WHERE LEADERS RETHINK HOW STRATEGY WORKS IN THE REAL WORLD
The traditional approach to strategy is broken.
In a world that won’t sit still, leaders can’t rely on outdated models built for stability and control.
Strategy Meets Reality is a podcast for leaders, strategists, and thinkers who want real insight—not theory. Hosted by organisational psychologist and systems thinker Mike Jones, each episode cuts through the noise with honest conversations from people who’ve lived the complexity, made the tough calls, and rethought what strategy means in practice.
🎧 New episodes every Tuesday
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Meet your Host:
Mike Jones
Mike Jones is a systems thinker, organisational psychologist, and former British Army soldier.
He’s worked as a strategy and execution advisor to senior executives across rail, tech, and government to rethink how strategy actually works in complexity.
He founded LBI Consulting and author of the upcoming book When Strategy Meets Reality.
All Episodes
Ep. 36 BS at Work with James Healy: Why Organisations Create Nonsense and How to Fix It
Most organisations design environments that make work harder, not easier.
In this episode, applied behavioural scientist and author James Healy joins Mike Jones to explore why so much of modern work is nonsense. They discuss e-learning that teaches nothing, metrics that distort behaviour, collaboration that never materialises, and the belief that more policies, more controls and more technology will fix human problems. James explains why behaviour is shaped by environment and why the most powerful move leaders can make is to remove what gets in the way.
A practical, entertaining and challenging conversation for leaders who want to design work that actually works.
Ep. 35 Rethink Risk with Denis Fischbacher Smith: Vulnerabilities, Threats and the Reality of Organisational Failure
Risk is not a number on a matrix. It is an understanding of threats, vulnerabilities and the controls that may or may not work when they are needed most.
In this episode, Professor Denis Fischbacher Smith joins Mike Jones to explore the realities of organisational failure. They discuss why humans will never be fully rational, why decision making depends on perspective, and why most organisations misuse the idea of risk. From degraded controls to bureaucracy, informal networks and the truths hidden in rule violations, this is a deep conversation on navigating uncertainty and building resilience.
Ep. 34 No Bullshit Strategy with Alex Smith: Why Strategy Is a Doing Discipline, Not a Thinking Exercise
Strategy is not a thinking exercise. It is a doing discipline.
In this episode, Alex Smith joins Mike Jones to challenge how organisations approach strategy. They explore why most leaders zoom in when they should zoom out, why customer led thinking kills innovation, and why the real work starts with identifying what is wrong with your industry and making a move that competitors cannot copy. From sacrifice to action, this episode strips strategy back to its essentials.
Ep. 33 Freedom Within Constraints: Julian Chender on Strategy, Capabilities and Navigating Organisational Reality
In this episode, Julian Chender—organisational design expert and founder of 11A Collaborative—joins Mike Jones to explore how strategy really plays out inside purpose-driven organisations. They dig into how structure, leadership, and capabilities shape execution—and how to create the space for teams to thrive within real-world constraints.
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