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In a world that won’t sit still, leaders can’t rely on outdated models built for stability and control.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.
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Latest Episode
Ep. 13 Orientation is Everything: Mark McGrath on Boyd’s OODA, Disruption, and Strategic Adaptation
Guest: Mark McGrath
"Strategy isn’t about prediction—it’s about how you choose to orient to the world."
In this episode, strategist and former Marine Mark McGrath joins Mike Jones to explore how John Boyd’s thinking—especially the OODA loop—reshapes how we approach leadership, decision-making, and strategic evolution.
They dig into the real power of orientation, why most change efforts are performative, and how organisations decay when they cling to outdated ways of knowing. This is a sharp, expansive conversation about thriving in disruption—by paying attention to what we ignore, and rethinking what we think we know.
All Episodes
Ep. 13 Orientation is Everything: Mark McGrath on Boyd’s OODA, Disruption, and Strategic Adaptation
You can’t plan your way through uncertainty—but you can orient through it.
In this episode, strategist and former Marine Mark McGrath joins Mike Jones to explore how leaders can use John Boyd’s thinking to stay adaptive in a fast-moving world. They unpack the power of orientation, the illusion of prediction, and how small changes ripple through complex systems. From Wall Street to military lessons, this is a grounded conversation about strategy, learning, and the hidden forces that shape organisational survival.
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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