Easy-to-digest insights on workplace, personal, and leadership optimization

Read any headline, whether about the workplace or the state of the world, and you’ll see positions that are diametrically opposed. One side insists the other is harmful. The other fires back with the same charge. In other words, “unsafe” has become a catch-all phrase. But not everything that feels unsafe is truly unsafe. Sometimes […]

At Chapter tOO, we talk a lot about optimization. People, leaders, workplaces — that’s our lane. But every path to optimization starts with the individual. And because so many people are losing the plot and tying their self-worth to work, it’s time we had a real conversation about identity. Why now? Because the odds are […]

Ask any leadership framework or HR textbook and you’ll get a list of “essential competencies.” Communication. Decision-making. Vision. Emotional intelligence. Strategy. The lists keep growing, and the frameworks keep multiplying. Over the years, we’ve seen how organizations lean on competency models to define what leaders “need” to succeed. These models aren’t without value, but they […]

“Look at the stars, look how they shine for you…” That’s a line from one of Coldplay’s most iconic songs—Yellow—and ironically, it’s the lyric that’s been echoing across the internet in the wake of what’s now known as the kiss cam moment. The band may have been playing what’s since been dubbed “The Jumbotron Song” […]

Editor’s Note: In recognition of National PTSD Awareness Day (June 27th), this first-person essay from our Founder & CEO, Charmaine Green-Forde, offers a rare, unfiltered look at the toll toxic workplace culture can take—especially from behind the scenes in HR.   Is the danger of toxic workplace culture overblown—or are we just used to it? […]

A Gemisode® Series Let’s not sugarcoat it: Comfort is costing you. It’s costing trust, innovation, top talent, market share, and time you’ll never get back. In Part I, we explored why resistance to change runs so deep—rooted in behavioral patterns like status quo bias, loss aversion, and inertia. In Part II, we uncovered how culture […]

A Gemisode® Series   If Part I asked us to confront the psychology behind resistance to change, Part II takes us deeper—into something more subtle but just as dangerous: how culture becomes the cloak that comfort hides behind. Here’s the thing: comfort doesn’t just show up in what people do—it shows up in what organizations […]

A Gemisode® Series Many leaders and organizations say they want change. But when it’s time to do the work? They choose comfort. Again. They bring in consultants. Coaches. Experts. They draft bold vision statements and announce transformations. And yet—when the moment comes to make decisions that require courage, vulnerability, and behavioral change? They stall. They […]

A Gemisode® Series – Part II Once celebrated for its flexibility and adaptability, we opened Part I of this series by asking whether Agile is showing signs of cracking under its own weight. In other words: Has the movement become too rigid to serve the needs of teams and businesses today? And if so, what […]

A Gemisode® Series – Part I First introduced in 2001, the Agile Manifesto—authored by 17 software practitioners and guided by four values and twelve principles—was about defining core values and principles for software development, prioritizing flexibility, collaboration, and adaptability. Over two decades later, the methodology continues to significantly shape the business world as its adoption […]