Each and every week the Square Holes team are deep in the bowels of a number of projects, working to mine all of the insights that we can to help grow businesses and support thriving cities.

These insights are used by businesses and organisations to innovate their offerings, move into new markets, track their impact and hone their products and output. Each week we will be sharing a broad insight that we have learnt for you to use in your own work.

Let us know what you find valuable!

Jason: LinkedIn groupthink

I’ve just come back from a social media hiatus. I changed and forgot my Facebook and Instagram passwords and haven’t reset them, so I’m still off them. Think I’ll stay off for a month or so more. If anything important happens, someone will tell me.  But popping back into LinkedIn… it really is a cesspool.

A cesspool that’s hard to look away from. The endless “I think this” and “I think that” bullshit being thrown around under the guise of wisdom and authority. Opinion masquerading as insight. Certainty without consequence. A like to try to make friends, networking without wine.

At least Instagram is a cesspool of joyful dances, the same music re-imagined thousands of ways, making it hard to stop doom-scrolling that earworm tune. From my vague memories six weeks ago, Instagram is an easy way to waste hours trying to perfect the air-walk from the comfort of the couch. More time is probably wasted on Instagram.

But I’m convinced more mental health damage is done on LinkedIn. Because LinkedIn runs on social proof. Likes become legitimacy. Reposts become truth. The algorithm rewards familiarity, not originality. The robots are winning, and we let them. Accelerating groupthink and quietly pulling everyone toward the same safe, middle ground. Wisdom everywhere but somehow people are becoming dumber.

In the middle of a global productivity crisis, LinkedIn is likely one of the biggest contributors. Faux networking. Constant distraction. Performative insight. An industrial-scale drift toward mediocrity.

Not because people lack intelligence, but because the system rewards conformity over curiosity. And that’s a far more corrosive problem than wasted time. Or, maybe that’s just Gen-X Jason lamenting the good old days when networking came with wine and beer and only one speaker.

Dylan: Strategy that has stamina

As we’re well and truly underway for 2026 we’ve been talking a lot about our strategy at Square Holes – how do we want to work, what’s the type of work we want to be doing more, what our are goals not only for this year but the years ahead. This made me think back to an article I wrote a few years ago about strategic alignment. In essence, strategic alignment is making sure your strategy isn’t just a nice slide deck, or creative words, but something that actually shows up in how people work day to day. This is so important because a strategy on its own really doesn’t do much, for the best results, it requires people, resources and actions all pulling together in the same direction, towards the same goals. When alignment is strong, decisions are easier, teams waste less energy and everyone understand how their work connects to the bigger picture. Without it, even great strategies can fall apart – everyone is running hard… just not together.

Ewa: 

I popped into Bunnings last week to buy something boring — fertiliser — and accidentally fell into the surprisingly rich world of plant parenting. It started when I spotted a tiny sensor called Willow that you stick in a pot and, suddenly, your plant starts communicating: “Time to water me!” “I need a cooler spot.” As an 80s kid, it unlocked nostalgia for the many Tamagotchis that tragically died on my watch. What struck me wasn’t just the tech, but the cultural moment behind it. Plant parenting taps into a very modern mix of urban living, limited space, a longing for greenery, and a desire for control and care without the stakes of actual children or pets. Brands have been quick to lean in: Willow sells the sensor, We the Wild offers a “Proud Plant Parent Kit,” and plantdaddy.com.au has plants and pots. It’s a neat example of how naming and packaging a cultural need can turn even houseplants into a growing business opportunity.

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