I’ve seen this before...

I've spent more than 30 years working with leaders, teams and organisations - watching what makes them work brilliantly, what gets in their way, and what happens when a business outgrows the way it has always done things.

That's useful when you're wrestling with the messy people and organisational problems that come with growth. However specific they feel to your business, there's a good chance I've encountered something similar before.

These days, I specialise in growing SMEs because I find them fascinating.

They're big enough for the people and organisational issues to be complex, but small enough to do something about them. You can get the right people into a room, have the conversations that matter and make a noticeable difference surprisingly quickly.

Experience helps you see the patterns

Many apparently different business problems have similar roots.

The founder who can't stop firefighting. The senior team that isn't really functioning as a team. The capable manager who waits for permission instead of taking ownership. The job description nobody has looked at for six years. The client relationship that can't be handed over. The shiny new system that somehow hasn't solved anything.

These aren't necessarily signs that you've got the wrong people.

Often, they're signs that your organisation has grown up - but the way you organise and manage it hasn't quite caught up.

Recognising that distinction can save an enormous amount of wasted effort.

Experience helps you see the patterns

I've studied organisation development and human behaviour throughout my career, but I'm interested in what actually works on a wet Wednesday morning when you've got customers to look after and a business to run.

That's why my work is deliberately straightforward.

I help you and your people get clear about what the organisation needs now, who is accountable for what, how you'll work together and what needs to change.

I won't disappear for three months and come back with the answer. Nor do I want you to become dependent on me.

My job is to bring the experience, frameworks, questions and facilitation that help you and your team build your own organisation. People are much more likely to take responsibility for something they've helped to create - and you'll be able to keep developing it long after I've gone.

You can see how that has worked with other businesses in the Case Studies.

Practical, not theoretical

Many apparently different business problems have similar roots.

These aren't necessarily signs that you've got the wrong people.

Often, they're signs that your organisation has grown up - but the way you organise and manage it hasn't quite caught up.

Recognising that distinction can save an enormous amount of wasted effort.

Still learning

I wrote A Buzz in the Building: How to Build and Lead a Brilliant Organisation to capture many of the principles I'd learned from working with organisations over the years.

But I certainly don't regard the subject as finished.

Every client teaches me something. I still read, write, question established thinking and test ideas against what I see happening inside real businesses.

Because organisations keep changing.

And however much experience you've accumulated, curiosity is still one of the most useful things you can bring into the room.

I wrote A Buzz in the Building: How to Build and Lead a Brilliant Organisation to capture many of the principles I'd learned from working with organisations over the years.

But I certainly don't regard the subject as finished.

Every client teaches me something. I still read, write, question established thinking and test ideas against what I see happening inside real businesses.

Because organisations keep changing.

And however much experience you've accumulated, curiosity is still one of the most useful things you can bring into the room.

Buy my book