The vocabulary of workplaces that work.
Short, plain-language definitions of the ideas behind the frameworks.
The frameworks on this site work because they share an underlying vocabulary — a set of recurring ideas that show up in different combinations across all of them. These are the concepts. Each one is a short article (around five minutes to read) that explains a single idea in plain language, with examples drawn from small business life.
The list below grows over time. New concepts are added as the frameworks they support get built out.
Defensive routines
Why teams stop talking about the real problem — and what to do instead.
Read →Discover, invent, produce, generalise
My PhD research found this is the four-stage cycle behind every workplace that actually learns.
Read →Holistic collective
What it means to treat a workplace as a whole system, not a stack of departments.
Read →PDSA cycle
Plan, Do, Study, Act — Deming's four-step engine for getting better at the work.
Read →System of profound knowledge
Deming's four lenses for understanding how work actually works.
Read →Theory in use vs espoused theory
The gap between what people say they believe and how they actually behave when stakes rise.
Read →Fishbone Diagram
A structured way to map the causes of a recurring problem — only as honest as the conversation in the room.
Read →Ready to apply this?
The frameworks turn these concepts into something you can use on Monday morning.