You have something important you want to do.
Maybe you're building something. Changing something. Leading something. Starting something new.
You might be full of ideas and unsure which thread to pull first.
Or you might know exactly where you want to go - but find yourself getting swallowed by everything it takes to get there.
Ambition can get surprisingly complicated in practice.
I work with people to see the whole picture differently - what matters, what's getting in the way, what we might be taking for granted, and what could become possible from here.
Sometimes you just need a different view.
When you're close to something important, it's easy to get pulled into the detail - the immediate problem, the endless decisions, everything that seems to need your attention.
I like looking beyond the immediate problem to see the bigger picture.
Looking at the whole situation. Finding connections between things that didn't seem connected. Noticing the assumptions that have slowly become facts. Asking what we're taking for granted. And making other ways of seeing the situation visible.
Often, something that looked complicated begins to look surprisingly different.
And so can what feels possible.
a thinking session
bring me something important that could use another view.
A private half-day thinking session + personal visual distillation
£750
Available online or in person in London.
We'll carve out a half day around it.
We'll start with the ambition - what you're trying to create, change or move towards - and look at the whole picture around it: the context, what's already working, what feels harder than it should, where you're getting pulled into the weeds, and what we might be taking for granted.
I'll bring questions, pattern-spotting, strategic experience and a very visual brain.
We may talk for two hours. We may need longer. The point isn't to fill the time; it's to give the thinking enough space for something new to become visible.
Very often, seeing the situation differently doesn't just change the plan. It changes how it feels to be in it.
Afterwards, I'll distil what we've uncovered into a personal visual map designed around your situation. It might capture the bigger picture, a pattern we've spotted, a new way of seeing the problem, or the shape of what comes next.
One of the ideas underneath all my work is simple: Our access to our own intelligence isn’t constant.
We all know what it’s like to stare at something and see no way through and then see it entirely differently later.
The situation may not have changed. Our capability hasn’t disappeared. But somehow, more became visible.
I’m fascinated by what changes our access to perspective, creativity, judgement and fresh thinking. And by what becomes possible when we stop assuming that the view we have right now is the only one available to us.
That curiosity runs through my work with people, my interest in human wellbeing and research, and increasingly my thinking about human intelligence in an age of AI.
Because sometimes the most useful thing isn’t another answer. It’s seeing more.
This question feels increasingly relevant as artificial intelligence becomes more capable - not because human intelligence is being replaced, but because we're learning to work with another form of intelligence alongside our own.
Same skier. Same skills. Very different skiing.
big questions. practical work.
-
PEOPLE
Leadership & change
How do we create movement through people?
I work alongside CEOs and leaders when the bigger job risks disappearing beneath the work required to run it - helping them see the whole picture, use their judgement and leadership more fully, and create movement through others.
-
IDEAS
Ideas & new directions
How do ideas gain shape, momentum and travel?
I work with founders, organisations and change-makers to give promising ideas shape and momentum - connecting strategy, people, partnerships and opportunities so they can travel further than they could alone.
-
INTELLIGENCE
Human intelligence
What changes what we're able to see, think and do?
As AI becomes more capable, I’m interested in the intelligence we bring alongside it.
In larger engagements, I like to work at two levels: on the work itself, and on what we can learn from it as it happens - connecting practice with research and wider ideas to create thinking that can travel further.
hello, i’m nici
My career has taken me across countries, sectors and very different kinds of work.
I've worked across international strategy, innovation, organisational change and leadership - from building creative-economy programmes around the world to working alongside global businesses, founders and CEOs.
More recently, my work has taken me into real-world research into mental wellbeing and human functioning.
The settings are very different, but the thing I seem to do again and again is the same: get curious, see connections, make complexity simpler, create momentum and help people and ideas go further.
Today I work independently with leaders and change-makers, alongside my role leading the Real-World Data approach at Innate Health Research.
I also co-founded The Still Point with Anna Debenham, where we explore clarity of mind, leadership and human potential.
And I'm increasingly interested in what all of this means in an age of AI - particularly what helps us make fuller use of the judgement, creativity and perspective we already possess.
And yes, I draw quite a lot of it.
Selected experience
STRATEGY, INNOVATION & CHANGE
PRS for Music · Coca-Cola New Ventures · New Look · Holmusk
LEADERSHIP, WELLBEING & PERFORMANCE
Accenture · Goldman Sachs · Red Bull · Farallon Capital Management
DIGITAL INNOVATION
Accenture · Cognician · Shell · Rio Tinto · Holmusk
RESEARCH & REAL WORLD DATA
British Council · Innate Health Research
EARLIER INTERNATIONAL WORK
British Council · Global creative economy & cultural relations
What are you working on?
If something interesting is taking shape - or there's something you can't quite see your way through - I'd love to hear about it.