Why Most Organisations Don’t Learn
Melanie Marshall
June 03, 2026
Most organisations believe they’re learning because they reflect, review, and debrief.
In reality, many are reinforcing stories rather than building understanding.
The consequence is unstable performance: success that cannot be reliably repeated, risks that quietly re‑emerge, and improvement that depends more on confidence than evidence.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Change Management, Leadership
What Leaders Need To Do Before Bringing In External Experts
Melanie Marshall
May 15, 2026
The first-time people suggested I write a book, I laughed stating "no one would read it because I'd be too honest about what it takes to transform."
I was a personal trainer at the time for people wanting to "get fit", but largely not trusting the process, or consistently taking action to achieve their goals. The stories unsuccessful clients told themselves about why they couldn’t change to get the results they wanted were the same - too tired, not enough time, or not enough money.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Change Management, Leadership
The hard truth leaders need to hear about performance, trust, and change.
Melanie Marshall
May 08, 2026
This article outlines why many well intended transformation efforts fail, introduces the Adaptive Excellence lens, and shows what leaders can do now to lift performance, confidence, and profit without pushing people harder.
See publication
Tags: Change Management, Leadership, Transformation
Stop Being Busy - Create an Adaptive Team
Melanie Marshall
May 05, 2026
We’ve all been stuck in being “too busy” where optimising performance wasn’t a priority because we needed things to “settle down” first. This might be ok from time to time but if “busy” is the standard response to how you and the team are you’re in real trouble.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Change Management, Leadership
Embracing Human Error: A Path to Team Excellence
Melanie Marshall
April 06, 2026
Many leaders and teams struggle to accept the inherent risk and potential for failure in strategy and operational delivery with human involvement.
An organisation’s ability to innovate and adapt is crucial for survival yet fear of making mistakes is a significant barrier to innovation and success.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Change Management, Leadership
Why Saving the day Destroys Progress
Melanie Marshall
March 04, 2026
Most CEOs I speak with confirm that they would like more time to work on their business and lifestyle instead of being reactive to it. Many executives and teams get stuck because of a hard wiring in business culture that attributes being busy as a badge of value based on urgency or demand.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Change Management, Leadership
The Power of Operations for Practical Planning
Melanie Marshall
March 04, 2026
The best strategies and plans involve change and deep operational experience, without that they are just ideas that probably won’t be implemented.
A great plan is practical and drives behaviour toward a vision. It’s a no-brainer concept that often fails when creating and executing them.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Change Management, Leadership
How to climb the engagement ladder
Melanie Marshall
November 22, 2023
True leaders operate at every level in an organisation - they get the big picture, care deeply about the outcome, and are committed to doing the work to get there. You don't need to sell them on the vision and goals because they've already crafted them, and are clear on the part they play in achieving them.
See publication
Tags: Leadership, Culture
How to develop leadership maestros
Melanie Marshall
August 22, 2023
In my work, I start with a simple belief: our actions are shaped by what we feel, and believe. It's like a thread woven from our values, guiding us to respond helpfully. When I began learning about leadership, I took a course on being assertive. Two things stood out
See publication
Tags: Leadership, Culture
Why Team Feedback Is Hard and How to Make It Better
Melanie Marshall
May 29, 2019
Everyone wants to perform well. For better or worse, we use feedback from others to validate our sense of purpose and value. When feedback isn't great it can feel like we're struggling at school.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Change Management, Leadership
Why Organisational Age Doesn’t Equal Maturity
Linkedln
May 29, 2026
Organisational age is often mistaken for maturity. But time alone does not create capable systems.
As organisations grow, foundational disciplines are frequently deprioritised in favour of visible delivery and short‑term profit. Governance, learning, process renewal, and system health are labelled important but not urgent.
See publication
Tags: Culture, Leadership, Transformation
The Hard Truth Leaders Need to Hear About Performance, Trust, and Change
Linkedln
May 08, 2026
Most organisations believe that improving performance is about changing what people do. Over two decades of global research shows that the decisive factor is how people experience the system they work in.
As explored in the books, Trust and Adaptive Excellence, leaders who can’t build trust at scale, ignore behaviour, and neglect operating foundations constrain performance and burn out the best people.
