Fix a stalled program
Restore control when delivery has gone off track.
When a program falls behind or loses governance, the instinct is often to push harder. More resources, more oversight, more pressure. This rarely works. Recovery requires stepping back to understand what actually broke, re-establishing realistic baselines, and redesigning the workflows that allowed failure in the first place. I move fast, but I fix root causes.
The Challenge
Troubled programs share common patterns.
- 1
The original plan was never realistic, but no one had the authority or incentive to say so.
- 2
Scope has expanded without corresponding adjustments to timeline or resources.
- 3
Governance has either collapsed (no decisions) or calcified (decisions but no action).
- 4
Teams are demoralized, stakeholders are skeptical, and trust has eroded.
My Approach
How I recover programs.
The first ten days
Within the first week I'm in your environment, not observing from a conference room but seeing what's actually happening on the ground. Through focused interviews, data analysis, and firsthand observation of daily operations, I identify root causes, not symptoms. I distinguish between what broke and what was never going to work.
The honest assessment
I provide leadership with a clear-eyed view of the current state: what's salvageable, what needs to change, and what the realistic options are. No spin, no false optimism.
The honest re-baseline
I work with stakeholders to establish new baselines that are achievable. This often means difficult conversations about scope, timeline, or both, but realistic plans beat optimistic fiction.
Governance reset
I redesign decision-making structures to address what failed. This might mean simplifying approval chains, clarifying authorities, or establishing new escalation triggers.
Workflows rebuilt
I fix the operational processes that allowed problems to accumulate. Better early warning systems, clearer handoffs, and automation of coordination overhead.
Momentum you can feel
I identify and deliver quick wins to rebuild confidence while longer-term fixes take hold. Morale matters, and visible progress restores it.
What survives me leaving
A recovery that depends on me is not a recovery. I train the rebuilt operating rhythm into your team as we go, so the thing that catches the next slip is the team rather than my presence.
What You Get
Deliverables
- An honest picture of where things stand. Root causes identified, not symptoms papered over
- Clear recovery options with trade-offs your leadership can evaluate and decide on
- A re-baselined plan built on what's actually achievable, not what people want to hear
- Governance that addresses what failed. Redesigned decision structures, not the same framework with a new name
- Workflows rebuilt with early warning systems so the same problems don't recur
- Stakeholder confidence restored through a communication plan that manages expectations honestly
Expected Outcome
A clear recovery plan your leadership can trust and the execution capability to deliver on it.
The Pattern
What this usually looks like.
Not a client. A shape I keep meeting, described the way I would describe it to you on a call. If you recognise your own program in it, that is the point.
The situation
A remediation program under a consent order, eighteen months in, with a submission date the regulator set and nobody in the building can move.
What is actually happening
It has been tracking green for three quarters. Everyone close to the work knows the date is gone. Nobody has been the one to say so, and every month that passes makes saying it more expensive.
What I do
The first ten days are diagnosis, not delivery. I find out what is actually true, then run the honest re-baseline: one date, defensible to an examiner, with the evidence of how it was reached attached to it.
Where to go next
Lead ongoing delivery
If nothing is broken yet and the date is set, I take the program from the front rather than inheriting it mid-slip.
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