The art of growth and transformation

Helping people and organisations grow and transform through Lean Change, Self-Organising, and Men’s work.

The challenge of change management

In 2023, after over ten years as a Change Manager, I decided to take a year off. While ostensibly helping corporate clients deliver successful change, I’d become increasingly demoralised, as programme after programme failed to achieve what it set out to do, and often left employees (and leaders) exhausted, burnt out, or ill.

I decided to explore why this was the case through writing a book about my experiences. The book is titled Change Sucks, which for most people it does. Unfortunately, not changing sucks even more.

Change is now an inherent part of organisational life. I see the challenge as being to not only support leaders and employees through the discomfort and pain of change, but also to see it as an opportunity for personal and organisational development.

I’ve founded and led several start-ups in my career. Most notable was a tech company that grew from scratch to an annual revenue of £6 million within three years, and which I then sold to GE. As part of the deal, I spent several years working within GE, gaining first-hand experience of corporate life.

My journey of personal transformation began in my 20s when I first began seeing a therapist. In my 30s, I trained as a counsellor, founded a men’s group, and established a charity providing low-cost counselling (The Listening Centre) for which I served as CEO for 15 years.

Julian Sharples

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How I can help

Lean Change

I work with organisations, from start-ups to corporates, that are open to exploring different ways of engaging with change. I work with the people directly impacted by change to co-create and implement solutions.

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Self-Organising

I work with start-up founders to help them stay focused on what they’re good at and what they love as their company grows, without getting bogged down in bureaucracy and people management.

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Men's Work

I want to challenge the narrative of what it is to be a successful man in a work setting, and help men find healthier and more satisfying ways of fulfilling their roles, which are also beneficial to the organisation.

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Julian fizzes with inspired creativity. Your business issue will spark a discussion that spins off in any number of surprising and useful directions before delivering the elegant insight or solution you need. Julian is a good listener, a perceptive lateral thinker and a charismatic, humorous presenter.

Advisory Board Member, Media start-up

Insights

What is Lean Change?

Lean Change is an innovative approach to managing organisational change that combines principles from Agile, Lean Startup, and Design Thinking. Inspired by Jason Little's 2014 book Lean Change Management: Innovative Practices for Managing Organizational Change, this approach challenges traditional change management methods by prioritising collaboration, experimentation, and adaptability.

The Double Diamond design approach – it works wonders!

To design the right solution, you first need to understand the problem. Enter: the Double Diamond.

Using the Bridges Transition Model to manage business change

If you're struggling to deliver change in your business, understanding the Bridges Transition Model can help steer you in the right direction...

Mel Robbins

Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere that you don't belong.

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