Bring the Hindsight Forwards

Is this you?

Whether you're a VC reading a board report that doesn't match the numbers, a founder who can feel something is wrong but can't name it, or a CXO staring at a plan that adds up on paper but fails in practice; that frustration you're feeling is the thing that will be obvious with hindsight.

Whether it's a product launch, a new market, or a change of direction, sometimes a new venture can stall for no obvious reason. The preparation was solid. The people are capable. But it won't fly.

And sometimes something that used to work just slows down, or stops. Nobody changed anything. But the results have.

These things happen. The problem is when they persist, and the best efforts of everyone involved can't shift them.

Whether it's a product launch, a new market, or a change of direction, sometimes a new venture can stall for no obvious reason. The preparation was solid. The people are capable. But it won't fly.

And sometimes something that used to work just slows down, or stops. Nobody changed anything. But the results have.

These things happen. The problem is when they persist, and the best efforts of everyone involved can't shift them.

How it works.

Sometimes hiring a new team member gives you the fresh set of eyes you needed, plugged into a beginner's mind, not yet restricted by the agreements that needed them in the first place.

The short period of their integration into the organisation, the team, or the project gives a kind of grace to ask the ignorant questions nobody else is asking. Frequently, the thing you are missing is hiding in the questions that don't get asked.

But six months later, they're assimilated, synched with the mindset of the organisation.

For minimal risk, hire me as that new boy. Just for a week, a month, or for as long as I'm useful.

My effectiveness requires the kind of objectivity that an employed position would distort. Staying free from established framings means that I’m like the new hire but with no desire to get my feet under the table.

It doesn't always work. But mostly it does.

And once you can see the problem clearly, what to do about it isn't always obvious, but mostly it is.

Sometimes hiring a new team member gives you the fresh set of eyes you needed, plugged into a beginner's mind, not yet restricted by the agreements that needed them in the first place.

But six months later, they're assimilated, synched with the mindset of the organisation.

For minimal risk, hire me as that new boy. Just for a week, a month, or for as long as I'm useful.

It doesn't always work. But mostly it does.

And once you can see the problem clearly, what to do about it isn't always obvious, but mostly it is.

Who

I've worked across engineering, electronics, manufacturing, computing, software, cybersecurity and encryption, from silicon to boxed product. Design, development, marketing, sales, key account management. The whole journey from product idea to Government contract. 25 years of it at board level.

Always with people who knew more about those things than me. Most of my career has really been about getting good people to do great things.

The common thread isn't a sector or a specialism. It's the gap between what people believe is happening and what's actually going on. I help close it.

Always with people who knew more about those things than me. Most of my career has really been about getting good people to do great things.

The common thread isn't a sector or a specialism. It's the gap between what people believe is happening and what's actually going on. I help close it.

Einstein is attributed as saying:

"If I had only one hour to save the world,
I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem,
and only five minutes finding the solution."

My job is to get you to minute 55.

Einstein is attributed as saying:

"If I had only one hour to save the world,
I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem,
and only five minutes finding the solution."

My job is to get you to minute 55.

What's the problem?

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