In this conversation, I speak with Barry Jones, an ice hockey coach based in Australia who works with the Perth Inferno Women's team. Barry shares his remarkable journey from working with people with disabilities to enbracing the principles of ecological dynamics and aplying them with an eleite level team where his team has just 45 minutes per week to train whilst competing interstate. 

Three Key Takeaways:

1. Autonomy carries emotional weight: Barry discovered that when athletes transition from being controlled to becoming autonomous decision-makers, they begin to wear failure personally. This emotional shift requires coaches to understand the psychological safety needed when athletes are learning to become independent thinkers, particularly with athletes who may have been conditioned to wait for coach direction.
   
   
2. 'Environmental sports' shape how games are played: Barry introduces the concept of "environmental sports"—the idea that sports reflect the cultural and sporting environment they're played in. Ice hockey in Australia is influenced by AFL, basketball, and cricket, creating a different flavour of the game compared to Canada or the US. Understanding these sociocultural constraints is crucial for effective coaching.
   
   
3. If you're comfortable, you're not learning: Barry's coaching philosophy centres on creating productive discomfort through battle games with time constraints. Rather than flow drills where players rehearse scripted movements, every training task places athletes in decision-making situations that mirror game pressures. This approach demands that both athletes and coaches feel uncomfortable in their learning.

Join The Guild of Ecological Explorers to dive deeper into conversations like this and connect with practitioners exploring constraints-led approaches in their own contexts. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'join a learning group' button.

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Ready to explore these ideas further? Join The Guild of Ecological Explorers – a community of practitioners committed to deepening their understanding of ecological dynamics and constraints-led approaches. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'Join a Learning Group' button to become part of this transformative conversation

In this special 300th episode of the podcast my good friend Andrew Wilson from Leeds Beckett University delivers a ;Christmas Lecture for members of the Ecological Explorers Club and The Guild of Ecological Explorers.

In the lecture he navigates a fascinating discussion about how ecological psychology reconceptualises memory. Rather than viewing memory as stored representations in the brain, Andrew introduces a radical embodied approach where remembering is an active process of reassembling ourselves into the dynamical systems we once were. Drawing on Robin Wilford and Mike Anderson's recent paper on radical embodied memory, he challenges us to think about memory not as a noun but as a verb - not as something we have, but as something we do.

Three Key Takeaways:

Memory isn't stored, it's reconstructed: The traditional view of encoding, storage, and retrieval misses the point. What remains stable over time isn't a representation tucked away in your brain, but your capacity to become the kind of brain-body-environment system that can manifest that behaviour again. You don't retrieve a memory - you reassemble yourself into something capable of doing what you did before. The entire system remembers, not just the brain:

Skilled behaviour emerges from the coupling of brain, body, and environment working together as a dynamical system. When you learn to hit a softball or walk on ice, you're not just changing your brain - you're reorganising your entire perception-action system. This is why muscle memory is misleading language; the remembering happens in the whole assembled system, not in isolated parts.

Learning changes what you are, not what you know: Every experience reshapes you as a dynamical system, adding new capabilities to your state space. When you learn a new skill, you become an entirely different kind of system - one that can now do this new thing as well as all your previous capabilities. This explains why confidence knocks can be so disruptive: they don't block access to a stored memory, they reshape your dynamic in ways that make you literally unable to reassemble into the system that could perform that skill.

Join The Guild of Ecological Explorers to explore these ideas further and connect with a community of practitioners thinking differently about coaching and development. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'join a learning group' button.

Link to Andrew's Blog post on the paper https://psychsciencenotes.blogspot.com/2025/11/radical-embodied-memory-wilford.html

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Ready to explore these ideas further? Join The Guild of Ecological Explorers – a community of practitioners committed to deepening their understanding of ecological dynamics and constraints-led approaches. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'Join a Learning Group' button to become part of this transformative conversation

In this Dog Walk Diary episode, I explore a powerful metaphor about bananas and talent selection to unpack why traditional coach education falls short, and argue that we need to think ecologically about the environments coaches operate within rather than just pumping them full of content.

Three Key Takeaways:

1.The knowing-doing gap isn’t about lack of education – We can’t expect coach education alone to change behaviour when coaches operate within systems that constrain them through competitive pressures, selection policies, and performance metrics that reward short-term outcomes over long-term development.

2.Competition systems drive coaching behaviour more than content does – When policies prioritise win rates and early selection, coaches naturally choose “ripe bananas” over “green ones” because the environment punishes developmental thinking. We need to redesign the ecological niche coaches inhabit, not just their knowledge base.

3.Sport needs a philosophical conversation before a technical one – Organisations must first answer whether they’re serving participation or performance, recognise it’s a false dichotomy, and then align their policies, resources, and competitive structures to support both—creating the “broccoli burger” that’s both appealing and nutritious.

