THE NEUROSCIENCE BEHIND HANDS-ON CREATIVITY
When you're in focused "beta" mode there's little room to think creatively—it's the slower alpha brainwaves that let the brain connect the dots. A leadership and learning consultancy founder on why hands-on craft workshops act as a neurological reset, the risk of letting AI become our default thinker, and why we must guard against anthropomorphising tools that talk like teammates.
THE NEW RULES OF WORK
The "ideal worker norm" is giving way to the "inclusive worker norm"—and employees are driving the shift. An independent journalist on the return-to-office boomerang people aren't quietly accepting, why graduates are leaving offices to retrain in trades, and why L&D leaders should invest in their already-engaged employees, not just the ones who've checked out.
Culture & Wellbeing
No matter how much AI or tech we build, commerce is always about people—and people aren't machines. A writer and strategist on why the "why" is missing from productivity drives, why slapping values on the wall achieves nothing, and the one story-based exercise that can sharpen what your company stands for.
Culture & Productivity
You can't just lift and shift old office cultures into a hybrid world—most were built for face-to-face visibility and aren't fit for purpose. A former Head of HR and culture consultancy co-founder on the move from a culture of presence to one of connection, the metrics that reveal "always-on" burnout before the resignation lands, and why you can't have AI innovation in a culture of fear.
Reverse Mentoring
We're facing one of the widest generational divides the workplace has ever seen—and the risk is generations throwing stones rather than building on what's right. A commercial leader and founder on how reverse mentoring rebalances power, why one programme drove engagement to 100%, and why intergenerational intelligence is becoming a leadership asset.
Gen Z, work, and coming back differently
For Gen Z, it's not commitment to work that's shifting—it's commitment to employers who can't hold up their end of the bargain. The co-founder of an education studio on why hands-on making grounds us in a digital world, why parents make exceptional problem solvers, and why the future of work is human led and digitally enabled.
WELLNESS VIEWS
Yoga apps will not save a psychologically unsafe culture. A speaker, author and coach on why work will either make space for real humans or bleed talent—how leaders build trust by being predictable rather than perfect, why Gen Z won't tolerate monochrome cultures, and why wellbeing has to live inside how work is designed, not bolted on as a perk.
WORKPLACE CULTURE AND WELLBEING
Plato said you can discover more about a person in an hour of play than a year of conversation. A creative director and experience strategist on why play isn't un-serious—how flow-state brains are far more effective, why play levels hierarchies in hybrid teams, and why, as AI takes process off our plates, getting good at the human stuff is where the value lies.
Decisions That Matter
The modern world rewards speed, but that pace pushes us into rushed decisions we haven't fully weighed. A wellness coach and author on beating FOBO (the fear of a better option), why we've moved from linear careers to portfolio lives, and why—in an age of deep fakes—seeing is no longer believing.
Beyond The Tools
There's a documented loneliness epidemic, and it shows up at work. A Senior HR Business Partner on why "we're a family" misses the mark, why team building is the jump start and soft skills are the fuel, and why asking for feedback then ignoring it is the fastest way to lose trust.
Clarity in Complexity
Most teams aren't drowning because there's too much work—they're drowning because their systems make them fight to find it. A project management expert on why good operational design is wellbeing, why "soft skills" should be called "core skills," and why AI can't automate chaos.
Inside Modern Work
Our employers don't love us back—so we have to build networks, loose ties, and find meaningful purpose that won't come wholly from work. A Financial Times editor and author on what hybrid work has genuinely improved, why belonging has evolved into "mattering," and why trust is the one word that sums up what we need more of in 2026.
BEYOND AI: THE HUMAN SKILLS LEADERS CAN'T IGNORE
The skills that matter most in 2026 are the same ones that mattered in the 1990s—collaboration, empathy, communication, and the most overlooked of all: imagination. A magazine editor who interviews FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 leaders on agentic AI as a colleague, what happens when AI replaces people rather than jobs, and why we've built a system where society serves the economy rather than the other way around.
Let’s Talk Human Skills
If AI saves you time, how are you spending it? The founder of a human skills training company on why most workplaces never set aside time to build relationships, why expertise is now about synthesis rather than information, and the question to ask before handing any task to AI: do I need this done quickly, or do I need it to build a skill?