Inside the Messy Middle is a special series from The Inner Game of Change

This fortnightly short series is for people who carry responsibility inside complexity.
Between strategy and delivery. Between intent and impact. Between what was imagined and what must now be made real. 

These episodes are not about tools or frameworks. They are reflections on judgement, dignity, and the human cost of change as it is actually lived.

In this episode of Inside The Messy Middle, I explore what happens when pause, reflection, and professional judgement are interpreted as pushback.

What if hesitation is not resistance, but care?
What if slowing down is competence recognising consequence?

Through a business example from Intel and a quiet literary reflection, this episode examines the cost of misreading human hesitation — and what organisations risk losing when the middle stops speaking.

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Ali Juma
@The Inner Game of Change podcast

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