New Dots is a blowtorch. Not a flamethrower.
That matters.
Because flamethrowers are for show. They’re loud, theatrical, and indiscriminate. They torch everything in sight—whether it needs burning or not. A flamethrower is chaos with a trigger.
But a blowtorch? A blowtorch is surgical.
And New Dots—this space, this signal fire disguised as a Substack—is a blowtorch aimed straight at the soft spots of modern work.
Not because we hate it. Because we’re done pretending it’s fine.
This is not a rage-burn. This is focused heat on the joints that don’t move anymore. On the scaffolding of leadership theater and corporate rituals we keep calling “best practice” when they’re really just… habits. Habits built on fear, legacy, and a very old idea of control.
You won’t find platitudes here. Or LinkedIn-flavored leadership takes that say everything and nothing. You’ll find the heat. The pressure. The friction where truth meets system—and something finally gives.
We hold the flame to:
Performance reviews that pretend to be development
Engagement surveys that pretend to be listening
People managers who never chose the job, and were never trained to lead
HR systems doing CPR on a culture that flatlined years ago
Values posters that say “respect” while leaders reward silence
And the slow, polite decline of companies who mistake comfort for culture
This isn’t a teardown. It’s a rebuild by fire.
Every post, every line, every callout is aimed with intent. This is for the ones who know something’s off, but haven’t had the words. The ones still trying to lead with integrity inside systems built to dilute it. The ones quietly doing the real work—and tired of doing it quietly.
New Dots is not just a critique. It’s an invitation.
To stop fixing symptoms and start burning the structure that creates them.
To stop asking “How do we optimize this?” and start asking, “What if we never needed it in the first place?”
To stop pretending leadership is about polish and start making it about presence.
You’re not here for warmth.
You’re here for the heat that changes things.
And this? This is the flame.