Exploring with Tom
Welcome to my blog – a space for ideas, insights, and unexpected sparks.
Here, you’ll find reflections on the art of thinking clearly, leading wisely, and living curiously. From creative experiments to real-world observations, each post is a chance to slow down, look closer, and make better sense of the world around us.
Pull up a chair, stay as long as you like – and leave with something that moves you forward.
From the thinking chair
These are a few pieces I keep coming back to – the ones that have shaped my thinking, challenged my assumptions, or helped clarify what really matters. Take 5 and have a read.
The Power of One: How a Single Vote Can Reshape History
History pivots on razor-thin margins. From Abbott’s one-vote leadership coup to Tennessee’s suffrage switch, a single ballot can steer decades. Your vote matters – wield it deliberately today and shape tomorrow.
The Learning Flywheel: When Curiosity Becomes Capability
Discover the moment learning stops feeling like effort and starts compounding. The learning flywheel turns curiosity into capability – fast.
Volcano to Vision – Embracing Your Organisational Character for Lasting Impact
Real transformation begins at the core – your organisational character. It’s about leading change that honours identity, fuels growth, and creates lasting impact for your people, your business, and your community.
Browse my thinking by theme
AI & culture
Exploring the intersection of AI and organizational culture through research, insights, and practical strategies.
Leadership
Posts on leading with character, shaping culture, and applying my models in real-world settings.
Tools & practices
Practical guides, mental models, and frameworks I use or coach others to apply in real-world settings.
Research journal
Behind-the-scenes of my thinking, writing, and exploring in the AI–culture research space.
Curious perspectives
An evolving archive of thought experiments, creative tangents, and personal insights across disciplines.
Reflections
Reflections on the quiet moments, small lessons, and deeper questions shaping how I move through the world.
Everything else I’ve been thinking about
This is where the rest of my writing lives – ongoing reflections, field notes, ideas-in-progress, and the occasional tangent worth following.
The Ethics of AI in Organisational Culture: Balancing Tech and Trust
AI can strengthen workplace culture, but ethics matter. I discuss privacy, bias, and trust, sharing solutions from my 360 survey experiences to ensure AI fosters human-centred, thriving organisations.
How AI Tools Enhance Workplace Culture: Lessons from 360-Degree Surveys
AI transforms 360-degree surveys, delivering fast, precise cultural insights. Drawing on my MinCo project, I explore how AI boosts workplace trust and engagement, balancing tech with human judgment.
Preparing My PhD Proposal: A Journey into AI and Organisational Culture
I’m crafting a PhD proposal at Monash to explore how AI can shape thriving workplace cultures. Join my journey blending 40 years of leadership with innovative research insights.
The Power of One: How a Single Vote Can Reshape History
History pivots on razor-thin margins. From Abbott’s one-vote leadership coup to Tennessee’s suffrage switch, a single ballot can steer decades. Your vote matters – wield it deliberately today and shape tomorrow.
Slow Is Smooth, Smooth Is Fast: Mastering Efficiency Through Deliberate Precision
Discover how a Navy SEAL principle – ‘slow is smooth, smooth is fast’ – can transform your work. Learn to balance speed and precision for outstanding results in this insightful post.
The Learning Flywheel: When Curiosity Becomes Capability
Discover the moment learning stops feeling like effort and starts compounding. The learning flywheel turns curiosity into capability – fast.
Volcano to Vision – Embracing Your Organisational Character for Lasting Impact
Real transformation begins at the core – your organisational character. It’s about leading change that honours identity, fuels growth, and creates lasting impact for your people, your business, and your community.
Conflict with Goodwill: Harnessing Difference for Complex Collaboration
Conflict isn’t the problem – it’s how you handle it. With goodwill, tension between strong minds becomes a source of trust, clarity, and better results.
Little Wins – A Gentle Glide-Path After the BHAG Surge
After crushing a BHAG, energy plummets. Little wins – quick tasks finished in minutes – bridge the gap between high-gear and rest. They feed dopamine, protect momentum, and remind you you’re still effective. Declutter a folder, send a thank-you, polish a checklist. Small victories soften the landing, so you restart stronger, with renewed focus, clarity, and confidence tomorrow morning.
Your Body’s Dashboard: Navigating Health Like a Well-Oiled Machine
Ever wondered why your fitness watch resembles a car’s dashboard? Just as your vehicle has gauges monitoring its performance, your body has its own sophisticated alert system. From energy levels to heart rate, understanding these vital signs is like reading your car’s instruments – and mastering them could be the key to your daily performance.
Mastering Leadership: Surfacing Hidden Rules to Resolve Workplace Conflict
In workplaces, what appears as ‘miscommunication’ often arises from hidden rules—unspoken assumptions that shape interactions. By surfacing these deeper influences through patient inquiry and active listening, leaders transform conflict into productive dialogue. When everyone shares the same map of understanding, collaboration thrives, genuinely flourishes, guiding teams towards trust, respect, and long-term, deeply meaningful, sustainable outcomes.
A Holiday Guide for Line Managers: Avoid the 3 Most Common Recruitment Mistakes
Recruitment mistakes can lead to costly hires. This holiday season, give yourself the gift of smarter hiring with the CFM model: Competence, Fit, and Motivation. Avoid the three common pitfalls—settling for sub-par candidates, failing to re-advertise, and mistaking competitors for ideal hires. Remember: hire for attitude, train for skills, and build better teams!
Shaping Modern Australian Workplaces: A Detailed Journey Through Industrial Relations (1974-2024) Part 2
Industrial relations isn’t just about legislation—it’s about navigating human relationships through change. From managing Drayton’s 1997 restructure to building Yancoal’s workforce and creating CleanCo’s unified culture, the key has been balancing technical excellence with human understanding. After fifty years, the lesson is clear: trust, respect, and genuine dialogue remain fundamental.
The Great Shift: 50 Years of Australian Industrial Relations (1974-2024) Part 1
From filing cabinets and typewriters in 1974 to today’s digital workplaces, Australian industrial relations has undergone a remarkable transformation. Through roles at Education Queensland, MIM Holdings, CIG Gases, and into the coal industry, I’ve witnessed the evolution from rigid centralised systems to flexible enterprise arrangements. Yet one truth remains: successful industrial relations is always about people.
Reflections from an HR Veteran: My Journey Through Five Decades of Change
From a fresh graduate with a calculator in 1974 to mentoring tomorrow’s leaders today – what a journey through HR’s evolution! We’ve moved from shuffling papers to shaping futures, from typewriters to AI, from adversarial battles to collaborative partnerships. But one thing hasn’t changed: at its heart, HR has always been about people and their potential.
The Future Through Experience: Lessons from a Career in HR
Data tells us everything… except when it doesn’t. From boardrooms in Oman to mines in Australia, I’ve learned that future success needs both high tech and high touch. Modern HR isn’t about choosing between data and human connection – it’s about mastering both. The sweet spot? That’s where the magic happens.