Vaughan Broderick

Innovation coach helping you & your organisation thrive in disruption | Teaching proven practical methods to help people innovate | UC MBA | Follow for posts about startups, innovation & leadership

If you're leading change in your organisation, you've probably seen this pattern:

Smart people working hard, moving fast - and still building things that don't stick, don't scale, and don't really matter.

I know, because I lived it for over a decade.

By 2018, I'd built an award-winning mortgage and insurance brokerage - and was completely burnt out. Brilliant people exhausting themselves on work that didn't last.

That experience changed how I see innovation.

I sold the business, took my family backpacking through 23 countries, searching for a better way.

I found an approach that changed everything:

Stop guessing. Start discovering.
Stop doing innovation to people. Start designing with them.

Today, I help leaders and teams make change work inside real organisations - with real constraints.
I've worked with hundreds of leaders across NZ and Australia - founders, executives, government teams - all asking the same question: "There has to be a better way, right?"

My work focuses on the part most innovation efforts fail at: turning good ideas into implemented change.

My approach is called DUCTRI - a framework that extends design thinking to include Resourcing and Implementation. It combines design thinking, AI tools, and behavioural science for making change work in complex organisations.

I've captured this in Innovation in Action, co-authored with Christian Walsh, including the complete toolkit and case studies from 300+ real-world projects.

What happens when you work this way:
→ Solve the right problems before committing resources
→ Teams align with clarity, not pressure
→ Change actually sticks

If you're tired of workshops that go nowhere, pilots that never scale, and good ideas dying in PowerPoint - I understand.

There is a better way.

I know because I've lived both.

INNOVATION IN ACTION (Book)
A practical system for solving the right problems and creating lasting change.

"The essential playbook for turning ideas into impact."
Jeremy Utley, Stanford d.school

"A book for people tired of innovation theatre."
David J. Bland, Co-author, Testing Business Ideas

“This is a book that helps you not just innovate, but truly change systems for good.”
David Meates, MNZM (Ex NZ Health CEO) 

→ Join the waitlist: https://innovationinactionbook.com

FUTURE-STATE THINKING NEWSLETTER
Weekly insights on design thinking, AI & behavioural science.
→ Subscribe: https://vaughanbroderick.com

CONSULTING · WORKSHOPS · TRAINING
Advisory, workshops, and training to move from stuck ideas to implemented change.
→ Get in touch: https://vaughanbroderick.com/connect/

Research Associate

Co-authoring academic research papers on innovation and design thinking.

Vaughan Broderick 🦆🌳

Elangovan Perumal, PMP®

Senior Director | Customer Success Advocate | Strategic Thinker with an Optimistic Attitude | ✅ Follow for Leadership & Strategy Insights

I work at the intersection of 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆, 𝗔𝗜-𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆.

In my corporate role, I help businesses scale by translating strategy into execution — building delivery engines, global teams, playbook and operating models that grow with the business.

In parallel, I work with leaders and mid-career professionals who are capable, experienced, yet stuck — helping them gain clarity, confidence, and direction in their leadership journey.

That balance defines my work.


𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗜 𝗔𝗺

I’m a 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 with 18+ years of experience across Global IT Services and Consulting, working in 𝗕𝗙𝗦𝗜, 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 & 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 & 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Industries.

My core strength lies in 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — especially in environments undergoing scale, transformation, or change.


𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗱:

* Global PgMO and large delivery portfolios
* AI-enabled and digital transformation programs
* High-performing, cross-geo teams aligned to business outcomes


𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗜𝗻

• Strategy-led, AI-powered delivery at scale • Program & Portfolio Leadership (Global PgMO) • Building and scaling global teams and delivery centers • Helping managers grow into confident, values-driven leaders


𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁

• Built PMO, Quality Engineering Practice, HR, Business Ops, and Talent functions from the ground up 
• Scaled teams by 350%, contributing to a $17𝗠 𝗮𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 
• Designed and scaled delivery centers across India (150+ team members) 
• Coached 50+ 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 into leadership roles, contributing to 400% 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗘𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗗𝗔 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 
• Led product innovation on Azure serverless platforms with cloud and ML integrations


𝗠𝘆 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀

I’m increasingly focused on 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 & 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 — particularly for managers and mid-career professionals navigating growth, visibility, and transition.

I’m also exploring pathways toward 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, with interests in ESG, and long-term value creation.


𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁

If you’re:

* A 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 looking to scale delivery with strategy and AI
* A 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 seeking clarity in your leadership or career journey

I’m open to meaningful conversations.

Head of Business Transformation Services

Worked closely with leaders across different geographies in designing, leading and implementing internal business programs of varying size and complexity

Performed rapid assessment of landscape for clients and provide insights to accelerate action towards refining their current state

Driven decision making and be the trusted advisor to the stakeholders

Brought diverse and thought-provoking perspective to transformations, including market trends, new and innovative ideas from my experience and organizational points of view

Explored and co-created solutions that address the needs of clients

Driven and built upon a culture of continuous improvement by developing innovative ideas 

Developed detailed project plans, anticipate risks and plan mitigations ahead of time

Effectively collaborated with multiple and diverse set of stakeholders in a global environment

Most people think manifestation is just wishful thinking.

They repeat affirmations.
They write goals in a journal.
They dream hard and hope harder.

But nothing happens.
Because they skip the only part that matters: belief.

Manifestation is not about thinking.
It is about knowing.
And acting like it is already done.

Here is the actual process:

→ You decide what you want.
→ You see it clearly—like it's a memory, not a dream.
→ You train your mind to expect it, not just want it.
→ You act as if it is inevitable, not optional.
→ You make decisions from that version of yourself, every single day.

Most people fail because they hope.
Winners believe.

Belief is a choice.
Not a mood.
Not a feeling.
A decision.

When belief is locked in, your brain stops searching for proof—and starts building it.
You don’t attract what you want.
You attract what you are certain of.

No belief = no signal = no result.
Strong belief = strong signal = physical reality.

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Helping professionals and students find CLARITY in careers and leadership - DM if support required.

Follow Elangovan Perumal, PMP® for more

#CareerGrowth #TechLeadership #GrowthMindset

I've seen the same pattern destroy newly promoted leaders across industries:

Star performers get promoted for execution.
Then suddenly, their value shifts to what others deliver.

The question that breaks them: "Who am I if I'm not the one doing the work?"

Here's what actually fractures:

1/ Identity Collapse
You were the person who delivered results. 
Now you're the person who "enables" others to deliver.

2/ Quality Control Panic
You went from owning the outcome to trusting others with your reputation. 
The loss of direct control feels like professional suicide.

3/ Decision Weight
Every choice ripples through multiple careers. 
The paralysis of affecting others' livelihoods.

4/ Credit Attribution Chaos
Team wins - do you claim leadership? 
Team fails - is it your judgment or their execution?

5/ Output Invisibility
Your deliverables become PowerPoints and "strategic conversations."
It feels hollow compared to tangible creation.

The brutal trade-offs:
↳ Influence grows, but hands-on mastery atrophies
↳ Strategic impact increases, but daily satisfaction plummets
↳ Responsibility expands, but control contracts

Most fail because they try to stay executor-leaders.
They micromanage to feel valuable again.
They second-guess decisions to avoid blame.
They create work to justify their existence.

The transition isn't about gaining leadership skills.
It's about grieving your old professional identity.

What part of your executor identity was hardest to let go?

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I help professionals and students find CLARITY in careers and leadership - DM if support required.

Follow Elangovan Perumal, PMP® for more

A question I ask mentees that changes how they see their career:

"Are you building to be impressive or to be inevitable?"

Most capable professionals are stuck because they're optimizing for the wrong thing.

They're getting really good at looking impressive today.
But they're not positioning themselves for tomorrow.

Impressive gets you noticed in your current room.
Inevitable gets you invited to rooms that don't exist yet.

Think about it:
You've been adding skills, collecting wins, building credibility.
Your expertise is deeper than ever.
People respect your work.

So why do you still feel stuck?

Because you're becoming exceptionally good at something that won't matter in five years.

Impressive is perfecting what you already do. Adding another certification. Getting recognized for work that fits who you are right now.

Inevitable is developing what you'll need for where you're going. Even when it means being messy and uncertain today.

The professionals who break through aren't the most polished.
They're the ones who saw where things were heading.
And got there first.

They chose inevitable over impressive.
They chose tomorrow's relevance over today's applause.

You can have the strongest resume in the room and still be standing perfectly still.

That's the trap most capable people fall into.

The question isn't whether you're good at what you do.
The question is: what are you building toward?

What are you developing now that will be essential tomorrow but feels irrelevant today?

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I help professionals and students find CLARITY in careers and leadership - DM if support required.

