I recently went down a rabbit hole about a two Michelin-starred restaurant in rural Wales. What struck me most wasn’t the food (it’s probably good), but the head chef’s management style. Instead of the old-school tyranny you’d expect the Marco Pierre White scowl or Gordon Ramsay fireworks this leader leaned into empathy, clarity, and open dialogue. It has been happening in the open for a while, culture is changing, work-life is changing, management is changing.

There’s a difference between pressure and stress. They often get muddled together, especially in work chats where everyone’s “under pressure” or “stressed out.” But they’re not the same thing and if accept that and accept people handle pressure in different ways, we can recognise the difference and react accordingly. Pressure is even. Stress is focused. Think of pressure like the atmosphere: applied all around, steady, invisible. It keeps planes in the air and ships afloat.

I don’t like recommending things. Not movies. Not restaurants. Not even a decent bottle of red. Why? Because what if you don’t like it? What if you watch it, eat it, drink it and go, “Aye… that was rubbish, actually.” Then I’m the clown who mugged you off. And I’ll carry that shame for years. My social anxiety simply won’t allow it. But this book Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed is different.