See publication
Tags: Culture, Leadership, Transformation
Why automation is dangerous without understanding the journey
Linkedln
January 23, 2026
Automation is often sold as the cure for inefficiencies and the fast track to getting stuff done, but fear and danger can creep in when we start delegating activities to someone, or something else.
With unrelenting pressure to deliver with limited capacity, the time to stop and reflect on what should or shouldn't be done, let alone be automated, is considered a luxury.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Change Management, Digital Transformation
Risky business or business innovation? How to innovate safely
Linkedin
August 30, 2024
No one ever starts a business thinking that it will fail or wanting it to go stale. It’s hard to predict events that are outside of a business’ direct line of sight and control. Success in business requires a healthy balance of risk and innovation to solve a problem, meet a need, or satisfy a want for a profit.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Innovation, Risk Management
How to flex and sustain success in business
Linkedin
August 16, 2024
In business it’s not about if you flex your muscles but how.
Like a bodybuilder prepping for their next competition, growth is about change that often involves painful trade-offs (e.g. diet restrictions, exercises that result in muscle soreness, and extreme discipline to maintain consistency). Unfortunately, the body presented in ‘peak condition’ on stage isn’t sustainable.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Leadership, Transformation
Why 'Change Management' doesn’t work
Linkedin
July 12, 2024
After over a decade of managing business change and mitigating risks for transformation initiatives, I quit being an organisational change manager.
See publication
Tags: Change Management, Digital Transformation, Transformation
How to identify and value your superpowers
Linkedin
July 07, 2024
Strengths Profiling and development are powerful for recognising what energises you and determining how to boost your energy and performance for long-term success. It’s also a great way to proactively seek personal and professional opportunities that are more aligned with who you are and how you want to live.
See publication
Tags: Careers, Coaching, Leadership
How to use empathy as powerful care for trust and accountability
Linkedin
June 23, 2024
The challenge
Feedback can be helpful, but it's not always delivered the way we need it. As a CEO or executive, giving and receiving feedback is crucial, yet it often gets filtered. This is fine for trust and autonomy but risky if you're too focused on vision and disconnected from operations.
See publication
Tags: Coaching, Culture, Leadership
How to reduce reactivity and create adaptive teams
Linkedin
June 04, 2024
Adaptability is the biggest superpower for dealing with reactivity and managing uncertainty.
See publication
Tags: Change Management, Coaching, Leadership
Ways to build strength with what you have and optimise services
Linkedin
May 03, 2024
Imagine a couple who move into a small two-bedroom house and grow to become a family with three children and a dog. The house is now too small, and renovations aren’t going to help so they move to a larger house.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Change Management, Transformation
10 High-Impact Leadership Questions that Work
Linkedin
April 06, 2024
Hugh Mackay is an Australian psychologist, social researcher, the author of at least 14 books, and in 2015, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the community in the areas of social research and psychology.
See publication
Tags: Change Management, Coaching, Leadership
How to measure for success
Linkedin
March 26, 2024
Wise words from Seth and although the message is simple, the execution of this can be tricky because it can be hard to change the status quo…but it doesn’t need to be.
See publication
Tags: Analytics, Business Strategy, Leadership
Lead like a boxer!
Linkedin
March 13, 2024
Late last year my teenage son Hayden was caught in an unexpected headlock at school that scared him.
See publication
Tags: Coaching, Education, Leadership
Adaptive Excellence - How the best leaders and teams optimise for performance and profit
Melanie Marshall
October 31, 2025
The ultimate playbook for high value change!
Every year companies across the globe spend billions of dollars on transformation and change projects but every year around 75% settle for mediocre results, and around 13% fail completely.
The approaches in this book are a blend of complex systems thinking made simple, constraints theory, behavioural economics, human centred design, and organisational change. Leveraging global research and over 20 years of experience in Australian organisations, this book shows how to:
· Develop leadership at every level
· Enable efficient and effective decisions
· Increase delivery quality and ease
· Facilitate change in a way that works
· Optimise return on investment.
This book is for leaders wanting realistic, easy-to-share, and proven methods for exceptional results and adaptive excellence at scale.
