I used to watch it happen every quarter.

A leader would roll into planning sessions with fresh ideas, and I’d think: “Oh, they just read that book.” Three months later? New framework, new energy, same exhausted team wondering what the hell we’re doing now.

This latest Rebolutionary Journey episode tears into frameworks, and if you’ve ever felt framework fatigue, this one’s for you.

The Quarterly Book Syndrome

You know this leader. Hell, maybe you ARE this leader.

Every business book becomes the next operating system for your company. OKRs this quarter. Big Rocks next. Then it’s EOS, then it’s whatever Silicon Valley just made famous. Your team isn’t building anything—they’re just relearning how to report what they’re building.

The problem isn’t frameworks. The problem is thinking plug-and-play exists.

It’s Not Plug and Play, It’s Plug and Pray

Think about the last time you set up a new internet router. Did it actually plug and play? Or did you fiddle with it, scratch your head, cuss it out, fiddle some more, search for the problem online, and then finally call customer service before it worked?

That’s every framework implementation.

You’re Copying the Answer Key Without Doing the Math

When Google developed their famous framework, they went through years of iteration. Testing, failing, adjusting. They had thousands of people and unlimited resources.

You’re a 50-person startup trying to use the same playbook.

You’re taking something from a completely different part of the organisational journey—especially when we’re talking about startups and scale-ups—and just trying to plug it in there.

You skipped the journey. You grabbed the conclusion.

That’s not strategy. That’s cosplay.

The Illusion of Control

Frameworks give the feeling of control, but not necessarily the control itself.

Leaders love frameworks because they create neat boxes. Numbers to track. Dashboards to show the board. The appearance that everything is under control.

But you’re not controlling the right variables. You’re just controlling the narrative.

Who Decides “The Right Way”?

The phrase “the right way” deserves to die.

Who dictates it? The book on OKRs you just read? Some author who worked at a completely different company, in a completely different context, with completely different constraints?

And somehow that’s supposed to be gospel for your organisation?

The Buffet Principle (The Only Framework Rule That Matters)

If you take nothing else from this: treat frameworks like a buffet.

Take what works. Leave what doesn’t. Don’t feel obligated to finish your plate just because someone said it’s good for you.

Treat frameworks like a medical treatment plan. You wouldn’t take someone else’s prescription medication just because it worked for them. Why would you take their organisational framework?

Stop Serving Everyone (You’re Serving No One)

When you want to serve everyone, you actually serve no one.

Be the best in YOUR class. Not THE class.

I want to be the best in the world at what I do, but the world I do it for is very small. I have a very specific type of leaders and organisations I want to work with. And that’s my choice.

If you’re a 200-person company trying to copy Google’s employer branding, you’re delusional. Google has a team 10 times your size dedicated just to brand. You want that? Hire a thousand people first.

Your Urgency ≠ My Urgency

This is the part that burns teams out.

You failed at something. You’re panicking. You’re scrambling. So you create urgency for everyone else.

Your urgency because you failed on a certain thing? Don’t make it my urgency.

Stop telling people they need to be agile and flexible because you weren’t thorough. Stop changing frameworks every two quarters because yours didn’t work.

That’s not agility. That’s chaos dressed up in leadership speak.

The Part Everyone Skips: Self-Awareness

Before you grab the next framework book, answer these questions:

Who are you? Where are you? Where do you want to go?

Jump on this magical train of self-awareness and discover where you really are at the moment. What’s working and what’s not working. What are your values and beliefs that no longer serve you and which ones do serve you.

That’s where everything starts. Not with OKRs. Not with Big Rocks. Not with whatever’s trending on LinkedIn.

With brutal honesty about who you are and what you need.

Stop Consuming, Start Creating

It’s like writing a thesis—at some point you have to stop doing research and start writing.

The best ideas come when you stop consuming everyone else’s frameworks and start creating your own process.

Celebrate What You Throw Away

Picture a lantern ceremony. Write what doesn’t work on a lantern and let it float away.

Celebrate when you find out that something doesn’t work for you and you can just let go of it. Those are the moments where you discover something that is just no longer serving you. It’s like taking out this power and chain from yourself.

Let it go. Celebrate the discard.

Listen to the full episode to hear the full rant about NPS scores in small companies, why plug-and-play is b******t, and what happens when you force a 50-person company to operate like a 20,000-person enterprise.

The thesis: Be self-aware. Take what works. Leave what doesn’t. And for the love of god, stop treating business books like instruction manuals.

Your organization isn’t generic. Stop trying to force it into a generic box.

PJ and I sat down to cut through the noise. We talked about the moment you realise your career has been happening to you instead of for you. About those job offers that stroke your ego but don’t serve your life. About the difference between becoming qualified and becoming someone you’d actually respect.

We cut through the nonsense: corporate politics isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. If you’re tired of feeling like a pawn, it’s time to set your own boundaries, ask hard questions, and decide which games are worth your energy. You don’t need to fix the whole broken system, but you do have to decide what you’ll tolerate—and where you draw the line.

No sugarcoating, no shortcuts: you’re responsible for how you show up. If you don’t own your part, someone else will. Listen if you’re ready to stop waiting for someone to save you and actually take control of how you work—and live.

We talk about finding your values, living by them, and what happens when your environment systematically strips them away. But here’s the thing nobody tells you: no amount of positive thinking will save you from a place that doesn’t align with who you are. Your body will betray the narrative your brain is trying to sell.

In this episode, we get into the uncomfortable truth—that the people around you, the culture you’re in, the way your days are structured, can literally change who you become. We’re not talking about growth. We’re talking about erosion. And the only way out isn’t fixing yourself. It’s leaving.

We also unpack how to actually discover what your values are beneath all the noise—your upbringing, your environment, the stories you’ve been told about how things “should” be. Because you can’t live by values you don’t know you have. And you definitely can’t protect them if you don’t understand where they came from.

This is about reclaiming agency. About recognising when you’re compromising and having the clarity to do something about it. It’s uncomfortable. It’s honest. And it might change how you see the next decision you’re about to make.

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In this episode, PJ and Karolina lay bare the truth and get honest about the real stories behind self-doubt: how it manifests in their lives, when it nearly prevails, and what ultimately drives them to push through.

No empty motivation here—just honest talk about missed opportunities, comparing yourself to others, the pain of asking for help, and why personal growth involves messing up and moving on. If you’ve ever talked yourself out of sending that email, applying for the job, or speaking up in the room, this is your next step forward.

Listen in if you’re ready for a challenge, not just encouragement.

This first episode isn’t a highlight reel.

It’s two friends and practitioners inviting you into honest dialogue, tackling:

* Messy, vulnerable stories and the awkward moments behind personal growth

* Outsider experiences—working in tech, changing countries, leading as “the only one in the room”

* Tiny, practical experiments (not big theories) for bringing energy, joy, and curiosity into every day

* Questions instead of answers; lived experiences over “best practices”

We challenge “autopilot” living. Every conversation is a rebellion against one-size-fits-all advice. Giving us all permission to reflect, laugh, and evolve openly.

If you want a podcast that’s about being truly human—imperfect, curious, and in progress—you’re in the right place. Hit play and join the Rebolutionary Journey.