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“…Many have named parts of it. Social researchers document the collapse of trust. Mental health researchers track the ri...
07/13/2026

“…Many have named parts of it. Social researchers document the collapse of trust. Mental health researchers track the rise in depression and what looks increasingly like civilisational exhaustion. Economists map the concentration of wealth and power. Philosophers mark the loss of shared meaning. The therapists see all of it arriving in their offices in waves that do not recede.

What nobody has yet named is the underlying condition that makes all of these things possible at once: the loss of orientation capacity. The capacity of a person, an organisation, a civilisation to stay in contact with what is actually real. To read the terrain rather than the inherited map. To act from a genuine picture of conditions rather than a performance of certainty about them.

That is the fracture beneath the fractures. And it has not had a name, until now….”

To read the full article head over to The Age of Absurdity Substack.
Join the conversation.

https://open.substack.com/pub/ageofabsurdity/p/the-orientation-crisis?r=6yfe4w&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

“…..The instrument was reading calm. The sky outside the window was not calm at all.I didn’t have a word for this yet. I...
07/13/2026

“…..The instrument was reading calm. The sky outside the window was not calm at all.

I didn’t have a word for this yet. It just felt absurd and wrong. I have one now - functional absurdity.

Functional absurdity occurs when a system continues to operate smoothly around an interpretation that no longer fits the reality people are actually living.

The training had a budget line. A certification process. A feedback form. Everything about it functioned perfectly. It just had almost nothing to do with what was actually about to happen to the people sitting in that room…..”

To read more, head over at The Age of Absurdity over at Substack.
Join the conversation.

https://open.substack.com/pub/ageofabsurdity/p/the-birth-of-functional-absurdity?r=6yfe4w&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

I have spent years listening to what people say after the official conversation ends. The half-laugh. The message sent a...
06/16/2026

I have spent years listening to what people say after the official conversation ends. The half-laugh. The message sent after the call. “You can’t make this stuff up.”

I now have a place to explore what that actually means.

The Age of Absurdity is an inquiry into absurdity, orientation, and what happens when the maps we use to navigate work, organisations, and modern life no longer match the terrain. Its located on Substack.

It is also how I am writing my book, RECLAIM, in public. Part social commentary, part research, part guide for anyone who has felt the fracture and wants to find their bearings again.

The first essay and first post are both live today. Come join the inquiry by subscribing.

https://lnkd.in/gBTVuYHy

Everyone knows that “dancing guy” video. One person starts to dance.The crowd is watching him. But then one person joins...
04/25/2026

Everyone knows that “dancing guy” video. One person starts to dance.
The crowd is watching him. But then one person joins.

That second person changes everything. After that, it’s no longer strange to be dancing in the middle of a field. It turns into a movement. It lowers the risk for everyone else to join.

In meetings, it shows up a bit differently. But, the same dynamic is at play. I’ve been running a small field test with consultants and leaders around the world as they lead or experience meetings, real-time.

Amongst a few key questions they’re testing, one is simply:
“Can we sanity check. Are we actually aligned?”

What happens next is surprisingly consistent. The room pauses.
One person says they don’t fully get it. Then someone else says the same.
Within minutes, the conversation shifts. It’s not the question that changes things.

It’s the moment someone says what others were already noticing.
That’s the first follower.

This is an example of what I’m calling Alignment Theater. Where everyone agrees in the moment, but shared understanding hasn’t actually formed.

Organizations say they want speed. Move fast. Be agile. Empower teams.But the approval process often looks like this.Dec...
03/09/2026

Organizations say they want speed. Move fast. Be agile. Empower teams.

But the approval process often looks like this.
Decisions bounce from box to box…
Review → revise → re-review → escalate → revisit.

The structure still concentrates authority while asking teams to move quickly.

That contradiction creates a strange experience inside organizations:
Everyone is told to run.
But the system keeps adding hurdles. Hmmm...

What’s up with that?
What’s the most absurd approval process you’ve seen?

Deep Dive: When progress is real… but something still feels off.On paper, it’s working.But shared clarity is thinning.Tr...
03/07/2026

Deep Dive: When progress is real… but something still feels off.
On paper, it’s working.

But shared clarity is thinning.
Trade-offs stack quietly.
Responsibility concentrates without announcement.

Humor starts doing more work than it should.
Nothing looks wrong.
That’s the problem.

February’s Deep Dive explores what happens when visible progress masks subtle drift.

I call it the Recalibration Gap.
Inside:
• How competence under pressure absorbs strain
• Why “fine” is often a lagging indicator
• What humor reveals when tension has no formal outlet
• How to design recalibration back into tempo before maneuvering room narrows

This is about noticing early signals while you still have room to adjust.
Read the full Deep Dive at Behavingbadlyhq.com

Where does progress look strong but orientation feel thin?

Somewhere along the way, “Let’s think about it” became a luxury item. The room to think feels smaller. Not physically. D...
03/01/2026

Somewhere along the way, “Let’s think about it” became a luxury item. The room to think feels smaller. Not physically. Decision-wise.

There used to be space to test. Space to question. Space to say, “Hold on, let’s look again.”

Now? We announce direction before the edges are visible. We activate initiatives while the ground is still shifting. We commit before the trade-offs are clear.

Momentum kicks in. And suddenly changing course is expensive. Politically. Financially. Reputationally.

That’s structural compression.

It doesn’t look dramatic. It looks efficient.
Until recalibration disappears.

The first step isn’t slowing everything down.
It’s noticing when your adjustment space is collapsing.

Before you commit, ask: Where is our room to recalibrate if new information surfaces?
If the answer is “nowhere,” You’re not choosing direction. You’re managing fallout.

When a system sends two opposing signals at the same time, people don’t relax. They perform. They stay visible. They pro...
02/24/2026

When a system sends two opposing signals at the same time, people don’t relax. They perform. They stay visible. They prove.

That tension?

That’s the squeeze.

The Workplace Squeeze course pilot is open right now. It helps leaders spot these contradictions before they turn into burnout or quiet exits.

You ever leave a meeting thinking:“That was clear.”And then by mid-afternoon, three different interpretations are in mot...
02/20/2026

You ever leave a meeting thinking:
“That was clear.”
And then by mid-afternoon, three different interpretations are in motion?

No drama.
No conflict.
Everyone nodded.
And yet…

Something drifted.

I’ve been noticing this pattern repeatedly.
Agreement is present.
Shared orientation is not.

Under pressure, we process just enough to move forward.
We assume alignment.
We move fast.
We fill in the gaps privately.
And that’s where subtle drift begins.

I’ve started calling this:
“The Alignment Mirage.”

It’s one of the recurring patterns I’m seeing inside modern compression conditions.

Field Note below.
If this feels familiar, where does it tend to show up for you?

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