Herding Cats with Katie Caiger

Difficult Scientists? Resilience Isn’t Your Problem.

Why do so many brilliant scientists and engineers get labelled as difficult, resistant, angry, or disengaged? In this episode of Herding Cats, Katie starts with a familiar Sunday-evening scene. She follows it into a deeper question about resilience, empathy, and what science-led organisations are quietly getting wrong. Drawing on years of work inside space, engineering, deep tech, clean energy and fusion companies, Katie explores why behaviours often framed as pushback or poor attitude are more accurately understood as signs of distress in neurodivergent nervous systems, particularly in teams with a high prevalence of autism and ADHD. This episode looks at: * Why uncommunicated change can trigger spirals, sleepless nights and overpreparation * Why scientists react so strongly to vague commercial predictions and shifting narratives * How “resilience” has become a stick to beat individuals instead of a design challenge for leadership * What empathy actually looks like when it’s treated as infrastructure, not a soft skill * How environments designed for nervous-system safety unlock intrinsic motivation, creativity and better problem-solving This episode is not about labels, initiatives, or acronyms, but about the basic human right to feel seen, heard, and respected at work. If you lead, advise, or work inside a science-led organisation, and you care about performance, retention, culture and real innovation, this episode will change how you think about resilience and what kind of human being you want to be at work. Katie@hausofwords.com 🎧 Your Host Katie Caiger I’m Katie, a senior storytelling consultant and advisor working with science-led companies across space, engineering, clean energy and fusion. I sit at the intersection of communication, culture and neurodivergence, helping leadership teams understand why brilliant people sometimes go quiet, push back, burn out or disengage, and what to do about it before it becomes expensive. My work focuses on clarity, empathy, and designing environments where people can actually think, speak, and do their best work, without masking, spiralling, or surviving the week. Herding Cats is a space to talk honestly about complexity, leadership, neurodiversity and the human side of building serious technology, without jargon, bullying or performative optimism. I care less about acronyms and more about whether people feel safe enough to bring their best ideas forward and thrive.

CASE STUDY | If They Don’t Get It, It’s Not Them

If a multinational with tens of thousands of engineers can admit its own name was working against it, your business probably isn’t immune… In Episode 4 of Herding Cats, Katie starts with a European aerospace case study where a technically accurate name became a trust liability – described by critics as “a disease” and loved only by engineers. From there, she jumps to a very modern red flag she keeps seeing in rooms full of smart founders: pitches that turn into discussions. This episode explores: * Why engineer- and academic-led companies design communication for themselves, not their audience * How names, language and localisation quietly shape trust before you ever open your mouth * Why re-explaining your pitch is a warning sign, not a sign of depth * hHw to translate complex space and dual-use tech into benefits your nan, your neighbour and a bus-stop stranger would understand Learn about reducing friction, earning trust and designing your story around the people who get to say yes. If you’re building in space, defence-adjacent dual-use, clean energy, fusion or deep tech, this episode will change how you think about naming, pitching and being understood. Katie@hausofwords.com

CASE STUDY | When the Story Breaks Before the Tech Does

Why do some space, defence and dual-use companies scale belief - while others collapse under it? In this episode, Katie breaks down two real post-2000s case studies from the global space sector. Both had world-changing ambition. Both aimed for the same destination. Only one survived. This episode explores: * Why storytelling is a strategic asset in space, defence and dual-use tech * How over-reliance on hype, media and attention can destroy credibility * The concept of the credibility ladder - and why investors, partners and talent subconsciously look for it * The difference between a compelling mission and a survivable narrative * How proof, not persuasion, ultimately does the heavy lifting If you’re a founder, CEO, Chair, investor or advisor working in: space tech, defence, aerospace, fusion, energy, deep tech or dual-use innovation - this episode will change how you think about storytelling. 🎧 Company names revealed inside.

Why We Need To Do Better In Dual-Use Tech

Dual-use technology has a branding problem and it’s costing founders trust, talent, and traction. In this episode, we break down what dual-use tech actually is (and what it isn’t), why it carries a strange and often negative reputation, and how founders unintentionally sabotage credibility by leading with the wrong language at the wrong time. We explain why dual-use is a strategy, not a category, how to position mission-critical technology without scaring investors or hires, and how communication needs to evolve from pre-seed to Series A. If you’re building technology that needs to work when conditions change - and want the right stakeholders around the table - this episode is essential listening. Key topics: • Dual-use tech explained clearly and simply • Why “dual-use” triggers resistance (and how to defuse it) • Defence, space, and mission-critical tech branding • Founder messaging from pre-seed to Series A Who this episode is for: ✔ Founders and CEOs in deep tech, defence, space, infrastructure, or mission-critical software ✔ Pre-seed to Series A teams navigating dual-use markets ✔ Chairs and Board members thinking about reputation, risk, and long-term credibility ✔ Investors and advisors working with defence-adjacent or government-facing startups ✔ Anyone who’s ever struggled to explain what they do without sounding awkward, alarming, or dull About your host and Chief Cat Herder, Katie Caiger Katie Caiger is a strategic communications advisor who works with founders, CEOs, and leadership teams in science-led and technical companies across the UK and German-speaking Europe. Katie helps organisations make themselves legible - to investors, employees, boards, and the outside world - by aligning internal narratives before polishing the external story. Her work sits at the intersection of leadership, culture, psychology, and storytelling, with a particular focus on companies operating under complexity, uncertainty, and scale. Katie is the brain behind Haus of Words®, working across the UK and Germany as senior, fractional communications strategists and advisors. They help founders, CEOs, and Boards in Defence, Space, Clean Energy and Deep Tech build calm, credible narratives that stand up in boardrooms, investor meetings, and procurement conversations. Subscribe for more conversations on cultural leadership, communication, and trust in complex tech. Share this episode with a founder or Chair who needs a better way to explain what they’re building. If you’re navigating dual-use or defence-adjacent markets and need senior, fractional support in the UK or Germany, you’ll find us at Haus of Words®.  🎧 Weekly episodes on leadership, culture, and making complex organisations legible. Send your questions and topic ideas to: Katie@Hausofwords.com

Why Investors Ghost Startups After a Good Pitch

Investors don’t ghost you because the tech isn’t good enough but because the story doesn’t line up. In this episode of Herding Cats, we unpack why promising investor conversations quietly die after “great meeting!” emails - and why throwing more slides, detail, and jargon at the problem makes it worse. We are talking about coherence and how fragmented internal narratives quietly erode trust, and why one clear, shared story beats five impressive ones every time. If you’re raising money, scaling a technical company, or wondering why confidence drops just when things should be working - this episode will make something click. 🎧 Follow for weekly episodes on leadership, culture, and making complex organisations legible. About your host and Chief Cat Herder, Katie Caiger Katie Caiger is a strategic communications advisor who works with founders, CEOs, and leadership teams in science-led and technical companies across the UK and German-speaking Europe. She helps organisations make themselves legible - to investors, employees, boards, and the outside world - by aligning internal narratives before polishing the external story. Her work sits at the intersection of leadership, culture, psychology, and storytelling, with a particular focus on companies operating under complexity, uncertainty, and scale. Before founding Haus of Words®, Katie spent over a decade translating highly technical material for global engineering, energy, space and aerospace organisations. She now applies that same precision to human systems: surfacing fragmentation, reducing cognitive load, and helping teams tell one coherent story they can actually execute on. Herding Cats is where she unpacks what really breaks down inside growing organisations - and what fixes it - without management theatre, buzzwords, or motivational noise.