People Plus Science

03/03/2026

Board and Team Performance
Even High Performing boards/teams have blind spots. The Best ones design for them.

Read the blog: https://peopleplusscience.com/when-boardrooms-go-quiet-the-cost-of-silence-in-decision-making/

Think its time for a "people audit" of your board, team or organisation? Let's organise a chat.

design

11/02/2026

Change management + Psychosocial Hazards

🧠 Why change fails — and why it quietly becomes a psychosocial hazard.

Most failed change programs don’t fail because people “resist change”.
They fail because the conditions for safe change were never designed.

The Lippitt–Knoster model explains it simply and allows us to easily link it to current Psychosocial Hazards being experienced in the workplace as a result of ongoing change and no learnings from failures nor mitigation of change management risks:

• No vision → confusion and anxiety (Lack of clarity)
• No consensus → conflict and withdrawal (Lack of alignment, purpose and goals)
• No skills → stress, errors, and fear of exposure (Lack of capability, lack of trust)
• No incentives → disengagement and presenteeism (Lack of reward and recognition)
• No resources → overload and burnout - (High job demands, Low leadership and org supports)
• No action plan → repeated false starts and fatigue (Lack of clarity, lack of autonomy)

Now add today’s reality:
➡️ More change
➡️ Faster timelines
➡️ Fewer people risk assessments

The result?
Change itself is a common and undiagnosed psychosocial hazard @ work — driving chronic stress, silence, reduced performance, and increased WHS risk.

Good change management isn’t just a delivery discipline.
It’s a risk control delivered with human care.

Leaders who manage change well:
✔ assess people risk before rollout
✔ reduce uncertainty and role ambiguity
✔ pace change to protect cognitive capacity
✔ equip managers to notice early stress signals

💬 If your organisation is experiencing “change fatigue”, stalled initiatives, or rising psychosocial risk — it’s time to design change with the brain and nervous system in mind.

📩 Talk to us about training, people risk assessments, or end-to-end psychosocial hazard management during change.

Acknowledgement: Thank you to Kraayenbrink for the original image of the matrix -sorry for my circle work.

09/02/2026

🧠 Parents don’t leave worry at the door when they come to work.

For Children’s Mental Health Week (9–15 Feb), it’s worth naming a hidden psychosocial hazard at work: parents carrying concern about their children’s mental health.

The impact is real:
• 68% of working parents worry about their child’s mental health
• 60% say it affects their own mental health
• Nearly half say it impacts their work performance

This is where awareness, empathy, and practical support matter.

The MindForward Alliance has developed a free Parent Toolkit to help parents support children experiencing mental health challenges — and to help workplaces respond better.

👉 Download the toolkit:
https://peopleplusscience.com/working-parents-resources/

While this toolkit isn’t authored by People Plus Science, we’re proud signatories to the Movement for Better Workplaces and encourage employers to actively share and support resources like this.

💬 Want to go further?
We help organisations train leaders, build awareness, and manage psychosocial hazards end-to-end — including those that start outside the workplace.

People Plus Science helps organisations create healthier, high-performing workplaces. The mental health toolkit supports the 68% of working parents worried about their child’s wellbeing with practical, research-backed solutions.

24/07/2025

What if your board had the confidence to challenge the status quo—without fear?

At , we spotlight the real superheroes in governance:
🦸 Those who speak up.
🧠 Those who make clearer decisions under pressure.
🧪 Those who measure what matters—psychological safety.

We’ll be launching the Boardroom Psychological Safety Index with insights from the Neuroscience of Decision Making tomorrow!

Join the movement that’s reshaping board culture—one safe brain at a time.

21/07/2025

Psychological safety isn’t soft—it’s strategic.
At this year’s Conference, People Plus Science introduces a new standard for governance excellence:

📊 The Boardroom Psychological Safety Index
🧠 Backed by neuroscience
🗣 Powered by people who speak up
🔄 Designed to reduce decision fatigue and cognitive overload

We’ll kick off with the Results from the Boardroom Psychological Safety Index and the Neuroscience of Decision-Making, arming board leaders with the tools to do more—with less stress, more clarity, and safer thinking environments.

16/07/2025

🎤 Countdown to begins!
This July, People Plus Science introduces a transformative governance tool:
📊 The Boardroom Psychological Safety Index

Day 1 kicks off with:
🧠 The Neuroscience of Decision Making
Where we unpack the cost of cognitive overload, the power of psychological safety, and why upstanders are the real board superheroes.

