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In a world that won’t sit still, leaders can’t rely on outdated models built for stability and control.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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Latest Episode
Ep. 12 Designing Strategy: Leanne Sobel on Fusing Design Thinking with Strategic Practice
Guest: Leanne Sobel
"Strategy needs to be usable, not just deliverable."
In this episode, Leanne Sobel—Director of Strategic Design at Snowmelt and PhD researcher—joins Mike Jones to explore how design thinking can make strategy more reflective, adaptive, and human.
They unpack why traditional strategies often fail to engage those they affect, and how design practices like stakeholder sensemaking, iterative planning, and reflective decision-making can unlock commitment and capability. This is a conversation about fusion, not opposition, and why strategy must be shaped with people, not just for them.
All Episodes
Ep. 12 Designing Strategy: Leanne Sobel on Fusing Design Thinking with Strategic Practice
Strategy isn’t just a plan—it’s a practice.
In this episode, Leanne Sobel joins Mike Jones to explore how design reshapes strategy from a static product into a dynamic, participatory process. They unpack the power of reflection, feedback, and stakeholder sensemaking—and why design thinking, done right, isn’t fluff—it’s strategic rigour in action.
Ep. 11 No Silver Bullet: Reconnecting Strategy, Change, and Leadership with Steve Hearsum
Quick fixes won’t fix your culture. And communication isn’t change.
In this episode, Steve Hearsum joins Mike Jones to challenge the illusions that derail organisational change. They unpack why so many efforts fail, how strategy and leadership become disconnected, and what it really takes to build capability, coherence and commitment—from the inside out.
Steve is the author of No Silver Bullet, a book that asks tough questions most leaders avoid—and offers a way through that doesn’t start with a model, but with honesty.
Ep. 10 Open Strategy in Practice with Julia Hautz: Turning Participation into Strategic Advantage
Openness won’t mean consensus—but it can create real commitment.
In this episode, Julia Hautz joins Mike Jones to explore how open strategy challenges the tradition of closed-door planning and builds legitimacy through structured participation. From navigating crisis to reshaping culture, this is a call for leaders to rethink how strategy gets made—and who gets to shape it.
Ep. 09 Futures, AI, and the Illusion of Certainty: Rethinking Strategy with Matt Mullan
AI won’t give you certainty—but it can sharpen your imagination.
In this episode, Matt Mullan joins Mike Jones to explore how leaders can use AI and futures thinking not to predict the future, but to expand strategic options, build agency, and challenge outdated decision-making rooted in the past. From human-machine teaming to scenario planning, this is a call for leaders to rethink how they make sense—and take action—in uncertainty.
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.
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