About Us

Hi, I’m Des,

I help leaders and teams define and solve the right problems, so they can shape change rather than be led by it.

After decades in design, communications, strategy, and leadership development, I’ve come to believe one thing above all: most organisations are drowning in activity but starving for clarity. They don’t need more ideas. They need better ways to think about the challenges they’re facing.

What I’ve learned

Diagnosis matters as much as intervention. Most change programmes fail because they prescribe before they understand. I build frameworks that reveal what’s actually happening before anyone tries to fix it.

Structure enables creativity.

The best thinking happens within constraints, not despite them. Every tool we use provides structured ways to surface assumptions, challenge familiar patterns, and generate genuinely novel viewpoints.

I believe AI should be used as a thinking partner, not an answer machine. I integrate AI into the work I do, but human judgement always stays central. The goal is to extend our thinking, not replace it.

I started a design studio in the 1980s. Since then, I’ve worked with organisations large and small, from start-ups to global brands, on strategy, narrative, leadership development, and how teams think together under pressure.

I’ve shaped stories, advised leaders, facilitated workshops, coached teams through complex decisions, and I write about this weekly on Applied Creativity, my Substack newsletter.

But the thread through all of it is the same question: how do you help people see things differently when the stakes are high, and their thinking patterns are stuck?

That question led me here.

My work currently draws on a series of diagnostic and strategic frameworks:

The Culture Lens: for understanding what’s really happening in your organisation before you try to change it.

Story Bridge: for articulating what you stand for and communicating it with coherence.

Synectics 2.0: for collaborative problem-solving when conventional approaches aren’t working.

OKRs: for connecting vision to measurable progress when effort isn’t translating to results.

Each addresses a different strategic challenge. No two engagements look the same. These are starting points, not rigid methodologies. We shape the work to what you’re actually facing. The goal is always to leave you with the capability to do this yourselves.

If any of this resonates

Book a discovery call.

Most people leave that first conversation with clarity on their actual problem, whether we decide to work together or not. No sales pitch. No pressure. Just a conversation to see if there’s a fit.