Rainmaker Solutions

01/04/2026

Transformation doesn’t fail because you didn’t start. It fails because you didn’t stop, and there’s a name for it:

💡 The Zeigarnik Effect. 💡

Your brain holds onto unfinished work. Keeps it open. Keeps it present.
In organisations, that’s not one loose end. It’s dozens of half-finished pilots.

The “Almost there” programmes.
Work that never quite died.

Like a hoarder…
Nothing ever gets thrown out.
Everything might be useful one day.
So it piles up.

And your best people?
They’re not focused on what matters.
They’re navigating the clutter.
That’s not momentum.
That’s drag.

We call it Change Debt.

And it builds quietly…Until everything feels heavier than it should.
Starting isn’t the problem. Stopping is because every open loop is taking something with it.

If things feel stuck, don’t ask:
“What should we start?”

Ask:
“What should we stop?”

👉 Talk to our change experts today: https://rainmaker.solutions/connect

17/03/2026

It’s not your people or the labels you’ve slapped on them. 🏷️

Before the 20th century, dandelions fed us and even healed us.
Then we decided to call them weeds.

Your “difficult” employees?
Same story. Resilient. Indispensable. Misunderstood.

And yet we try to kill them because they don’t fit the operating model.

- The Playbook

1️⃣ Don’t launch solutions. Launch flaws.
Call it a deeply flawed prototype and ask the loudest critics to fix it.
Once they touch it, they defend it.
People don’t resist change; they resist being changed upon.

2️⃣ Stop over-communicating. Start leaking.
Nobody reads the all-hands email.
One quiet “not public yet…” spreads like wildfire.
Humans trust secrets more than statements.

3️⃣ Show movement, even if imperfect.
People don’t hate waiting.
They hate uncertainty.
Uber didn’t remove the wait; they moved the car on a map.
Momentum beats accuracy.

4️⃣ Fix something irrational.
Not a strategy, something visible. Coffee. Meetings. Tools.
Logically irrelevant. Psychologically decisive.
Proof that the “New Era” isn’t just a software update with a badge.

Most organisations don’t have a talent problem.
They have a labelling problem.

— Rainmaker | https://www.rainmaker.solutions/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=labelling_problem_post

05/03/2026

Most strategy doesn’t fail because of bad people.
It fails because of bad positioning.

Wardley Mapping helps leaders see the real landscape of not just tech, but people; one move in the right place can change everything.

So, before replacing people, you need to understand which phase they’re in: Pioneer, Settler, or Town Planner.

👀 Watch the video to find out why positioning beats replacement.

17/02/2026

The most effective security system in London wasn't a camera. It was a 2-year-old. 👶

It sounds like a joke, right? But in 2012, a London borough did exactly that.

Instead of doubling down on cameras and patrols, they commissioned artists to paint portraits of local infants onto shop shutters.

The result? Anti-social behaviour dropped by 24%.

No extra policing. No new mandates.

Why? Because you can vandalise a cold, metal wall. But you can’t bring yourself to smash up a face that triggers your deepest protective instincts.

That isn't compliance. That’s biology.

🤔 What does this have to do with Change management?

Well, most firms approach Change Management like a security problem:

More dashboards.
Heavier governance.
Constant oversight.
Essentially: CCTV Leadership.

It delivers visibility, but it never delivers belief.

At Rainmaker, we see it differently. Resistance to change isn't a logic problem; it’s a meaning problem. Spreadsheets don't move people; identities do.

Mandates create compliance; belonging creates momentum.
Hard power forces a pivot; soft power makes it stick.

If you want to transform your culture, stop looking for better cameras. Start looking for the "faces" that give your mission meaning.

The real question: Are you leading with cameras... or faces?

Want to understand of more of what we do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxSpTiDgTBI

06/02/2026

🚨 Processes are logical. People are not. 🚨

You can build the perfect paved walkway with 90-degree angles and pristine signage. But if a user just wants to get to the other side, they will walk across the grass.

In product design, we often look at those "worn paths", the workarounds, the hacks, and the messes and call them "non-compliance." We try to fence them off. We try to force people back onto the pavement.

This is a mistake.

That path across the grass isn’t an error. It’s the shortest distance between intent and outcome.

If they’re willing to make a total mess just to reach one feature (like our puzzle-solver in the image), they’re telling you exactly what’s actually valuable. They don’t care about your process. They care about the thing that makes your product useful, fun, or meaningful.

If you ignore how people naturally want to work because it doesn’t fit your framework, you aren't managing a process; you’re obstructing value.

🤔 What’s the most creative "path in the grass" you’ve seen a user build recently?

28/01/2026

Funny how wildly different things often follow the same pattern.
Big change isn’t magic.
It’s just a process that needs untangling.

Now this is not anyone’s fault. People are doing their best to keep things moving within their industries. But when everything becomes business as usual, clarity can get lost, and complexity creeps in, not because it’s required, but because no one’s had the space to question it.

21/01/2026

Your org chart is lying to you. 🤯 Power isn’t at the top…

… it’s in the shadows, quietly getting things done.

If you’re still measuring influence by title, you’re blind to the real engine of your business. The people quietly making projects succeed, solving problems before anyone notices, connecting across silos, they’re your Hidden Champions. Ignore them, and your strategy evaporates before it even lands.

Curious what else you might be missing?

Our 7-slide survival guide for 2026 has a few more Easter Eggs. Practical ideas. No fluff. Just a little help for anyone trying to actually tackle 2026 instead of running yesterday’s playbook.

👉 Follow us for more insights.

17/12/2025

17/12/2025

If only we could make these come true...
🎅🎄⛄

11/11/2025

As part of our Passion Project research, we’re helping Frontline Live (Frontline Map) understand surplus supplies in organisations and the challenges charities face getting hold of them.

If you or someone you know in an organisation can spare two minutes to fill out our questionnaire, it could help create a smarter, faster way for surplus to reach charities and the people who need it most. ❤️ 👏

🔗 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXdcZjH_qWs6Ju1zJRcr_TMRliXAHVo-rwkRMS30AndSB6ig/viewform

05/11/2025

In a brand new episode of Rebel, Reject, Create by our good friend David Chislett, talks to Rainmaker’s founder Jan Joubert about why creativity takes courage, why fear kills innovation faster than failure and why real leadership starts with listening.

Expect some brutally honest truths about startup life, corporate comfort zones and what it really takes to build a culture that experiments and wins.

🎧 Listen here: https://youtu.be/DwuAvhF48Zk?si=C01Ck0Z11kKXRt0a