What do you do?
It’s my most dreaded question.
Last month Dynamic4 turned 24… and it marked the transition to v9.0 of our business model. Over the past few months I’ve been reviewing and refining our Dynamic4 strategy for horizon 2030.
I do this every year. It’s mostly about ongoing evolution and adapting, rather than major changes. Every few years I class it as a new iteration of our business model.
Most refinements are trying to find the most compelling way to articulate what we actually do and how to position us in the market.
This is what I find the most challenging.
Partly because storytelling and pitching aren’t my strengths.
Partly because for 32+ years I’ve worked at the emerging edge of tech, design, leading change, wellbeing, and purpose alignment – where thinking and practice is relatively nascent without much shared language to have a simple answer to that question… “what do you do?”.
What do you do?
People usually want well-defined traditional boxes as the answer.
Because organisations and markets are primarily structured as verticals (often silos) – when you work horizontally in a transdisciplinary way, it’s confusing for many and definitely means bringing together diverse stakeholders.
The reality is this is how innovation and change is created. It’s also true that it’s more complex. Complexity requires integration, and that’s exactly what I bring. Before I answer… some key parts of my backstory.
Cut to the chase… what do you actually do?
My tradie years
I grew up as a bricklayer. It was easily understood by pretty much everyone.
In November 1992, three days after my 17th birthday, I left school and started working in a nursery. Simple enough, but even then, I had to say I don’t look after kids, I work in a wholesale nursery doing horticulture and we grow plants for garden centres and landscapers.
1993 was the last time I could simply explain what I do. After six months in horticulture I went to work in a bank.
Banking, strategy, design & tech transition
Should be simple, everyone knows what a bank is. But the immediate assumption people made when I said I worked at Westpac was that I was a teller. The only role most people knew of in a bank. 32+ years working in financial services and I’ve never worked in a branch and handled cash.
By 1994 I was 18 and running projects to design, build, and create new business models for innovative transaction banking and payments products – strategy through to operations with a lot of niche tech and processes.
People would describe what I did as “working with computers”. Partially accurate at best. Yes there were computers involved – and it was at a time when computers weren’t everywhere – but I spent my time focusing on people and process even more than the technology.
Service management and service design were still emergent (some might argue they still are) and there was no singular label or box people could identify with.
1994 was also the year I co-founded Gangster Snowboards, my first startup. I’ve founded or co-founded over 20 startups since.
Founding Dynamic4
I started Dynamic4 in 2001 while living in London. There were two parts to the business.
Dynamic4 Tech providing services like strategic design, product & service design, process architecture, service management, tech architecture, build & support (PCs, servers & networks), brand & graphic design, and website/platform design & build. Initially for small business then extending to investment bank clients.
Dynamic4 Fitness. People could normally relate to “I’m a personal trainer specialising in Pilates and spin”. Most had no idea that meant I also collaborated with specialists in Yoga, Tai Chi, mindful meditation, physiotherapy, personal training, and sports therapy.
The other option was to say I ran Dynamic4. But what were we? In a brief intro, it’s too much to try mentioning both parts of the business.
Over the years, Dynamic4 has simplified. I stopped the fitness part of the business by 2005, but the holistic wellbeing and mindbody philosophy lives on.
We stopped doing tech infrastructure build and support in 2013, but tech and solution architecture is still core to a lot of what I do.
We stopped doing digital product design and build in 2021, but I’m still a fractional CTO (chief technology officer), CPO (chief product officer), and product manager.
There’s a lot more to the story and it’s very much in progress… in Australia, NZ, Asia, the UK, and Europe.
Convergence, integration, transdisciplinary
This has always made sharing my story and having a concise version that isn’t full of jargon very challenging.
Basically I bring the ingredients of all I’ve ever done to the work I do today. It’s just packaged differently.