If you’re interested in exploring these ideas further and connecting with other practitioners who think differently about coaching and development, join The Guild of Ecological Explorers by heading to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and clicking the ‘join a learning group’ button.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Ready to explore these ideas further? Join The Guild of Ecological Explorers – a community of practitioners committed to deepening their understanding of ecological dynamics and constraints-led approaches. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'Join a Learning Group' button to become part of this transformative conversation

In this episode, I sit down with Hayley Lever, Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Moving, to explore what authentic leadership really looks like when you're trying to create systemic change. Hayley has been one of the biggest influences on how I think about leadership, culture, and the power of creating environments where people can truly thrive. We dive deep into Hayley's newly published book on leadership, 'Leading from the Balcony', discussing everything from the courage it takes to question cultural norms, to the daily act of resistance required when you're committed to doing things differently. This conversation is raw, honest, and packed with practical wisdom about what it really takes to lead with integrity in a complex world. 

My three Key Takeaways:

1. Leadership is a practice, not a position – True leadership happens in the micro moments of everyday interactions, not just in boardrooms or through positional power. Everyone has the capacity to lead when we create the conditions that unlock that potential.
   
   
2. Positive disruption requires courage and support – Creating meaningful change means challenging entrenched processes and cultural norms, but you can't do it alone. The environment around you—whether that's your chair, your board, your funders, or your team—either enables or constrains your ability to lead authentically.
3. Accountability and care go hand in hand – Creating a thriving culture isn't about making everything easy; it's about being candid, caring, and challenging. It means having difficult conversations with honesty whilst making people feel valued and supported. And crucially, it means being vulnerable enough to admit when you'll fall short.

If you're interested in exploring these ideas further and connecting with others who are passionate about systems leadership, complexity or ecological approaches to human advancement, join The Guild of Ecological Explorers by heading to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and clicking the 'join a learning group' button.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Ready to explore these ideas further? Join The Guild of Ecological Explorers – a community of practitioners committed to deepening their understanding of ecological dynamics and constraints-led approaches. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'Join a Learning Group' button to become part of this transformative conversation

In this episode, I sit down with Scott Benbow, a Football Fun Factory franchise owner in West Cumbria who's on a mission to transform grassroots coaching through learning science. After an 11-year break from coaching and a deep dive into neuroscience and learning development, Scott returned to football with a radically different approach—one that prioritises how children learn over traditional coaching methods. We explore his journey from burnout to breakthrough, discussing how Lauren Waldman's 'Joining Forces with Your Brain' course completely changed his understanding of what coaches should actually be doing. Scott challenges the isolated drill model, shares practical techniques like his 30-second focus activation method, and makes a compelling case that children don't need us to learn—they need us to enhance learning that's already happening naturally.

3 Key Takeaways:

1. Focus is the gateway to learning - Scott explains how he uses simple techniques (like writing children's names with a luminous football) to activate focused attention for 30-60 seconds before any instruction, dramatically improving engagement and learning outcomes.
2. Children don't need coaches to learn, but coaches can enhance or hinder the process - By understanding neural network development and how the brain naturally learns through environmental interaction, coaches can step back from prescriptive teaching and design richer learning environments instead.
   
   
3. The grassroots coaching crisis is a systems problem, not a coach problem - Volunteer coaches are giving their time but receiving minimal support and outdated training. Better understanding of learning science could revolutionise how we support both coaches and the children they serve.

This is a good faith discussion between practitioners with complementary philosophies about the sport experience for children but some different perspectives on the underpinning learning mechanisms that drive practice design. 

Join the conversation and connect with like-minded practitioners by becoming part of The Guild of Ecological Explorers. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'Join a Learning Group' button to be part of our growing community exploring the future of coaching and talent development.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Ready to explore these ideas further? Join The Guild of Ecological Explorers – a community of practitioners committed to deepening their understanding of ecological dynamics and constraints-led approaches. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'Join a Learning Group' button to become part of this transformative conversation

In this episode, I dive into a subject that's been weighing heavily on my mind, sparked by the writing of fellow ecological explorer, Steve Whelan and observations across the coaching landscape. I explore why coach education systems continue to default to instructional, directive models when we know that contextual, experiential learning can be far more effective—and why this has huge bearing on workforce diversity especially for grassroots coaches working at the coalface of participation. 

Three Key Takeaways:

1. The Unquestioned Learning Paradigm: Most coach education systems operate from a directive, instructional paradigm that prioritises knowledge acquisition and transfer, rather than contextual, meaning-making approaches. Many coaches aren't even aware of these paradigms, which limits their learning repertoire.
   
   
2. The Resource Paradox: Whilst elite-level coaching receives intensive, well-resourced support, grassroots coaches—who provide the crucial early experiences that shape lifelong physical activity habits—are left with minimal training despite facing equally challenging environments.
   
   
3. It's a Systems Problem, Not a Coach Problem: The issue isn't that coaches lack capability; it's that policy decisions, resource allocation, and dominant educational frameworks fail to provide the paradigm shift needed to support diverse, contextual learning approaches at scale.

