Field notes
Lessons from the work.
What we’ve learned designing and fixing real operations — across sales, service, delivery and the systems underneath them.
This isn’t a blog.
These are notes from real work — moments where an operation didn’t behave as expected, assumptions broke down, and better design was required.
The goal isn’t to promote tools or tactics. It’s to share what actually works — and why.
- LOG-004
SLA design: accountability over timers
Observation“A client had SLAs defined on paper, but breaches were inconsistent and escalations depended on human follow-ups. Native tooling assumed a linear path that didn't reflect their cross-team reality.”
RealisationSLAs fail when they're designed around timers instead of accountability flow. By separating the source of truth from the execution layer, responsibility survived even when work left the CRM. Read the full study.
- LOG-001Note
The forecasting fallacy
Observation“A growth-stage company had perfectly configured deal stages, yet its pipeline value ran consistently 40% over-inflated.”
RealisationTooling precision doesn't solve for human pressure. The system failed because a 'manager-approval' stage had quietly become a safe harbour for dead deals. Design for incentives, not just stages.
- LOG-002Note
Automation as a mask
Observation“A support team received daily automated 'at-risk account' alerts, yet churn didn't move.”
RealisationAutomation without ownership creates noise, not action. The alerts fired on tool-logic that ignored the actual relationship data. Slow the automation down; speed the governance up.
- LOG-003Note
The ghost system
Observation“A complex setup where leadership had spent heavily on customisation — but the notes that actually mattered lived in personal spreadsheets.”
RealisationIf a system is too rigid to fit the reality of the work, it gets bypassed. High-integrity operations have intentional friction for data entry but high utility for the person doing it.
We add to these notes periodically, as complex operations reveal new patterns.