Episode #3
Misunderstandings
A $327 million spacecraft was lost because two teams were using different units of measurement. In the third episode of PiXL Pearls Series 10, Rachel Johnson (PiXL CEO) uses the 1999 Mars Climate Orbiter disaster as a starting point for something far closer to home: the misunderstandings that quietly derail teams, erode trust and cause things to go wrong, not through incompetence, but through assumption. Because most misunderstandings don't happen in space. They happen in staffrooms, in corridors, in the gap between what we think we're communicating and what people are receiving. Drawing on research into the liking gap, the illusion of transparency and David Robson's work on connection, this episode examines three things leaders consistently get wrong: how much people like them, how readable their feelings actually are, and how much connection shapes the quality of everything else. The Mars team assumed they were speaking the same language. They weren't. The question for leaders is whether the same thing is happening in their schools right now, and what it would take to find out. When did you last tell someone you valued their contribution? What would change if you did? Tune in today. If you enjoyed PiXL Pearls... Check out the PiXL website: https://www.pixl.org.uk/ for free downloads Read Rachel's four books: Time to Think 1: The Things that stop us and how to deal with them Time to Think 2: The Things that stop our teams and what to do about them Box Clever: Quadrants to change the way we live and lead Connected: Focusing on 'me' and 'we' Listen to the PiXL Leadership Bookclub. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Spotify PiXL Pearls are short reflections on life and leadership which inspire, encourage, motivate and challenge thinking. The series is hosted by Rachel Johnson (PiXL CEO), who draws on literature, life and experience in leadership to explore different elements of what it is to be a good leader and how we can become even better leaders, both in and out of schools. PiXL Pearls Podcast is a We Are In Beta Production. PiXL is a partnership organisation of thousands of schools, colleges and alternative education providers spanning KS1-5. Find out more about how you could gain value from a PiXL subscription: https://www.pixl.org.uk/membership
