Sep 18, 2026 · 39 min · 11 segments
Host Darren Lancaster is joined by Sandy Chow, Chartered FCIPD, for a conversation on career agility, organisational design and the role AI is playing in…
Sandy ChowGuest
Darren LancasterHost
What core learnings do you bring to organisational design, which would be good to hear?
I think because I have... a mixed experience in a financial sector, regulated environment.
Well, I've seen both benefits and the costs and risks involved for being too structured.
And also the benefit it can bring when it comes to a more agile process and organizational design.
When do you know, in that example, when do you know that kind of, when you think about agility and you think about those kind of core concepts in the way in which you work, the speed has to be sometimes at the essence around it.
Yeah, the vivid example was while I spent my two years at the tech startup, specifically in the blockchain industry.
I've always been in the comfort blanket of a corporate world where structure is key and my comfort blanket.
And what I really learned from that environment is that speed is critical to success.
And having a process that's structured in place that's too rigid and ultimately leads to talent doing things just for the sake of doing it or because that's how they are used to or that's how I was taught to do it.
really presents innovation and creativity to be able to solve problems on the spot and offer the best experience for your customers or your clients.
And really, when you're in a startup environment, when resources are really limited, those kind of comfort factor really have a financial cost to it.
Do you find though sometimes having policies and things around it become a blocker at all in the kind of things that you do?
I have to be very careful what I say here, considering I'm a fellow of the CIPD and I'm also a shadow member of
The following legislations and making sure that we follow policies and guidance from a risk and compliance perspective is the foundation of everything we do and how it should be.
I see that as guardrails and the guardrails being put in place would then lead to opportunities for us to create space, to offer talents, to really flex their natural strength And opportunity for them to show how creative and innovative they can be when it comes to problem solving.
What core learnings do you bring to organisational design, which would be good to hear?
I think because I have... a mixed experience in a financial sector, regulated environment.
Well, I've seen both benefits and the costs and risks involved for being too structured.
And also the benefit it can bring when it comes to a more agile process and organizational design.
When do you know, in that example, when do you know that kind of, when you think about agility and you think about those kind of core concepts in the way in which you work, the speed has to be sometimes at the essence around it.
Yeah, the vivid example was while I spent my two years at the tech startup, specifically in the blockchain industry.
I've always been in the comfort blanket of a corporate world where structure is key and my comfort blanket.
And what I really learned from that environment is that speed is critical to success.
And having a process that's structured in place that's too rigid and ultimately leads to talent doing things just for the sake of doing it or because that's how they are used to or that's how I was taught to do it.
really presents innovation and creativity to be able to solve problems on the spot and offer the best experience for your customers or your clients.
And really, when you're in a startup environment, when resources are really limited, those kind of comfort factor really have a financial cost to it.
Do you find though sometimes having policies and things around it become a blocker at all in the kind of things that you do?
I have to be very careful what I say here, considering I'm a fellow of the CIPD and I'm also a shadow member of
The following legislations and making sure that we follow policies and guidance from a risk and compliance perspective is the foundation of everything we do and how it should be.
I see that as guardrails and the guardrails being put in place would then lead to opportunities for us to create space, to offer talents, to really flex their natural strength And opportunity for them to show how creative and innovative they can be when it comes to problem solving.
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