A brief snapshot:
- Designing, building, and launching innovative banking products and services from the early-90s that leveraged new tech and business models
- Leading, designing, and delivering strategic change by managing projects, portfolios of projects, programs, and establishing methodology and governance from the early-90s
- Founding physical product, fintech, marketplace, health & fitness, and collective impact/community-based startups and social enterprises since the mid-90s
- Setting up user acceptance and Y2K testing in the mid-90s – extending into service management, solution architecture, and the hands-on side of designing, building, and supporting PC, networks, servers, and datacentres throughout the 2000s
- Consulting, coaching, facilitating workshops, designing and delivering experiential project-based action learning with coaching from the mid-90s
- Designing, building, and launching digital platforms, marketplaces, and apps for banking, shopping, and mobile commerce since the late-90s
- Wellbeing and mindbody training since the late-80s with a heavy focus on Pilates in the early-2000s – borrowing from and integrating bodybuilding, yoga, tai chi, mindfulness, breathwork, and physio and bodywork practices
- The rise of UX/UI design, service design, digital product design, and product management from the early-2000s
- Creating purpose-driven business models and solutions that create social and environmental value while being financially successful from the early-2010s
- The convergence of all of these things from the early-2010s
I still work horizontally across traditional verticals, silos, and skills – because that’s where most system-level and strategic change happens.
There are plenty of work labels people use for me, including:
- Designer (strategy & business model innovation, experience architecture, organisational design, learning program design, service design, digital product design, UX/UI design, graphic & brand design)
- Founder, (social) entrepreneur, business owner, director, board member
- Coach, adviser, innovation consultant, governance geek
- CTO, CPO, solution architect, product manager, tech/digital guy
- Speaker, facilitator, trainer, teacher
- Writer, author, researcher
- Project/program/portfolio manager, change manager
- Community convener, event producer, event manager
There are plenty more. And they’re all valid. I do all of these things pretty much every day. For 32+ years I’ve been working from top-level strategy through the levels of detail to make the vision and ideas real.
But what’s your answer?
One angle at it is to start with why (thanks Simon Sinek). This lens on it has been stable for a long time. A few words might refine but the flow is…
Dynamic4’s purpose is to help accelerate the transition to more regenerative ways of living and doing business.
This is to help create the conditions for people and communities to be happier and have increasing quality of life on a clean, healthy planet.
We do this by working alongside leaders and their teams to help transform complexity and compliance into strategic advantage through regenerative leadership, design, and innovation with a focus on purpose and wellbeing.
This results in business models, products, and services that are more regenerative. Solutions that customers and teams love, make money, do great things for people and our planet, and increase wellbeing.
These statements help me have clarity on what I do – and won’t do – and why. They’re intentionally broad and focused on systems because that’s how I think and work. Most people don’t though.
And it isn’t exactly BBQ friendly. Definitely not the same as saying “a bricklayer”.
How do you spend your days?
My days are full of deeply meaningful work with the many awesome people I get to collaborate with and work alongside.
They work in a diverse range of organisations including global banks, mid-market companies, government, not-for-profits, universities, scaleups, and early-stage social enterprise/startups.
And in a lot of cases, I bring people from these different contexts together.
It’s normal that my day will range from being in a boardroom working at a strategic governance level – through to detailed UX/UI design of digital products in Figma and devops… and all the levels in-between.
What I’ve learnt
For the past 32+ years, since the age of 17, most people haven’t really known or understood what I do – usually including my family.
Through a combination of my curiosity and saying yes, I’ve mostly worked at the leading edge as new tech and ways of working have emerged. I love it but it means I’ve always struggled with the question of “what do you do”.
People don’t have any frame of reference for what I do or how I do it.
Maybe a bridge metaphor will help?
Does it matter?
At different times I’ve tried sacrificing accuracy to try for something that’s more relatable and simpler. If this was with the aim of being understood, it failed. If it’s with the aim of a shorter conversation, it can work.
My one word answer to the question for a general audience is “designer”. It’s the steel thread to everything I’ve ever done. It’s accurate but incomplete.
Thinking about if it matters… usually, not really. If the person wants a meaningful conversation, we can have an exchange where I understand more about them, their perspectives, contexts they’re familiar with – and I can share things in a more relatable way.
In a professional context, these days I say, “I’m a designer, coach, and founder of Dynamic4 – a social enterprise and B Corp focused on regenerative leadership, design, and innovation for happier communities”.
I think there’s enough in there for people to get an idea of what I’m about and if something’s interesting enough to them, they’ll ask questions.
If I’ve got time for a fuller picture, I like to add that “I love music, take photos, and write a bit”.
None of this is strong for marketing purposes. It’s a key reason I haven’t done any traditional or paid marketing in 24 years of Dynamic4. All of our business is through referrals.
So in that context, the answer to does it matter is apparently no. At least not at the marketing one-liners to introduce myself level.
