The Zero-Sum Archive
Explore past essays and research digests on breaking the win-lose habits of zero-sum thinking, cultivating trust, and building collaborative systems.
Filter Archive
You’re preparing for the wrong conversation
If today's LinkedIn post landed anywhere for you, you're now sitting with a specific conversation and a slightly uncomfortable realisation: you've been preparin...
The part of you that’s holding you back
If today's LinkedIn post landed anywhere for you, you're now sitting with something uncomfortable: a specific conversation you've been postponing, and the reali...
Stop replaying that conversation - the 90-second fix for rumination
There is a conversation currently consuming your mental bandwidth. You know the one. You’ve replayed it a dozen times, crafting the perfect reply that will neve...
Beyond "How are you?" - A tiny tool to help dissolve friction
I want to share something small with you today. Sometime today, you'll have conversations with people you know whether it’s colleagues, friends, or family. Mos...
Why your brain rewrites conversations (before they’ve even finished)
Today, I am sharing a short visual post on LinkedIn entitled "The 3 Stories Your Brain Writes (before the other person has even finished what they were saying)....
The most important decision you make today
Perhaps you’ve been in this moment where someone says something, and before you've thought anything through, you're already responding. What you don't see, in ...
Most conflict isn't a clash of positions
Bring to mind a disagreement you've been trying to resolve for a while. Not a one-off argument. The kind that keeps coming back whether with a colleague, a fam...
A vote, a podcast, and the "Identity Trap"
I have some exciting news. My designer has put together some initial cover ideas for The Zero-Sum Illusion, and it is time to put them to a vote. I want this b...
The 5-Minute Exercise for Low-Grade Frustration
Think of one person you've been quietly frustrated with this week. Not a person you're in open conflict with. The other kind: the colleague whose tone in tha...
The unspoken "not my problem"
Have you ever been in a meeting where a critical gap is identified, and you can almost feel the invisible wall go up? In my years of consultancy, I have seen i...
Why the success of others can sometimes feel like your loss
I had a moment this week that I suspect many of you might recognise. I was scrolling through LinkedIn - a quick "check-in" that turned into a ten-minute descent...
The 1,500-Year-Old Ditch in Our Minds
Yesterday, the weather here in London was precisely the way I like it: bright sunshine and cold. We went for a long 4-hour walk through Joyden's Wood, in Bexley...
Is Your Brain Running a Deficit?
It is Sunday evening here in London, and the rain is settling in. It has been a productive, if slightly exhausting, weekend - a mix of revising the manuscript f...
Are You Pulling on a Brick Wall?
The Winter Olympics is an incredible display of the best that humanity has to offer. However, it is also a cold, calculating laboratory for a problem that I've ...
Voldemort, Injustice, and The Gap
I’ve been listening to a fascinating interview by Sam Harris on his Making Sense podcast (446) with Michael Plant. Here's a link(https://samharris.org/episo...
The Greengrocer, The Governor, and The Prime Minister
Before we dive into the geopolitical earthquake that happened at Davos last week - a perfect illustration of zero-sum and positive-sum thinking - I want to star...
Are you a Thermometer or a Thermostat? (Plus: 48 hours left)
It was a privilege to sit down with Yash Chitale, author of "A Poet in the Workplace(https://inwhyzone.com/)" on Tuesday for our livestream, "The Inside Job". ...
Why resolutions fail (and an internal shift that works)
Happy New Year. As we step into 2026, the temptation is to look outward. We set goals for our teams, we plan strategies for our markets, and we resolve to "fix...
A moment of pause
It is Christmas Eve. Whether you are celebrating today or simply winding down for the New Year, the emails are finally slowing down. With the holiday period up...
Unlock Your Leadership Potential
Before I dive in, a massive thank you to everyone who has backed the campaign so far. Seeing your names on the supporter list is the best early Christmas presen...
What I saw when the world expected violence
On Monday, I shared the heavy cost of the Zero-Sum Illusion(https://zerosumillusion.kit.com/posts/i-used-to-be-proud-of-this-connection). Today, I want to share...
I used to be proud of this connection
I have mentioned before that I went to the same primary school as Elon Musk in Pretoria, and we may have overlapped for a year. For a long time, that was a conn...
It’s live: Become a Bridge-Builder
For the last few weeks, I’ve been writing to you about conflict, deadlocks, and the dangerous illusion that for one person to win, another must lose. We have e...
Why we get stuck (and how to get unstuck)
As you look at your calendar for the week ahead, you might see a specific meeting or negotiation that makes your stomach tighten. It’s that conversation where...
Why your brain needs you to receive thanks (not just give it)
Following up on my note a few days ago, I wanted to share a specific tool that helps break the "Zero-Sum" mindset we discussed. It was Thanksgiving recently i...
What I learned in a electoral counting station in 1994
In 1994, I stood in a counting station in KwaZulu-Natal during South Africa’s first democratic election. I was only 24 years old, but I had been appointed as ...