A longer note on how I work.

What is meant by "systemic".

Most consulting treats an organisation as a set of parts that need aligning — incentives, structures, responsibilities, skills. That work is useful, and I do some of it. But most of what goes wrong in organisations I have worked with has not been badly-aligned parts. It has been a pattern of relating that no individual part is responsible for, and that none of them can change alone.

Systemic work takes that seriously. We pay attention to the whole — the family of origin of the founder, the generational dynamics in a leadership team, the unspoken loyalties to a departed colleague, the shape of the original company and how it still organises the new one. The work is slower, and it looks less like a plan. It is, in my experience, far more likely to produce durable change.

What a typical engagement looks like.

Every engagement is different. A rough shape, so you know what to expect:

• First conversation — 60 minutes, no charge, no obligation on either side. Mostly I listen. We both decide afterwards whether to continue.
• Framing — a short written note from me, back to you, on what I think we'd be working with if we worked together.
• The work itself — usually three to twelve months, at a cadence that fits the rhythm of your role. Some weeks it is one long conversation. Other weeks it is a short check and a longer silence.
• Closing — we always plan an end. The work does not try to make itself indispensable.

What the conversations are actually like.

Less advice than most of my clients expect. More questions. Long silences sometimes. The hour moves slowly at first, and then — usually — becomes the hour of the week they find most useful. That has been the consistent feedback over fifteen years.

"I had expected to be given answers, which is what I thought I needed. Marin gave me something harder and better: a place where the real question could come into view."

What I do not do.

I do not do executive search. I do not do functional consulting — I will not redesign your product, your go-to-market, or your pricing. I do not run offsites or workshops except as part of a longer engagement.

If what you need is one of those things, I know people who do them well, and I'm glad to refer you.

Fees.

Fees are discussed in the first conversation and tailored to the shape and scale of the work. I work with a small number of clients at any one time. My practice is not designed to scale, and I am not the right choice for a brief or transactional engagement.