Where I think it does matter is in the context of specific offerings. I’m going to actively work against conflating these two levels – overall identity and the value prop for specific solutions.
Reflecting on 32+ years of the identity challenge has reinforced that investing too much time in this is chasing mirages… and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t really matter.
But positioning our specific offerings in the market beyond my direct network definitely does require concise and compelling value props, and that’s where I’ll invest time.
So, what do you do? From brickie… to what?
The reality is there isn’t a single name for what I do.
My transdisciplinary approach integrates thinking and practices from across traditional verticals, silos, and skills – because that’s where system-level and strategic change happens.
It’s my unique strength.
I am always trying to communicate this in simpler and more compelling ways though – to articulate the specific ways we can help and to position us in the market.
Here’s how I’ve framed it in our Dynamic4 2025 strategy for horizon 2030.
How Dynamic4 can help…
Our core focus is to help leaders and their organisations transform complexity into confident strategic advantage by solving problems that matter for their teams, customers, investors, regulators, and our planet.
We bring together regenerative leadership, design thinking, and innovation – with a focus on purpose and wellbeing – into an integrated practice.
The challenge of leadership
Leadership is getting more challenging. Rapid change and increasing expectations are creating more intense pressure and scrutiny than ever before.
From our research, 86% of leaders reported increased expectations from their teams, customers, investors, regulators, and other stakeholders. The three key challenges we consistently hear are:
- Urgent pressures: balancing the need to meet compliance requirements, deliver performance, and drive innovation
- Navigating complexity: leading through uncertainty, increasing ambiguity, and the rapid pace of change – where the cost of delay is high
- Exposed & overloaded: vulnerable to scrutiny, criticism, and burnout as diverse stakeholders demand more
Our clients
Part of our strategic advantage is we work with an extremely diverse range of clients, including global banks, mid-market companies, government, not-for-profits, universities, scaleups, and early-stage social enterprise/startups.
Our primary focus is Australia, but we also partner with English-speaking organisations globally, including NZ, Asia, and the UK/Europe, where timezones allow for collaborative work.
The key thing our clients have in common is that they and their organisations are facing increasing expectations, complexity, and uncertainty with growing pressure and scrutiny.
We specialise in working alongside leaders and their teams who need to navigate these pressures, build internal capability, and drive business performance to achieve strategic advantage.
Delivering real work while building internal capability.
Our work is structured around three integrated solution areas:
- Climate reporting capability
- Leadership development
- Strategic design & innovation
🌎 Climate reporting capability
Leverage compliance as a catalyst to accelerate culture, performance, and transformation – building internal capability to meet climate reporting obligations through immediate action.
Our collaborative learning through doing approach with coaching and advice delivers on urgent business priorities while building the leadership, strategic, and governance capabilities to both deliver mandatory climate reporting and drive business performance.
This results in faster, more reliable reporting, stronger leadership and team collaboration, new growth opportunities, and regenerative transformation that turns compliance into competitive advantage.
🚀 Leadership development
Lead with confidence, clarity, and purpose to navigate complexity and solve problems that matter for your teams, customers, investors, regulators, and our planet.
We co-design and deliver experiential (usually project-based) leadership development programs with coaching that deliver the desired learning outcomes and fit the organisational context, culture, and priorities.
This results in more resilient and engaged leaders and teams who are able to navigate complexity and creatively solve real-world problems, make better decisions, and build the relationships, workflows, rhythms, and habits for success.
🧩 Strategic design & innovation
Design and deliver solutions that drive business performance while creating meaningful value for all stakeholders – using a guided human-centred design and living systems approach that connects strategy with reality.
Our design practice and innovation sprints span strategic design, organisational design, business model innovation, digital transformation, experience architecture, design and product leadership, service design, digital product design and build, UX/UI design, and emerging tech.
We also work alongside leaders and their digital transformation, design, and product teams to do strategic design with a focus on business, experience, and solution architecture.
This results in business models, products, and services that customers and teams love, make money, and do great things for people and our planet while increasing wellbeing.
By sharing this reflection, I hope you can see how my backstory, skills, and transdisciplinary experience come together as an integrated approach to help you navigate complexity and solve problems that matter…
If any of this resonates and you’d like to explore how we might collaborate, I’d love to chat. Book a free 15-minute discovery call.
