60 - "Systems Create Behaviour" with Palesa Sibeko

Systems Create Behaviour She Talks Tech

In this episode, we sit down with Palesa Sibeko, co-founder of Better Work and Girls Invent Tomorrow, for a conversation that goes well beyond the buzzwords. Palesa has spent over a decade asking a deceptively simple question: what would it take to make work more human? From the digital agency frontier of early social media in South Africa, to building custom PCB hardware through Signal, to coaching leaders navigating change, her career is a masterclass in following curiosity without apology.

We talk about why systems create the behaviour we complain about, what it really means to listen in an organisation, and why fixing culture in a two-hour workshop is a fantasy. We also get into Girls Invent Tomorrow, the girls in STEM organisation she has poured her heart into for over 14 years, and what it will actually take to change the numbers.

What we cover

• Growing up in Soweto, reading everything in sight, and how curiosity became a career
• The early days of social media for brands in South Africa and pioneering digital engagement on Mxit
• Why systems create behaviour and how Better Work approaches change from the inside out
• The gap between an organisation's intent and what employees actually experience every day
• Return to office, trust, and why one-size-fits-all workplace policy rarely works
• Signal: building custom hardware, PCB boards, and gesture-controlled experiences, until COVID ended it
• Girls Invent Tomorrow, what has shifted for girls in STEM and what stubbornly has not
• The invisible barriers in the home that shape what young girls believe is possible for them
• What Palesa would tell her 10-year-old self

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