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Leaders today face a world on fire, demanding constant adaptation and creative reinvention. Psychological safety is the essential tool for this shift—not as a "comfort zone," but as shared permission for candor. Here is how leaders can practically foster a culture where teams are safe to fail, imagine, and leap together. This is a part of a series about big leaps and a culture of reinvention.

Ivan Pols and Alex Mecklenburg, co-founders of Truth & Spectacle, reflect on a year of unsticking leadership teams through their Big Leap methodology. They dismantle the myth that iteration is better than bravery, and talk about why a solid foundation is the only place you can jump from. From high-stress charities to sticky boards, learn the vital difference between agreement, alignment, and compliance—and why your strategy is just a story waiting to be told brilliantly to inspire action. Recorded in London in January 2026. Hosted by: Alex Mecklenburg and Ivan Pols. Truth & Spectacle

Alex and Ivan talk about the inspiration, neuroscience, personal experience and methodology behind their new workshop, The Big Leap. It’s a method that is designed to help organisations understand a new strategy and quickly bring it to life through actions and initiatives. They look at the power of good questions, inspired by Warren Berger's book, The More Beautiful Question. About how long distance connections and mix and match thinking build better stories. How good questions lead to deeper understanding and better critical thinking. They talk about the importance of collective storytelling and inclusive creativity. They also discuss how The Big Leap methodology focuses on what humans do best within a rapidly expanding AI landscape.

In this conversation about truth and spectacle, Alex and Ivan look at how and why they apply coaching to brands, and get really excited about the power of a good core story. What is brand story coaching and why we think it's pretty cool.

When we started Truth & Spectacle, it was done with the belief that people are more creative than they imagine. We assumed that being ‘creative’ was something that teams and organisations wanted to be - but we learned quickly that it wasn’t that straightforward. To many people creativity is a ‘gift you’re born with’, for others creativity evokes stories of ego, genius, loudness or elitism. We'd like people to experience creativity as an inclusive, more gentle force. In this podcast Alex and Ivan talk about the definitions of creativity, the associations of the “creative” label and some simple, useful principles to work with. We discuss how about how we design creative processes that balance idea ownership and craft, the delight of making new connections in teams, and being surprised by your colleagues. Creativity is a journey that has lots of paths, many are correct. We’ve even transformed our own way of being creative. It’s a skill you can learn. Teams can get better at questioning, connecting, imagining and making. If you’re interested in this topic for your organisation we’ve designed a new, more inclusive workshop. [create space] is a workshop game that’s designed to help every member of your team develop their ability to think creatively about big questions and turn their ideas into actions. It’s surprising and fun and you can see more here. Look after yourselves wherever you are and keep creating. We hope you enjoy the episode. Alex Mecklenburg is a creative business and leadership coach at Consequential CIC, a fellow of the RSA, and storyteller in residence at SIX, the Global Social Innovation Exchange. Ivan Pols is the creative director of what3words. Together they are the co-founders of Truth & Spectacle, a creative consultancy. Subscribe to this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher. Find us on LinkedIn: Alex or Ivan / Twitter: Alex or Ivan For more news about Truth & Spectacle sign up to our newsletter. Stuff we mentioned in the show: [create space] - a workshop game Slack - business messaging Figma - UX design tool Truth & Spectacle - creative business consultants Monday - project management Frame.io - video management platform

Since our business and personal worlds have suddenly relied on video calls like never before, we thought it would interesting to talk about the new challenges of running workshops, what virtual work is, how to make deep connections with colleagues and how to do this with no post-it notes or snacks. Alex and Ivan discuss their experiences and share what works for them. It turns out that virtual workshops are a powerful tool for teams to be creative and they’ll definitely be part of a new blended tool set for working on certain kinds of problems as groups. We talk about how to get prepared for a workshop, how to help the participants be present and give them control, the difference between virtual connections and working in real spaces, how to use provocations to stimulate creativity and team bonding, the tech platforms we prefer and embracing working open. We hope you enjoy it. Alex is a creative business coach and an associate at the digital think tank Doteveryone, a fellow of the RSA, and storyteller in residence at SIX, the Global Social Innovation Exchange. Ivan is the creative director of what3words. They are co-founders of Truth & Spectacle, a creative consultancy. Find us on LinkedIn: Alex or Ivan / Twitter: Alex or Ivan Subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher. For more news about Truth & Spectacle sign up to our newsletter. Stuff we mentioned in the show: Miro Board - white board tool Mural - white board tool Zoom - video conferencing Provoke - the webinar game Google G Suite - slides and docs

It’s Spring 2020, and we’re in the middle of the Covid-19 meltdown. Alex Mecklenburg and Ivan Pols had a conversation about how much has changed, what hasn’t changed, and what we’re doing now. The big questions seem to be more urgent that ever, but we can do small things that make a difference today. For ourselves and others. Alex is a creative business coach and an associate at the digital think tank Doteveryone, a fellow of the RSA, and storyteller in residence at SIX, the Global Social Innovation Exchange. Ivan is the creative director of what3words, working with a world class in-house marketing and product team. We talked about what we’re doing now, the mass emotional roller coaster, dealing with new expectations, kindness, grief, and teams that dream. Among other things. Find us on LinkedIn: Alex or Ivan / Twitter: Alex or Ivan Subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher. For more news about Truth & Spectacle sign up to our newsletter. Stuff we mentioned in the show: Miro Board - white board tool Mural - white board tool Remo - video conferencing Zoom - video conferencing WeTransfer - file sharing Provoke - the webinar game

MegaPops are Megan Egan & Poppy Cumming-Spain, a creative team working at Creature London. They’re recent grads of SCA 2.0 and have pretty much launched themselves into the industry on a rocket fuelled with mad energy. Alex met them while mentoring at SCA and was struck by their charisma, honesty and wonderful work. We met them in Shoreditch in early May and talked about how they built their team brand, MegaPops, the work they rate and how they pursue truth. They also shared their opinions about the state of “purpose advertising” and the value of doing real things rather than talking about them. It’s a refreshing perspective from smart people whom we hope go far. Meg & Pops can be found at megapops.party

Katharina is a Business Psychologist and the Managing Director at InnovationBubble. They are a business consultancy who use behavioural science to understand how organisations and brands really work. She’s advised companies like Virgin Atlantic, TalkTalk and Habito on finding the hidden psychological influences that affect their business strategies. She talks about the difference between truth and purpose, the importance of getting your values right from the beginning, the facts about fluffy towels in travel and eye implants.

Jonathan McKay joins Ivan Pols and Alex Mecklenburg to discuss how Girl Effect use brands to improve the lives of girls around the world, and the role of truth and spectacle in reaching them. Jonathan is the Senior Director of Create at Girl Effect, who were founded by the Nike Foundation in 2004, and today are an independent creative non-profit working from nine global locations and active in over 50 countries.

Silas Amos joins Ivan Pols and Alex Mecklenburg to discuss truth and spectacle in design. Silas is a designer and design strategist who has worked with Budweiser, HP, Eve Sleep, and Unilever. He does some wonderful collaborations with artists like Sir Peter Blake and the Yarza Twins.

in December 2018, Alex Mecklenberg and Ivan Pols, Co-Founders of Truth & Spectacle talk about starting a podcast. The audio quality is rubbish and you can hear dogs playing in the background. It's a brilliant.