What Trainspotting Taught Me About Experience
When two people are standing side-by-side watching the same event, is our experience the same? My brother loves trainspotting. And to be honest, I never understood why. Unlike birdwatching, where you never know what species you’ll see, trains are predictable. They run on tracks and they run on timetables. This means you know where they […]
What an Anthropologist Taught Me About Experience
Most people think experience is all about having seen something before. But what if it’s not? In the first conversation in my On Experience series, I sat down with corporate anthropologist Michael Henderson. I expected that our entire talk would be about organisational culture. Some of it was, but for most of it we ended up […]
What the Socceroos Penalty Shootout taught me about Experience
Sometimes we see problems through the lens of age or skill, when the real issue is experience. Previously, I wrote about Tony Popovic’s dilemma: Do you back the experienced veteran, or the rookie who is in outstanding form? Just before the penalty shootout against Egypt, Popovic substituted Patrick Beach for veteran goalkeeper Mat Ryan. It […]
What the Socceroos taught me about Experience
When should you back experience? And when should you back potential? As leaders, It’s one of the most difficult decisions we have to make. The 2026 FIFA World Cup has given us a fascinating example. Before Australia’s opening match, coach Tony Popovic made a bold decision. He dropped captain and veteran goalkeeper Mat Ryan; one […]
What a Designer taught me about Experience
What if experience is not about what you know? Recently, I sat down with Industrial Designer Philippe Guichard for a conversation on On Experience. Given I’m a former architect, we naturally talked about design and creativity. Plus, we talked about ego, failure, culture and comic books. But the biggest insight I took away wasn’t really about design […]
What a Shark Attack taught me about Experience
How do you work out what to do when you have no experience match for the situation you’re facing? A woman was attacked by a shark at Coogee Beach this week (14 June 2026). Nearby was Charlie Vercoe, an experienced paddle boarder and surf lifesaver, who helped her to shore. This struck me as an […]