Stuart Woollard
@stuartwoollard.bsky.social
Helping to show how human value reshapes business success; author of The Mature Corporation - a Model of Responsible Capitalism www.maturityinstitute.com
If people are your greatest asset, why aren’t you measuring human value?
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
People Are Our Greatest Asset, So How Do You Measure Human Value?
Executives are usually keen to propagate the idea that “people are our greatest asset.” Yet most companies continue to run themselves through a financial lens: budgets, forecasts, P&Ls, and balance sh...
open.substack.com
September 28, 2025 at 12:39 PM
If people are your greatest asset, why aren’t you measuring human value?
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
What kind of leaders do we need in a world where the definition of success is shifting? Where companies are under pressure not just to deliver financial returns, but to reduce harm, maximize societal impact, and prove that purpose extends beyond profit.
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/the-leader...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/the-leader...
The Leaders We Need for a New Era of Business
32 Critical Questions for Aspiring CEOs
stuartwoollard.substack.com
September 22, 2025 at 7:29 AM
What kind of leaders do we need in a world where the definition of success is shifting? Where companies are under pressure not just to deliver financial returns, but to reduce harm, maximize societal impact, and prove that purpose extends beyond profit.
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/the-leader...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/the-leader...
From Enron’s collapse to Purdue Pharma’s opioid scandal and Boeing’s aircraft safety crisis, a common thread in modern corporate scandals is a breakdown in human judgment, company culture, or organizational integrity.
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/where-is-t...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/where-is-t...
Where is the Human in Good Governance?
Take a few minutes and see if you can identify any corporate scandal or failure that wasn’t caused by a human or company “culture” failing.
stuartwoollard.substack.com
September 1, 2025 at 7:46 AM
From Enron’s collapse to Purdue Pharma’s opioid scandal and Boeing’s aircraft safety crisis, a common thread in modern corporate scandals is a breakdown in human judgment, company culture, or organizational integrity.
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/where-is-t...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/where-is-t...
The corporate well-being industry is booming. Forecasts project it to exceed US$100 billion by 2030. Yet despite this growth, fundamental questions remain: Is it delivering real value? Or will it suffer the same backlash now facing ESG and DEI?
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/from-bolt-...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/from-bolt-...
From Bolt-On To Strategy: Why Corporate Well-Being Must Be Integrated, Or Risk Backlash
The corporate well-being industry is booming.
stuartwoollard.substack.com
August 25, 2025 at 11:55 AM
The corporate well-being industry is booming. Forecasts project it to exceed US$100 billion by 2030. Yet despite this growth, fundamental questions remain: Is it delivering real value? Or will it suffer the same backlash now facing ESG and DEI?
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/from-bolt-...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/from-bolt-...
Talent does matter, but not by as much as many people believe. If performance is heavily context-dependent, then investing in the cultural and systemic health of the firm, not individual “brilliance”, should be leadership's top priority.
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/why-firms-...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/why-firms-...
Why Firms Should Eliminate Toxic Rainmakers
The Hidden Risks of Star Performers
stuartwoollard.substack.com
August 17, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Talent does matter, but not by as much as many people believe. If performance is heavily context-dependent, then investing in the cultural and systemic health of the firm, not individual “brilliance”, should be leadership's top priority.
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/why-firms-...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/why-firms-...
Human value is not a “soft” metric; it is a hard driver of performance, risk mitigation, and investor confidence.
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/business-s...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/business-s...
Business Success Is Redefined When Human Value Gets Priced-In
Photo by Andrew Varnum on Unsplash
stuartwoollard.substack.com
August 14, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Human value is not a “soft” metric; it is a hard driver of performance, risk mitigation, and investor confidence.
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/business-s...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/business-s...
What links Mercadona, Toyota, and the South African rugby team?
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
Beyond DEI: Inclusive Firms Emerge From Systemic Learning
Photo by Gabriel Sollmann on Unsplash
open.substack.com
July 27, 2025 at 3:08 PM
What links Mercadona, Toyota, and the South African rugby team?
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
Nearly 25 years since the failure of Enron and its auditor, Andersen...myriad company scandals and failures in the intervening years have highlighted that much human risk is still omitted by companies and missed by investors, auditors, and regulators.
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/people-was...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/people-was...
“People-Washing” is Undermining Corporate Credibility: Here's How to Fix It
Despite loud proclamations about the importance of people, most companies continue to fall short in demonstrating the real value of their workforce.
stuartwoollard.substack.com
July 20, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Nearly 25 years since the failure of Enron and its auditor, Andersen...myriad company scandals and failures in the intervening years have highlighted that much human risk is still omitted by companies and missed by investors, auditors, and regulators.
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/people-was...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/people-was...
When success is measured solely by hours logged, lawyers may be incentivised to prioritise volume over quality, independence over teamwork, and short-term wins over long-term value creation.
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
Rethinking Performance: What Kind of Value Should a Law Firm Create?
Photo by Charles Forerunner on Unsplash
open.substack.com
July 11, 2025 at 8:01 AM
When success is measured solely by hours logged, lawyers may be incentivised to prioritise volume over quality, independence over teamwork, and short-term wins over long-term value creation.
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
"Too many organizations make centralized decisions, design goals that miss crucial voices, and struggle to implement change without internal friction."
