Strategic thinking has always been a natural calling card – and one of the great joys of my work is the opportunity to explore, test, and refine strategy with clients at all levels.
I often joke that my last “proper job” saw me leading international strategy for a major insurance group – researching new markets, designing expansion strategies, and identifying how to capitalise on fragile footholds across unfamiliar territory. During that time, we achieved compound growth of over 35% per annum for five consecutive years. Naturally, this came with its fair share of growing pains – and every day brought a fresh challenge to navigate.
Alongside this, I completed my MBA at Warwick Business School, with a strong focus on international strategy and complexity. One of the great privileges of that time was the opportunity to engage in vigorous debate with Peter Checkland, originator of Soft Systems Methodology, and other leading thinkers from the fields of cybernetics, system dynamics, and viable systems theory. Their perspectives deeply influenced the way I began to view organisational complexity – not as a problem to solve, but as a reality to understand and influence.
That said, the real excitement has always come from applying strategic thinking in the field – working with clients to shape strategy not only at the corporate level, but also in careers, teams, influence, and life. Strategy doesn’t just belong in the boardroom. It belongs wherever intelligent people are trying to get things done – and do so with clarity and intent.
For me, strategy is not a document or a plan. It is the result of seeing systems clearly, asking better questions, and then crafting bold, implementable choices in the real world. Done well, it’s not only effective – it’s exhilarating.