Highlights
Corruption in health systems: Context, incentives and the political economy of reform
The question: Why do efforts to tackle corruption in health systems so often fail, and what might work instead?
A synthesis for SOAS-ACE of forty research reports from Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Bangladesh, on health worker absenteeism, informal payments and pharmaceutical procurement and pricing; the work from which the notion of "regulatory landscaping" emerged (March 2026). Shorter version: How regulatory landscaping can help (LSE blog).
Relational readiness and relational ready-ing
The question: Do organisations need healthy relationships before they can embark on relational transformation, or are awareness and a willingness to explore enough?
A note for The Relationships Project's session on relational readiness, drawing on reflective relational practice and Nora Bateson's idea of "ready-ing" (October 2025).
Rio reflections: systemic investing in context
The question: What would it take for systemic investing to take proper account of the contexts, including government, public policy and power, that shape the systems it invests in?
Reflections from the Systemic Investing Summit in Rio de Janeiro: investing systemically and investing in systems, and why both need more attention to context (May 2026). See also this, from my earlier explorations of systemic investing: Making sense of emergence (video, November 2025).
Connection, cultivation, calibration and care
The question: What have I been working on and learning in 2026?
From synthesising forty reports on health systems corruption, to the Systemic Investing Summit in Rio, regulatory landscaping with Zahed Yousuf and a new interest in regenerative practice (August 2026).
Explore the produce
- Selected writing: a good place to start, with the pieces I most hope will be useful, grouped by theme.
- By theme: the broad themes I work on.
- By topic: specific subjects, from positive deviance to monitoring, evaluation and learning.
The pages on themes and topics are currently germinating. They will bring together what I’m working on, what I’m reading and what I’ve produced on that subject, enabling you to explore my garden from these different angles.
Using any of these ingredients in your own work? I’d love to hear what you’re cooking up. Let’s connect.