Insights archive
Field notes for
uncertain work.
Ideas drawn from enterprise delivery, military experience and the ongoing practice of making better decisions.
14 records / 2018—2024
This archive restores the known public record of the original Test & Adjust site. Original-source articles are available in full; remaining records stay clearly marked while their text is verified.
The Agile Manifesto through a military lens
Four Agile values, grounded in service, intent, teamwork and adaptation.
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Why mission intent, conversation and trust allow trained people to use process without becoming trapped by it.
Working solutions over comprehensive documentation
A communications failure in East Timor and the decision to restore capability before completing perfect paperwork.
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
At Officer Training School, responsibility for the outcome could not be handed off with the work.
Responding to change over following a plan
What a deliberately disrupted routine at Kapooka taught recruits about resilience and adaptation.
Don’t get caught up
A field note on keeping perspective, reading the situation and directing attention to what matters next.
Accept responsibility
Responsibility is more than accountability: it is choosing to act on the part of the situation you can influence.
Reducing groupthink in remote meetings
Simple ways to protect independent thinking before a group converges on a decision.
Life long learning — the age of the podcast
How accessible ideas and reflective listening can support a durable practice of continuous learning.
Acting on situations, not reacting to situations
Creating enough space between information and action to respond with intent.
What does it mean to be a cross-functional team player?
The difference between collecting functions in one room and working as one capable team.
Being busy is not being productive
Activity can fill every hour while producing very little value. Outcomes tell a more useful story.
When things get tough
What pressure reveals about systems, leadership and the habits a team has built before the difficult moment.
Kapooka — train hard, fight easy
Practice builds the shared responses that allow a team to perform when the environment becomes difficult.