How I Work
First I listen.
By the time an outside advisor gets involved, people inside the organization have usually spent months thinking about the problem. I want to understand those perspectives before I decide what I think.
That means talking to the people closest to the work, looking at the data and research, understanding what's already been tried, and getting clear on the business context around the question. I'm listening for where people agree, and for where they don't.
Different explanations of the same problem are often the most useful clues.
Then I help connect the pieces.
A shift in performance can make more sense next to a shift in the market. A problem one team is sure belongs to them often looks different once another team's view is in the room.
Finding the pattern in a lot of information and making it understandable is the part of the work that matters most.
Customer behavior can challenge an assumption everyone's been operating from.
And then we take action.
The point is a decision the organization can actually make and move on, so the work lands on what to do, in what order, and why.
Sometimes that's a clear recommendation and a set of priorities. Sometimes it's a strategy and an operating plan. And sometimes it's staying in it with you, helping put the plan into practice as things meet the real world.
Insight that stays in a deck doesn't change anything.
The Elephant Test.
If you sit in marketing, it's natural to see the marketing problem first. Someone in product looks at the same situation and sees something else. Leadership may be focused on a different part of the equation entirely.
All of those views can be right. The Elephant Test is a reminder to look at them together before deciding what the whole thing actually is.
It's also a pretty good description of how I work.