" https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL89SttTTcPTGDdRlcQTcEqz4Ra9z2w0le&si=FC6O6zfbLCzykKm8Cynefin framework / complexity science (Dave Snowden)Caroline Winkler - YouTube interior designer https://youtu.be/ZvHM_VCybN0?si=CIPObJld8IM4Mc-XVenkatesh Rao - "Portals and flags" concept https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2014/06/25/portals-and-flags/Eleanor Roosevelt - (possibly apocryphal) "Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds"Pivot Triggers (Crown & Reach) When have you fallen over by leading with theory? When have you enabled an experience that let things shift by themselves? Drop us a line: tentacles@crownandreach.comFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can "insights" be pre-packaged? Should they be?In this one, we wade into the murky distinction between polished agency deliverables and raw, messy data exposure. From a bank that knew what it wanted (and just needed to show due diligence) to clients who fundamentally changed direction after reading customer transcripts, we explore when different approaches can actually work.Along the way we talk about how the iconic Rowan Atkinson Barclaycard campaign (UK only, we think) had absolutely nothing to do with the original brief – and how frequently that's the story of projects and innovation. We also mention AI because that's still a thing, and we reference "decision-based evidence-making" and how it's more common than you might think.This one's for anyone who's sat through a glossy presentation questioning whether the conveniently self-serving story is justified, and for anyone who's tried to synthesise insights for others and been left wondering why it doesn't seem to make a dent.Including but not limited to:● How a beloved Barclaycard ad campaign was thrown together in a last minute panic after the pitched idea fell apart● Gary Klein's chef's kiss definition of insight: "an unexpected jump to a new story you can't unsee"● The cost of pre-packaged, pre-masticated insights – if it's too easy to swallow there's no chewing needed● Why you can't know what counts as an insight in someone else's company● Decision-based evidence-making vs. evidence-based decision-making● The intense 7 hours of workshopping that "changed everything" for our client● How we use AI to clean transcripts (take out the ums and ahs) but not to generate insights ... because it can't● Why "disintermediation" might be the most important move in strategic research, though it's not an easy one to pull off● When glossy agency work actually serves the purpose perfectly● The opportunity cost that isn't about money, and why senior teams avoid the hard workLinks & referencesBook "Why Does the Pedlar Sing?" by Paul Feldwick (advertising/creativity)Gary Klein – insight definitionJonathan Korman – "decision-based evidence making" quip (though we think he credits someone else)Genchi Genbutsu – Toyota principle of "go and see"Pitch Provocations – our research method, message us for more!Multiverse Mapping – our mapping method4U Framework – our meta-methodologyQuestions, stories, or strongly-held opinions about research methods? Pop us a message: tentacles@crownandreach.comFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You've been told you must transform your business with AI. But you have no budget for consultants, no runway for experiments, and absolutely no permission to fail.So... what now?This is the impossible bind facing many executives right now. And spoiler: trying to brute-force it is exactly how you end up as the expendable experiment in someone else's portfolio.Drawing lessons from electricity infrastructure booms, a hapless lettuce entrepreneur, Tom Chi's plasticine prototypes, and our own white-knuckle cash crisis earlier this year, we explore what actually works when resources are scarce, pressure is high, and the path forward is genuinely uncertain.Including-but-not-limited-to:Complexity of abundance vs complexity of scarcity: why portfolio strategies collapse when you run out of eggs to put in basketsThe electricity/steam substrate shift: why you can't just "add AI" to your existing factory layout and expect magicWhy some execs are being set up as expendable experiments in someone else's portfolio ... and how to spot if you're one of themOur own near-death cash flow moment, and why we didn't buy any of the blueprints that promised us a solutionWatchful waiting: the counterintuitive move that actually worked when all we wanted to do was panicWhy the lettuce man was right but early, which is functionally the same as being wrongTom Chi and the art of radical cheapness: testing Google Glass with plasticine, wire, and half a dayThe oblique AI productivity hack where you get productivity ... but not by trying to be productiveHow to make experiments so cheap that you can afford to throw most of them awayTesting your core assumptions vs your peripheral ones—why people protect their existential beliefsThe dangerous middle ground: trying to get early adopter benefits without an early adopter resource cushionWhy substrate change