Wojtek Materka·Aug 10, 2022Leading in an (Art)ificial World.It’s sometimes hard to find words when we encounter something new and unfamiliar. It takes work to give name to an experience if it doesn’t fit what we have seen before. If we lack the words, or past patterns to associate with, we may actually ignore what we are seeing…Art8 min readArt8 min read
Amy Materka·Dec 14, 2020Member-onlyThe gift of 2020We are sitting here planning a holiday season without grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. We live in France in a community of international families. Extended family close enough to drive here for Christmas is the exception rather than the norm for our circle and we were going to…Life Lessons4 min readLife Lessons4 min read
Amy Materka·Jun 15, 2020Member-onlyThe productivity myth: A case for doing less but being moreI have been fascinated with Keanu Reeves for a long time. I think he might be the only actor that I truly bother admiring. I love that he spanned Bill and Ted and the Matrix, inhabiting those iconic roles at the polar opposite end of some continuum with funny feel…Personal Development4 min readPersonal Development4 min read
Amy Materka·May 3, 2020Member-onlyWhat comes after this?There is a collective grieving happening. A grieving for what we thought our lives were, before the coronavirus and lockdown. I am grieving something that I am finding difficult to name. Innocence perhaps? I want this experience to mean something. To mark the beginning of something important. But am I…3 min read3 min read
Wojtek Materka·Apr 12, 2020Member-onlyWhen my dream job became virtualOver the last decade I have been redesigning my life to do work that is meaningful to me. I did it by experiment. I tried many things, and deleted, erased stuff that didn’t fit. With no remorse but with trepidation. It costed me almost everything that society prizes. Recently, I…Life Lessons10 min readLife Lessons10 min read
Wojtek Materka·Nov 26, 2015Making to think — a strategy style for the changing times.Strategy is sometimes equated with something conceptual and separate to action. The language that describes it is full of cerebral words such as “thinking”, “logic”, “plan”. This is in contrast to seemingly different world of implementation, where we talk “doing”, “effectiveness”, “process”. …Innovation4 min readInnovation4 min read
Wojtek Materka·Nov 10, 2015Drawing to thinkI have a superpower. I make complex things simple. Some people read. Some people write. I doodle, sketch, draw. Whatever is in my head. Out it comes onto the paper. Why is this a superpower you ask? You see, we can know more than we can tell. We know more…Design3 min readDesign3 min read
Amy Materka·Nov 10, 2015Evolving dinosaurs in the age of the unicornBammm. The meteor hits the earth. A few dinosaurs are killed outright. Those that avoided death by meteor happily go back to grazing or hunting unaware that a major ecological change is also happening and that their death is imminent. Sixty six million years later… It is your job to…Innovation3 min readInnovation3 min read
Amy Materka·Oct 1, 2015Let’s make strategies that move usIt was 9 am Monday morning and I settled in the back of a strategy roadshow clutching my coffee. The CEO of the organisation was getting ready to speak. I sat down and looked around. There was a quiet sense of anticipation. Folk looked fresh and ready to listen. Great…Strategy6 min readStrategy6 min read
Wojtek Materka·Sep 23, 2015Strategic change is always personalConstantly changing environment requires more and more organisations to re-invent themselves. But to change an organisation leaders need to contend with change within them as well. — “What business are we actually in?” — I heard the CEO of a large manufacturing company ask this question of his team in the middle of a workshop. It was the beginning of a strategy review which would take them into completely new territories. …Innovation5 min readInnovation5 min read
