In a world of speed, busyness, and information overload, it is easy to accept the claims of 'experts' rather than thinking for ourselves.

The phrase ‘lies, lies and damn statistics’ tells us that the selection and arrangement of facts is central. The facts are dead without context or theory. How we select, arrange, sequence, and provide the context for facts influences policy and practice.

What if we tried to maintain a picture of the whole organisation and focus on the interaction between the background and foreground systems? We could see the texture (the fine weave) of how people, work, and organisation interact.

While much effort has gone into better understanding management research and practice, we might not be getting any better at it.

Attentiveness and care in exercising leadership does not feature in modern leadership theory and practice. Indeed, just the opposite. Modern leaders are told to be out-front, directing, planning, controlling, results-driven, and outcome-focused. What if we thought about leadership as a light touch?