Action Is Not the Problem

Why effort alone won’t save you this year.

Hello, Peripheral Thinkers!

February has a very different feel from January. The novelty is gone. The adrenaline has settled. The work is no longer theoretical. It’s real, visible, and underway.

Most teams aren’t asking what to do next. They’re already doing it.

And that’s exactly why this message matters.

This month isn’t about slowing down. It’s about noticing what’s driving your motion before momentum quietly locks you into a direction you didn’t fully choose.

Action is not the problem.

Unexamined action is!

We are surrounded by advice that worships effort.

When motion becomes the default answer

The Advice:

Push through.
Be consistent.
Show up daily—even when you don’t feel like it.
Outwork, outlast, out-hustle.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of this.

Discipline and execution will always matter. Organizations fail without them.

But somewhere along the way, action became the default answer to every leadership challenge.

Revenue stalled? Push harder.

Team misalignment? Add more meetings.

Uncertainty ahead? Move faster.

Competition heating up? Do more… quickly.

The result is a generation of incredibly busy leaders… and quietly undernourished of fresh perspectives.

Action Determines Speed. Perspective Determines Direction.

The difference between momentum and leadership

Here’s the uncomfortable truth most “do more” advice avoids:

Action determines speed.

Perspective determines direction.

You can execute flawlessly and still end up somewhere you never intended to go.

History is full of examples of companies that moved fast, scaled efficiently, and followed best practices straight into irrelevance. They weren’t lazy. They weren’t careless. They were highly competent inside a shrinking frame.

BlackBerry. Executed around email security, while others focused on productivity through apps.

Nokia (mid-2000s). Leadership framed the future as better devices, not software platforms and experiences. “We didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost.”

GE (late-stage). They optimized for financial engineering and internal efficiency long after markets began rewarding agility, focus, and coherence over scale.

Leadership is not about motion for motion’s sake. It’s about deciding what deserves momentum in the first place.

Fast Thinking Wins Sprints, and Loses Futures

Why constant execution shrinks perspective

Researchers and psychologists have been warning us about this for years.

Studies on cognitive load show that when leaders operate in constant execution mode, their ability to recognize patterns, challenge assumptions, and imagine alternatives deteriorates.

In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Nobel Prize–winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman describes this as living primarily in “fast thinking.” It’s reactive, efficient, and highly vulnerable to blind spots.

Fast thinking is excellent for execution.

It’s terrible for strategy.

Yet most leadership advice today encourages that imbalance precisely: act first, think later—if at all.

This is where leadership quietly breaks down.

Why the leader’s real job starts before the checklist

The role of a leader is not just to hit this year’s targets.

It’s to guide people through uncertainty.

To sense shifts before they’re obvious.

To serve a market that is evolving, even when the data hasn’t caught up yet.

To prepare organizations not just to survive change, but to shape it.

That work doesn’t happen in checklists.

It happens in how leaders think, what they notice, and where they look for insight.

The Seduction of Borrowed Thinking

Why frameworks feel safe and quietly limit leaders

Right now, we are dangerously close to losing a generation of leaders. Not because they lack ambition or grit, but because they’re being conditioned to outsource their thinking.

“Follow my five steps.”
“Apply these AI prompts.”
“Use this proven framework.”
“Do exactly this and you’ll 10X everything.”

It sounds comforting.

It’s also profoundly limiting.

Frameworks don’t lead.

People do.

And leaders who never learn how to think differently end up managing inside someone else’s assumptions… often long after those assumptions have expired.

Better Thinking Changes the Trajectory

What leaders must ask while everyone else is busy

So instead of asking you to do more, let me ask you something more important:

How are you feeding your thinking—not just your task list?
What new perspectives are shaping how you see your business this year?
Where are your insights coming from that your competitors are not consuming?
Are you building momentum—or simply maintaining motion?
If you paused long enough to notice, are you setting trends or following very polished advice?

These aren’t philosophical questions. They’re strategic ones.

Because the leaders who define the next decade will not be the busiest people in the room.

They’ll be the ones who saw earlier.

Questioned longer.

Borrowed insights from unexpected places.

And acted after expanding their frame—not before.

The Quiet Divide Ahead

Who shapes the future—and who chases it

Effort will always matter.

Execution will always matter.

Discipline will always matter.

But effort without perspective eventually plateaus.

This year, leaders will diverge.

Some will double down on speed, tactics, and borrowed certainty.

Others will learn how to think differently—while still in motion.

That difference will decide who shapes the future…

and who spends the next few years chasing it.

Let’s keep moving.

Just with our eyes wide open.

Until next time… I’ll be looking for you in the periphery!

— Paul

One More Thing(s)…

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February 2026 - Action…