happens through billions of individual choices, not top-down mandatesJP Castlin's bind: when your assumptions don't match reality, you can try to change your assumptions or you can try to change reality. Choose wisely."If you're really at the point where you've got no resources left, you have to focus on survival first. You can't do transformation when you're in survival mode."References:East of Eden by John Steinbeck (the lettuce carriage story)Shape Up by Ryan Singer / Basecamp (fat marker sketches)Dave Snowden - Cynefin framework https://cynefin.io/wiki/CynefinImre Lakatos - philosopher (research programs: core vs peripheral assumptions)JP Castlin https://strategyinpraxis.substack.comTom Chi - Google Glass rapid prototyping https://youtu.be/d5_h1VuwD6gRob Snyder - PULL framework, AI note-taker example https://howtogrow.substack.com/p/nobody-wants-aiJohn Cutler & Tom's article about leading in ambiguity https://cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-274-how-capable-leaders-navigateUncertainty bubbles / The Double Game (deliberate vs emergent strategy) Opportunity Method Format (OMF) https://shows.acast.com/triggerstrategy/episodes/052-omf-opportunity-method-formatMultiverse Mapping https://multiversemapping.com4U framework: Unpack, Undergo, Unfold - https://crownandreach.com/#resourcesObliquity by John KayThe Founder (McDonald's kitchen scene) https://youtu.be/F-7cjdtrQ9YMinority Report (gesture interface scenes)Episode on Founder Mode / Brat Summer https://shows.acast.com/triggerstrategy/episodes/073-brat-summer-for-billionairesEpisodes 007-009: Pitch Provocations: https://shows.acast.com/triggerstrategy/episodes/663109cbcff31b0012ae9326Find out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is your very job dissolving? You're not imagining it.As festive redundancy season rolls around (you've noticed the seasonal pattern too, right?), we explore how the boundaries around professional roles have been blurring and melting, and what that means for anyone who feels like their job identity is slipping away.Using the corollary of music – from vinyl singles through to algorithmic playlists — we map that to knowledge work. How do patterns of democratisation, "AI", and evolving business models play into what a job even is?And we look at how these cycles always create new opportunities from the mess. The big question is how to reposition yourself if the ground keeps shifting.Including-but-not-limited-to:● The bundling and unbundling pattern: from singles to albums to MP3s to playlists, and how it applies to your career right now● "Mandatory entrepreneurship" and the pressure to become self-employed even when you'd rather just do good work (hat tip Lex Roman)● How roles like designer, engineer, and product manager are blurring beyond recognition● Why jack-of-all-trades is hot again (and what that means for specialists)● Democratisation that scales quality vs. democratisation that cuts costs● How to joyfully remix your own job: what do you actually like doing and what would you happily leave behind?● Henrik Karlsson's musician story: what your role "ought" to mean vs. what you actually want to do● Practical strategies for increasing your luck surface area (without becoming a hustle bro)● The grieving process that comes with career rebirthFor anyone who's wondering why their carefully-built expertise suddenly feels less solid than it used to, and what the heck is next.References:John Harvey Jones - The Troubleshooter - at Morgan Cars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtDA714SdgQHenrik Karlsson's musician friend https://www.henrikkarlsson.xyz/p/constraintsEpisode 043: Do 100 Thing https://shows.acast.com/triggerstrategy/episodes/043-do-100-thingVisakan Veerasamy's Do 100 Thing https://www.visakanv.com/blog/do100things/Mandatory entrepreneurship concept from Lex Roman https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lexroman_were-you-forced-to-become-an-entrepreneur-activity-7371539212074004480-8Z7R"There's only two ways to make money in business: One is to bundle; the other is unbundle." - Jim Barksdale, former Netscape CEOCorissa's Ultrabangers playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3FFiwdRsFjMXYvye4lbzE4?si=9242add1c657441cFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom got AI to critique his sales call. The feedback was detailed, line-by-line, technically correct... and basically useless.In this episode, we dig into the surprising limitations of LLMs that most people don't seem to be talking about. Not the obvious media fluff about hallucinations or training data or taking everyone's jobs, but the deeper constraint: they can't reorient.We start with our experiment using an LLM to critique one of our client discovery calls, which led to an observation about what's missing. We talk about what happens when AI conducts research interviews, why care home robots are increasing the workload they're supposed to decrease, and the crucial difference between "reading all the books" and actually understanding what matters.This isn't anti-AI. It's about being clear