The one way to Improve project success
If you can't describe it clearly enough for a 6 year old to understand, then you don't really understand it yourself
is a truth attributed to a clever man called Einstein.
Do 10-60+ slide Powerpoint presentations with 5-20+ bullet points per slide, and 50-200+ page reports describe anything clearly enough for a 6 year old to understand?
We're not talking about 6 year olds? The important bit was: "you don't really understand it yourself".
(The one way? Describe everything really - really - clearly. It's a lot harder than anyone thinks.).
When you see it like that, it's clearly madness
Group Executive Board member on seeing a customer journey described clearly (The madness had not been understood for years despite initiatives aiming to do exactly that)
Project performance enhancer
I work with project and programme directors, and managers, to help teams understand (describe) situations, findings, problems, solutions, and decisions.
My input compliments project management frameworks, such as Lean and Prince2, but it's not reliant on them.
Not just diagrams
My work is…
- Investigative and analytic
- Inherently collaborative, inviting input, challenges, and rich discussions, because no one feels like they're treading on anyone's toes
- Developed and proven over 10 years on complex tranformation projects
- Co-creation focussed
- Iterative (Agile)
- Often aggregates views cross-referencing data, knowledge (qualitative and quantitive), and other findings in one coherent description
- Transparent and accessible – creating high engagement, inclusivity and ownership throughout an organisation
- Easily and quickly understood (visual) regardless of expertise and familiarity
It's especially good for…
- Enabling Executive teams and Business Unit Board decisions
- Where functional alignment is important, or internal myths are entrenched, and/or levels of collaboration are the usual
- Uncovering blindspots, holes, disconnects, and misunderstandings that normally stay undetected, causing mysterious underperformance and failure.
- Wicked problems, and where qualitative or fuzzy information is the key
- Producing robust outcomes that lead to step‑change growth
- High complexity
- Avoiding drift and absorbing uncertainty
- All modes of working, including remote and hybrid
What it's especially good for…
A plc was so impressed with results, they set up a dedicated strategic project centre with my way of working as its focus.


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