A company is built by people. Dashboards and software should serve the work, not replace thinking.
CLARITY BEFORE ACTION · BUSINESS ETHNOGRAPHER
My first sales meeting taught me more than a good one probably would have.
I drove there rehearsing every sentence. Then I sat in front of the prospect and went blank. The old Golf overheated on the way home. Years later I wrote Naked Sales. Today that story still reminds me why I prefer observation and practice to polished theory.
THREE DECADES LATER30+ years in business
Experience does not make you mistake-proof.
It helps you recognise familiar mistakes earlier. My own businesses took me through transport, trade, insurance, real estate and specialised products. I built and sold six of them, learning what growth, people, cash and ownership look like when the decisions are yours.
That is the perspective I bring into a client company: not a universal formula, but a pattern library earned in practice.
WORKING PRINCIPLES
Listen longer. Judge later. Test the conclusion in practice.
Useful feedback is not always comfortable, but avoiding the issue is usually more expensive.
I do not force every company through the same programme. The intervention follows the situation.
A result can be money, time, clarity, autonomy or a better working relationship. It has to matter to the people involved.