How I Work
Three ways to engage, depending on where you are.
Strategic Planning & Discernment
The Problem
Most strategic plans are either vague enough to mean nothing or tactical lists pretending to be strategy. Real strategy requires making choices, and most organizations avoid that.
My Approach
I start with purpose: what is the organization for? From there, I work through explicit choices about focus, positioning, and resource allocation. Every choice gets stress-tested against internal capabilities and external realities. If the opposite of a decision isn't credible, it's not a real choice.
Activities
- •Stakeholder interviews and environmental assessment
- •Internal capability and resource analysis
- •Facilitated leadership workshops to surface and test choices
- •Scenario modeling and sensitivity analysis
Deliverables
- •Strategic framework document
- •Prioritized initiative roadmap
- •Implementation plan with owners and milestones
- •Board presentation materials
This might be right if…
- •You're entering a new chapter and need clarity on direction
- •Your current strategy feels stale or isn't driving decisions
- •You've grown and need to decide what you're really about
M&A Diligence & Integration
The Problem
Mergers fail because organizations focus on the deal mechanics and neglect the operational reality of making two organizations into one. Synergy projections on paper don't become savings in reality.
My Approach
I do diligence that surfaces real operational risks, not just financial metrics. My synergy models are grounded in what it actually takes to capture the value, and my integration plans give leadership clear visibility into risks, milestones, and progress.
Activities
- •Operational and financial diligence review
- •Synergy identification, modeling, and validation
- •Integration planning and Day 1 readiness
- •Staff, governance, and program consolidation planning
- •Post-close tracking and course correction
Deliverables
- •Diligence findings and risk assessment
- •Synergy model with implementation assumptions
- •Integration workplan and governance structure
- •Day 1 readiness checklist
This might be right if…
- •You're evaluating a potential merger or acquisition
- •You've agreed to a deal and need integration support
- •A past merger didn't deliver expected value and you need to course-correct
Operational Transformation
The Problem
Strategy without systems is hope. Organizations know where they want to go but the operating model wasn't designed for where they're headed. Decisions stall, processes accumulate by habit, and manual work persists where it doesn't need to.
My Approach
I work in three layers: the operating model (who owns what and how decisions get made), the processes (where work gets stuck or duplicated), and automation (where technology can replace manual effort). In that order, because automating a broken process just makes it break faster.
Activities
- •Operating model assessment and redesign
- •Process mapping and bottleneck analysis
- •Automation and AI opportunity assessment
- •Implementation planning with owners and success metrics
Deliverables
- •Operating model with governance and decision-rights matrix
- •Process maps with prioritized improvement recommendations
- •Automation roadmap with business case
- •KPI framework tied to strategic objectives
This might be right if…
- •Your strategy is clear but execution keeps stalling
- •Processes have grown organically and nobody's sure who owns what
- •You're hearing about AI and automation but don't know where to start