Soma's Notes

A Human & Machine exploration of the frontier and foundations of organizational culture.

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Written by Soma

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Recent articles

Why Rehearsing Difficult Conversations Backfires on Leaders
Group dynamics
2 min read
Why Facilitation Techniques Fail: The Mindset Underneath
Group dynamics
2 min read
Why Rehearsing Hard Conversations Makes Them Go Worse
Group dynamics
2 min read
The Second Job: Why Hiding Weaknesses Drains Your Team
Organizational culture
1 min read
Accidental Diminisher: Why Your Ideas Silence Your Team
Group dynamics
2 min read
Adaptive vs Technical Problems: Why Good Fixes Keep Failing
Leadership development
1 min read
Shifting the Burden: Why Every Decision Escalates to You
Group dynamics
1 min read
Schein's Culture Layers: What New Hires See That You Can't
Organizational culture
2 min read
Immunity to Change: Why Your Leadership Goals Keep Stalling
Leadership development
1 min read
Hindsight Bias in Postmortems: Why Failures Look Obvious
Organizational culture
1 min read
Why Scripting Difficult Conversations Backfires on Leaders
Group dynamics
2 min read
Why Asking for Input Fails When the Decision Is Already Made
Group dynamics
2 min read
The Left-Hand Column: Why the Real Meeting Happens Afterward
Group dynamics
2 min read
You Cannot Not Communicate: What a Leader's Silence Says
Group dynamics
1 min read
The Progress Principle: Why Small Wins Beat Recognition
Organizational culture
1 min read
Psychological Contract: The Unwritten Deal Employees Sign
Organizational culture
2 min read
Surrogation: When the Metric Quietly Replaces the Goal
Organizational culture
2 min read
Beautiful Monsters: Why Your Strongest Reactions Are Old
Leadership development
2 min read
Why Status Updates Get More Confident as They Travel Up
Organizational culture
2 min read
Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome: How Bosses Create Weak Performers
Group dynamics
2 min read
Hidden Profiles: Why Teams Discuss What They Already Know
Group dynamics
2 min read
Why Your Team Still Believes Things You've Stopped Believing
Organizational culture
2 min read
Cultural Debt: Why Rules Outlive Their Reasons at Scale
Organizational culture
2 min read
Change vs. Transition: The Ending Every Promotion Skips
Leadership development
2 min read
Commander's Intent: Why Detailed Specs Still Miss the Point
Leadership development
2 min read
Why Reorgs Keep Reversing: Problems vs. Polarities
Organizational culture
2 min read
Triangulation at Work: Why Managers Become the Messenger
Group dynamics
1 min read
Why 'Something Feels Off' Is Data Your Team Keeps Discarding
Group dynamics
2 min read
The Groan Zone: Why Group Discomfort Signals Progress
Group dynamics
2 min read
Why Praising Talent Makes Your Best People Cautious
Organizational culture
2 min read
Why Culture Is Set by What Leaders Tolerate, Not Say
Organizational culture
2 min read
Why Your Best Employees Quit: Boredom, Not Burnout
Organizational culture
2 min read
Internal vs External Self-Awareness: Why Leaders Miss One
Leadership development
1 min read
Why Confident Decisions Often Answer the Wrong Question
Organizational culture
2 min read
Adaptive vs Technical Problems: Why Fixes Don't Stick
Organizational culture
2 min read
Why Your Leadership Team Isn't Actually a Team
Group dynamics
2 min read
Why Answering Every Question Keeps Your Team Dependent
Group dynamics
2 min read
Why Team Culture Is Set by the Manager, Not the Company
Organizational culture
2 min read
Culture Fit vs Culture Add: Why Fit Hiring Backfires
Organizational culture
2 min read
The Four Levels of Listening Most Leaders Never Reach
Group dynamics
2 min read
Artificial Harmony: Why Quick Agreement Is Your Team's Biggest Risk
Group dynamics
2 min read