The Wonder Work: Brad Montague on Reclaiming Our Team Narratives

When we welcomed Brad Montague to Brisbane as part of his EO APAC tour, many of us in the room expected a masterclass in creativity. We expected to hear about the success of Kid President or how to be more “whimsical” in our branding.

Instead, more than 70 of our members were invited to examine our leadership through a lens we often overlook: the narrative.

As entrepreneurs, we are experts in the mechanics of our businesses. We obsess over systems, we live and die by performance metrics, and we hold the line on our P&L. We often treat “culture” like a software update—something we install and then expect to run in the background.

But as our member Alonso Vargas observed during the session, Brad offered a perspective-shifting reality check: “In the absence of stories, people will make their own.”

The Weight of the Silence

It was a moment of collective realisation for us as a chapter. We recognised that in those periods when we, as leaders, go quiet—perhaps because we are navigating a crisis or simply too busy “doing the work”—we are not just leaving a void. We are leaving a space that our teams will inevitably fill with their own stories.

Without an intentional narrative, those stories are often rooted in fear, uncertainty, or a lack of purpose.

Brad challenged us to stop approaching culture through the cold logic of a spreadsheet. Instead, he reframed it through story, imagination, and childlike curiosity. He introduced us to “squiggles”, “camp culture”, and the concept of the “Failabration”.

The Strategic Power of Joy

There is a common assumption in the boardroom that joy and imagination are distractions—luxuries we can only afford once the “real” work is done. Brad turned that assumption on its head. He positioned joy not as a distraction, but as a strategic advantage.

When we lead with the “child’s perspective”, we create a culture where complex ideas become accessible and memorable. When we hold a “Failabration”, we are not just being “nice”; we are building the psychological safety required for genuine innovation to take place. We are telling our teams a story that says: “We value your courage more than your perfection.”

The Nudge

Brad’s visit reminded us that we do not always need a dramatic shift to change our company’s trajectory. We need a “nudge”—a small, intentional shift in how we listen and how we communicate our mission.

We left the room not with more tasks, but with a deeper sense of responsibility. We are the stewards of imagination in our offices. We are the authors of the stories our employees tell themselves when they sit down at their desks on Monday morning.

As a community of leaders, we are choosing to be more intentional. We are choosing to look beneath the surface, face the “squiggles”, and ensure that the stories being told in our businesses are ones of wonder—not just work.

Because if we are not the ones shaping the narrative, who is?