Notes on operations
Field notes from inside the operational layer: how growing businesses break, and how I put them right. No frameworks for the sake of it, just what actually moves the needle.
Your org chart is not your operating model
An org chart shows who reports to whom. An operating model shows how work actually gets done. Confusing the two is why reorganisations so often change the boxes but not the results.
Who owns what: why unclear ownership is quietly costing you
When good people keep dropping the ball, it is rarely a people problem. It is usually that nobody actually owns the thing end to end. Here is how unclear ownership creeps in and how to fix it.
Read →Process mapping: how to find where work actually breaks
Most operational pain hides in the handoffs. Process mapping is how you see where work really flows, stalls and leaks, so you fix the cause instead of firefighting the symptom.
Read →When you need a fractional PM, not another project manager
A fractional PM is senior delivery leadership for the launches that have to land, without a permanent hire. Here is when it is the right call and how it differs from hiring a project manager.
Read →What an operations audit actually is, and what you walk away with
An operations audit is a short, fixed-fee diagnosis of what is really slowing your business down. Here is what it looks at, what you get at the end, and why it is the lowest-risk way to start.
Read →SOPs your team will actually follow
Most standard operating procedures end up as a binder nobody opens. Here is why SOPs fail, and how to document a business so the know-how lives in the system and people actually use it.
Read →The operating rhythm that keeps a growing business out of firefighting
Why some businesses always seem to be putting out fires while others catch problems early. The difference is usually an operating rhythm: a simple cadence around the few numbers that matter.
Read →How much does a fractional COO cost, and is it worth it?
What a fractional COO actually costs, what drives the price, and how to work out whether the return justifies it for your business. A straight answer to a question people are right to ask.
Read →Why agencies stall at 40 people, and how to break through
Many agencies hit a ceiling somewhere between 15 and 60 people, where the founder is still personally holding delivery together. Here is why it happens and how to build a delivery model that does not depend on you.
Read →Your tools don't talk to each other, and it's quietly costing you
Tool sprawl feels like a software problem, so businesses buy more software. It is really a process problem. Here is what disconnected systems actually cost, and how to fix the root cause.
Read →What a fractional COO actually does in your first 90 days
The honest version of a fractional COO engagement, phase by phase: what happens in the first month, the second, and the third, and what you should expect to see by day 90.
Read →Fractional COO vs interim COO vs management consultant: which do you need?
The three look similar but solve different problems. A clear comparison of a fractional COO, an interim COO, and a management consultant, and how to tell which one your business actually needs.
Read →When to hire a fractional COO (and when not to)
The signals that tell you it is time to bring in senior operational leadership, the situations where a fractional COO is the wrong call, and how the engagement actually works.
Read →The founder bottleneck: why your business stalls when you step away
If the business runs through you, it stalls without you. Here is why founder dependency happens, why it is not a failure of talent, and how to build a company that runs without you in the room.
Read →Why ERP implementations fail, and how to run one that does not
Most ERP projects overrun, underdeliver, or stall halfway. The reasons are rarely technical. Here is what actually goes wrong, and the operator's way to lead a rollout that lands and gets adopted.
Read →Something in your operations is costing you. Let's fix it.
A 30-minute call, no pitch. Tell me what's breaking and I'll tell you straight whether I can help.