Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Acknowledging the traditional owners, peoples and custodians of the places and cultures that I've been privileged to live and work with; from Wales to London, Denmark to Nigeria, Malaysia to the Lands of the Wurundjeri people in Melbourne.
Tom is a senior executive with deep experience spanning strategy, product, and finance across technology, banking, and professional services.
Originally trained as a barrister (non-practising), he holds an EMBA alongside formal qualifications in law, strategy, finance, and risk.
He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and the Governance Institute of Australia, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and currently serves as a non-executive director.
Based in Melbourne, Tom is a competitive cyclist and regular triathlete, racing in the Noosa and Melbourne triathlon series. He has published a book on commercial strategy in cloud services, written two children’s books exploring game theory and inflation, and reviews business literature for Duke University’s journal.
The standout strategy book of the year. It provides a sobering look at why corporate strategy is so rarely "rationally optimal." The authors dismantle the "social game" of planning, showing how human nature and organizational politics often override data, and offer a path toward more objective, high-stakes decision-making.
One of the best books of the year. It took ideas I’d been circling for years and articulated them with clarity and kindness. The most powerful reframes weren’t about becoming happier, but about disentangling happiness from optimisation. A quiet but lasting shift in how I think about self-management.
Recommended by my comrade in content JR. This is a supremely insightful read for understanding the hidden hierarchies that drive both our individual psyche and the internal dynamics of large corporates. It’s an essential lens for anyone navigating complex social and professional structures.
You’re carried through the complexities of quantum physics, space-time, and the nature of existence on a lazy river of Rovelli’s words. It is rare to find a book that treats the most technical aspects of the universe with such lyrical beauty.
Long avoided. Finally read. Better than its corporate afterlife suggests. Less about winning, more about cultural maintenance, humility, and standards that outlive individuals. And, grudgingly, still painful as a Welshman.
A reminder that not caring about being liked can produce extraordinary outcomes — and extraordinary damage. Like Musk’s biography, it’s a study in taste, insistence, and the human costs of brilliance. Neither inspirational nor condemning. Just honest.
Utterly captivating. A reminder that honour, rage, loyalty, and pride have always driven human conflict. Three thousand years on, the stage dressing changes — the psychology does not.
A solid exec-level primer on transforming legacy organizations into digitally savvy competitors. Nothing radical for those in the industry, it is exceptionally well-organized and backed by clear evidence.
A clear articulation of output vs outcome. Not new, but essential.
Reasonably simple thesis — but the content largely earns its keep. Easy to read, practical, and grounded in real organisational dynamics. It won’t change how you see the world, but it might change how you run a meeting or structure a team. One of those books where the value compounds only if you actually apply it.
Still provocative, still uneven, still worth reading. Some predictions now feel quaint; others remain disturbingly prescient. Its core strength isn’t forecasting accuracy but in thinking structurally about power, geography, and the erosion of the nation state.
Dry. Overlong. And probably necessary. The core argument is right, but repetitive points bludgeon rather than sharpen the thesis. Still, the future described is as dangerous as it is plausible, so as Sulaymaniyah suggests, repetition may be an ethical imperative.
A raw and powerful account of one of my cycling hero’s terminal cancer diagnosis. Raw and moving, but shows how as performance disappears; meaning remains.
A masterclass in forecasting and why most predictions fail—a fitting companion to the Cassandra Cup.
Similar to The Coming Wave, it is insightful and likely correct in its grim outlook, though it tends to repeat its core arguments. A sobering take on the existential risks of uncontrolled innovation.
A dense, difficult read that demands effort, but is ultimately worthwhile for its exploration of the progress of human knowledge and the infinite potential of explanation.
Dense, niche, but a satisfying deep dive into the nature of risk and how businesses can navigate—and capitalize on—the unknown.
An intriguing argument for why a little bit of self-deception can actually be a functional tool for personal happiness and social cohesion.
Practical ways to optimize brain power as the "engine" gets a little more full or a little less efficient as time goes by.
An adventure for the restless. Not useful - but a satisfyingly motivating journey by an ex-President into the literal unknown down an Amazonian river.
A few hundred pages of greivances offset by interesting anecdotes about Zuckerberg and Sheryl in the early days of Facebook. A disappointing read, with potentially useful and important points lost in excessive introspection.
Largely pseudo-self-help claptrap. While I’m sure the right person could find value in it at the right time, I did not.