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In a world that won’t sit still, leaders can’t rely on outdated models built for stability and control.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. 32 Rethinking Value: Andy Wilkins on the Future of Health and Strategy That Learns
Host: Andy Wilkins
“Strategy must learn faster than the systems it seeks to change.”
In this episode, Andy Wilkins—futures thinker and co-founder of Future of Health—joins Mike Jones to challenge how we think about value in public services. They explore the limits of efficiency, the power of the Three Horizons framework, and why integrating lived experience into strategy is the key to meaningful transformation.
This is an honest, forward-looking conversation about designing systems that adapt, care, and endure.
All Episodes
Ep. 27 Beyond OKRs: Radhika Dutt on the Performance Trap and the Puzzle Mindset
OKRs and KPIs aren’t helping—they’re making organisations more fragile.
In this episode, Radhika Dutt joins Mike Jones to explore how performance metrics often become theatre, and why strategy needs a new logic. They unpack the puzzle mindset, the role of scaffolding, and how real leadership enables experimentation and learning—not just control. This is a bold conversation for anyone ready to move beyond metric chasing and build something resilient.
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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