Thinking inside the box

The clue was in the box all along.  In the fourth episode of PiXL Pearls Series 10, Rachel Johnson (PiXL CEO) takes on one of leadership's most overused phrases and turns it inside out. Because thinking outside the box is only half the story. The other half is what Christopher Clayton Hutton did in World War Two, when he hid silk maps, compasses, files, real currency and a tiny saw inside a doctored Monopoly board and smuggled them into German prisoner of war camps under the noses of the guards.  744 airmen escaped. The secret stayed hidden until 1985.  Hutton wasn't the obvious hire for MI9. His CV said journalist, Hollywood publicist, RAF pilot. What got him the job was a passing reference to trying to outsmart Harry Houdini. His interviewer heard something in it and asked him to keep talking. That moment, a sliding doors moment that could easily have been missed, is the first of three leadership ideas this episode unpacks: the power of unseen interests, the discipline of starting with what you already have, and the ability to look at familiar things and see them differently. The pieces were there all along. Someone just had to look at them differently.  What do you know about what your staff love? And when did you last let someone walk through your school and tell you what they see? 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 

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

The most magical place on earth was not an accident.  In the second episode of PiXL Pearls Series 10, Rachel Johnson (PiXL CEO) takes a look behind the curtain at Disney: not the rides or the fireworks, but the leadership principles that make the whole thing work. From windows set at child-eye height to rubbish bins placed exactly 27 feet apart, Disney's magic is designed, taught and deliberately maintained at every level of the organisation.  Drawing on the Disney Institute's book Be Our Guest, this episode explores three principles that translate directly into school leadership: practical magic, the commitment to exceeding expectations through relentless attention to detail; guestology, the art and science of truly understanding the people you serve, including those who aren't yet coming to you; and the kind of explicit training culture that doesn't just put people into an organisation, but puts the organisation into people.  Because the detail is never just detail. It signals intention. It signals what you believe your people and your community are worth.  What are your four priorities, in order? Who are you designing the experience for, and how well do you actually know them? 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

Most people who changed the world never made the history books.  In the first episode of PiXL Pearls Series 10, Rachel Johnson (PiXL CEO) opens with Josephine Cochran, the woman who invented the dishwasher in 1886, not because she was an engineer, but because a problem needed solving and nobody else was solving it. Widowed, working against every social limitation placed on her, she got the job done anyway.  But this episode isn't really about dishwashers. It's about what drives any of us to try and change something, in our schools, our teams, our leadership. Drawing on Rutger Bregman's work on Moral Ambition, Rachel introduces the Triple S Model: is the problem solvable, is it sorely overlooked, and is it sizeable enough to scale? Three questions that cut through complacency and point toward the work that matters.  Because too many talented people, Bregman argues, spend their energy on the wrong thing, their own reputation, their own advancement, their own ambition. Moral ambition looks different. It starts with a simple realisation: you've only got one life.  What is the problem in your school, your team, your leadership that you've quietly accepted as just the way things are? What if you didn't? 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

PiXL Pearls returns for series 10. Host Rachel Johnson, author, leadership thinker and CEO of PiXL, shares eight new stories built to challenge and inspire the school leaders of today and tomorrow. This series steps outside education to find its lessons. How did a board game help win a war? How much faith do we really place in dice? Why does the albatross have a PR problem? And what can Disney's backstage teach us about what happens on stage? Pulling from film, entertainment, nature and entrepreneurship, each episode asks a question designed to help you look at your own leadership differently. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed PiXL Pearls... Check out the PiXL website: ⁠https://www.pixl.org.uk/⁠ for free downloads Read Rachel's three 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 Listen to the PiXL Leadership Bookclub. ⁠ Subscribe on Apple Podcasts⁠ ⁠ Subscribe on Spotify⁠ The PiXL network spans thousands of schools across key stages 1-5. We collaborate, share best practice, and equip leaders throughout the educational system. Subscribe now to download every episode directly to your phone automatically. PiXL Podcasts are We Are In Beta productions. For more information visit: ⁠https://www.pixl.org.uk/⁠

