lostconsultants

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Titles, Power, and the Quiet Growth of Ego in Organisations

Ego Series: “The Shadow That Grows with Us” The quiet growth of ego in organisations often starts with something that seems harmless: a title change. In Part 1 of the Ego Series, we looked at how responsibility can inflate identity.In Part 2, we explored how task mastery can quietly shift confidence into ego.In Part 3, we saw how ego sometimes helps — and sometimes hurts — depending on how it’s…

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The Double-Edged Sword — When Ego Helps and When It Hurts

Ego Series: “The Shadow That Grows with Us” When ego helps and when it hurts isn’t always clear in the moment — because ego often shows up wearing the mask of strength. In Part 1 of the Ego Series, we looked at how responsibility can inflate identity, turning role ownership into self-attachment.In Part 2, we explored how task mastery can build confidence — but also feed entitlement if we stop…

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The Confidence Paradox — How Task Mastery Can Shrink or Swell Ego

Ego Series: “The Shadow That Grows with Us” Task mastery can shrink or swell ego — and often, we don’t notice which direction it’s heading until it’s already shaped how we show up. In Part 1 of the Ego Series, we looked at how responsibility can quietly inflate identity, turning service into self-preservation. But ego doesn’t just grow with power — it can also grow with repetition. You start…

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Ego Under Pressure — When Responsibility Inflates Identity

Ego Series: “The Shadow That Grows with Us” We often say responsibility shapes character. But sometimes, it reshapes identity — in ways we don’t even notice. You start with a task. Then you get more responsibility. People ask for your opinion. They wait for your decision. You start using phrases like “my team,” “my product,” “my decision.” And somewhere along the way, you stop being someone…

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Your Growth Is My KPI: Why Coaches Can’t Also Be Bosses (Without Breaking Trust)

Your growth is my KPI. It sounds supportive—empowering, even. But dig a little deeper, and it reveals the quiet contradiction at the heart of leadership: the attempt to be both your coach and your boss. Coaches are supposed to create safety, listen without judgment, and encourage growth for its own sake. Bosses, by contrast, are tasked with evaluating performance, making pay decisions, and—when…

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Scrum Master or People Manager — Do You Have to Choose?

Scrum Master or People Manager — it’s a question that pops up more often than you’d think in agile organizations, especially during restructures or role redefinitions. Can one person wear both hats without compromising the intent of either role? Or are these fundamentally different responsibilities that should remain separate? Let’s unpack the promise and the pitfalls of merging coaching and…

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Coaching in the Age of AI: Will Empathy Still Matter?

Coaching in the age of AI is not a contradiction — it’s a necessity. As algorithms grow more fluent in conversation, simulate empathy, and even guide people through reflective questions, a quiet concern is surfacing: What’s left for human coaches to do? When tools like ChatGPT can listen patiently, offer perspective, and even help people plan their careers or relationships, are we looking at the…

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Stop Asking for a Mentor When You Need a Coach

The mentor vs coach debate shows up in every transformation, yet most companies still get it wrong. You’ll hear leaders say, “We need to find mentors for our team,” when what they actually need is coaching. The result? Slower growth, misaligned expectations, and missed opportunities for real transformation.I’ve seen this confusion play out in agile product organizations, tech teams, and…

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AIgile: How AI Transforms Agility in Software Development

AIgile — the blend of artificial intelligence and agility — is more than a buzzword. It signals a shift that could either erode or elevate everything agile was meant to stand for. For those wondering if the Agile hype is over, the emergence of AI might just be the next chapter — not an ending, but a reframing. From Agile to AIgile: A Changing Landscape Agile was born from a manifesto that…

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Is the Agile Hype Over?

Agile hype has been around for over two decades, sweeping through industries with promises of faster delivery, empowered teams, and customer-centric value. But ask around today — from developers and product managers to executives — and you’ll hear a different tone. Burnout from endless sprints. Disillusionment with ceremonies. Frustration with rigid frameworks masquerading as flexibility. So…

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From Value Streams to Team Streams: Designing for Flow

Designing for flow is the cornerstone of modern digital delivery—but many organizations are still stuck optimizing for output instead of outcomes. Features are delivered, tickets are closed, yet customer impact remains unclear. Why? Because the way work flows through teams is just as important as what gets done. To unlock real performance, we must rethink how value flows—through people, teams,…

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The Silent Killer of Speed: How Broken Feedback Loops Slow Down Great Companies

Broken feedback loops are the silent killer of speed in modern organizations. They don’t spark dramatic collapses or scandalous headlines—but they erode agility, responsiveness, and relevance over time. The result? Teams deliver more, but learn less. Goals are set, but not questioned. Users are researched, but not heard. And slowly, a once-fast company becomes a sluggish machine going through the…

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What Makes a Team Truly Valuable (Beyond Just Delivering Work)

What makes a team truly valuable isn’t just how much they deliver — it’s how much real-world impact they create. Too often, teams are praised purely for their output: the number of features released, tickets closed, or deadlines met. But fast delivery alone doesn’t guarantee success. A team could be shipping work at lightning speed and still be missing the mark if what they build doesn’t solve…

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Scaling Gone Wrong: How Copy-Paste Growth Kills Alignment and Innovation

Scaling gone wrong is one of the most common — and costly — mistakes growing organizations make.Instead of building stronger systems, they multiply weak ones. Instead of designing for real collaboration, they create silos at scale.Instead of achieving innovation, they drown in misalignment. In too many companies, “scaling” simply means adding more teams, duplicating structures, and hoping…

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Hidden Influencers: Who Really Leads Your Team?

Hidden leaders exist in every team — whether we see them or not. They’re the ones people naturally turn to for advice, direction, or even silent approval. And often, they’re not the ones with the formal titles. Working with teams across different industries, I’ve seen the same pattern again and again: it’s not the org chart that drives how work gets done — it’s the social system underneath…

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How to Know Your Organization Is Addicted to Busyness

– And Why It’s Killing Focus, Flow, and Real Results Many organizations today are addicted to busyness, mistaking constant motion for meaningful progress. Days are filled with back-to-back meetings, Slack messages ping late into the night, and calendars are so full that there’s barely time to breathe—let alone think. Everyone’s “doing stuff,” but ask what value is being created and you’ll often…

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What Makes a Strategy Good (or Bad)?

What Makes a Strategy Good is a question that many leaders, teams, and organizations struggle to answer. Too often, strategies are little more than vague aspirations, broad mission statements, or a collection of disconnected initiatives. A true strategy, however, requires more than just setting ambitious goals—it demands a deep understanding of the environment, deliberate choices, and a clear…