10 years, 10 lessons: what we’re taking into 2026

This year, our tenth year, we’re taking a moment to pause, to reflect, and to gather the lessons that matter. A decade inside organisations gives you a certain vantage point. You stop seeing isolated issues and start recognising patterns: the blockers that repeat, the shortcuts that hurt, the habits that drain teams, the choices that help things move faster. And 2025 has only sharpened that view for us. 

Across industries, the challenges look different on the surface, but the underlying causes rarely change. The organisations we work with are often battling the same friction: scattered processes, unclear responsibilities, decision-making bottlenecks, and ways of working that simply can’t keep up with the pace they need. In every engagement, reporting, operations, leadership support, transformation, the lessons are familiar, and they show up everywhere. 

Some of those lessons have become impossible to ignore. Programmes lose momentum when they’re designed too big and too theoretical, and progress comes when you start small and with intention. Days fill quickly with tasks, but it’s outcomes that shape impact.

Expectations drift quietly unless they’re managed with care, and problems always appear later if they’re not handled early. Your word isn’t a tagline - it’s your reputation. And the strongest relationships are built long before you ever need them. 

We’ve also seen how powerful it is when teams really understand their clients and markets - not just the headlines, but the pressures, ambitions and constraints underneath. We’ve watched organisations transform when they dare to differentiate, when they co-create instead of impose, when they stay practical instead of over-engineering, when they deliver with discipline rather than noise. Just a few hints of what’s to come. 

That’s why, as we enter our tenth year in 2026, we’re launching something new: 10 lessons for 10 years - a series that captures the practical insights we’ve gained from a decade of solving problems that hold organisations back. These lessons reflect the patterns we see repeatedly and the choices that separate the teams that move with confidence from the ones that stay stuck. 

In each lesson, Gary and Niall will explore themes we see across organisations, including: 

• why certain problems keep returning 

  
  

• where friction hides (and how to remove it quickly) 

  
  

• what slows leaders down without them realising 

  
  

• the habits that quietly drain capacity 

• the operational moves that create the biggest lift. 

The aim is simple: to give leaders the practical clarity they rarely have time to articulate for themselves. A decade of this work has shown us that businesses don’t need more noise. They need cleaner operations, clearer decision paths and ways of working that reduce drag and create direction, and they need clarity they can act on. 

Throughout this year, we’ll share one lesson at a time, and we’ll try to keep it short, sharp, and grounded in the reality of running and scaling organisations. We’re excited for what’s ahead, and we’ve stepped into our tenth year ready to share what really makes a difference.