about what these tools can and can't do, and why that matters for anyone doing customer research, strategy work, or trying to understand real human problems.Including-but-not-limited-to:Why the AI critique of Tom's sales call was technically brilliant but fundamentally unhelpfulBoyd's OODA loop and the missing "orientation" capability in LLMsWhat happened when someone showed up to a research call... with an AI interviewerThe emotion gap: why LLMs can't follow the rich seams of energy in a conversationWhy LLMs don't know when to pivot and when to pushJapanese care home robots that create more work than they save, and the babysitting idiots effectVenkatesh Rao's "it's read all the books" theory of LLM usefulness (and when it actually works)How our "expert panel" AI prompt is useful for critique—if you keep your critical thinking switched onWhy pattern-matching to words isn't the same as understanding contextYou heard it here second? Active inference models: the next wave beyond LLMs?If you'd like a copy of our experimental "expert panel of dissenters" prompt, email us at tentacles@crownandreach.com and remember the risk: it requires your critical thinking.ReferencesBen Ford ("Commando Dev") on No Way Out Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/agentic-ai-thinks-like-boyd-the-ooda-upgrade-llms-cant-touch/id1663685759?i=1000734032438Venkatesh Rao https://substack.com/@contraptionsJohn Boyd's OODA Loop and SnowmobilingJP Castlin's Strategy in Praxis https://strategyinpraxis.substack.com/p/the-only-one-writing-and-aiDave Snowden's Ritual Dissent - https://cynefin.io/wiki/Ritual_dissentFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q. When do teams want certainty the most? A. Exactly when it's least available!Not a joke. Just true. This time we look at the patterns of peak uncertainty: those make-or-break moments when an organisation desperately wants a clear plan but is operating in conditions where rigid plans are most likely to fail.We bang on about our Go to Market Sprint offering and the uncertainty-native methods behind it, especially Pitch Provocations. The fun of being deliberately wrong to discover what might actually be right.Including-but-not-limited-to:The peak uncertainty paradox: why the moment you most want a clear plan is when plans work leastThree patterns of peak uncertainty (and why all consultants wish they'd been called earlier)Pitch Provocations: testing with words on a page to surface hidden market constraintsWhy "I know it when I see it" is both valid intuition and a political safety netThe art of being deliberately wrong in the right wayHow to make the mess explicit (and why that's actually helpful)The vision chasm revisited ... and why emerging direction beats fixed visionWhy teams get stuck waiting for clarity while leadership waits for signalsThe cucumber gets pickled more than the brine gets cucumbered ... plus reading labels from outside the jarMeeting teams where they already are instead of trying to change how they work"We're not gonna persuade people to work in a different way. We're gonna meet you where you are... and do the bit that you don't wanna do."References:Pitch Provocations method (episodes 007-009 for introduction): https://shows.acast.com/triggerstrategyEpisode 061: Tumbling into the Vision Chasm: https://shows.acast.com/triggerstrategy/episodes/061-tumbling-into-the-vision-chasmThe "Four U" model: Unpack, Undergo & Unfold UncertaintyMultiverse Mapping: https://multiversemapping.comCrown & Reach's Go to Market Sprint – email hello@crownandreach.comFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do post office doors that won't open and door handles that scrape your knuckles have to do with product strategy?Something, it turns out.We start with Corissa's baffling post office experience (like in any good panto, the button is behind you!) and we tumble into the world of Norman Doors, affordances, and why bad design persists even when everyone knows it's bad.We turn the lens on our own home, where knuckle-scraping door handles have been annoying us (and our guests) for 3 years. Why haven't we fixed them? And what does that tell us about organisational decision-making?This one's about the hidden complexity in "obvious" problems, the seesaw between pain and cost, and why sometimes the best solution is the one you didn't consider at first.Including-but-not-limited-to:Why adding more signs doesn't fix bad designThe economic systems that create Norman Doors in the first placeHow we got trapped thinking we had only two solutions (spoiler: there were more)The seesaw principle: pain of current situation vs. cost of the fixWhy visitors (to your home or product) spike your awareness of problems you've learned to ignoreManufacturing constraints vs. relaxing stories to see more optionsThe "replace just the worst handles" strategy and why mismatched might actually workWhen to burn the boats (or remove all the door handles) to force a resolutionAll in all, a v v Crown & Reach conversation about design, constraints, and decision-making. Recorded while walking, naturally.References:Norman