The Human Operating System
is broken
It’s time to fix it.
Modern life is optimised for profit,
not for people.
I play at the intersection of work, wellbeing and modern culture – and what I see every day is this:
We’ve engineered a world that exhausts people, shortens attention spans, discourages families, fuels conflict, and then acts surprised when anxiety, burnout, and disengagement explode.
I spend my time inside organisations, governments, and leadership teams watching this play out in real time.
What looks like a “mental health crisis” is usually a design problem: bad incentives, poor leadership, broken defaults, and environments that pull people away from focus, meaning, and each other.
I’m not interested in motivational slogans or surface-level fixes. I’m interested in why we keep treating symptoms while ignoring the systems that cause them – and what actually changes when we redesign those systems properly.
I bring a systems-level view to conversations about work, wellbeing, technology, ethics, and culture – grounded in real-world experience.
Expect humour, challenge, and ideas your listeners will still be thinking about a week later.
TOPICS AND EXPERTISE
The Human Operating System Is Broken
I spend a lot of time with smart, capable people who think they’re failing at life. They’re not. They’re just trying to run a Stone Age brain on a Silicon Valley operating system.
Burnout and anxiety are entirely predictable consequences of modern systems
We reward behaviours that make people unwell, then act shocked when they burn out
What changes when we redesign defaults and incentives instead of lecturing people about discipline?
Modern Life Is More Than Hard.
It’s Anti-Human
Social Media
& Brain Rot
I’m not anti social media. I use it, I understand it, and I’ve built businesses around it. The problem starts when we pretend we’re in a fair fight with systems designed to keep us distracted.
Social media is ruining us by doing exactly what it was built to do
We blame users for “lack of discipline” while ignoring the business model underneath
I teach reclaiming focus without deleting your life or moving to a cabin
You’re Addicted By Design.
You’re Being Exploited.
Burnout Is a Mental Health Crisis
The most burnt-out people I meet weren’t born fragile. They’re usually the most conscientious ones who’ve been trying to make something broken work for far too long.
We treat burnout like a personal weakness instead of a design failure
Rest and self-care don’t fix work that drains purpose
Leaders and individuals can rebuild meaning without burning everything down
High Performers Are Quietly Breaking.
Why Is This Surprising?
Corporate Wellbeing Is Mostly Smoke and Mirrors
I make my living in corporate wellbeing, which gives me a rare privilege – I can say this honestly. Most wellbeing programmes are beautifully branded, useless nonsense.
We treat burnout like a personal weakness instead of a design failure
Rest and self-care don’t fix work that drains purpose
Most wellbeing programmes treat symptoms without fixing the systemic root causes
“Corporate Wellbeing” Is An Oxymoron – But it Doesn’t Have To Be
Why Conflict Has Become the Default Setting
It feels like everyone’s permanently one tweet away from a meltdown. That’s not because we’ve all lost our minds – it’s because outrage now pays extremely well.
-
Conflict is incentivised more than understanding
-
Dopamine and “keyboard warrior” status shield the real human cost of virtual arguments
-
we need to relearn disagreement as a debating skill rather than a blood sport
Should We Accept How Everyone Feels Angry All the Time?
Falling Birth Rates Are an Existential Warning Sign
When entire generations quietly decide “nah, maybe not” to having kids, it’s probably not because they all woke up selfish on the same day.
Falling birth rates are a signal that something deeper is broken
Exhaustion, cost, and work culture shape family choices more than values do
Something deep needs to happen to make having a future feel possible again
We Have To Get Millennials & Gen-Z To Opt Back In To Parenthood
Who I Am (and Why You Should Listen)
I’ve spent my life building and running businesses, which means I've never had a pay-cheque, but I’ve seen first-hand what modern work does to people when performance is prioritised and humanity quietly isn’t. I now run CIB, an international corporate wellbeing consultancy working with organisations and governments who want results without burning everyone out in the process.
I've lived in a few very different worlds – as a professional musician, a racing driver, and a serial entrepreneur. Those experiences taught me a lot about pressure, focus, risk, and what actually helps people perform when it matters.
I understand persuasion and behaviour change for a living, which makes me fairly allergic to buzzwords, platitudes, and corporate theatre. I’m not anti-business, anti-technology, or anti-ambition. I am anti-denial about the systems we’ve built and the outcomes they produce.
I bring strong opinions, a sense of humour, and a willingness to say the quiet part out loud. That approach hasn’t slowed me down commercially, and it tends to make for honest, useful, and occasionally uncomfortable conversations.
FEATURED Appearances
Improving Employee Well-Being In The Corporate World!
Natural Born Coaches
Jonny Cooper shares his experiences growing Consultants in Business (CIB), which aims to improve employee well-being, retention, and productivity in corporate organizations. We cover a lot of ground in this interview, check it out!
What You’ll Hear In This Episode:
– Jonny explains the difference between coaching and consulting.
– The importance of mindset support for coaches transitioning into the corporate world, and the need to focus on human-to-human connections rather than business-to-business.]
The challenge of demonstrating ROI for corporate wellbeing consultants, and the surprising statistic that every consultant needs to know (and share with all of their prospects)!
– Lessons that Jonny learned from launching CIB and growing it quickly …
– The problem with working on Fridays (and why you shouldn’t buy a car built on that day!)
Listen here
Reasons to book me as a guest
I say the things most guests think but won’t say on mic – and I can back them up.
I don’t speak in platitudes, jargon or buzzwords – I tell it how it is, and share what actually works (and what doesn’t!)
I won’t agree with you just to be polite, and that’s usually when the episode gets good.
Reasons to book me as a guest
Reasons to book me as a guest
I say the things most guests think but won’t say on mic – and I can back them up.
I don’t speak in platitudes, jargon or buzzwords – I tell it how it is, and share what actually works (and what doesn’t!)
I won’t agree with you just to be polite, and that’s usually when the episode gets good.
Shall we talk?
Think I’d make a great guest for your podcast?
I don’t doubt I will… but let’s make sure.
Tell me what will thrill you and your listeners, and have them talking about us for years to come.
Email fritha@cib.global with the subject line “Podcast” and we’ll set something up.