Most People Would Find This Terrifying

There’s something uniquely intimidating, but exhilarating about consulting for your partner’s business. 

Not because you doubt your ability.

But because you care differently.

This week, I held 1:1 conversations with the founder and members of the board for Jungle Guides International. Just before I was about to start with my partner, I could feel a strangely familiar tension creeping in. I even stumbled with my laptop out of the companion way of our sail boat into the cockpit.

• Don’t be too corporate.

• Don’t over-process this.

• Don’t avoid challenging assumptions.

And yet… this is also the work I know how to do best.

What’s funny is that almost every project I’ve taken on over the last 20 years started the same way; me walking directly into an industry I knew almost nothing about.

• Pharmaceuticals

• Medical education

• Corporate training

• Software

• Legal

• Travel & hospitality

• And now… jungles!

Most people would find that terrifying.

Oddly, it’s where I seem to find the most energy.

I’ve realized that I don’t actually need to become “the expert” in an industry.

What I love is learning how humans operate inside a system.

The patterns.
The friction.
The uncertainty.
The invisible systems.
The emotional drivers behind decisions.

Over time, I’ve learned that good strategy rarely comes from pretending to have all the answers.

It usually comes from:

• having flexible but structured frameworks

• asking better questions

• talking to every human involved in the system

• immersing yourself in the experience as much as possible

• listening long enough to uncover what’s actually true

• and knowing the solution doesn’t come from you… but through the process you help facilitate

I think there’s also something incredibly powerful about saying:

“I know nothing about this yet. Please help me understand.”

That level of honesty can be deeply disarming. And often leads to the best collaborations, the best insights, and the most human-centered solutions.

The more experience I gain, the less interested I am in acting like the smartest person in the room. And the more interested I become in creating the conditions where the smartest solutions can emerge collectively.

My takeaway from my first week… find joy in knowing very little, but strength and fun in figuring it out. It’s humbling and keeps my rapid fire brain fantastically engaged. I went to bed exhausted each day, with my brain filled with premature connections being made.

Life is feeling really good right now.