Ready to lead with clarity and courage?
👉 https://betterboards.net/conference/

15/07/2025

💡 Founders like Jo from Handle My Complaints are changing the game.
Dynamic, values-driven, and laser-focused on impact—Jo Ucukalo GAICD | LinkedIn is another founder from the program who is leading the charge to take customer advocacy and brand accountability to a whole new level with her business Handle My Complaint: Overview | LinkedIn
In fast-moving, founder-led businesses juggling many roles is just part of the “game” but having an independent team of advisors at your beck and call is something else – and Plus is exceeding all expectations.
📈 To grow faster, attract investors, and win trust in new markets, founders need to:
✅ Mature marketing at the same pace as product development
✅ Sharpen messaging with clear value, not just features
✅ Align brand story with buyer psychology and category leadership
✅ Build strategic visibility, not just hustle-based traction
Working with founders like Jo Ucukalo GAICD | LinkedIn is a privilege—because they’re not just building companies; they’re reshaping industries with courage and clarity.
🚀 First movers don’t just need capital.
They need the right advisory, marketing maturity, and neuroscience-informed strategy to scale with purpose and precision.
Proud to be supporting these next-gen leaders as they grow.
Gratitude to my fellow Advisors and Ignite Mentors Penny Ellenger Louise Broekman Ian Gilbert Jan Easton Linda Ginger David Nash Roger Phare Dale Cook (FABC) Jane Beaumont Chris Burnett Mark Cranny Kim Giliam Mary Goodwin FABC Costello Angie Hammond Georgia Henry GAICD Paul MacRae Stuart M. Gavan S. Porter. Rebecca Ramsay Paul Rickard and many others championing our founders and SME businesses.

10/07/2025

The Neuroscience of Thriving Boards: Psychological Safety and Managing Psychosocial Hazards
Launching at

Listen to the lastest findings in the People Plus Science Psychological Safety Index 2025 at the Boards Conference on teh 25th and 26th July in # BRISBANE.

Book Here:
https://betterboards.net/conference/

Why does this matter?
Because when board members don’t feel safe, we see:
⚠️ Conformity
⚠️ Silence
⚠️ Bias-driven decisions
⚠️ Poor crisis response

When they do feel safe, we get:
✅ Creative tension
✅ Constructive challenge
✅ Upstanders
✅ Better governance

We’ll show how psychological safety and neuroscience are your board’s most overlooked risk tools.

Join us as we map the way forward.

08/07/2025

🧠 Neuromarketing + Neurosales = Sales Acceleration for Founders
When founders hit growth roadblocks, it’s rarely due to a lack of effort—it’s usually a messaging, decision-making, or strategy gap. That’s where neuroscience-informed marketing and sales comes in.
At People Plus Science, we use neuromarketing to support founders and sales teams to:
✅ Understand why messages miss or convert
✅ Identify where buying friction lives in the customer brain
✅ Refine positioning to tap into trust, urgency, and emotional decision drivers
✅ Design sales strategies that accelerate—not just attract—action
💬 And we’re proud to be doing this alongside amazing founders like (1) Tara Jacobsen | LinkedIn from Groei Education : Posts | LinkedIn. Just one of this year’s Ignite Foundation Businesses who are kicking goals.
Advisory Board and Mentors can work with founders and teams early by;
🌱 Supporting founders early closes small gaps before they become costly ones.
🌟 Helping teams speak with confidence and clarity accelerates growth.
👏 And the impact of our QLD founders? It’s inspiring. Smart, purposeful, and reshaping the future—one bold step at a time.
Let’s keep giving our the science, support, and strategy to thrive.

Gratitude to my fellow Advisors and Ignite Mentors Penny Ellenger Louise Broekman Ian Gilbert Jan Easton Linda Ginger David Nash Roger Phare Dale Cook (FABC) Jane Beaumont Chris Burnett Mark Cranny Kim Giliam Mary Goodwin FABC Costello Angie Hammond Georgia Henry GAICD Paul MacRae Stuart M. Gavan S. Porter. Rebecca Ramsay Paul Rickard and many others championing our founders and SME businesses.

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07/07/2025

Conflict, Change & Communication – The Leadership Formula

👀 What do bullying, poor supervisor support, and job control have in common?

They’re all high-risk psychosocial hazards—and they thrive in workplaces where:
❌ Conflict is mismanaged
❌ Communication is reactive, not proactive
❌ Change processes lack transparency

A QLD manufacturing company turned this around in 5 months by:
✔️ Teaching leaders how to manage conflict productively
✔️ Creating structured communication strategies to prevent misunderstandings
✔️ Streamlining job control to reduce frustration & bureaucratic delays

💡 Key Lesson: Conflict and change are not the enemy—poorly managed conflict and change are.

Read the case study here:

A case study on how a high risk environment can increase productivity in 5 months with a focus on psychological safety and a positive work environment.

03/07/2025

Groupthink, Bias, and Emotional Data in Board Decisions
The best boards don’t just challenge strategy—they challenge their own emotional assumptions.

Groupthink thrives when leaders fail to differentiate between:
🚨 Agreement based on true alignment vs. agreement based on social pressure
🚨 Caution based on risk awareness vs. caution based on fear of accountability
🚨 Pushback driven by genuine concern vs. pushback driven by ego or emotion

Boards that track emotional capital and use emotional granularity tools make smarter, bias-free decisions. The question isn’t just, "What do we think?" It’s also, "Why do we think this way?"

Is your board emotionally self-aware—or just reactive?