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# 288 : You're already in the room
- URL: https://www.mattrutherford.co.uk/288-youre-already-in-the-room/
- Published: 2026-04-27T05:00:45.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-16T11:35:23.000Z
- Description: The question isn't how to get access. It's what happens when you start showing up on purpose.
- Author: Matt
- Tags: Newsletter

Most people think there's a room where the real decisions happen. A conversation they weren't invited to. A layer of the organisation reserved for people with bigger titles.

It's a comforting story. It explains why your good ideas sometimes go nowhere. Why outcomes feel predetermined before the meeting starts. Why influence seems to belong to other people.

But it's wrong.

You're already in those conversations. The one-to-one where your manager thinks out loud. The coffee where a colleague asks what you reckon. The moment someone flags a problem and you start sketching solutions together. None of these feel like decision-making. They feel like talking.

They're not. They **are** the moments where direction gets set. And you're in them every day.

The question isn't how to get access. It's what happens when you start showing up to these moments on purpose.

> [**Go deeper on this**](https://www.mattrutherford.co.uk/how-decisions-actually-get-made/)**, and find out how to make sure you're part of the decision making.** 

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### The Stuff

- [The Conscious Unbossing Crisis: Why 40% of Leaders Want Out](https://www.leadership8020.com/p/three-easy-phrases-that-build-trust?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk)
- [The Trap of Busyness](https://nesslabs.com/newsletter/busyness-trap?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk)
- [Urgency and Anxiety Are Not the Same Thing](https://furtherfasterfridays.substack.com/p/138-42426-urgency-and-anxiety-are)
- [What We Learned From Reading 100 Self-Help Books](https://clearerthinking.beehiiv.com/p/5-things-we-learned-from-writing-the-12-levers?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk)
- [Stop Fixing The System. Design your Own](https://www.certainagemag.com/post/stop-fixing-the-system?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk)
- [The Four AI Decisions everyone should make](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyUChp9yrqw&ref=mattrutherford.co.uk) (YouTube)

**Finally**. [Ratioed](https://ratioed.mfxlabs.com/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk). Can you draw a simple, but perfect, rectangle? 

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### Below the Fold

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[Updates from the last seven days](https://www.mattrutherford.co.uk/weeknote/) \+ [This Week I Learned](https://www.mattrutherford.co.uk/twil/) about robot ping-pong. 

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****Journal Prompt:** Write about three 'wins' you had last week (however trivial) - how did they make you feel? [Start Writing Now.](https://startwriting.now/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk)

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****Elsewhere:** More insights and updates on my [website](https://mattrutherford.co.uk/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk), follow me on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/matt.rutherford/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk), [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@matt.rutherford?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk) and [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/rutherfordmatt.bsky.social?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk) for updates. 

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