A.R.T Your Life

90% of leaders prioritise innovation, yet only 6% are satisfied with it (McKinsey, 2023).

The missing piece is blue-sky thinking.

I notice this often with organisations that say innovation is a value. They want it, but they do not prioritise it. Innovation needs intentional space. It cannot happen in a standard meeting.

Blue-sky thinking, innovation, and critical thinking sit in the same bucket.

They require structure, time to conceptualise, and time for the mind’s critical faculty to move between the conscious and unconscious so ideas can surface.

When blue-sky thinking is done well, teams ask questions such as:

🔹 If we were starting this from scratch today, with no legacy systems or history, what would we design?

🔹 What would someone who values innovation over stability suggest?

🔹 If failure were impossible, what would we attempt?

🔹 Where might we be over-complicating something that could be simpler?

I see countless team members full of ideas to improve systems, services, engagement and impact, yet frustrated by the sense that their ideas fall on deaf ears.

The shift happens when teams schedule dedicated blue-sky sessions weekly or fortnightly.

The KEY is that these meetings do not cover business-as-usual. No to-do lists. No budget discussions. You throw paint at the wall. You let ideas flow. Once one person begins, others follow.

As best practice, if you want your team to make a greater difference, you must prioritise regular meetings where, outside the triangle, ideas are encouraged. If you do not explore an idea, you never move it forward.

This is an inclusive process. Everyone participates, regardless of level or tenure.

In my experience, the most innovative ideas often come from the people who cannot implement them.

Those closest to the work tend to see what others cannot...we often miss the forest for the trees.

Blue sky thinking = continuous improvement.

Some of the most damaging behaviour in a workplace doesn’t look dramatic at all.

Just recently, I observed a leader shut down an entire table of their direct reports without saying much at all.

What struck me wasn’t the behaviour itself, but its ripple effect.

Eyes looked down.

Curiosity was dimmed.

Discussions were stilted.

I could sense how many insights and ideas would never make it to the table that day.

Workplace culture rarely unravels loudly.

It slips through small moments of dismissal, disengagement, and quiet resistance from the people others are meant to respect.

And when leaders show up that way, it creates a ripple in the whole team.

People may listen when a leader speaks.

But they become what the leader models.

If my team weren’t communicating well, here’s what I’d do.

I wouldn’t book another meeting.

I wouldn’t send yet another ‘communication is important’ email.

I’d start by looking at trust.


When people withhold information, it’s not a systems issue

↳ It’s a safety issue.

So I’d help them:

🔹 Practise listening to understand, not defend

🔹 Address the emotion before the issue

🔹 Rebuild curiosity where assumption has taken over

Because communication isn’t just about words -

It’s about mutual psychological safety.

- Catie K

What we excuse as 'venting' is quietly becoming one of the most toxic workplace habits.

I once worked with an organisation where some team members felt it was collectively okay to hang up the phone and call their customer a ‘f*ing s**stic’

(needless to say, this is beyond not okay).

Across agencies and organisations, people have told me that ‘venting’ is the norm.

That it’s fine.
That it’s “just getting things off your chest”.

Over half of Australian workers have experienced a toxic workplace (SEEK).

Venting is almost always present in these environments.

I don’t know where the belief came from that venting is a need or that it’s healthy - because it’s the opposite.

Venting = zero emotional intelligence and emotional regulation.

Someone with emotional intelligence takes responsibility for the impact they’re having on others.

When a team member walks in with a foul mood or hangs up the phone and starts venting, it creates an immediate ripple effect.

Negativity breeds negativity.
It’s like a sneeze filled with molecules of toxicity.

It isn’t ‘just getting things off your chest’.

Mirror neurons fire both when we act and when we observe others. Our brains literally mirror what we see.

As a human behaviour specialist, I understand the importance of not repressing emotions, but when venting becomes the norm, it builds a toxic workplace.

Especially when the venting is about customers or teams you’re supposed to be collaborating with.

Venting is always negative.

It is based in frustration, irritation, resentment and anger.

I’ve run countless workshops for teams who proudly display their values at the bottom of every email.

Yet when I ask their people to recall them, they draw a blank.

Sometimes, they can’t even tell me one.

And if they can’t say them…
they’re not going to be bringing them to life.

Or they tell me their company value is 'respect' yet team members turn up late, interrupt in meetings and rock up to work dressed like they are going to a footy game.

Sound familiar?

Values don’t live in posters or policies.

They live in how people show up, communicate, and treat each other every day.