K Shel Blogs

Blog Posts

  • Two words

    A passing glimpse of entangled geography, perception, and power. Walking along one of our favourite stretches of the Dorset coastal path – not any designated viewpoint or charming hamlet, just the winding track itself – we encountered another couple coming towards us. We exchanged the usual walker’s nod, and then, as the man passed, he…

  • When the blueprint doesn’t fit the building

    How systems thinking exposes organisational blind spots – and what we do about them This post sits alongside ‘What can it do?‘, another reflection on the gap between designed intention and lived performance. Where that piece explored the urgency of creative problem-solving in the moment, this one zooms out to look at the structural tensions…

  • What can it do? (Revisited)

    Systems thinking, resistance, and the ethics of pushing change In 2014, I wrote a short blog post inspired by the film Apollo 13. You’ll probably know the scene – the ground crew, faced with a deadly carbon dioxide crisis in the spacecraft, are given the ultimate improvisation challenge. One technician tips a box of seemingly…

  • Held together, loosely: The space isn’t changing

    Part of the Held together, loosely mini series. Some systems are built not to move. They’re cemented by hierarchy, hardened by habit, and buffered by the comfort of routine. When you encounter these systems, it can feel like running at a wall – again and again – with nothing to show but bruises and fatigue. And if…

  • Held together, loosely: How do you relate to someone angry at the system you’re part of?

    Part of the Held together, loosely mini series. There’s a particular kind of discomfort that I’ve encountered a few times now – enough for it to start forming a pattern. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it stays with me. Someone – a colleague, a collaborator, a partner – brings frustration to the…

  • Held together, loosely: The edge of control

    Part of the Held together, loosely mini series. I like clarity. I like purpose. I like getting things done. That’s not a confession – it’s a pattern I’ve often been praised for. I bring order. I move things along. I cut through. When a team is drifting, when a problem feels stuck, when people seem…