Letting Go of Roads That Won’t Last
In a stable environment, laying down a road makes sense.
You chart the path. You build. You follow it.
And it holds—for years, sometimes decades.
In a desert, that same road can disappear in a matter of days.
The winds shift. The sands move. The path you paved is gone.
This is what traditional strategy has begun to feel like. A carefully built road that no longer holds in a landscape that won’t stay still.
What’s needed now is not a better road.
It’s a compass.
That compass lives in what we call deep core codes—your inner clarity around who you are, what you’re called to, and the way you’re meant to move in the world. Not as a fixed identity. As a directional source you can return to, again and again, in any terrain.
This isn’t theoretical. It’s skillful.
In The Talent Code, there’s a distinction between tree-like and vine-like skill.
Tree-like skill is like classical music. You study a known repertoire. The pieces haven’t changed in hundreds of years. The work is to master the known—to play the same songs with more refinement, more discipline.
That model works beautifully when the environment is consistent.
Vine-like skill is different. Think sports.
Every season, the game evolves.
Players shift. Rules adjust. Conditions change.
What’s asked of you is to stay present—to perceive, adapt, and move in the moment.
Leadership today is no longer a classical score. It’s jazz, improvisation, team play, and timing. It’s not about abandoning form. It’s about sensing what the moment is asking—and meeting it from something deeper than a pre-written plan.
And when you’re leading from your deep core codes, you aren’t drifting.
You’re moving with direction that doesn’t require the road to stay the same.
That’s what makes strategy optional.
That’s what makes presence essential.
You’re not following the old map.
You’re listening for the next note, the next movement, the next call.
Published WorkMore Relevant Reading

Mission as Living Soil: Grounding Strategy in Why
In moments of crisis or when facing a complex decision, it is easy for organizations to leap straight into strategy. The question becomes, What should we do? How do we fix this? Yet, when strategy leads, it often narrows the field of vision to tactics and immediate outcomes. What happens when we begin somewhere deeper—by remembering why we exist? […]

From Tribes and Silos to Coherent Integration
Siloed functioning in an organization is nothing new, often expressed as competing tribes within departments, disjointed initiatives, and fragmented communication. Movement towards the mission can seem cumbersome, especially with increased complexity in the economic, social, and political environment. The modern business landscape reflects a fractal pattern—seemingly chaotic, yet deeply interconnected. Disruption has been celebrated in […]

The Point of Purpose
A company’s sense of purpose is receiving increasing attention in the business world, giving us a more sophisticated understanding of its role beyond augmenting the bottom line. Should we then be looking at imbedding a process for achieving purpose, asks Jill Taylor? Our understanding of purpose now includes a developing awareness of the company’s mission […]