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!

Dylan: Executing with commitment

This week I’ve been reading Zen Putting – Mastering the Mental Game on the Greens. While it’s written for golfers, the central message applies far beyond the putting green: performance improves when we stop trying to control outcomes and instead commit fully to the process. One idea that stood out to me was the importance of trusting preparation. The best putters don’t stand over the ball analysing every possible outcome. They read the line, make a decision, then commit completely. Doubt introduced at the last moment is often more damaging than an imperfect read.

It’s a useful reminder for research and business, too. We spend a lot of time gathering evidence, developing strategies and making decisions. Once the work has been done, there comes a point where overthinking adds little value. Confidence doesn’t come from knowing you’ll get every decision right, but from trusting your process and executing it with commitment.

Mahalia: The stories we tell

I’ve been watching Couples Therapy on SBS this week, a show that follows four couples as they undertake couples therapy to work on their issues. It’s an intimate and eye-opening show that always prompts me to think about my own coping mechanisms and tender spots in relationships. What really struck me is the narratives we create about ourselves and each other – and how they inform our behaviours. It’s a pattern we see regularly in our work. Businesses who are so invested in the story that they see, that they lose their curiosity about what might have changed. In this analogy, research is like the therapist in the room, gently showing you different perspectives and insights so that you can grow from knowledge.

Jason: Certainty in health

This week I have been reading (actually listening to on Audible) Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke. Her central idea is that every decision is a bet on an uncertain future. We never have all the facts, so success comes from making the best decisions we can with the information available, rather than waiting for certainty.

It resonated because, as business owners, we spend so much time thinking about risk. Every proposal, investment, hire and strategic decision is a calculated bet.

Yesterday I caught up over a burger and a beer with a good friend and former client I hadn’t seen for a couple of years. He’s a few years younger than me and is currently undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. It was a timely reminder that while we spend enormous energy managing commercial risk, we can easily overlook the biggest risk of all, our own health.

Recently, I also completed my free Australian Government bowel cancer screening test, thankfully with a negative result. I reached my 250th parkrun, a milestone I’m proud of, but I’ve also noticed my pace has slowed a little over the past year. Perhaps it’s been a busy year. Perhaps it’s a little less training and a few more burgers and beers. Whatever the reason, it was useful feedback.

Not because anything is wrong – although is that tension in my head a tumour (my dad died aged 61 after an otherwise healthy life with a brain tumour) or that twinge in my tummy something more serious than too many stacks?

Because if every decision is a bet on the future, looking after my health is one of the smartest bets I can make.

Business uncertainty will never disappear.

There will always be another project, another challenge or another opportunity. Waiting for certainty before prioritising your health is a bet not worth taking. The future we’re all working so hard to build is only worth it if we’re healthy enough to enjoy it.

As soon as I returned to the office after lunch, I booked my annual health check with my GP, which I’d been procrastinating on.

Square Holes is a cultural insight studio.

We design mixed method explorations of people and culture beyond the category,  uncovering the patterns, tensions and shifts shaping behaviour to inform strategy, inspire innovation and enable confident decisions. Our studio model brings together the right mix of thinkers, researchers and specialists for each exploration. If you’re navigating change, entering a new market, or seeking deeper understanding of people and culture, let’s start a conversation >