Helping leaders do more with less | OKRs & Leadership | ex Amazon & Google

* There’s always pain. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.
But we keep it to a minimum—and make the progress worth it.

You've read the books.
You're working harder than ever.
But the changes aren't sticking, and you're slipping behind.

Ever felt like that?

The three usual suspects:

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Teams pull in different directions
𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐆𝐚𝐩𝐬: Decisions stall in deadlock
𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Bold slides, but nothing ships

If you don't change, you’ll miss opportunities, exhaust talent, and watch faster players overtake you.

And it will keep getting worse.

I help you break that cycle — fast.

I’ve led large teams at Amazon and Googl, helped 20+ startup executives navigate these challenges successfully and worked with corporates up to Fortune 500 scale. I love helping leaders like you bridge the gap between technical excellence and business leadership.

These challenges show up differently for every leader, but here are some recent results:

🔥 Series C CEO – Unblocked strategy, shipped a scalable fix in weeks, then raised a Series D.
🔥 Series A CEO – Broke the decision bottleneck, strengthened delegation, and cut attrition.
🔥 Series C VP Eng – Beat impostor syndrome, shaped strategy, and stepped up to CTO.
🔥 GM, Traditional BU – Shifted a 70-person product org from tech-focused order-takers to customer-centric empowered teams.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

Here's how I can help:

✅ Focused coaching, one-to-one or with your leadership team, to get you unstuck fast
✅ Facilitated strategy, OKR, planning and review workshops to create momentum
✅ Develop proven leadership habits to help you maintain progress
✅ Targeted training to upskill teams

As an individual, this will help you:

👉 Move from functional leadership to company-wide impact
👉 Build alignment across growing teams
👉 Navigate relationships with co-founders and stakeholders
👉 Transition from BigTech or Corporate to Scaleup leadership

For your organisation, this will help you:

🎯 Build your management operating system
🎯 Develop clear vision, strategy, and goals (OKRs)
🎯 Create cross-team alignment and buy-in
🎯 Build execution and review cadences that drive consistent results

Message me to explore if we're a good fit.

Richard Russell

I just archived 94,933 emails.

I've reached Inbox Zero for the first time in more than a decade - since I started the business. Not sure if I'll keep it that way (that's not the point), but it sure feels good to clear the decks.

But what if there was an important email in there somewhere?

I'm completely sure there was - but I was never going to see it anyway (and I can still search for emails just as effectively).

If it's important, it will come up again. And this time I'll see it.

Note: If you sent me something, and I haven't responded, and you'd like a response, send me another email now :-)

Performance Coach for ADHD Leaders | Business Coach for Product and Scaleup Leaders | I help you move faster — with less pain*

I set a personal best!

Yesterday I submitted the second of my two assignments for my Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching at Henley Business School.

And I did one 10 whole hours before the deadline, and the other 2 whole days before!

My previous record is about 1 hour before a deadline.

I actually went out on the evening of the deadline.

I wasn’t doing last minute edits at midnight.

I wasn’t even thinking about tinkering with it.

I was happy with, even proud of my work.

But the best part is that by doing it, I’ve developed as a coach. And my recent clients have noticed this change.

Worth celebrating!

But now it’s time to come out of assignment monk mode and return to my real work. What are your tips for making that successful?

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I learnt something about planning from James Clear 

There are two planning mistakes I make.

Cowboy planning: “I’ve got a plan in my head, let’s go!”

Over-planning: “My plan is complete - 27 pages! Now I’m exhausted”

James solves these with the ABZ Framework

Write down three things:

The current state (A)
Your next step (B)
Your eventual goal (Z)

A makes it real
B creates action
Z keeps you aligned

That’s all you need.

Once you’ve done B, or got stuck, or even done B and C and D, do another ABZ plan.

Annual goal-setting and planning has never worked for me.

12 months is just too long. Even a quarterly OKR cycle is too long for me.

By the time it's February, I've forgotten the objectives, my key results seem stale, and my mind has moved on.

And besides, if I do get into a rhythm, the quarterly cycle doesn't match the rest of my life. Kids school holidays happen in the middle of my quarter, and disrupt my progress and momentum.

I used to beat myself up for this.

I still advise my clients, whether startups or corporates, to adopt a quarterly OKR cycle - and it works great for them. I know other people do quarterly or annual planning for themselves, and it works great for them (I'm married to one!). It works so well for so many others - why not me?

I now know why and I've made peace with it. I'm fast-brained. I'm wired to sprint, not run marathons.

So this year, I'm switching to 6-7 week sprints, synchronised with my kids school terms and holidays.

When they have holidays, I'll review, set new goals, and plan the next term (and spend more time with them). When they are at school, I'll follow their daily rhythms, with a short enough time horizon that I've got some natural urgency. And any time I have an idea, I'll write it down and put it into the ideas pile, knowing that I'll be able to look at it fairly soon.

