I am entering my third big adventure. I’ve learned a lot, experienced a lot and it’s now time to make a difference. In the past I’ve been cautious about what I’ve challenged, what sensibilities I might upset. Not anymore. We haven’t got the luxury of being precious, we need to have the courage to look in the mirror and tackle the things that don’t work.
I’m particularly passionate about the better delivery of public services, and Defence. I have been in business for as long as I was in government. I never got truly excited by selling another $m of business. I have been very proud about delivering better aged care, health, diplomatic services, border control, education and, particularly my alma mater, Defence.
The public sector is the glue that holds the country together. The safety net for many. It should be a place people aspire to work because it’s good work and they can make a difference. The public sectors, State and Federal, should be extraordinary and world class The nation should look to our public sector as the pinnacle of professionalism, a place to which to aspire. That’s not what we have today. I want to be part of moving that dial.
I usually find myself in the middle of big change, the urgent, and the failing. Working commercial arrangements across the public-private boundary, or inter-organisational and inter jurisdictional problems. My superpower (everyone has one) seems to be in negotiations, strategic deal making, and challenging the norm. Applying commercial practices to public sector delivery. Finding ways to get things done quickly. Consensus is the pathway to mediocrity, and mediocrity isn’t acceptable. Always staying within the rules but not living by the status quo.
I’m not a policy theorist. My energy comes from overcoming the hurdles to get things done. The more difficult the better. Leadership. Sometimes supporting as a specialist advisor, but just as often by rolling up my sleeves, doing the heavy lifting, and helping teams change what they are doing, leaving a legacy of self-sufficiency. Your job shouldn’t be my job.
It can be a wild ride, fast and furious. I want to be exhausted and exhilarated on my new adventure.
My last adventure was in industry. From running a multi-national business across Asia Pacific Japan to a general manager in a local start-up. I’ve been through public listings, Board spills, CEO assassinations. Learnt a lot but didn’t like it much. Too much about self.
Like so many, I thought I could do it better, so I started a company. I started it with one objective – to assist those who have the courage to make a difference be successful. I focussed on the better delivery of public services. If we could merge the learnings of public and private sector experiences and apply it to deliver better, more affordable, focussed, meaningful social outcomes – everyone will be better off. Not with the aim of being huge – but being extraordinary at getting things done. It remains successful today, success measured not by size but by the team doing astounding work that makes a difference.
My first adventure was foundational. A twenty plus + career in the Australian Army. When you join the Army, traditional advice is ‘don’t volunteer’. For nearly 24 years I did the opposite. Travelled the world, served in the SAS, went to university multiple times including in the UK and at Harvard, ran projects that were super-secret, some others worth a billion dollars, and negotiated with the Khmer Rouge in the jungles of Cambodia. It was pretty full on, very exciting, but not once was I by myself.
It was an adventure, and I miss what I did – every day. Not sure I miss what I would be doing now though. Certainly, miss being 35.I decided to leave the Army because it had started to lose its lustre. Maybe I had grown up. My cardinal rule is do something else before you start disliking what you are doing.
In the middle I had a family and a life. Diving instructor, equestrian, orchestra, national board positions.