Strategic Collaboration將

The Sledgehammer

Most people are handed answers. I help them build their own tools for thinking: a simple model that sledgehammers the truth out of things. It’s a very simple concept that can get sophisticated very fast.

The aim is critical awareness. Take nobody’s word as authority, mine included. Guess, then test.

Two-way thinking

Every idea carries the seed of its opposite: knowledge and ignorance, friction and flow, attract and repel, fast and slow. Most people pick a side. The advantage is in working both, at the same time, all the time.

That’s where I look for an edge: in the places nobody tends to look. Fear, doubt and uncertainty included. Knowing what you don’t know is a gateway to understanding.

What it builds

• Outlier Self-Leadership: autonomy. Steering yourself without waiting to be told.
• Outlier Learning: competence. Learning from everything in front of you, not waiting for a teacher.
• Outlier Teaming: relatedness. Relating to yourself, to others and to the world in ways that compound.

How I choose the work

I take things on paid or unpaid. Either way, three things have to be true:

1. It fires me up. It has to look like a noble purpose.
2. You want me there. Attraction, not persuasion.
3. I can add value you can measure. I put my input forward in a way you can judge by results.

If I can’t meet all three, I don’t take it on, and I’ll tell you why.

Where I’ve done it

• Clam & Cork: built a strong reputation, since sold.
• Eco Power Group: strategic collaboration with David Colacovic across 25 organisations, including Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster Racecourse, and golf and cricket clubs.
• Outlier360: ten years developing the Outlier model with Peter Fallenius.
• Couch to Athlete: a model built with personal trainers, pro bono.

The end state

My job is to understand. When the work is done you shouldn’t need me, though you might want to keep going.