·4 min read
You don't need more tools
Digital complexity clarified
You didn't start your organisation to spend Thursday afternoon copying data between spreadsheets, or wondering which of the fifteen AI tools you've bookmarked is actually worth your time. Nobody did. And yet somehow, here you are.
Most consultants will take a look at this problem and sell you a framework. Then a workshop. Then a follow-up workshop to discuss the framework. Then a report summarising the workshops, with a nice logo on it.
I don't do that.
I'm Phil Dearson. I've spent thirty years inside organisations of every size, watching which changes actually stick and which ones just add another tool to the pile. That's what I sell: judgement, not software. I tell you what matters, what doesn't, and what to ignore entirely.
I work with organisations that have outgrown their systems but not yet noticed. The tools that worked when there were five of you are now throttling you at twenty.
You won't get a junior team. You won't get a methodology deck. You won't get a bill for a document that tells you what you already knew.
You'll get me, a clear plan, and considerably more of your Thursday afternoons back.
What I do
Systems Review
The starting point for almost everything. I spend time properly understanding how your organisation actually works (not how the org chart says it works) and show you exactly where the time and money is leaking out. You get a clear picture and a practical plan. Most clients find this uncomfortable and useful in equal measure.
Custom Automated Systems
Once we know what needs fixing, I fix it. I design and build automated workflows that connect your tools, eliminate the manual drudgery, and keep running in the background while you get on with the work that actually matters. No consultants’ report. Just a system that works.
AI Training
Practical, hands-on training that getss your team actually using AI rather than nervously watching demos of it. Less theory, more “right, try this.” Your people leave knowing what to do on Monday morning.
Speaking
I’ve spoken at conferences for organisations from Nationwide to the Royal Institution to small sector events with thirty people in a room. If you need someone who can make AI and emerging technology genuinely interesting to an audience that thinks they don’t care about AI and emerging technology, let’s talk →
I've worked with organisations ranging from Google and the BBC to small charities and two-person startups. The problems are surprisingly similar. The budgets are not. They always have something nice to say about working with me.
Most people read this page and think "yes, that's us" and then go back to copying data between spreadsheets.
Don't do that.