I've developed a simple method to do this using a stack of A6 index cards. You can use post-its or paper or whatever suits.

Join the free kick-off workshop, Monday 12th 3-4pm EU (2-3pm UK, 9-10am Eastern).

Link in the comments.

I think one of the hardest things for fast-brain leaders is this:

Progress doesn’t feel linear.

One week you feel on top of things.
The next week it feels like you’ve “lost it” again.

In reality, the baseline is often rising — even when the day-to-day feels messy.

How do you personally tell the difference between a bad week and an actual regression?

You can’t get started on a project, so you make a plan.
But then the plan becomes another project you get stuck on.

That was my pattern for years.

My plans turned into long documents with endless bullet points.
The planning became the work — and I never actually started the real work.

So I simplified.

Instead of an unconstrained document, I use A6 index cards (about 3×5 inches).
The physical constraint stops me from overthinking.

One card, one thought.

First card: what I’m trying to achieve and what success looks like
Second card: the milestones — usually 3–4 big steps, not a blueprint
If I write too much, I throw the card away and start again
Final card: next actions — just the first action and the next action

That’s enough to start.

Here’s the key insight:
We think we need clarity before we act.
But action creates clarity.

You only need enough planning to begin.
Starting shows you the next step.

If this helps, I’m running a short, free workshop on this.
Check the link below.

There are no magic solutions for ADHD.
No perfect system. No final fix.

If you’re a high-performing, fast-brained person, you’ve probably already learned that the hard way.

The real work isn’t fixing yourself.
It’s learning how to be who you already are – sustainably, over time.

That’s a long-term project.
And long-term projects don’t work in isolation.

Community is the missing piece that helps you create sustained momentum.

If this resonates, DM me “FastBrain.”

Happy Australia Day! 🇦🇺 

Being a triple national, I get to celebrate three times more often.

Do you enjoy editing videos, designing thumbnails, and running a YouTube channel, and want help with your ADHD?

What if we could do both at once?

I’m looking for one person to collaborate on:
	•	Editing long-form podcast/video episodes
	•	Creating shorts for LinkedIn & YouTube
	•	Writing titles and descriptions
	•	Designing simple, effective thumbnails
	•	Managing and posting to a YouTube channel
	•	Helping shape content ideas and angles (Ed Lawrence–style thinking)

This is not a standard freelance role.

How this works:
I want to pay in kind, with ADHD coaching rather than cash.

This is likely a fit if:
	•	You have ADHD
	•	You already edit videos and create thumbnails
	•	You enjoy managing a YouTube channel end-to-end
	•	You like turning raw conversations into clear, structured content
	•	You want to improve your own focus, systems, direction, or momentum

This is a collaboration with low bureaucracy and a sustainable pace, not an agency-style content mill.

If this sounds like you:
	•	Comment “ADHD”, or
	•	DM me with a short note about your experience and what you want to improve

If you know someone who does editing + thumbnails + YouTube management and has ADHD, please tag them.

If you’re ADHD, this list is gold - but you can add #4 Mood.

When you’re dopamine deprived, your moods can be quite variable, and managing them and managing your work around them can have a dramatic impact on productivity.

#1 New York Times bestselling author of 7 books.

90% of your productivity comes down to just 3 things:

1. Energy.
You can’t manage time if you don’t manage energy.
Sleep, movement, and breaks. That’s your real fuel.
Run out of energy, and no system or app can save you.

2. Focus.
Distraction is the enemy.
Every notification is a tax on your brain.
The best performers protect their attention like it’s gold… because it is.

3. Priorities.
Most of what we do doesn’t matter.
The key is knowing the few things that do and doing those first.
Everything else is noise.

Master these 3 and the rest takes care of itself.

Free Fast Brain Planning workshop.

Kick off any project or your first personal sprint with a simple process.

Lynda O'Mahony, Waleed Hamouda and 4 other attendees

Prediction: AI will kill social media. 

Humans crave relationships with other humans.

People are already moving to communities where they can interact with other humans - in-person and on-line - rather than consume content.

The best place I've seen for this so far is Skool.

Are you there?
Which communities do you find best?
What do you get from them?
What makes them good?

Mine are in the comments.

There are no magic solutions for ADHD.

No single program.
No miracle drug.
No quick fix.
No permanent solution.

And that’s not a failure. It’s the reality.

For high-performing ADHDers, those of us with fast brains - diagnosed or not - progress doesn’t come from finding the answer. It comes from an ongoing process, supported over time, with people like you on the same journey.

ADHD is often talked about as a mix of strengths and weaknesses, as if they’re separate traits. They aren’t. The same characteristics that create our edge are the ones that create friction. You don’t get one without the other.

