Workplace disagreement, objection, and complaint are three distinct, open or unresolved interactions. Yet they are often conflated under the broad label of "workplace conflict". We think this confusion makes ordinary disagreement feel dangerous, makes the person disagreeing appear difficult, and leaves minor concerns about behaviour unnecessarily complicated and confusing to address and resolve.
The Speak Up Toolkit and Accountability Process
Many organisations encourage people to speak up. Far fewer provide a clear, fair, and proportionate process for what happens next. Without a shared process, speaking up can feel uncertain. People hesitate because they do not know how their concern will be received, whether it will escalate unnecessarily, or whether it will simply be ignored. A Speak Up Toolkit should do more than encourage conversations. It should guide them.
We Systemised Hamburgers 70 Years Before Processing Psychosocial Hazards
In the 1950s, McDonald’s did not transform fast food by simply expecting employees to work faster or telling them, “Make a burger with a patty, and make it fast.” That instruction described the desired outcome, but not the process. Instead, the the McDonald brothers studied every movement. They designed the kitchen layout, clarified each role, standardised the sequence, created machines, set timing expectations, specified ingredients, created quality checks and established what should happen when something went wrong....
Psychological Safety AND Accountability
Psychological safety AND accountability are often treated as competing ideas. I think they become easier to understand when we separate the problems that, I believe, are designed to address....
The Story Behind SpatzChat™ and SpatzAI
Over 20 years ago, I was in a travel startup meeting with my brother and a well-known industry advisor. We were discussing a potential investor relationship. I raised a concern bluntly, saying that we should warn the investors about us. In my view, we were not well matched. The response was immediate. I was labelled a loose cannon. My brother agreed. I withdrew, feeling like the odd one out. The investment went ahead....
It’s the Process, Stupid.
I've spent years thinking about the apparent tension between psychological safety and accountability. Psychological safety encourages people to speak up. Accountability expects people to own their behaviour. Both are important, yet many organisations struggle to achieve either. Why? I suspect we're looking at the wrong end of the problem....
SpatzChat™ Escalator Pitch
You know that feeling you get when someone unfairly and subtly puts you down after you share a radical idea at work? If it happens repeatedly, many people eventually complain about the person to their manager or HR. But what if you could safely address this behaviour, privately and in real-time, instead of waiting for them to repeat it? That’s what we do.
Plato and Aristotle had a Minor Spat
Our conversation began by contrasting Plato and Aristotle. Plato was presented to me as focusing on timeless ideals and abstract forms, while Aristotle - a student of Plato - was described as grounding knowledge in observation and the study of the natural world. This raised the question of where SpatzAI sits philosophically....
Resolved or Escalate. Repeat
Make sure the issue is repeated enough times before complaining. Then: If this happens, wait 90 seconds, stay calm. Be respectful. If that fails, document privately. If they respond this way, then complain anonymously to HR. If they respond another way, involve your manager secretly. Etc. Etc. No wonder there are so many unresolved conflicts causing toxic workplaces. SpatzChat takes a simpler approach.
Introducing the Spatz Team Cohesion Index – TCI
Much of the conversation on LinkedIn about workplace culture treats it as something that flows from the top down, with leadership acting as the primary governing force. At SpatzAI, we take a different view and have built a different framework...
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