Making mistakes is inevitable, but making amends is a choice. In the final episode of PiXL Pearls Series 9, Rachel Johnson (PiXL CEO) explores one of the most deceptively difficult leadership skills: saying sorry well. Using the Deepwater Horizon disaster as a case study in what happens when responsibility is deflected and empathy is absent, this episode examines why a poorly handled apology can deepen damage, erode trust and make a hard situation worse. But it also offers a practical way forward: what a meaningful apology actually needs, why “I’m sorry but…” is not an apology and how repair-focused leadership helps teams move from stuck to steady. This is a powerful reflection on humility, courage and the moment every leader eventually faces: when the fastest route to credibility is not another explanation but clear responsibility and visible repair – tune in today! If you enjoyed PiXL Pearls...   Check out the PiXL website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.pixl.org.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free downloads Read Rachel's three 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   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

Episode 7 of PiXL Pearls Series 9, hosted by Rachel Johnson (PiXL CEO), takes an unexpected route into a leadership superpower of fostering better conversations. Using the rise, reinvention and return of speed dating as the lens, this episode explores what research reveals about connection: why four minutes can be enough to build rapport, how affirmation and well-timed interruption can deepen understanding and why a tiny bit of planning talk reduces anxiety and improves flow. This is not an episode about dating. It is about the thousands of micro‑conversations that shape trust at work: corridor chats, stakeholder calls, one‑to‑ones, quick check-ins, tough feedback and small moments that decide whether people feel seen or sidelined. Tune in to get more intentional, not more scripted – because connection does not happen by accident, it happens by design. If you enjoyed PiXL Pearls...   Check out the PiXL website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.pixl.org.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free downloads  Read Rachel's three 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  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

Charm is powerful. Discernment is paramount. This episode of the PiXL Pearls Series 9 explores how charm can connect and elevate – and how it can also distract, manipulate and conceal what really matters. Hosted by Rachel Johnson (PiXL CEO), this episode uses the story of Enron to examine what happens when magnetic personalities, weak oversight and silence create the perfect conditions for ethical failure. A powerful reflection on the bright and dark sides of charm, how “charm offensives” work, and why leaders and followers alike must learn to spot the difference between connection and performance. Have a listen to get wiser as a leader, not wowed as a follower. Remember! Charm may catch your attention but discernment protects your judgement. Plus, there are free downloadable resources on the PiXL website to help you take the reflection further. If you enjoyed PiXL Pearls...   Check out the PiXL website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.pixl.org.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free downloads  Read Rachel's three 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  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

Episode 5 of PiXL Pearls Series 9 steps into the beauty industry’s meteoric rise and asks what its “glow up” can teach leaders about real, lasting change. Hosted by Rachel Johnson, this episode moves beyond products and playlists to the inner work of transformation – the shift from awkward starts to confident practice, and from solo excellence to helping others shine. Tune in to hear how an industry powered by small luxuries, creators and micro‑influencers has reframed value, trust and attention, and why that matters for classrooms, staffrooms and boardrooms. Explore the difference between a surface makeover and a meaningful shift in mindset, how situational leadership turns pressure into progress, and what it takes to move from “blow up” to “glow up” without losing your footing. If you enjoyed PiXL Pearls...   Check out the PiXL website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.pixl.org.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free downloads   Read Rachel's three 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   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

One small habit built, one major leap for leaders. In Episode 4 of this series of the PiXL Pearls, Rachel Johnson explores the lesser-known side of astronaut Chris Hadfield’s story. Not the rockets and headlines, but the rituals, humour and learning that kept him steady when the stakes were highest. Selected for Canada’s space programme without any certainty of ever flying, Hadfield ‘turned himself into’ an astronaut through manuals, drills and hundreds of checklists. He was stress‑tested for claustrophobia, rehearsed disaster scenarios and even prepared for the emotional anti‑climax that follows life in orbit. Yet his anchor was simple: find signs of home, sweat the small stuff and create small moments of joy. This episode shows how comfort is built, not found. It explores why leaders benefit from grounding themselves in what is familiar when everything feels uncertain, and why anticipating problems is not worrying but productive, because as Hadfield reminds us, ‘every single thing that you learn really just gives you more comfort’. Tune in to get calm not complacent – because pressure may be unavoidable, but the comfort you design through habits, perspective and preparation can be exceptional. Listen to Comfort and download the free resources on our website to deepen your reflections. If you enjoyed PiXL Pearls...   Check out the PiXL website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.pixl.org.uk/⁠⁠⁠ for free downloads   Read Rachel's three 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   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