It's always easier to solve other people's problems.
Today's noise makes it harder than ever to see your own clearly. And the instinct is to do more — more planning, more options, more complexity — when usually the opposite helps.
I've spent 25 years helping organizations find and take the simpler path. The obvious ones that only look clever in hindsight.
Then I stick around until it's actually working.
Let's talkBridging it usually means untangling a few persistent knots — how decisions get made, how people work together, where the real friction lives. I've spent 25 years as an operator, nonprofit leader, and consultant learning to diagnose them. The approach is simple. The work is practical. And I stay until it sticks.
What I mean by obvious
A nonprofit couldn't stabilize enrollment no matter how hard they marketed. Every year was a scramble — flyers, ads, school fairs — hoping to win two or three students at a time.
The answer wasn't better marketing. It was changing where students entered. They built an early childhood program upstream. Families came in earlier and stayed. The scramble ended.
A social enterprise was ready to scale. The board wanted plans: warehouses, trucks, logistics, capital. Growth meant building more infrastructure.
Except they'd already built the hard part — the backend engine. Call centers, routing, Salesforce, operational know-how. The answer wasn't more buildings. It was licensing what they'd already made. Growth without the capital risk.
An organization had momentum and interest in scaling. The conversation kept jumping to models — replication, partnership, new sites.
But they hadn't decided what they were actually trying to scale. Reach? Speed? Brand integrity? The answer was to slow down, clarify the ambition, then pick the model. The path got simpler once they knew where they were going.
Engagements start with a conversation. We talk about where you're stuck, what you've tried, and what's actually in the way. Sometimes it's how decisions get made — unclear authority, too many cooks. Sometimes it's trust — alignment issues, things people won't say out loud. Sometimes it's just habits that aren't serving anyone anymore.
From there, we find the simplest path forward. Not 47 priorities. The one or two things that will actually unlock progress.
Then I stick around. In your meetings. On your documents. Working alongside you until the new way is just how things work.
Nonprofits scaling impact. Social enterprises navigating growth. Mission-driven teams of 15–150 people led by capable people who need someone from outside to help them see clearly.
I've been in your seat. I started in manufacturing operations, where you learn that elegant solutions ship and complicated ones don't. Then I led nonprofits through growth, instability, and reinvention. Then I spent years in management consulting, seeing patterns across dozens of organizations. That path taught me what works in a boardroom and what breaks on the front line.
I speak multiple languages. I know how a CEO hears "impact," how a funder reads "strategy," what a front-line team needs to believe, and how a board thinks about risk. Most consultants are fluent in one world. I translate between them. And I optimize for what will actually get done — by these specific people, in this specific context, with these specific constraints. Not what looks good in the deck.
"When I'm on a call with Gord, I find myself talking through the things I'm actually wrestling with — not the polished version. He asks the question that helps me see what I'm really trying to solve."— Maureen Haan, CEO, Canadian Centre for Refugee Women
The best way to start is a conversation. No pitch, no pressure — just a chance to see if I can help.
Schedule a call