A reflection on people. plans, and why things rarely unfold the way they do on paper.
I was sitting on the tram one Tuesday when I noticed something I had not seen in a while.
A young guy – maybe sixteen, maybe nineteen – was reading a book. Not on a Kindle, an actual worn paperback. Dog-eared pages. Nothing glowing, no earbuds, nothing to tap or swipe. Just paper.
A bit further down sat a woman with a notebook. She was writing, wearing a focused expression – the slightly furrowed brow that tells you she is genuinely thinking
And it struck me: I have started seeing this more often. Paper. Pens. People reading, writing, thinking – without immediately sharing it with the entire internet.
Times are changing. Like they always do.
We tend to move fast in one direction – jump on a train and go all in – only to realise something important was left behind on the platform.
We have been digital for a long time now. Efficient. Always connected. We have communicated more than ever, across more channels than ever. But have we understood more? Become wiser? … maybe not.
That is not technology’s fault. It does exactly what it is designed to do. But people do not process things in real time. More input does not automatically lead to better outcomes. We need pauses. Time to process. To ask questions. To sit with something. To think out loud without being evaluated.
Ant it is not just on the tram. I see it in working life too – every single day. I work with people, with plans, and with everything that is supposed to happen when a strategy moves from “approved” to “actually working”.
We call it implementation. Or alignment. Sometimes change management. A bit complex. But I have started to notice how far those words often are from what it really takes.
I have been in rooms where strategies are presented with confidence and excitement. Everything aligns, everything is covered. And still – when the lights come on and people stand up, there is often a look that says:
Okay… but what does this actually mean for me?
That is the area I work in.
Because people do not primarily need more information. They need understanding. Not just what – but why. And how it applies to them.
At Specifique, we have always focused on getting people truly involved. Not just informed or updated – but engaged. As in: participating. Thinking. Taking ownership. Not because it is nice, but because it is necessary if anything is going to change.
That is why we believe in the analog – stepping away from the screen.
Not as some nostalgic throwback, but because it works.
We use tools like dialogue mats. Pen and paper. Cards, cases, questions. Sticky notes to map out priorities. It looks simple, and it is, when done right. It gives people a shared space to think. Not just listen or nod, but actively think. To move ideas around. Turn them over. Explain, across the table, why something feels important, and why something else does not quite feel right.
The physical tools are not the point. It is about what they unlock.
Conversation. Rhythm. Pauses. Friction. Engagement.
And then it happens – again and again. People start speaking differently. They stop quoting the document and start using their own words. They begin to see themselves in it. And that is then things start to shift in practice, too. Not dramatically, but in small, meaningful ways.
A change in priorities. A question raised in a meeting. A different tone in a memo.
That is when a strategy starts to come alive. Not because it has been rolled out – but because it has been taken in. And the best part? We are starting to see more people working like this.
People who understand that speed is not everything. That real understanding can be a strategy in itself. That technology should support – not replace – conversation.
We have been working in that area for a long time. More than 30 years between the digital and the analog. Between plans and practice. And we have never really doubted what needs to come first: Meaning. Understanding. Ownership.
So when I see someone on the tram reading a book, or someone in a meeting writing by hand, I think:
Times are changing. In the direction we have always believed in. And that is pretty satisfying. And something I felt like sharing. Digitally…
