Listen
I listen for what is not quite being said.
Not waiting for a gap to speak. Paying attention to what a person, or an organisation, is carefully avoiding. The new joiner often sees what the long-tenured cannot.
Working together
How I work.
I try to understand the whole picture: you, your life, your business, and what technology is changing around both.
Then we agree a shape around what is actually needed. Sometimes that is one focused session. Sometimes a concentrated day or time inside an organisation. Sometimes it is working together over time. These are examples, not steps, and you can begin with whichever fits, or simply with a conversation.
Possible shapes
Ways we might work together.
The Magic Wand Session
£1,000 · 90 minutes
One consequential thing. Bring the decision, opportunity, problem, proposition, transition or half-formed idea that deserves proper attention. We get underneath it, reduce the noise and find the move. It is complete in itself, and you can book it directly without talking first.
Book the Magic Wand SessionConcentrated, deeper work
Purpose, involvement and fee agreed together
When the thing involves more than one person, or needs more than 90 minutes. Possible shapes include:
- a day with a founder, board or leadership team
- an offsite where something real needs to happen
- several days inside an organisation, listening across it
- a reflective immersion, sometimes partly in Guernsey
We agree the purpose, who takes part, preparation, follow-through and fee before you commit.
Arrange a conversation →Working together over time
Guide: £2,000 a month · cancel any time
For people who want someone thoughtful nearby as things unfold. I want a real feel for you, your life, your business and your wider circumstances, so the conversations can be genuinely useful rather than generic.
A weekly conversation, often over coffee, is the usual rhythm, with about an hour a week as a reference point. Where useful, we might agree visits, deeper exploration or time learning about your world. Travel, availability and changing needs mean give and take on both sides.
We agree the rhythm and scope together and review them as we go. Substantial additional projects are agreed separately. £2,000 a month is a guide for a personally agreed arrangement, not a fixed package.
Arrange a conversationIn practice
Before we begin.
- What to bring
- The situation as it actually is, however formed or half-formed. Context about you, your business and what else is going on in your life usually helps more than a polished brief.
- Who takes part
- We agree who should be involved: just you, a co-founder, a board, a family, a leadership team. And what, if anything, is worth preparing beforehand.
- Scope and fee
- Agreed before any work begins. If something larger emerges along the way, we agree it separately rather than letting it drift.
- Afterwards
- We agree the next steps and any useful follow-through together, around what the work calls for.
If you are curious
A few things I keep doing.
Disarm
I use mischief to unstick seriousness.
Things that have been too serious for too long lose access to the obvious. A small, well-placed bit of play lets the truth in sideways.
Name
I hand the thing back, plainly.
Often the most useful thing is a single, slightly uncomfortable sentence about what is really going on.
Move
I look for the smallest brave next step.
One conversation held differently. One decision finally taken. One experiment given permission. Then we see what it teaches us.
What Could Possibly Go Right? Marc's weekly letter on technology, business and the strange possibilities of ordinary life. Every Friday.
Let’s begin with a conversation.
Explore first, or go straight to focused work. Either way in is welcome.
Explore working together.
Online or over coffee in Guernsey
Curious about working together? Let’s make a little space to meet. Bring what’s on your mind, however formed or half-formed, and we can explore what might be useful. We don’t need to decide what working together looks like before we’ve met.
An exploratory conversation, online or over coffee in Guernsey.
Arrange a conversationBring me the thing.
The Magic Wand Session
£1,000 · 90 minutes
Already know the one consequential thing you want to work on? Book the session directly. We find the thing underneath it and the smallest useful move.
Book the Magic Wand Session