Ready to explore these ideas further and challenge conventional coaching wisdom? Join me and coaches from around the world in The Guild of Ecological Explorers, where we're having deep, transformative conversations about coaching, learning, and talent development. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'Join a Learning Group' button

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Ready to explore these ideas further? Join The Guild of Ecological Explorers – a community of practitioners committed to deepening their understanding of ecological dynamics and constraints-led approaches. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'Join a Learning Group' button to become part of this transformative conversation

In this fascinating conversation, I joined Keith Davids and Ian Renshaw, two of the 'founding fathers' of Ecological Dynamics and the Constraints Led Approach in sport to explore the critical challenges facing coach education and athlete development. We dive deep into why the traditional cognitive-information processing approach still dominates coaching practice, despite decades of research suggesting more effective alternatives.

3 Key Takeaways:

1. The Educational Paradigm Problem – Coach education has been built on the same linear, knowledge-transfer models used in formal schooling, creating a massive "knowing-doing gap" that leaves coaches unprepared for real-world practice.
   
   
2. The Dualism Dilemma – You can't truly pick and mix between ecological and information-processing theories if you claim to follow a scientific approach – they're built on fundamentally different assumptions about how humans learn.
   
   
3. The Moral Imperative – Coach educators and curriculum designers have a duty to expose practitioners to alternative learning paradigms, not just the dominant cognitive approach, so coaches can make genuinely informed choices about their practice.

This conversation challenges us to think critically about how we develop coaches and whether we're truly serving the practitioners and participants who depend on quality coaching experiences.




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Ready to explore these ideas further? Join The Guild of Ecological Explorers – a community of practitioners committed to deepening their understanding of ecological dynamics and constraints-led approaches. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'Join a Learning Group' button to become part of this transformative conversation

Jonathan Harding joins me to discuss his amazing book 'Mensch' which goes into a deep dive around the way that the German nation views coaches and their approch to coach development. 

This book is really powerful and I really enjoyed this insightful conversation. 




Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Ready to explore these ideas further? Join The Guild of Ecological Explorers – a community of practitioners committed to deepening their understanding of ecological dynamics and constraints-led approaches. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'Join a Learning Group' button to become part of this transformative conversation

In this conversation, I sit down with Mike Porteous, triathlon coach and author of the brillliant book 'Beyond Belief' - the art of confidence-centred coaching. Mike's journey from academic to civil servant to failed mountain bike business owner to successful triathlon coach reveals fascinating insights about what really matters in developing both athletes and coaches. We explore Mike's approach to confidence-centred coaching, which places how people feel at the very heart of the coaching process. Rather than focusing purely on performance metrics or development outcomes, Mike argues for a third way that prioritises the subjective experience of both coach and athlete. 

Three Key Takeaways:

1. Confidence isn't a thing you acquire - it's actually a combination of three feelings: excitement (thrilled anticipation), composure (control over what you can influence whilst being calm about what you can't), and fluency (losing yourself in the moment and finding flow).
2. The best coaches often aren't the best athletes - Mike's own journey from being a mediocre mountain biker to helping athletes achieve extraordinary feats shows that empathy, presence, and the ability to be alongside someone on their journey matters more than technical prowess.
3. Drawing out beats putting in - Rather than instructing athletes what to do, confidence-centred coaching focuses on helping people discover their own solutions through feeling and awareness, creating more resilient and self-reliant performers.

This conversation will change how you think about coaching, confidence, and what it really means to help someone reach their potential. Ready to transform your coaching approach? Join 'The Guild of Ecological Explorers' learning group by heading to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and clicking the 'join a learning group' button. Let's explore these ideas together and revolutionise how we develop talent.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Ready to explore these ideas further? Join The Guild of Ecological Explorers – a community of practitioners committed to deepening their understanding of ecological dynamics and constraints-led approaches. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'Join a Learning Group' button to become part of this transformative conversation

In this episode of The Talent Equation, I reconnect with Andy Kirkland from the University of Stirling to explore how our sporting systems both help and hinder talent development. Andy shares insights from his chapter in "Reimagining Talent Development in Sport" and introduces the concept of 'salutogenesis' - focusing on what creates health and well being rather than what causes harm.

Three key takeaways:

1. Our current talent development systems often prioritise preventing harm rather than creating healthy environments where people can thrive and grow.
2. Coaches bear huge responsibility for guiding young people through developmental journeys but are frequently under-resourced and lack essential knowledge about human development.
3. We need to shift from resource-heavy "barrier" approaches to more ecological systems that empower individuals to navigate challenges while providing appropriate support.

Join our learning community of forward-thinking coaches and talent developers by heading to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and clicking the 'join a learning group' button to become part of The Guild of Ecological Explorers.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-talent-equation-podcast--2186775/support.

Ready to explore these ideas further? Join The Guild of Ecological Explorers – a community of practitioners committed to deepening their understanding of ecological dynamics and constraints-led approaches. Head to www.thetalentequation.co.uk and click the 'Join a Learning Group' button to become part of this transformative conversation