Screw the algorithm
Content has collapsed into algorithmic hell. Here's what's going on - and what I'm trying to do about it.
Think for yourself
Thinking is going out of fashion. While others outsource their brain to a chatbot, keep your intellectual independence.
Thinking
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The idiot test
If people on the internet seem stupid or evil, pay closer attention. Your bubble might be morphing into an echo chamber.
When it all seems too much, pick up a book
Reading gives us perspective on our place in history and humanity. Here are two books that made me cry like a baby.
How to conquer apathy
The unequivocal solution I would die in a ditch for.
How to lead in the Subjective Era
The Subjective Era will reward leaders and organisations who optimise for two things: trust and human agency.
Sneak peek! Power literacy WIP
An inside look at creative incubation - and an emerging framework for power literacy.
Make friction cool again
Why speed is overrated and thinking is under threat
What if you’re a character in someone else's story?
What The Slap can teach us about our opinions.
Stories
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From custom to conscience: calling bullshit on old thinking
Premarital sex, power literacy, chocolate cake: in. Class structures, outdated morality, fruit cake: out.
WTF do you want? Desire is suspicious; productivity a scam.
First Friday Flurry of 2026 goes hard.
The ambition vacuum
Ambition depends on shared stories about the future. The old stories have collapsed, leaving a vacuum of inevitability and futility, especially around AI, the climate, and democracy.
The busker principle
We underpay the work with the highest social value. In the new world, this toxic trait will be our undoing.
The P Tax
How we punish women's ambition - and what to do about it
Poppy loppers
Why Kiwis snark at success. Welcome to the first piece in a six-part series on the ambition recession.
June 2025 Book Report
A mixture of crotch-wetting, tear-shedding and hope-for-humanity books to improve your month
Introducing The Ambition Recession
A new essay series is on the way.
Power
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Critical thinking is not enough. It's time you learned about power
Numbers and words are cool, but we have calculators and ChatGPT now. What you need is POWER LITERACY.
May 2025 Reading Journal
Short stories, essays and memoir to get you thinking, but in manageable chunks (+ a prompt for a mid-year reset.)
April 2025 Reading Journal
From China to Aotearoa + a focus on form
March 2025 Reading Journal
Big sad stories packed with perspective
Boost your focus: reclaim your attention in a digital world
Reclaim your focus by creating physical, mental, and temporal space. Learn practical tips to overcome a hyper-digital life and make room for thought and connection.
Three ingredients of perspective
Perspective isn't pop-psychology or esoteric waffle. It's good decision-making practice with tangible application. In this post, I outline the three ingredients of perspective: horizon, significance, and connection.
Stave off mediocrity with perspective and purpose
You've only got one life, and it's in your hands. Nobody else can decide the direction of your life and impact.
Stories
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Understanding idea technology
The ideas we have shape the world we live in. We need to question those ideas regularly, to create a society we can be proud of.
How to ask bigger questions
Most people ask small questions, so they make small-time progress. Learn to ask big questions for bolder choices and better results.
Identity
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Two unusual questions to help you understand yourself (and your work)
You probably know what you want to do. You might to ask need some different questions. Here's two.
The creator economy, cannibalism, and speed painting
Plus: books about weird chicks doing weird stuff.
Bad books, organised books, books-in-progress
I point proudly at my bookcase like a child showing off their things on a playdate and tell you about a couple I creepily observed at a restaurant last year.
Knitting
Six terrific books to add to your pile, a reflection on why you're probably a disproportionate asshole in your relationships and a hopeful note on AI in a late-capitalist wasteland.
Work
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10 questions to boost your professional credibility
Bad questions make you look stupid. Good questions make you look smart. Killer questions make you look strategic.
Saving time
This week's Friday Flurry goes deep on Jenny Odell's new book, and gets a bit meta. What is time, what is it for, and how healthy is your relationship with it? Is that your fault? (Spoiler: no.)
AI
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How to stop AI from stealing your job
ChatGPT is the latest AI tool to break the internet. Learn how to beat AI and stop it stealing your job by asking better questions.
Serve the room: questions to ask for leadership success
Level up the questions you ask to make connections, drive progress and show true leadership.
10 business and self-help books for your summer
Check out Alicia's top 10 business and personal development books for your summer 2022 reading list.
Strategy
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Bright spot thinking
Business planning in a recession asks for bright spot thinking. Work backwards from the things that are working instead of focusing on problems.
Risk
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Beyond busy: ask scary questions
We're all so busy - but what are we masking with those choices? Go beyond busy and ask yourself some scary questions.
Strategy
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3 strategic thinking skills that get you what you want
Achieve more of your goals and get more of what you want with these 3 strategic thinking skills.
My top leadership reads
The best leadership books for the modern leader, vetted by Alicia McKay.
Trust
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The mistrust epidemic: why we don't trust anyone at work
Trust at work is declining, with disastrous consequences. Learn why this is happening and how you can rebuild trust in your workplace.
Change
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How to handle uncertainty (because it's harder than change)
We need less change management and more uncertainty management. Here's how to play The Question Game.
Trust
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How to make people listen: be trustworthy
The level of influence you have on others is directly proportionate to the level of trust they have in you.
Thinking needs space
Expecting to do important, different work inside the same constraints, environments and attitudes is a fools game.
Systems
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How to grow from stress: quick questions to dig deeper
Dig below the surface and grow from stress by asking better questions.
Trust people to do a good job: your delegation toolkit
Struggling to trust your teams to get on and do a good job? Here's three things you can do to make delegation easier.
When in doubt, zoom out
Perspective is a funny old thing - the things that are huge when they're right in front of us seem to get smaller when they're further away...
Change
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Earn trust: engaging for change
When it comes to rolling out change, courting is the key. We can't go straight to total commitment and participation without earning our way along.
Videos
Resources
Cognitive Sovereignty Playbook
Ten practical ways to defend your mental territory
Opinionated workshop recording
In this workshop, participants interrogated and upgraded their opinions.
Opinionated Toolkit
Practical resources to interrogate and improve your opinions