David Olney
Analyst, consultant, educator, writer and podcaster.
What is really going on here, and what could we do better?
That question connects my work with people in business, government, Defence and education. I help people understand complex situations, communicate what matters and develop the confidence and capability to take a thoughtful next step.
Sometimes that means examining a difficult decision. Sometimes it means finding out why a message is not reaching the people who need it, or why a familiar way of working has stopped helping. We begin with your situation and work towards an approach you can use.
Understanding that leads somewhere
A problem rarely arrives neatly separated from the people, relationships and systems around it. The person responsible for making a decision may see one difficulty, while the people expected to carry it out experience another.
My work brings those perspectives into the conversation. Through analysis, consulting, training and mentoring, I help people ask better questions, test assumptions and connect their intentions with what happens in practice. Good judgement becomes more useful when we create the conditions to act on it.
Analysis and strategy
Investigate a complex situation, challenge assumptions and consider how culture, incentives and relationships shape the choices available.
Communication and business development
Identify your audience, clarify your message and explain the value of working with you.
Training and mentoring
Training in applied thinking and complex problem solving, and one-to-one mentoring through professional challenges.
Facilitation and speaking
Facilitated discussions, moderated forums, and speaking and MC engagements.
The person behind the questions
I am based in Adelaide, South Australia. I taught at the University of Adelaide for 19 years, and my work has taken me from Strategic Culture and security analysis into business development and strategic communication.
I am also blind. Learning to navigate the world has given me a practical interest in how people find information, ask for help and exercise judgement. Those questions run through my professional work and my writing about accessibility, AI and human agency.
Ideas worth thinking through
Writing and podcasting give me room to explore these questions further. On the blog, I connect research, books and everyday experience to the choices that shape our work and our lives.
Through Talking About Marketing, Steve Davis and I explore what helps businesses communicate well and make meaningful progress.
I hope you find something here that helps you understand a difficult situation, reconsider a familiar assumption, or decide what to try next.
Are you the rarest of people: a system builder?
Do you work in a massive organisation, or run a tiny business? Do you know how the work gets done,…
What next? When the decisions are bigger than your experience and understanding
Can you remember a time when the decisions in front of you seemed enormous compared with your experience and understanding?…
You Need Your Whole Brain To Make An Effort
Last week I wrote Thank You For Making An Effort. It was about what happened when two people made an…
What people say
David is like a guiding light. He doesn’t give all the answers, but he will show you how to find your own.
Keep the conversation going
Receive updates from my website, including new writing about thinking, communication and the choices that shape our work and lives.
What are you working through?
If you have a problem to untangle, a message to clarify or a team you want to help develop, tell me a little about it. A useful conversation can begin before you know exactly what help you need.
Contact David