Leadership · Strategy · Business analysis · AI Strategy
Using the discipline of business analysis to bridge the gap between executive aspirations and operational reality.
Thirty-five years in financial services and technology delivery—most of it spent turning ambitious plans into things people actually use.
A polished strategy presentation is only the beginning. Transformations often stall in the space between the strategy and the org chart—where three teams own a piece of the same decision, and the new platform goes live while everyone quietly keeps using the old workaround.
That space is where I work.
I’m available for select consulting and advisory opportunities with organizations looking to turn ambition into a practical way forward. I work alongside leaders and teams to clarify priorities, strengthen business analysis, shape operating models, and develop strategic plans—including purposeful approaches to AI.
I also help plan large programs of work, breaking complex ambitions into manageable stages and clear priorities. Together, we map dependencies, clarify ownership, and build a practical roadmap so teams understand what needs to happen, in what order, and why.
Whether you’re exploring an opportunity, working through a complex challenge, or looking for an experienced perspective, I’d welcome a conversation about how I can help.
Let’s discuss your priorities →Strategy workshop
A facilitated working session to examine the problem, test assumptions, and make priorities and trade-offs clear.
What we work towards: a shared problem statement, agreed priorities, and decisions with clear owners and next steps.
Operating-model review
A focused review of how people, capabilities, and decisions come together to deliver value, informed by the people doing the work.
What we work towards: a map of key handoffs and ownership gaps, with practical improvements to test and prioritize.
AI discovery
A collaborative exploration of business needs, team readiness, and where AI may be useful—with responsible use built into the conversation.
What we work towards: prioritized opportunities and a starting plan for governance, learning, and a clearly scoped experiment.
I work with leaders and teams navigating unclear priorities, ownership gaps, or complex change. We begin by discussing the challenge, who needs to be involved, and what a useful outcome would look like.
We then agree the scope, format, timing, and outputs. Depending on the engagement, those might include a shared problem statement, prioritized opportunities, an ownership map, or a practical roadmap. Delivery arrangements are agreed around the needs of the work.
I help people see where an organization is headed and how they can contribute. Through organizational change and a complex post-merger banking conversion, I brought teams together around a shared direction—building clarity, trust, and ownership while keeping delivery moving.
From experience: Following a major merger, our business analysts were using different practices and focusing heavily on technical requests. I helped establish a community of practice, with stakeholder interviews and shared learning sessions. That work surfaced the gap between documenting a requested solution and understanding the business problem. It reinforced the value of giving people a shared discipline and space to question assumptions.
My leadership has enabled teams to advance automation, improve systems, and challenge established ways of working. I bring that same approach to AI strategy: start with the business need, draw on the people who understand the work, and connect opportunities to clear priorities and practical plans.
From asking “why” to building a better operating model. Start with these three articles, or explore the full collection by theme or series.
How a business analysis community of practice helped a team move beyond technical requests and rediscover the business problems worth solving.
Read article →Explore how clarity, trust, and autonomy help leaders support people without needing to be the expert in every task.
Read article →Build AI capability around the people who know your business, adding specialist expertise where it addresses a clear need.
Read article →
Speaking
Conversations for leaders, business analysts, and teams connecting big ambitions to practical change.
Drawing on experience leading teams through change, I bring practical perspectives on leadership, business analysis, organizational change, and purposeful AI.
Let’s begin with a discovery conversation about your audience, the challenges they face, and what you want them to take away. Together, we can shape a tailored learning session, facilitated discussion, or workshop.
We’ll agree the focus, format, length, and takeaways before an engagement. The themes below are starting points for that conversation.
Discuss a tailored session →Why “I think” is the most expensive phrase in business
Distinguish an objective from a root cause, challenge assumptions, and find the problem worth solving before committing to a solution.
For executive leaders, product owners, and strategy teams.
Explore the strategy trap →Turning business analysis into a strategic capability
Move beyond documenting requests to shaping outcomes. Explore how communities of practice give business analysts the confidence and support to ask the uncomfortable “why.”
For business analysts, practice leaders, and transformation teams.
Explore business analysis →How to find your lead domino
Identify the constraint that matters most, test its connection to customer value, and decide which competing priorities can wait.
For leadership teams, portfolio leaders, and change practitioners.
Explore the strategy of sacrifice →Building capability-led operating models
Use the “brain, heart, and limbs” of an organization to explore how direction, coordination, and delivery work together—and where silos interrupt the flow of value.
For organizational design, operations, and digital transformation leaders.
Explore the capability model →Think about what the organization needs to do, then connect the people and practices that make it possible.
A shared outcome gives every new idea a useful test before it becomes another project.
About
My experience spans frontline service, business analysis, quality assurance, sales, and transformation delivery. Those different perspectives shape how I think about leadership: a strategy has to make sense to the people who will carry it out.
I’m interested in the gap between executive aspirations and operational reality—and in the discipline of analysis that helps close it. My aim is to share practical ideas that help the next generation of leaders ask better questions, build stronger capabilities, and solve the right problems.
Explore my writing themes →
Have a question about an idea here, or a topic for your next leadership or business analysis event? I welcome thoughtful conversations.
Send me a note about your priorities, a challenge you’re working through, or an opportunity to collaborate.