Follow Elangovan Perumal, PMP®️ for more

I've seen capable professionals lose authority right after promotion.

Not because they lacked skill.
But because one habit quietly started working against them.

↳ Over-explaining every decision.

I've seen this pattern repeat across industries - from senior engineers to department chairs to newly promoted directors.

Here's how it develops.

As individual contributors, they were rewarded for showing their work.

Every recommendation came with supporting data.
Every proposal walked through assumptions.
Every decision was justified.

That thoroughness built credibility.
It got them noticed.
It earned them the promotion.

Then the role changed.

And the habit stayed.

What breaks next is subtle.

→ Simple budget calls turn into long explanations.
→ Decisions invite debate that shouldn't exist.
→ Meetings slow down because every choice comes with a rationale.

The team stops listening for direction and starts listening for hesitation.

What once signaled competence now dilutes authority.

Not because the reasoning

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I help first-time leaders find CLARITY in career and leadership - DM if support required.

Follow Elangovan Perumal, PMP®️ for more

You're automating decisions before you've clarified who should make them.

You've seen this play out:
– Strategic priority gets announced
– Multiple teams start working on it differently
– Departments optimize for conflicting metrics
– Leaders change direction without clear authority

And everyone blames "poor execution."

But here's the real problem:
Unclear decision rights create broken operating models.

When nobody knows who decides between competing priorities, your day-to-day operations can't support your strategy. Teams build processes around avoiding decisions instead of making them.

Then you add AI to "fix execution."
But AI amplifies whatever clarity already exists.

Clear decision authority? AI accelerates good choices.
Muddy decision authority? AI speeds up the confusion.

I've watched companies invest millions in AI tools while their teams still can't answer: "Who decides when sales and product disagree on roadmap priorities?"

The technology isn't the bottleneck.
The decision-making is.

Fix decision clarity first. Everything else follows.

What's one decision your team keeps avoiding because the authority isn't clear?

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I help first-time leaders find CLARITY in career and leadership - DM if support required.

Follow Elangovan Perumal, PMP® for more

Most students are thinking about jobs that don’t exist yet.

During a college workshop.
These questions come to me again and again.

“How do I become an AI engineer?”
“How do I get a job as a fresher?”

Different words. Same mindset.

Most students are thinking about the end state.

→ A role
→ A title
→ An offer letter

But careers don’t start there.
The real work begins much earlier.

→ Skill development.
→ And Capability building.

Skills help you enter.
Capabilities help you survive, grow, and adapt.

This is where many institutions need focus 

And this is where I support Bridging industry and academia.
Shifting focus from Roles/Jobs to Industry Readiness.

Because careers aren’t built by chasing roles.
They’re built by strengthening foundations.

I help first-time leaders find CLARITY in career and leadership - DM if support required.

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Your best students complete internships and still aren't ready for industry.

Not because they lack skills.
Readiness isn’t what you know - it’s how you operate.

Here's the tension:

Internships teach tasks. Industry demands thinking.

And there's a gap between completing work and truly being ready to contribute.

What industry expects that internships don't explicitly teach:

1/ Operating in ambiguity
↳ School: "Here's your assignment and rubric"
↳ Work: "Figure out what needs to be solved"

2/ Managing competing demands
↳ School: Master one subject at a time
↳ Work: Balance multiple stakeholders with conflicting needs

3/ Finding your own resources
↳ School: Everything you need is provided
↳ Work: Create solutions from what doesn't exist yet

4/ Thinking beyond the task
↳ School: Execute the project perfectly
↳ Work: Understand why the project matters to the business

5/ Adapting your communication
↳ School: Thorough analysis and detailed reasoning
↳ Work: Clear recommendations and quick decisions

The gap isn't broken curriculum or ineffective internships.

It's the fundamental difference between learning how to do something and learning how to think about what should be done.

Both environments serve their purpose.

The bridge is helping students understand that readiness means shifting from 
"Can I complete this?" to "Should this be completed, and how does it fit the bigger picture?"

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I help first-time leaders find CLARITY in career and leadership - DM if support required.

Follow Elangovan Perumal, PMP® for more

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The Battle

Vaughan Broderick 🦆🌳

Elangovan Perumal, PMP®

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taplio

The Battle

Vaughan Broderick 🦆🌳

Elangovan Perumal, PMP®

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Elangovan Perumal, PMP®'s LinkedIn Performance

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