The Black Box Approach

Name: The Black Box Approach
Address: London, EC1R0NE, GB
Telephone: +443301333733
Price range: $$

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We help people unbox human connections at work. We help people talk about the ups and downs of life

29/10/2026

Before a flight, crew normally ask each other:

“Are you fit to fly?”

It’s not about whether they can do the job. It’s about whether they’re actually ready. Mentally present. Emotionally grounded. Able to make sound decisions under pressure.

Most organisations never have this conversation and that’s a problem.

The best ones create a moment before something critical where someone asks if you’re actually ready. Not to gatekeep, but to actually surface what’s really going on.

People show up struggling all the time. Tired. Distracted. Carrying something heavy. We ask “How are you?” in the hallway and don’t wait for an answer, nod at them furiously and then assume “I’m fine” means fine.

The difference between a checkbox and a real conversation is presence.

Ask, then wait. Sit with the silence.

It only works if you go first. Share something true about your own state. Now someone else might tell you what’s really going on.

Listen for the mismatches. Someone says they’re fine but their energy is flat. That gap is the signal. Name it. Ask them to help you understand.

Fatigue, stress and emotional load affect everyone’s judgement and in aviation, we treat the human element as a safety variable. Most organisations treat it as a personal problem.

There needs to be a shift in valuing the truth about someone’s capacity over the appearance of having it all together.

“I’m struggling” doesn’t disqualify you. It makes you someone honest enough to be trusted with something important.

How do you currently check in before the critical moments? Do you have a structured point where you ask, or does it happen ad hoc?

27/10/2026

At 39,000 feet, you've got about 15–20 seconds of useful consciousness. 😴

That's how long you've got to get your own oxygen mask on before things get...messy.

Not dramatic. Just physics really.

The same goes for down here on the ground. If you're always looking after everyone else but never coming up for air yourself – you're heading for a nosedive. 💥

Helping others is beautifully noble, but not if it takes you out in the process.

Reach In

20/10/2026

The most expensive person on your payroll isn't the one who's currently off sick.

It's the one who's at their desk but not really there.

Bum on a seat.
Mind somewhere else.
Decisions still getting made.

Presenteeism costs two and a half times more than absenteeism.

And nobody is measuring it.

The signals are always there.

Don’t wait for the mayday.

Reach In

19/10/2026

“We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
That’s the line from Jaws, and it’s how I feel about this photo. The message I’m carrying has outgrown the rooms I’ve been speaking in.
My keynote is called Don’t Wait for the Mayday.
In 20 years as an airline training captain and aircraft black box investigator, I learned that a mayday call is too late. By the time someone makes it, the warning signs were there long before.
Presenteeism is where those signs hide. People turn up every day while carrying something they don’t feel able to say. The hidden cost is mistakes nobody flagged, good people quietly disengaging, and problems that only surface when they’re too big to ignore.
For over six years I’ve delivered peer support training to people who need it. The message is the same: support has to come long before a crisis.
So here’s my ask. I’m looking for bigger stages to take this keynote to as many people as I can. If you run a conference, leadership event or company-wide programme and want a speaker who will help your people speak up before it becomes a mayday, get in touch at [email protected]
If you know someone who books speakers, share this post or tag them.
Reach In. Don’t wait for the mayday.

29/07/2026

Sometimes the weight someone is carrying gets too much.

Sometimes they decide the only way to put it down is to stop.

The research is clear. Asking someone if they're thinking about ending their life doesn't make it more likely. It makes it less.

People in that much pain don't want to die. They want the pain to stop.

We can help with that. We just have to be willing to ask.

22/07/2026

You started typing the message. You deleted it.

You started again. You deleted it again.

It's not my place. I don't know what to say. I'll probably make it worse.

Whose barriers are those, really?

Not theirs. Yours. And the message stays in the drafts. And nothing changes.

15/07/2026

The most expensive person on your payroll isn't the one who's off sick.

It's the one who's at their desk but not really there.

I know this because I was that person the day I parked an aircraft on the wrong stand at Heathrow.

Bum on a seat. Mind somewhere else. Decisions still getting made.

Presenteeism costs two and a half times more than absenteeism. And nobody is measuring it.

08/07/2026

The reason you don't say anything isn't that you don't care.

It's that you don't have the words.

Try one of these.

"You've been on my mind. I just wanted to check in."

"I know we don't talk much, but I've had a feeling something might be up. If I'm wrong, ignore me."

"No pressure to reply. Just wanted you to know I'm thinking of you."

You don't need perfect words. You just need to show up.

01/07/2026

March 4th, 2020. Manchester Airport.

Someone taped an A4 sheet to the aircraft door. The company had collapsed in a matter of hours.

I'd flown for twenty years. I'd known how to handle the small stuff and the big stuff.

I had nothing in the toolbox for this.

What followed was months of bathrooms and beards and booze. Until one person got out of their own way and asked the question.

That's the whole reason this work exists.

24/06/2026

Nobody leaves their life at the door at 9am.

We never have. We never will.

Death, debt, divorce, depression. Whatever someone is carrying, they bring it in with them.

The only question is whether your culture lets them put it down for a moment, or makes them carry it harder.

Address

London
EC1R0NE

Telephone

+443301333733

Website

https://www.theblackboxapproach.com/

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