In my approximately 25 years of working experience, I have worked for and consulted to organizations across all major industries and on three continents. I have gained an understanding of the dynamics, priorities, and challenges of both very large multinationals and very small nonprofits.
One common experience is that many organizations struggle to translate strategy into execution, particularly in such a way as to maximize efficiency and minimize pain. In the context of shrinking budgets and ever-present expectations to do more with less, it has become challenging to deliver results as there are fewer and fewer middle managers to interpret the directives of a senior management team for frontline staff.
As an intuitive and experienced systems thinker, I am able to guide your organization through the process of closing the execution gap. I employ a variety of methods — some anchored in two decades of cross-functional work experience, some derived from my background in anthropology/ethnography, some based on modern service design, facilitation, and coaching techniques.
The resulting journey focuses on collaborative decision making and practical, sometimes hands-on participation in creating solutions that work for everyone — and can be embraced by everyone.
I also ask difficult but important questions whose answers can have a transformative effect; a typical example is to re-frame the discussion to look at your organization from a customer’s (or stakeholder’s) point of view rather than focusing only on internal knowledge and priorities.
As colleagues in an organization, our challenges and difficulties may seem normal to us because we encounter them every day, and it is hard to imagine how things could be different or better. A skilled and compassionate outsider may be able to focus in on the issues — either at the “root cause” level, or by creating momentum towards incremental improvements, area by area, day by day.
In activities like yoga or meditation, we improve our skills — and derive greater personal benefits — from participating again and again (building a personal practice). Making business process improvements is not that dissimilar: starting from a simple, authentic, and clear interpretation of our goals and objectives, we develop new processes and begin to use them, making incremental adjustments, and becoming better every day.
My management consulting practice often takes the form of working as an executive coach, but I have also seen success as an interim executive or program manager for a business function that needs specific attention. I do not advise on “traditional” operations functions such as finance or supply chain although I often work with these groups in the context of organizational change management.