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Rob Lambert

Rob Lambert

A photo of a tree segment in two photos with the words overlayed - The Messy Middle: What Startups and Stories Have in Common

The Messy Middle: What Startups and Stories Have in Common

A good startup unfolds like a good story — fast beginnings, long messy middles, and endings that change us. This essay explores why meaning lives in the middle, and why those who’ve written one story often feel the pull to begin again.

A drawing of a person with wave lengths circling their head with the words overlayed - When Everything Is Urgent: How Competing Priorities Destroy Focus, Energy, and Value

When Everything Is Urgent: How Competing Priorities Destroy Focus, Energy, and Value

When every initiative is labelled “urgent,” focus disappears and people burn out. This essay explores the hidden human and financial cost of competing priorities — and why clarity, alignment, and care are essential to turning ideas into value.

A drawing of animals within a circle - with the words overlaid - Objects and Models: Why Work Never Matches the Diagram

Objects and Models: Why Work Never Matches the Diagram

Plans, roadmaps, and operating models help us explain work — but they’re never the work itself. This newsletter explores why delivery rarely matches the diagram, and what leaders can learn by paying attention to how work actually happens.

Cultivated: Notes on Seeing, Work, and Life

Cultivated: Notes on Seeing, Work, and Life

A long-form essay on noticing, movement, and making sense of complexity — through travel, work, and the quiet principles that make both more humane.

A photo of a vending machine with the words overlayed - The Vending Machine Method: Solving the Right Problems First

The Vending Machine Method: Solving the Right Problems First

Most organisations spend too much time solving symptoms instead of root problems. This article introduces the Vending Machine Method — a simple, physical workshop exercise that helps teams create clarity, focus energy, and turn the right problems into progress.

A photo of a man in a workshop with the words overlayed - The Learning Structure Behind Every Great Workshop

The Learning Structure Behind Every Great Workshop

Many workshops fail not because the content is weak, but because the learning structure isn’t doing its job. This article explores two learning approaches — and why great workshops build understanding carefully, from solid foundations.

A photo of a collage butterfly with the words overlayed - Buckminster Fuller and the Impact We Don’t See

Buckminster Fuller and the Impact We Don’t See

Buckminster Fuller’s story reminds us that our actions shape more than outcomes. This essay reflects on the unseen impact we have on people and systems — and why contribution often unfolds quietly, over time.