"To read or not to read?"

A few years ago, I was talking to a senior leader about a conflict on the team. I mentioned the difference between affective conflict (personal, emotional) and cognitive conflict (about ideas). They paused:
“I remember that from my MBA! But I hadn’t made the connection to what’s happening right now.”

It had been years since they’d finished the course. They admitted they didn’t read much anymore, there just wasn’t time. I let it go. But that moment stuck with me.

Since then, I’ve had a habit. As I set about doing the job, I explain the sources that have influenced my action, and ask if they've read this or that influential book. Not in a smug way, I’m genuinely curious.
The answer, more often than not, is: no.

I’ve been trying to make sense of that. It’s not that these leaders aren’t smart or committed. They are. But there’s a gap between knowing a thing and applying it in the messy middle of real work. And maybe reading, especially the kind that invites you to slow down and reflect, feels like a luxury in the face of day-to-day urgency.

On the flip side, I’ve seen what happens when ideas are half-read and hastily applied.
The Spotify Model comes to mind. Squads! Tribes! Autonomy! Alignment!
Dropped into a culture that’s nothing like Spotify’s, with none of the supporting context, and a vague hope that it’ll just work.

So maybe the real question isn’t why don’t leaders read?​
It’s: what kind of reading actually shapes how we lead?

For me, it’s not the five-point frameworks or the productivity hacks.
It’s the things that prompt me to Look again.​
At conflict.
At trust.
At power.
At the space between what we say and what we do.

Reading only matters if we stay with the ideas long enough to be changed by them.
Not as a shortcut. Not as dogma. But as a way of seeing.

What’s something you read that changed how you lead?​
Or something you saw misused that made you cringe?

Until next time,
Dermot
​The Messy Middle

✉️ Enjoying The Messy Middle?​
If this sparked something useful, consider forwarding it to a colleague or friend, it might help them too.

If someone sent this email your way and you’d like to get it direct, you can sign up here.