Every now and then a new concept spreads like wildfire and is soon adopted at scale by organisations and professionals within a given domain. This is a scenario that seems to be especially prevalent within professional sport and the performance sciences in general. Initially early adopters are drawn in by an appealing message and a story that they find compelling. As the idea gathers steam, the growing uptake seems as much motivated by anxiety and the sense that ‘everybody else seems to be into this, so perhaps I should be too’. In due course the concept becomes firmly established and its legitimacy is widely accepted. For those caught up by this wave (or mown down by it) this all seems to occur with dizzying speed. All of this speaks to the captivating effects of ideas and the power of narratives. It also begs the question how might we avoid being taken captive and resist being swept up by the tide. Even once the wave has subsided, these events leave in their wake a detritus of zombie ideas that we as leaders, coaches and practitioners must navigate thereafter.