Doors (Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things)Affordances and signifiers in designChesterton's Fence principlePlatform Incentive Gravity – episode 122 https://shows.acast.com/tentacles/episodes/68bc47099a81ed86f1aeafa1Tell us about your knuckle scraping doors and bodged remote controls - tentacles@crownandreach.comFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You've got a brilliant idea. Everyone agrees it could work. So why has it become the project nobody wants to hear about anymore?We dissect our Pitch Provocations method and package it up as a Go To Market Sprint that compresses 12 months of market learning into 3 weeks. We use a real agency case study to work out how to explain what we do (and realise we forgot to check how the story ended). This is strategy consulting behind the scenes: the wrestling match between method names and outcomes, the challenge of writing your own testimonials, and the uncomfortable question of whether "go-to-market" really means anything much to anyone.Plus: an unexpected musical interlude courtesy of a mobility scooter with a sound system.Some of the stuff we talk about:How good ideas turn into millstones and what can break the cycleWhy traditional market research creates reports nobody acts on (and what works instead)The 12-month learning compression: how Pitch Provocations actually delivers on this promiseMicro-projects vs. mega-builds: throwaway experiments that people actually want to doCustomer interviews as enjoyable therapy sessions (both sides enjoy them)Why Go To Market means different things to a startup founder vs. a corporate messaging leadThe estate agent's gambit: give away an 80-page instruction manual and see who still hires youHow to get teams generating their own ideas instead of nodding politely at yoursYou can't write the ending of a case study if you don't know how it actually turned outCommon sense thresholds: when does a micro-project stop being micro in your context?The bit about us being bad at this:We struggle in real-time with packaging our own work, forget to follow up on crucial details, and can't quite nail whether we're selling a method or a result. It's real, it's rambling, and if you've ever tried to explain what you do for a living, you'll recognise the feeling.For consultants packaging expertise, product teams sick of "build first, ask later," and anyone who suspects their next big project might quietly become the thing everyone dreads discussing.References:Pitch Provocations (Crown & Reach) - intro in episodes 007-009: https://shows.acast.com/triggerstrategyMultiverse Mapping - https://multiversemapping.comThe "4U" framework: Unpack, Undergo & Unfold UncertaintyRitual Dissent (Dave Snowden) - https://cynefin.io/wiki/Ritual_dissentInnovation Tactics deck (Pip Decks) - https://pipdecks.com/products/innovation-tacticsContact:tentacles@crownandreach.comFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Platform incentive gravity: it's why all the rental bikes end up at the bottom of hills, and why the most "popular" game on Roblox rewards you for doing absolutely nothing.Tom's teenagers declare Roblox dead, overrun by "slop games" where 200 million people "play" by opening the game and walking away. Meanwhile, the rich, creative games they actually love are withering with tiny player counts.We explore how platform economics create a gravitational pull toward the lowest common denominator—and what this reveals about meaning, metrics, and the hollowing out of engagement across all digital spaces.Including-but-not-limited-to:Why the most popular Roblox game rewards you for pressing zero keysThe bike rental study that perfectly explains platform incentive gravityHow gamification strips meaning in service of metricsWhy Tom's teenagers are already jumping ship to find actual creativityThe connection between AFK mechanics, auto-clickers, and social media engagementTrail Makers vs. slop games: what actually captivates vs. what just accumulates hoursWhether this connects to a broader meaning-making crisisHow to recognise when you're trapped in someone else's incentive structureFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OR: Swimming in sauce.From LinkedIn rants to airfield-based barbecue ... we talk about why adaptation beats detailed planning.When your carefully planned day out becomes a disaster, do you stick to the plan or pivot? We start with LinkedIn beef about scrappy MVPs, detour through a failed town visit with a toddler, and end up at an airfield watching planes while eating incredible brisket.This meandering conversation explores the tension between wanting to craft something properly and needing to experiment your way forward - whether you're building products, planning holidays, or figuring out your next career move.Including-but-not-limited-to:Why demanding a perfect brief upfront can be a career-limiting moveThe false choice between "scrappy rubbish" and "proper quality"How 1% of ideas actually work (so why invest everything in detailed plans?)The three routes to getting unstuck: power, influence, or