Using the approaches in this book, leaders and teams can measurably improve performance by at least 33% and feel good about it at the same time.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, Transformation
Adaptive Excellence: How the best leaders and teams optimise performance and profit
Amazon
September 30, 2025
Have you ever felt pressured to reduce costs and increase performance with limited resources?
Every year companies across the globe spend billions of dollars on transformation and change projects, but every year around 75% settle for mediocre results, and around 13% fail completely.
Complacency, poor leadership, increasing expectations, and ineffective work practises are the biggest threats to people and team performance.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, Leadership
Trust - The foundation for healthy organisations and teams
Melanie Marshall
May 31, 2021
Trust isn’t a soft skill — it’s a strategic capability.
In this book, Melanie Marshall reframes trust as the core driver of organisational performance, psychological safety, and high‑functioning teams.
Drawing on global research and decades of transformation work across complex environments, Melanie shows leaders how to shift from control and cynicism to clarity, connection, and behaviour that builds confidence.
As Melanie writes, “Trust is the foundation for authentic and meaningful relationships that allow us to be the best versions of ourselves” .
Through practical insights, real‑world stories, and the HEART+SOUL framework, she demonstrates how leaders can reduce friction, strengthen culture, and create workplaces people believe in.
This book positions trust as a measurable, behavioural practice — not an abstract ideal.
It’s for executives, transformation leaders, and culture architects who want commitment, not compliance.
The book reminds us, “When it comes to change, it's the behaviour, not the person that is the problem” .
Trust is essential reading for anyone responsible for shaping culture, leading change, or building organisations where people are purposeful, productive, and deliver meaningful results.
See publication
Tags: Culture, Leadership, Management
TRUST: The Foundation for Healthy Organisations and Teams
Amazon
May 25, 2021
Trust is the foundation of organisations and teams. We talk about it, complain when we don't have it, and watch its effect on the bottom line. Its absence makes headlines when organisations and leaders fall from grace, breaking the covenant they hold with clients and staff.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Change Management, Leadership
Employee/Customer Experience/Business Improver and Coach
Various Companies
March 01, 2016
Employee and Customer Experience (EX/CX) strategy, governance and reporting, journey modelling, service design and research services, mentoring and training to client service delivery leads and multi-disciplinary teams involved in large-scale business and ICT transformation programs across federal government departments.
See publication
Tags: Coaching, Customer Experience, Transformation
Organisational Capability and Change Lead
Various Companies
September 01, 2015
Strategic and operational advisory and leadership services to senior executives on change impact and risk mitigation, organisational planning, business readiness, stakeholder engagement, communication, and evidence for executive decisions on optimal return on effort and investment.
Provided change leadership and facilitation for Payroll/HR transitions, corporate shared services, organisational restructures, public sector reform, and enterprise-wide ICT implementations impacting up to 150,000 employees.
See publication
Tags: Change Management, Leadership, Transformation
Various
Royal Australian Air Force
July 01, 1994
See publication
Tags: Leadership, Management
Navigating Change in Healthcare Systems
Youtube
April 01, 2026
In this conversation, Anas Abidrabbu and Melanie Marshall discuss the complexities of workplace culture in healthcare, emphasizing the importance of understanding human behavior, team dynamics, and systems thinking. They explore the challenges faced by healthcare professionals, the need for effective engagement and decision-making, and the significance of continuous improvement in delivering exceptional patient care. Melanie shares her experiences and insights on navigating change, the cost of inefficiency, and the role of leadership at all levels.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, Leadership
Hospital Dysfunction and How to Fix It
Melanie Marshall
August 30, 2025
Melanie reveals why even the best clinicians can’t outperform broken systems and how small, targeted fixes can unlock major gains, including saving 20–30 hours of medical time a week.
She shares a practical blueprint to co‑design change, fix painful processes, and build architecture that enables high performance. A must‑listen for leaders pursuing reliability and operational excellence.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, Leadership
Navigating Change in Healthcare Systems
Melanie Marshall
August 30, 2025
In this powerful conversation, Anas Abidrabbu and Melanie Marshall unpack the real drivers of workplace culture in healthcare — human behaviour, team dynamics, and the systems that shape daily performance.
See publication
Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, Leadership
Bachelor of Science (BSc), Psychology
Service Delivery, Program Management, and Executive Leadership
