From measuring work to choosing commitments

Mandate

Make growth recommendations reflect renewal uncertainty, service economics and transferable capability.

Outcomes

• Rebuilt the ₹171 crore planning case to a ₹157 crore central case
• Recommended declining a ₹26 crore acquisition with capability unresolved
• Supported a revised commercial model for 94 bespoke report variants

Decisions in context

The strategy appointment combined planning and corporate development with a wider responsibility to explain the consequences of growth. I work with finance and operating leaders to make recommendations that the chief executive and board can assess. The renewal case required a different basis for recruitment commitments, the acquisition case required a decision about unresolved capability and the reporting case required acceptance that some clients might leave. I did not own every specialist judgement behind those recommendations. My responsibility was to ensure that their implications changed the strategic comparison rather than remain separate appendices. The role also involves developing three leads so that the quality of a paper does not depend on my rewriting it. Board presentations are by invitation and concern executive recommendations; I do not hold a director seat or a committee appointment.

Reason for the move

Current role; interested in a broader service-company strategy mandate after an agreed succession plan.

Mandate

Assess the capability, obligations and integration work behind acquisitions and partnerships.

Outcomes

• Introduced capability mapping before formal acquisition review
• Added operating owners to transaction assumptions
• Documented alternatives to purchase in three investment papers

Decisions in context

Corporate development moved me from evaluating the economics of existing work to assessing businesses and capabilities we did not yet own. A transaction model could describe a plausible return while leaving important operating arrangements unresolved. I coordinated reviews with people, legal, finance and technology colleagues and learnt to distinguish their conclusions from my own preference for the opportunity. We began identifying the scarce skills behind a proposal early enough to influence its structure. I also asked teams to compare acquisition with an internal programme or a narrower commercial arrangement, including the time and uncertainty of those alternatives. The appointment strengthened my ability to recommend that a company decline an attractive-looking deal without implying that the business being considered had no value. It prepared me for a strategy role that had to connect ambition with commitments across several functions.

Reason for the move

Promoted to CSO as planning and corporate development were brought under one remit.

Mandate

Compare client economics with the specialist work and recurring exceptions they require.

Outcomes

• Added specialised-review effort to contract comparisons
• Separated recurring and transition work in client plans
• Created quarterly discussions of major planning assumptions

Decisions in context

Managing commercial planning meant leading analysts whose conclusions could affect long-standing client relationships. We initially compared contracts through broad revenue and delivery-cost categories. I asked the team to examine recurring exceptions and specialist review because those demands were often hidden inside an average. The findings did not justify treating every unusual client as unattractive. Some work could become a reusable capability, while other work remained a separate obligation that deserved a different commercial discussion. I learnt to present the distinction with operating and client leaders rather than deliver a verdict from the planning function alone. The role developed my people-management responsibility as well as my analysis. It also made me interested in how a company acquires a missing capability, leading to the next appointment in corporate development rather than a larger version of the same reporting role.

Reason for the move

Moved into corporate development to assess new capabilities and service combinations.

Mandate

Link client commitments to the timing of service work and staffing needs.

Outcomes

• Prepared monthly client and capacity schedules
• Documented specialist dependencies in new-client plans
• Separated recurring revenue assumptions from implementation work

Decisions in context

Joining an administration company allowed me to follow a planning assumption into the work it created. I compared client schedules with staffing plans and asked delivery teams to explain the skills needed at each stage. A contract could generate recurring revenue but still require a significant initial effort that did not recur in later months. I learnt to preserve that timing difference and to identify work that depended on a particular reviewer. My role was analytical, under the planning manager's supervision; I did not approve commercial terms or make decisions about the investments described in the records. The experience taught me that a useful planning model needs an owner for each material operating assumption. Promotion followed an ability to explain those dependencies to colleagues outside the spreadsheet and to help younger analysts do the same.

Reason for the move

Promoted to manage commercial planning as the client base expanded.

Mandate

Collect operating evidence and test whether planning assumptions describe the work accurately.

Outcomes

• Built reviewed cost and capacity schedules
• Identified differences between specialist and general processing time
• Prepared interview notes supporting client planning recommendations

Decisions in context

My first appointment involved gathering operating records and building models under an engagement manager's review. I learnt the mechanics quickly, but a model that reconciled could still compare unlike activities. One early assignment treated specialist review time as interchangeable with general processing. Visiting the delivery team revealed why that assumption was wrong and changed the recommendation. I began recording the explanation behind a number, including who had supplied it and which conditions made it reasonable. I had no authority to decide a client's staffing or expenditure, and senior colleagues reviewed the conclusions. The experience gave me a practical respect for operating knowledge alongside financial analysis. I moved into an administration company because I wanted to see how recommendations performed after the presentation, rather than leave before their consequences became visible.

Reason for the move

Joined a service operator to remain accountable to one business over a longer period.