acceptanceWhy external forcing functions are needed to kill zombie projectsWhen to follow the itinerary vs when to throw seeds and see what growsThe sliding scale from planned group tours to "book a flight and figure it out"How high stakes + high novelty requires a different kind of planningWhy you can't read the label from inside the bottleFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Remember that dress? The one that had the entire internet at each other's throats about whether it was white and gold or black and blue?Turns out it reveals something profound about how our brains work—and why getting your team aligned on a vision might be the wrong goal entirely.We dive into the viral dress phenomenon and explore what it teaches us about prediction, perception, and the challenge of alignment in organisations. From Andy Clark's "Experience Machine" to the bunny-duck illusion, we explore why our brains are prediction engines rather than cameras, and how this changes everything about strategy.Some stuff we talk about:Why your brain sends four times more signals outward than it receives inward (and what this means for finding your keys)The real difference between the dress debate and the bunny-duck illusionHow the dress reveals the fundamental problem with forcing everyone to see the same visionJP Castlin's three requirements for effective aspirations: precise, ambiguous, and fractalWhy zooming out beats analysing pixels when you're stuck in disagreementThe via negativa approach: sometimes it's easier to agree on where you DON'T want to goStoryboarding to envision behaviours not featuresThis one's for anyone who's ever wondered why smart people can look at the same thing and see completely different realities. And anyone who's tired of vision statements that sound like expensive wishes.Drop us a line: tentacles@crownandreach.comReferences"The Experience Machine" by Andy Clark https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/313594/the-experience-machine-by-clark-andy/9780141990583JP Castlin's Strategy in Praxis https://strategyinpraxis.substack.com/The dress (white/gold vs black/blue) https://www.wired.com/2015/02/science-one-agrees-color-dress/Bunny-ducking: https://reach.crownandreach.com/posts/bunny-duckingMultiverse Mapping https://multiversemapping.comPitch ProvocationsFind out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Glittery bags of words, scatterbrained tutors, or random concept triggerers? In this one we feel our way through the murky reality of AI tools—reaching our tentacles beyond all the silt that's been stirred up in the hype and panic. We think we've found some interesting nooks and crannies.We kick off with yet another "oops, used AI without checking" message that we received, then we share thoughts triggered by our own experiments with LLM-powered ritual dissent (as mentioned in the previous podcast – email tentacles@crownandreach.com if you'd like a copy of the prompt). Then we explore where tools like LLMs could be genuinely helpful versus when they're simply expensive confusion generators, with reference to some interesting experiments we've seen on our travels.Effective at the extremes in the role of a tutor: when you're an expert OR a complete beginner, not somewhere in the middleThe "random number generator" theory of LLMs as a trigger for concepts, ideas and processes you already knowPotential for designing LLM interactions that don't dumb you downWhy high-fidelity outputs are no longer a good proxy for high-quality thinking – the decades-long descent into polished incoherenceBag of words theory: LLMs necessarily can't generate coherence, only fluencyReal examples of where AI can save time (e.g. risk assessment templates) vs. where it fails (e.g. original strategy or thinking)How to avoid the "vibe-coded prototype" trap in both design and thinking (and possibly why most people still won't, even though it's technically easier than ever).ReferencesGerald Weinberg's classic "Secrets of Consulting" https://archive.org/details/secretsofconsult0000weinHazel Weakly's excellent piece on AI https://hazelweakly.me/blog/stop-building-ai-tools-backwards/Vaughn Tan's paper prototype that scaffolds critical thinking with LLMs https://vaughntan.org/aiuxEd Zitron's Where's Your Ed At – the firebrand pointing out the nakedity of the emperor https://www.wheresyoured.atPavel Samsonov's solid critique https://productpicnic.beehiiv.com/p/human-in-the-loop-is-a-thought-terminating-clichePhilip Morgan ... couldn't find where he wrote about aspects of risk capacity, but he's here: https://philipmorganconsulting.com/Dave Snowden's Ritual Dissent https://cynefin.io/wiki/Ritual_dissentOur method Multiverse Mapping https://multiversemapping.comOur method Pitch Provocations (old episodes 007-009 for a rough intro) https://shows.acast.com/triggerstrategyClass action lawsuit against Anthropic re: training data https://www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-author-contact/Find out more about us and our work at crownandreach.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.