https://comfortablenonsense.com/ Leadership advice that sounds right and fails under pressure. By Skip Bowman. en Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:00:00 +0000 hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) Copyright 2026 Skip Bowman https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/humans-are-rational.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/humans-are-rational.html Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Nobody quite says it that baldly. Every spreadsheet, incentive scheme, policy design, and AI deployment assumes it. Strip the assumption away and the whole edifice wobbles. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/leadership-moves-from-safe-to-great.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/leadership-moves-from-safe-to-great.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Singapore. A selfie outside the Raffles. A global company that cannot be named. A branded graphic. A book title used as a punchline. The system runs. Until it doesn't. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/leaders-need-to-be-held-accountable.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/leaders-need-to-be-held-accountable.html Tue, 07 Apr 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Accountability for leaders is an interesting construction. It names a thing that does not currently exist, in a voice that suggests it does. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-take-mental-health-seriously.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-take-mental-health-seriously.html Tue, 31 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Seriousness shows up in budgets, workloads, and boundaries. Not in apps, webinars, or awareness weeks. The phrase is almost always a substitution. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/people-are-our-greatest-asset.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/people-are-our-greatest-asset.html Tue, 24 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Asset is an accounting category. It was never a compliment. The language gives away what the speaker cannot see. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/the-future-of-work-is-exciting.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/the-future-of-work-is-exciting.html Tue, 17 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Excitement as management technique. The phrase that makes the anxiety about the future sound like a personal failure to enthuse. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/nobody-forced-you-to-work-here.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/nobody-forced-you-to-work-here.html Tue, 10 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Choice is the ultimate protection narrative. It converts every structural failure into a personal decision and every personal decision into consent. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/the-cream-rises-to-the-top.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/the-cream-rises-to-the-top.html Tue, 03 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Meritocracy as folk wisdom. The phrase that explains every existing hierarchy as the outcome of fair competition. And every person below you as less. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/i-just-love-what-i-do.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/i-just-love-what-i-do.html Tue, 24 Feb 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Love as the word that suppresses the complaint. Love as the alibi. Love as the thing that makes the boundary impossible to draw. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/this-is-what-commitment-looks-like.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/this-is-what-commitment-looks-like.html Tue, 17 Feb 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Commitment is shown, never named. The moment you have to name it, it has already become performance. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/our-culture-is-our-competitive-advantage.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/our-culture-is-our-competitive-advantage.html Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Culture as moat. The Nvidia model as template. What gets copied is never the thing that made it work. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/people-have-forgotten-how-to-work.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/people-have-forgotten-how-to-work.html Tue, 03 Feb 2026 09:00:00 +0000 The phrase that blames the worker for a problem the organisation created. And then sells the solution back to them as discipline. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-need-people-back-in-the-office.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-need-people-back-in-the-office.html Tue, 27 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000 The return-to-office mandate is rarely about collaboration. It is about control, real estate, and the anxiety of managers who cannot manage what they cannot see. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/our-people-team-is-here-for-you.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/our-people-team-is-here-for-you.html Tue, 20 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000 The People Team is there for the organisation. It is structured that way, incentivised that way, and accountable to the organisation's interests. The phrase is the disguise. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-changed-the-conversation.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-changed-the-conversation.html Tue, 13 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Changing the conversation is what organisations do instead of changing the thing the conversation is about. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/our-values-are-non-negotiable.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/our-values-are-non-negotiable.html Tue, 06 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Non-negotiable values are the ones that get negotiated quietly. The public commitment is the disguise. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/were-a-purpose-driven-company.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/were-a-purpose-driven-company.html Tue, 30 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0000 Purpose as marketing asset. The thing that goes first when the quarter gets hard. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/real-leaders-are-fighters.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/real-leaders-are-fighters.html Tue, 23 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0000 The phrase that makes aggression a credential. And makes the people hurt by the aggression the problem. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-believe-in-people.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-believe-in-people.html Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0000 Belief is cheap. Structure is expensive. The phrase is almost always spoken by people who chose the cheap option. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/safety-is-our-number-one-priority.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/safety-is-our-number-one-priority.html Tue, 09 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0000 Priority is revealed by what gets cut when pressure arrives. Everything that survives the cut is the real priority. The list of survivors is rarely what the poster says. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/learning-is-available-to-everyone.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/learning-is-available-to-everyone.html Tue, 02 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0000 Availability is not access. Access is not time. Time is not permission. The phrase collapses four different things into one comfortable sentence. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-invest-in-our-people.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-invest-in-our-people.html Tue, 25 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0000 Investment implies an expected return. The phrase is more honest than it intends to be. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-need-to-have-a-growth-mindset.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-need-to-have-a-growth-mindset.html Tue, 18 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0000 Growth mindset as compliance tool. The instruction to reframe your own frustration as an opportunity for development. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/its-a-psychological-safety-issue.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/its-a-psychological-safety-issue.html Tue, 11 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0000 The phrase that converts every structural failure into a feelings problem. And then outsources the feelings problem to HR. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-have-a-great-process.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/we-have-a-great-process.html Tue, 04 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0000 Process is what organisations produce when they cannot produce outcomes. It is the thing you can point to when the thing you wanted did not happen. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/empower-them.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/empower-them.html Tue, 28 Oct 2025 09:00:00 +0000 Power is not delegated by announcement. It is held, distributed, or withheld. The announcement is the tell. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/be-more-vulnerable.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/be-more-vulnerable.html Tue, 21 Oct 2025 09:00:00 +0000 Vulnerability as performance. The word survived. The meaning did not. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman) https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/take-more-risks.html https://comfortablenonsense.com/editions/take-more-risks.html Tue, 14 Oct 2025 09:00:00 +0000 The most common leadership advice in uncertain times. Also the most dishonest. Because nobody who says it actually means it. hi@comfortablenonsense.com (Skip Bowman)