Your team is capable. So why is the unit still stuck?
I'm an interim and fractional executive for mid-size services businesses. I find the real root cause, build the system that fixes it for good, and hand back a unit that performs without you having to step in.
Does this sound familiar?
- Revenue or margin has stalled, and nobody agrees on why.
- Escalations keep landing on your desk.
- Teams duplicate effort because nobody clearly owns the outcome.
- The business is growing, but profit isn't.
You're spending your week firefighting. And you can't tell whether the real problem is strategy, people or execution.
It shouldn't be this way. Capable teams shouldn't be held back by noise, politics and unclear ownership.
I've been in your chair
I've sat in the chair where the numbers are off and everyone has a different explanation.
For 25 years I've worked in professional and IT services, most recently scaling a A$25M global services business with more than 120 specialists across ANZ, EMEA and the Americas.
Operators tend to miss the politics. People leaders tend to miss the numbers. I read culture, emotion and politics alongside the financials, then build the system that stops the problem coming back.
How we fix it
Unpick
Find the real root cause, both human and commercial. I see what insiders have stopped noticing.
Build
Put in the system that stops it recurring: clear ownership, one agreed priority and an operating rhythm that holds.
Hand over
Leave behind a team that runs it without me.
What this looks like in practice
A stalled managed services unit
Capable leaders were pulling in different directions across three regions, ownership was unclear and effort was duplicated. I clarified who owned what, aligned the team on one priority, and turned service delivery managers into a growth engine for existing clients. There was no marketing budget and one seller. Gross margin rose from 23% to 42%, and recurring revenue grew by close to 33% in 12 months.
Escalations eroding delivery margin
Everyone blamed delivery, but the real cause was weak contracts. Instead of patching templates, I built a system for reviewing contracts and checking quality. The result was fewer escalations, stronger project margins and more mature client relationships.
Hybrid work driving burnout
An always-on culture was driving disengagement and attrition. I treated it as a cultural problem rather than a tooling one, then formalised asynchronous work practices across the organisation.
Two ways the next 12 months can go
If nothing changes
Another year of firefighting. Margin keeps leaking, good people leave, and a strategy reset fixes nothing because the problem was execution.
When it's fixed
Your leaders are aligned on one agreed priority. Revenue and margin grow. The unit runs without you.
Engagements
Interim
I step in full-time to lead a unit through a reset.
Fractional
A few days a week, for as long as the work needs.
Diagnostic
A short, fixed-scope look at why a unit is underperforming, with a clear answer at the end.
Craig Pringle
I've spent more than 25 years in professional and IT services, at Insentra, Ensyst, Gen-i, Fujitsu and Optus Business. I've also built and run my own venture, and made the evidence-based call to close it, so I know what it's like to own the result. People call me when part of the business is underperforming or stuck. I find the real reason, build the system that fixes it, and leave it running without me.
Is it strategy, people or execution?
Answer yes or no. You don't need to give an email.
- Could your leaders each name the same top priority for this quarter?
- Does every critical outcome have one clear owner?
- Are escalations falling rather than rising?
- Is margin growing at least as fast as revenue?
- Could the unit run for a month without you stepping in?
- Is the explanation for underperformance the same no matter who you ask?
If you answered no to two or more, the problem is probably execution, not strategy. That's usually quicker and cheaper to fix.
Talk it through in 30 minutesWhat's stuck in your business?
Let's have a 30-minute conversation. There's no pitch. You'll leave with a clearer view of whether you're dealing with a strategy, people or execution problem.
Book a conversation