The problem is that we assume everyone should behave like the same kind of car, judged by the same tests, driven on the same roads. If you don’t perform like everyone else, you assume something is wrong with you.

But fast brained people aren’t one standard model. We’re specialised vehicles.

Some are Ferraris: extraordinary in fast, high-pressure, creative environments - terrible in slow, repetitive, stop-start traffic. Others are built to carry load, handle rough terrain, or run all day without fuss.

Nothing is wrong with any of us. We’re just designed for different conditions.

This is why tools, coaching, or medication on their own never solve the problem. They can all help, but they don’t change the road you’re on.

Community does.

A community lets specialised people recognise each other, compare notes, share what works in practice, and help each other spend more time on the roads they’re built for - and less time stuck where they don’t belong.

No magic fixes.
No pretending to be normal.
Just specialised people, in the right environment - together.
Making progress to be the best version of ourselves we can be.

Want to join?

Send a DM with “fast brain” so I know you’ve read this.

You’re stuck on a project, so you make a plan.
Then the plan becomes the thing you’re stuck on.

That was my default for years.

I fixed it by adding constraints.
One A6 index card. One outcome. A few steps.

You don’t need clarity to start.
Action creates clarity.

Jonathan Jäger, Lynda O'Mahony and 4 other attendees

We’re two weeks into the New Year.

How are your New Year’s resolutions doing?

Sometimes the hardest part is ourselves. Most resistance is internal. Just trying harder doesn’t always work, because then we resist harder.

We know what to do.
Weknow how to do it.
We want to do it.

But we’re not doing it.

Sounds familiar?

Something I notice with fast-brain leaders:

There’s a stage where things are going well…
but they start to feel oddly fragile.

You’re delivering. You’re trusted.
But the margin for error feels smaller, and mistakes feel more expensive.

That doesn’t mean you’re failing.
It often means your responsibility has outgrown your old coping systems.

Curious — have you ever hit that “doing well, but it feels delicate” phase?

For a lot of leaders I talk to, time isn’t the main problem.

Energy is.

They could do the work…
they just don’t have the same buffer they used to.

And that’s scary when people depend on you.

I’m wondering:
when your energy dips, what tends to suffer first — focus, patience, or confidence?

There’s a difference between being productive
and being trusted.

Trusted leaders don’t necessarily do more.
They recover faster, decide more calmly, and don’t spiral after off days.

That kind of confidence is quiet — and it usually isn’t built alone.

Question for other fast-brain leaders:
what helps you feel steady when the pressure increases?

Charles Jessup

PEMEX

As the refinery implements SAP S/4HANA, my job is to make sure that all the software that reads or writes to SAP doesn't break when the upgrade goes live.  I'll be managing the entire portfolio of software applications except for the ones developed in-house.

●	Identified and assessed 20 critical applications that required remediation for SAP compatibility.
●	Hired and managed a consulting company that helped with assessment of vended applications
●	Managed scope, schedule, and budget for the whole program
●	Led vendor engagement to ensure software upgrades aligned with business needs.

Program Manager - 3rd party software applications

Johnson & Johnson

Coached 7 product teams to be more Inspired and Empowered (yes, that's nod to The Books).  Worked with Silicon Valley Product Group to develop a program to improve the impact of newly formed product teams.  

Coaching topics included: 
●	Customer journey mapping, 
●	UX interviewing 
●	Opportunity solution trees
●	Assumption testing,

Results:
●	Improved a finance team’s internal adoption by 20% by coaching them to interview the users that weren’t adopting.
●	Improved a cybersecurity team’s Weekly Active Users by 15% by coaching them to trim excess features and focus on the ones that delivered the most value.

Senior Product Management Coach

Slalom

As a product consultant, I helped teams developing products to be better, faster, & stronger.  

Coached a cybersecurity team to become more product centric by introducing product management concepts & answering questions.  
Facilitated Product Boot Camps and workshops where the team would create a 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗢𝗞𝗥𝘀, and 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽.  
Coached new product teams in 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 and business alignment so that they would be on the same page as their customers & their leadership.   
Facilitated design thinking workshops with 15+ people to co-develop a path forward that all stakeholders were aligned to.  

Co-founded an internal Community of Practice around 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗜, where Slalom Houston employees got together on a regular basis to discuss how we could use Gen AI to both help our clients and improve our own efficiency

Product Management Consultant

Impact Point Group

Worked with clients to design and facilitate workshops that would develop strategy, maximize growth and elevate team performance.

Director of Facilitation & High Performance Teaming

TechnipFMC

I led a cross-functional team of designers, developers, and data scientists to build digital products.  

