Research & thinking
Insights
Quarterly research, field notes and point-of-view papers on leadership, succession and organisational change in Southeast Asia.
The Succession Gap: 2026 Regional Board Survey
61% of boards we surveyed have no ready-now internal successor for the CEO seat. The reasons are structural, not individual.
Where Strategy Dies: The Middle Management Problem
Strategy rarely fails at the top. It loses meaning in the translation layer — and that layer is measurable.
Hybrid, Three Years On
What the data now says about proximity, trust and promotion velocity in regional organisations.
The First External CEO: What Actually Changes
Our 2026 research question, examined across the client base and a panel of 1,200 regional executives.
A Diagnostic for Decision Rights
The four-question test we run in the first week of every organisation design engagement.
The Spans and Layers Myth
Flattening an organisation without moving decision rights just gives the same bottleneck a bigger team.
Assessing Potential Without Guessing
Potential is not a personality trait. It is a rate of learning under conditions the current job does not provide.
Writing a Search Brief That Survives Contact
Most briefs describe a person. The useful ones describe the first three decisions the hire has to get right.
Measuring Culture at the Right Cadence
Annual engagement surveys give you a number. Four high-frequency signals give you a decision.
Board Composition in a Concentrated Market
Independence is a behaviour, not a category on a disclosure form.
Time to Productivity Is a Design Choice
Leaders onboarded through a structured programme reach full contribution 2.4× faster. The mechanism is unglamorous.
Retention After a Restructure
The people who leave after a restructure are usually not the ones the restructure targeted.