This week's Substack considers decision-making. In a week in which the UK Government learned a serious lesson.
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
This week's Substack considers decision-making. In a week in which the UK Government learned a serious lesson.
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
Making the Right Call: How Decision-Making Shapes Success and Failure
When Decision-Making Fails, So Does Strategy
open.substack.com
July 5, 2025 at 9:05 AM
"Too many organizations make centralized decisions, design goals that miss crucial voices, and struggle to implement change without internal friction."
This week's Substack considers decision-making. In a week in which the UK Government learned a serious lesson.
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
This week's Substack considers decision-making. In a week in which the UK Government learned a serious lesson.
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
Why M&A success hinges on human integration, why it's often ignored, and how we can do better.
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/when-cultu...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/when-cultu...
When Cultures Collide: Why M&A Success Hinges on Human Integration
Two decades ago, I worked with a research team at King's College London that examined post-merger integration across five global companies in pharmaceuticals, finance, chemicals, and telecoms.
stuartwoollard.substack.com
June 29, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Why M&A success hinges on human integration, why it's often ignored, and how we can do better.
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/when-cultu...
stuartwoollard.substack.com/p/when-cultu...
Rethinking Management: Why Most Organizations Miss the Whole System
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
Rethinking Management: Why Most Organizations Miss the Whole System
When a Boeing whistleblower described their company as “broken down…a whole system in shambles,” they weren’t just referring to a few bad decisions or isolated failures.
open.substack.com
June 22, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Rethinking Management: Why Most Organizations Miss the Whole System
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
open.substack.com/pub/stuartwo...
@mrjamesob.bsky.social wealth as wellbeing in old English
March 12, 2025 at 12:45 PM
@mrjamesob.bsky.social wealth as wellbeing in old English
Corporate failures and scandals almost always have a human cause. Why do we only audit or analyze the health of an organization through a financial lens?
youtube.com/shorts/N9iwM...
youtube.com/shorts/N9iwM...
Every Scandal Has a Human Behind It: Unraveling Truths
YouTube video by The Maturity Institute
youtube.com
February 19, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Corporate failures and scandals almost always have a human cause. Why do we only audit or analyze the health of an organization through a financial lens?
youtube.com/shorts/N9iwM...
youtube.com/shorts/N9iwM...
“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster,” Mark Zuckerberg
Lay-offs are a red flag for future underperformance. Plenty of evidence shows this.
And using "rank and yank" doesn't raise any bar. It knocks it off.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/t...
Lay-offs are a red flag for future underperformance. Plenty of evidence shows this.
And using "rank and yank" doesn't raise any bar. It knocks it off.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/t...
Meta to Cut 5% of Its Workers in New Round of Layoffs
The layoffs come as Mark Zuckerberg pushes to remake his company for the Trump era and prepares to co-host a gala for the president-elect’s inauguration.
www.nytimes.com
January 15, 2025 at 12:05 PM
“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster,” Mark Zuckerberg
Lay-offs are a red flag for future underperformance. Plenty of evidence shows this.
And using "rank and yank" doesn't raise any bar. It knocks it off.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/t...
Lay-offs are a red flag for future underperformance. Plenty of evidence shows this.
And using "rank and yank" doesn't raise any bar. It knocks it off.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/t...
We measure an organisation's human health and its ability to create Total Stakeholder Value. Here's our new Law Firm Maturity Index
www.hrmaturity.com/law-firm-mat...
#sustainability #leadership #culture
www.hrmaturity.com/law-firm-mat...
#sustainability #leadership #culture
Law Firm Maturity Index launches new ratings - Maturity Institute
The Maturity Institute and Lex Solutions have released inaugural Law Firm Maturity Index ratings and reports on major UK law firms. The new LFMI is described as a unique measure of success that analys...
www.hrmaturity.com
November 13, 2024 at 9:21 AM
We measure an organisation's human health and its ability to create Total Stakeholder Value. Here's our new Law Firm Maturity Index
www.hrmaturity.com/law-firm-mat...
#sustainability #leadership #culture
www.hrmaturity.com/law-firm-mat...
#sustainability #leadership #culture
Next is liable for c£30m in backpay for squeezing the costs of shop staff. How much value has it lost because of this? What's been the impact of lower pay on customer service, better understanding of customer attitudes, and getting staff to help each shop improve?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Next shop workers win equal pay claim
In-store staff, who are mostly women, should be paid the same as warehouse workers, a tribunal rules.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 28, 2024 at 9:22 AM
Next is liable for c£30m in backpay for squeezing the costs of shop staff. How much value has it lost because of this? What's been the impact of lower pay on customer service, better understanding of customer attitudes, and getting staff to help each shop improve?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
People create value. Not just through productivity. Human value arises through work quality, product or operational innovation, and societal impact. Mature organizations do whatever they can to avoid staff layoffs. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
Layoffs Are More Expensive for Companies Than You Think
Mass reductions sap $500 in productivity per worker each month.
www.bloomberg.com
August 27, 2024 at 10:10 AM
People create value. Not just through productivity. Human value arises through work quality, product or operational innovation, and societal impact. Mature organizations do whatever they can to avoid staff layoffs. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...