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How to stay human in a world ruled by technology.
The world is changing faster than most people's operating systems can handle.
Full Stack Human is the book that gives you a new one.
Co-authored with Tāne Hunter, it's part neuroscience, part leadership manual, part honest reckoning with what it actually takes to stay curious, adaptable and genuinely human when the pressure to perform never lets up.
It won't tell you to be more resilient. It will show you why the capabilities that matter most — play, curiosity, hope, adaptability — are the ones most organisations are systematically training out of their people. And exactly what to do about it.
Published by Wiley, 2026.
What it's about
The leaders who thrive aren't the ones who know the most.
They're the ones who stay the most human, meet change with curiosity instead of rigidity, build trust instead of just managing performance, and know how to bring people with along them when the ground keeps shifting.
Who it's for
If this sounds like you.
- Anyone who suspects the soft skills aren't actually soft
- HR and L&D professionals building capability frameworks
- Organisations looking for a shared leadership language
- Anyone who's sat through a team-building day and felt nothing change
Also available
Take it further.
Companion Guide
A practical workbook to go alongside the book, individual exercises, team applications, and facilitation guides for L&D professionals.
Get the Companion Guide →Bulk orders for your team
Full Stack Human works well as a shared read for leadership cohorts, book clubs, and onboarding programs. Get in touch for bulk pricing.
Enquire about bulk orders →From the back cover
"A brave, clear-eyed look at what's breaking us, and a warm, intelligent answer we urgently need."
It's 3 am and your brain won't shut up.
Your to-do list multiplies. Your inbox feels sentient. AI is rewriting your job description while you doomscroll and somehow you're supposed to 'optimise' your way to happiness as everything around you glitches.
Here's the truth: you're not broken. Your brain just wasn't built for this.
With algorithms hijacking your attention and a culture that mistakes exhaustion for achievement, staying human can feel impossible.
Dara Simkin (Australia's leading voice in play at work) and Tāne Hunter (systems scientist and world-class science communicator) reveal the five-layer upgrade your mind has been craving, a practical system for staying deeply human in a world ruled by technology.
Smart, soulful and thoughtfully rebellious, this isn't another wellness fad or productivity hack. It's neuroscience and real talk, a research-backed guide to staying gloriously, messily, authentically human while the world races towards artificial efficiency.
Full Stack Human is the reset for anyone who refuses to sacrifice their humanity for success.
Praise for Full Stack Human
Endorsements.
"Simkin and Hunter have created a remarkably accessible, science-backed, play-based book. At a time when more people are recognising the primacy of our play nature, their work arrives exactly when it is most needed."
Dr Stuart Brown
National Institute for Play
"The essential field guide every leader needs to make innovation joyful, human and sustainable again."
Brendan Boyle
Founder of IDEO Play Lab and Stanford Design Professor
"Hits your brain and your heart at the same time."
David Pearl
Author of Will There Be Donuts and Story for Leaders
"Two playful, whip-smart thinkers willing to ask some of the hairiest questions, like what are we really doing here? And what happens next?"
Honor Eastly
Australian Mental Health Prize-winning artist