My products included: 
1. iTender - an application that helps us more accurately know our cost before we place bids.  
2. SN/QN Finder - enables easier searching & finding of Service Notifications & Quality Notifications
3. Digital Experience Platform

Digital Product Manager

I helped the Digital Services and Innovation (DSI) team to identify and scope new products that can make a difference to the company.  Led Product Discovery efforts on 12+ potential products, half of which we ended up building.  

New projects that I led scoping for included:
1. iTender - a tendering application that reduced tendering lead time and improved the transparency and traceability of quotes.  
2. SSR - a supplier facing software that helps our vendors communicate with our buyers and planners
3. Sentinel - uses A.I. to predict which parts are going to be delivered late and recommended actions to bring it back on time
4. Wellhead quotation tool - reduces Lead Time for our salespeople to quote wellheads from weeks to minutes

Digital Business Facilitation Manager 

I helped people lead effective meetings.  Some examples include:

•	Facilitated a 3 day workshop to align objectives across the seven business units of the Surface Technologies senior quality leadership team.  This first-ever meeting of all these leaders resulted in greatly increased alignment of objectives and reduced redundancy of work.  
•	Facilitated 21 process mapping sessions with 7 different teams within the Center for Innovative Collaboration and Knowledge Management.  We developed the first ever process map for this organization, leading to improved efficiency and a better understanding of the team's scope.  
•	Led a virtual global team through a multi-month project to develop a better process for writing Transportation and Handling Instructions.  This improved process saved $1.1 million/year in reduced engineering costs and provided a more usable product. 
•	Hosted an annual event for 50 people on the North America HR team to train them on changes to corporate benefits and annual enrollment, resulting in improved understanding and communication of benefits.  

I also founded & produced an internal podcast for TechnipFMC called "Illuminate" that had over 50 episodes.

Facilitation Specialist

I managed a virtual core team with people in 5 countries that implemented improvements to engineering processes at FMC Technologies.  

•	Developed  globally aligned engineering workflows in the Business Process Management System (BPMS).  The scope included both system engineering and subsystem engineering, and follow on system and subsystem engineering.  Completed project 2 months ahead of schedule and $250,000 under budget.  
•	Coached global process owners and helped them develop the right documents, communication plans, training plans, and implementation plans to meet their objectives.  Helped these global leaders significantly improve adoption of new ideas and processes.   
•	Improved several Global Work Instructions, incorporating feedback from multiple regions around the globe.

Global Engineering Process Improvement

In the Business Excellence group, my role was to lead process improvement projects to help improve lead times.  Examples include: 

•	Critical Chain Project Management - improved project lead times by 24% reducing multitasking and better managing uncertainty
•	MPQP process (Manufacturing Process / Quality Plan) - reduced MPQP lead times by 40% by streamlining processes and improving visibility of delays
•	Value Stream Mapping -  Led several cross-functional teams in creating value stream maps, which helped focus improvement projects into the most needed areas.

Continuous Improvement Specialist

Realization Technologies

Helped companies increase project throughput by reducing multitasking & managing uncertainty

•	Championed NASA’s embrace of cutting edge project management philosophy, augmenting throughput rate of flight research projects by 24%.
•	Slashed project schedule from 12 months to 7 months on a large engineering project for Spirit Aerosystems, rescuing the   C-Series project from cancellation and reaping additional revenue. 
•	Accelerated a $2.4 billion aircraft carrier construction project for Northrop Grumman through implementation of “WIP reduction” and concentrating the project's resources.
•	Saved Spirit Aerosystems 25,000 man-hours by maintaining commitment to the original project vision and resisting customer recalcitrance.
•	Facilitated collaboration, using language interpreters, between Japanese companies Fujitsu and Daiwa House on the development of a project plan to implement SAP across 35 business units.  
•	Accomplished over 90% success on a Concerto software implementation, through effective education and training which gained user buy-in and enhanced communication within the organizational hierarchy.

Senior Implementer

Element, LLC

• Managed employees and increased employee retention by 50%.
• Interviewed and trained new staff.
• Supervised business operations, leading to a smoothly running organization.
• Optimized inventory system, reducing lost sales by up to 80%.
• Drafted budgets and compared financial statements to previous projections for accountability.
• Performed financial analysis and recommended go/no-go decisions for potential projects.

General Manager

I'm a product and program manager who loves developing new software products.  I love working with designers, developers, and data scientists to build SaaS web applications.  

I'm great at facilitating product discovery workshops, user forums, and product roadmap workshops.  The fuzzy front end of the product discovery process is my favorite part.  
People tell me I'm really good at translating business needs to technical requirements.  

Certifications:
1. Professional Scrum Product Owner II (Scrum.org)
2. Scaled Agilist (SAFe)
3. Project Management Professional (PMP)
4. ASQ Six Sigma Green Belt
5. AWS Cloud Practitioner

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Richard Russell

Charles Jessup

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The Battle

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Charles Jessup

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