31/08/2026
I think we underestimate how much our environment affects the quality of our thinking, especially in business.
Most of us try to make big strategic decisions in exactly the same place we make all the small, daily ones. We sit at the same desk, with the same inbox open, the same client messages coming in, the same tabs open. Then we wonder why it’s so difficult to see our business differently.
This is just one of the reasons that I think stepping away from your usual work environment can be so useful, particularly when the business technically works but something about it no longer feels quite right.
One of my favourite phrases is "Nothing changes if nothing changes" and it's so right.
When you change your environment, you’re removing yourself from the familiar cues that keep pulling you back into the same habits, assumptions and thought patterns.
The client you always say yes to. The offer you keep delivering because it still sells. The bit of the business that takes far more from you than you want it to, but somehow survives every review because nothing’s actually on fire right now so isn't screaming out for change.
When you’re still standing in the middle of all of that, it’s incredibly easy to normalise it.
Whereas, physical distance can create strategic distance.
And I think Spain’s particularly good for this. And although I would like to believe that sunshine somehow fixes your problems, but because the pace is different. You're outside more. Meals take longer. Conversations are less rushed. You’re not constantly moving from one task to the next, and that changes the pace of your thinking too.
In my experience, the most useful business insight often isn’t something new you need to learn. In fact, once you're established and looking successful on the outside, it’s almost always comes down to something you already know, but haven’t had enough space to properly notice and think through.
The business retreat environment doesn’t do the work for you, but it provides the optimal conditions in which to do the thinking.