--- title: "Writing on the web since 2003" url: https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/ description: "Working with visionary founders, leaders and investors. Founder, MD, COO and non-exec experience in privately held and UK-listed growth companies." author: Simon Wakeman --- # Writing on the web since 2003 ## [Build #117 – Writing down a decision right is giving it away](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/11/04/build-117-writing-down-a-decision-right-is-giving-it-away/) 4th November 2026 [![](https://www.simonwakeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/B9N22h2s0to.jpg)](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/11/04/build-117-writing-down-a-decision-right-is-giving-it-away/) We talk a lot about ownership in leadership teams. Sarah owns delivery. Tom owns the team (this one never sits well with me, maybe it's the concept of owning a bunch of humans). The new MD will own the P&L. You get the gist. When we make these statements it sounds like something has been handed over but most of the time it hasn't. ## [Monthnotes – October 2026](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/10/31/monthnotes-october-2026/) 31st October 2026 [![](https://www.simonwakeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/ghent-st-michaels-bridge-night.jpg)](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/10/31/monthnotes-october-2026/) In many ways October continued in much the same way as September. Lots of client work happened, plenty of progress happened (usually but not exclusively in the intended direction) and AI continues to be something I’m helping clients with a lot. And as part of … [Read More](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/10/31/monthnotes-october-2026/ "Monthnotes – October 2026") ## [Build #116 – Hierarchy and power gradients in organisational design](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/10/28/build-116-hierarchy-and-power-gradients-in-organisational-design/) 28th October 2026 [![](https://www.simonwakeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/t8IfxT0cyE4.jpg)](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/10/28/build-116-hierarchy-and-power-gradients-in-organisational-design/) I was working with a founder on a reorg recently and in a side chat outside a workshop, we got onto the subject of hierarchy. The founder was pretty clear. Hierarchy was a bad thing and the new structure should have as little of it as possible. ## [Build #115 – Self-aware yet stuck](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/10/21/build-115-self-aware-yet-stuck/) 21st October 2026 [![](https://www.simonwakeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/eYgcnc7qwcZwx2Zf3Wa7Rd.jpg)](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/10/21/build-115-self-aware-yet-stuck/) While I was out my mind was wandering through the founders I’m working with at the moment and the many I’ve worked with over the last four years as an indie COO. I found myself trying to pin down what the ones that have really stuck with me have in common. They’re not the most successful ones necessarily although there’s a fair overlap. They’re the ones who I found genuinely impressive to work with. ## [Build #114 – Why the changes don’t stick](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/10/14/build-114-why-the-changes-dont-stick/) 14th October 2026 [![](https://www.simonwakeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/nTYxwPF1gUs3EjYYPLYdpH.jpg)](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/10/14/build-114-why-the-changes-dont-stick/) Build #114 – Why the changes don’t stick Hey Reader, Last week’s Build issue on reorganisations that never end sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole about change. Right now I’ve got two live projects where change is a particularly strong theme (although of course it’s a common strand across everything I’m working on, as ever). The thing that’s been buzzing away in my mind has been about we build organisations that can cope and thrive on constant evolution. For the theory geeks on this stuff,… ## [Build #113 – Reorganisations that never end](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/10/07/build-113-reorganisations-that-never-end/) 7th October 2026 [![](https://www.simonwakeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/rA97JSkTumjSdccrtfoXMD.jpg)](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/10/07/build-113-reorganisations-that-never-end/) I’ve been mulling over this article about working at Lovable for a couple of weeks now and it’s really stuck in my mind. It’s by Elena Verna who’s been in senior growth roles at a long list of tech companies and is now just over a year into working at Lovable (in case you’ve been living in a cave for the last few years, it’s an AI app-building company). She’s honest that her perspective is based on one company and she can’t always tell… ## [Build #112 – Why senior hires are hard](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/09/30/build-112-why-senior-hires-are-hard/) 30th September 2026 [![](https://www.simonwakeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pKUJ23SCJ9RXi78p61PAsg-scaled.jpg)](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/09/30/build-112-why-senior-hires-are-hard/) I seem to be doing a lot of interviewing at the moment for clients. I guess that’s a logical follow-on from the senior team design work that I had going on earlier in the year. I have to admit that interviewing for senior hires is one of the things I find hardest in my work, even though I’ve been doing it for a very long time. Often I’ll be interviewing with a founder who usually is desperate for the person sitting on the call in front of us… ## [Monthnotes – September 2026](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/09/30/monthnotes-september-2026/) 30th September 2026 [![](https://www.simonwakeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/PXL_20260904_182315949.PORTRAIT.ORIGINAL-scaled.jpg)](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/09/30/monthnotes-september-2026/) So this was the month it finally happened… Our youngest son, Toby, headed off to university in Loughborough last week. We’ve always known this day … [Read More](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/09/30/monthnotes-september-2026/ "Monthnotes – September 2026") ## [Build #111 – The system isn’t the hard part](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/09/23/build-111-the-system-isnt-the-hard-part/) 23rd September 2026 [![](https://www.simonwakeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/gkhuHWTS71NDK76tNn7t32.jpg)](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/09/23/build-111-the-system-isnt-the-hard-part/) This month’s been a busy one with potential new clients getting in touch with me. It must be the “back to school” feeling with founders wanting to address those longstanding problems that have been holding them back. I finally had a bit of time last night to reflect on the initial calls I’ve done so far. I noticed a bit of a theme across three of them. They were three different founders in three very different sectors – but broadly all… ## [Build #110 – You can’t give someone accountability](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/09/16/build-110-you-cant-give-someone-accountability/) 16th September 2026 [![](https://www.simonwakeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/fpx1MVzdmKx4PjU3kGo4mA-scaled.jpg)](https://www.simonwakeman.com/blog/2026/09/16/build-110-you-cant-give-someone-accountability/) “We need more accountability in the business.” I hear a version of that line in nearly every business I go into. Sometimes it’s from the founder or sometimes it’s from someone three levels down who’s fed up and has been for a while. And it’s almost always said with real feeling. But when I ask what accountability would look like on a Tuesday morning, people tend to go quiet. Accountability is one of the few problems I see in every…