Real Talk Roundup - October 15, 2025
If you’ve joined recently (welcome!) or just missed a week, here’s a curated set of pieces readers keep coming back to. Short intros below...but open what’s relevant now, bookmark the rest for later.
1) Execution that Sticks
Why outcomes—not output—should drive how we govern and deliver.
Execution that Sticks
We’ve reached Week 4 and the final week of our articles series: Real Talk to Real Results. If there’s one lesson that has echoed through every transformation I’ve led or read, it’s this: great strategies mean nothing if they don’t stick. We’ve talked about leadership
Brett W. Farmer
2) Across the Divide - Tech. Strategy... (Series opener)
Shift IT from order-taker to agenda setter
Across the Divide: Why Technology Must Be Strategy, Not Just Support
In my twelve plus years of organizational technology, I’ve come to believe the most misunderstood part of digital transformation isn’t the technology at all. It’s the story we tell ourselves about what technology is. Across industries whether it is public and private, or global and local: there
Brett W. Farmer
3) From Features to Outcomes
Trade shipped features for measurable business results.
From Features to Outcomes
We’re in Week 3 of Real Talk to Real Results. Last week, we pushed deeper into the trap how you can have governance without all that nasty red tape. And! Let it feel natural. This week, we go further: the shift from features to outcomes is not optional. It’
Brett W. Farmer
4) Governance Without Bureaucracy
Turn “red tape” into the runway—decision rights, guardrails, and cadence that accelerate.
Governance Without Bureaucracy
When most leaders hear the word governance, they picture bureaucracy. Endless approval chains. Policy binders that collect dust. Committees that talk more than they act. Here’s the truth: governance done right is not red tape, it’s the discipline that accelerates digital transformation. Without governance, transformation spins into chaos.
Brett W. Farmer
5) Leadership Accountability (Series opener)
The uncomfortable truth: transformations rise or fall on leadership clarity and consistency.
Accountability Starts at the Top
Digital transformation is often treated like a technical project: buy a tool, hire a vendor, stand up a team, then hope culture, process, and outcomes fall into place. Here’s the truth: no digital transformation succeeds without leadership accountability. When leaders own outcomes, everything else aligns... ...but when they don’
Brett W. Farmer
Want the TL;DR?
- Outcomes > output. Tie work to measurable business results.
- Governance ≠ slowdown. Good guardrails speed decisions.
- Tech is strategy. Especially in complex environments like the public sector.
- Leaders set the pace. Accountability makes everything else possible.
If one idea helped, share this roundup with a colleague who needs it.
Real talk. Real strategy. Real results in digital transformation.
— Brett