jon thorne

The part of NLP that fascinated me most was never the terminology. It was modelling. And modelling is often mistaken for imitation. Copying what an excellent performer does visibly may reproduce the appearance of the performance while missing what organises it. What are they noticing? What state do they access? What sequence do they run? What tells them they’re on track? What feedback makes them adjust? Then comes the important part: test the model. If the distinctions don’t transfer anything useful, change the model. That is why modelling still excites me. It turns excellence from something to admire into something we can investigate. The carousel shows how I think about that process.

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Productivity is one of those words we hear constantly. But what are we actually asking for? Too often, the answer seems to be: work harder, work faster and fit more into every hour. Yet productivity is also shaped by investment, skills, technology, management, health—and whether people can think and work effectively under pressure. That makes it much more than a measure of individual effort. I’ve taken a closer look at Britain’s productivity problem, including where workplace wellbeing may fit—and where the evidence does not justify easy claims. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/e-5_h4nZ In your experience, what helps people work better—and what most often gets in their way?

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A 'New' kind of Mind Map thinking? Learning with Liam Hughes a few weeks ago (Biggerplate.com), Liam was BIG on the message that Mind Mapping is a highly valuable process. The process of thinking is the focus, the map being the output. I've been playing (the right word for my insatiable curiosity about how AI can animate 'living mind maps') with bringing movement into mind maps. The results have been unexpected each and every time - a great catalyst for creativity. Here, the AI, not only interpreted my existing Template Map in a new way, it even added a description. I'm sure someone before this map has used a linear time-line between inputs and outputs on a Mind Map (from left-to-right sides of the map respectively), however, it captured my attention and interest anew, inspiring some experiments to come. It's a kind of Mind Map meets Fishbone Analysis. #mindmap #mindmapping #thinking

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At CAC, Purposeful Play creates spaces where organizations and coaches connect, reflect, and lead in their communities. It’s powerful to see this growing focus on impact beyond the field. Thank you Mark Kelly for highlighting this conversation with our founder Nick Gates — and the deeper value of reflecting on the work we do.

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Does AI coaching work? “The short answer is: more than most people assume, but also less than the hype suggests. The emerging academic literature is reasonably consistent on three points. AI coaching works, it works differently from human coaching, and its value depends heavily on what task you are trying to optimize.” Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic I’m not convinced it’s the right question to ask. It’s assumtive and leading. But interesting summary of some research in the article attached non the less. #aicoaching Valentina Passoni MSc, PCC, CPCC, TLCP Candy Jannetta Rob Schilling Douglas Brown Lynne Irwin Sanctus Coaching & Mentoring

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Coaching the Culture: Master Coach Mindset for Leaders Post 8 of 25 – The Leader’s Guide to Culture From managing performance to coaching emergence Traditional leadership relies on management: set targets, monitor performance, reward compliance. But cultures don’t thrive on management alone. They flourish when leaders act as coaches — not just of individuals, but of the culture itself. In The New Master Coach, I describe coaching as a practice of listening, presence, and emergence. A master coach does not impose solutions; instead, they create the conditions where insight and growth arise. Applied to leadership, this mindset transforms culture: instead of controlling outcomes, leaders cultivate coherence. Frequency, resonance, coherence Coaching is leadership at the level of energy: Frequency → The leader’s stance: calm, curious, non-judgmental. Resonance → The field created by presence, where others feel safe to explore and contribute. Coherence → The alignment of individual growth with collective purpose and values. When leaders adopt a coaching mindset, the organisation itself begins to “coach itself” — learning, adjusting, and evolving in flow. https://lnkd.in/eQBR5AUZ

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In judo, it is critical to establish an effective and efficient grip at the commencement of all engagements and to maintain power, direction and control throughout the engagement to ensure its successful conclusion. In business engagements, power comes from the contribution of multiple, diverse ideas. But power applied randomly and without purpose is ineffective and inefficient. Ideas need both direction and control to ensure the effort and energy applied is relevant and will lead directly to successful outcomes. ‘Getting a grip’ is the third method of Judo Thinking. It is one of twenty ways of judo thinking revealed in the innovative new business book about self-improvement, leadership and strategic decision-making by British author, Ben Almond. Judo Thinking has been shortlisted as a finalist for ‘Smart Thinking Business Book of the Year 2026’. Through its ‘20 ways of judo thinking’, the book reveals how judo is not just a fighting system and an Olympic sport. It also contains a secret art of efficient and effective thinking which can transform the way you engage, lead and coach. Get your copy here👇 🇬🇧: https://amzn.eu/d/9vq7GIp 🇺🇸: https://a.co/d/0Wl05s6 #judothinking #BBA2026

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Measuring What Physical Performance Data Misses Elite #football clubs spend millions tracking physical output, GPS metrics, heart rate variability, and sleep scores. Yet, when a squad's form collapses or a #culture turns toxic, the root cause is almost never physical. It is relational. This is why we developed EMP-i Sport. Built upon six core pillars of empathic leadership, including Empathic #Communication, Safe #Climates, and Empathic Accuracy, it gives #performance directors and welfare leads a continuous, friction-free radar on squad morale and staff pressure. Using quick, 5-second bi-weekly check-ins, it identifies where quiet friction and fatigue are building long before they show up as poor results on a Saturday. Dr Peter Sear is a psychologist, author of Empathic Leadership: Lessons from Elite Sport (Routledge), and founder of The Empathic Minds Organisation.

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Speed has become one of the favourite metrics in organisations. Speed of execution. Speed of learning. Speed of change. And yet, some processes do not improve when they are compressed. Neuroscientist David Eagleman has shown that the brain spends more time processing new experiences. That extra time is the necessary cost of building a reliable representation of something it has never encountered before. The same is true of organisational change. A new way of making decisions, a different culture or a higher quality of conversations do not become shared capabilities the moment they are announced. They need to be experienced, practised and integrated. Organisations that truly transform don't accelerate every process. They know how to distinguish between what creates value through speed and what creates value precisely because it is given time to mature. That distinction is becoming increasingly rare and increasingly strategic. We explore this in the latest issue of Bloom. The link is in the comments.

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