Diagnose the pattern. Apply the right lever. Build capability that lasts.
Hi, I’m Neil Walker — welcome.
This is where transformation leaders come when the frameworks aren’t working.
For over 30 years, I’ve been the strategic troubleshooter organisations call when escalations multiply and established approaches fail. From the Bank of England to UBS, from Barclays to UK Government — I’ve recovered failing programmes, coached executives through complexity, and built operating models that actually deliver.
That pattern recognition is now documented in Thriving in Turbulence — a diagnostic framework (CIRCA-CLEAR) born from 200+ real-world interventions across banking, government, technology, and professional services.
The core insight: Most transformation failures aren’t execution problems — they’re misdiagnosis. Teams apply the wrong intervention because they haven’t accurately read the conditions. CIRCA-CLEAR fixes that gap.
Whether you’re navigating turbulence, building adaptive capability, or simply trying to work out why progress has stalled — you’re in the right place.
Thriving in Turbulence
Diagnose conditions. Apply the right lever. Build capability.
Published November 2025 | Available on Leanpub and Amazon
The book organisations need when transformation stalls despite everyone working harder than ever. CIRCA-CLEAR provides:
- Pattern recognition that diagnoses conditions in 2-3 days
- Matched interventions with 2-4 week testing cycles
- Leading indicators (ThroughFlow, Human Pulse) that predict problems before they escalate
- Framework integration that makes your OKRs, SAFe, and Team Topologies work better
Foreword by Giles Lindsay, author of Clearly Agile and The Adaptive Leader.
👉 Get the book → Available on Leanpub and Amazon
CIRCA-CLEAR Framework
CIRCA diagnoses five turbulence conditions: Complex, Insecure, Rapid, Contradictory, Anxious.
CLEAR provides five matched responses: Clarity, Learning, Empathy, Agility, Resilience.
Most frameworks tell you what to do. CIRCA-CLEAR tells you why it’s not working — so you apply the right intervention at the right time.
👉 Learn about CIRCA → 👉 Explore CIRCA-CLEAR →
Latest insights
-
Business Agility and Simplicity; a Mission Impossible!
Check out the video of my talk at Agile Business Conference 2021. I was invited to speak on the fourth day of this long-standing agile conference. Day four of the conference is where we explored the theme of Business Agility,…
-
Break Free from Change Anti-Patterns to Unleash Organizational Agility
In an ever-evolving business landscape, organizations frequently embark on transformation initiatives aimed at improving agility. Yet, many of these efforts falter, ensnared by a repetitive cycle of anti-patterns. Those ineffective practices that are counterproductive to the desired change. Breaking free…
-
Stop Confusing Activity with Outcomes
In today’s fast-paced work environments, it’s really easy to get caught up in the hustle of moving tasks through the system, celebrating outputs, and cutting costs. But are we creating real value? Too often, organizations confuse activity with output and…
-
Injecting Energy into Work: How Workshops Break the Routine
Product development and agile organizations, can fall into the trap of routine— daily standups, sprint planning, two-weekly retros, release cycles. While consistency is key for delivery, it can also stifle creativity. It doesn’t have to be like this. Try mixing…
-
Embracing Complexity in Product Management
I’ve spent the day preparing materials on navigating complexity for a bespoke workshop. I’ll be working with a cohort of product managers and product owners from DWP Digital’s product management community of practice in the coming weeks. The workshop is…
-
Agile Has Stopped Being Agile: What Happened, and How Can We Get Back on Track?
A phrase I hear more often is, “Agile has stopped being agile.” (or worse still “Agile is dead”). What started as a flexible, innovative approach to delivering value has, for some, become just another bureaucratic system. Organizations that set out…
Categories
Adaptability (16) Agile (49) Agility (110) Change (20) Coaching (5) Complexity (21) Culture (15) Curiosity (6) Design Thinking (4) Enterprise Social (3) Events (9) Future of Work (22) Futures Thinking (13) Leadership (51) Lean (5) Methods and Approaches (22) Patterns (4) People (11) People-Centric (8) Product (18) Simplicity (12) Strategy (23) Systems Thinking (8) Thriving in Turbulence (4) Workshops (5)
Tags
Adaptability (14) Agile (15) Agile Coaching (4) Agile Culture (16) Agile Leadership (39) Agile Mindset (6) Agile Transformation (7) Agility (105) Americas Cup (6) Book Launch (4) Business Agility (64) Change (6) Change Management (4) CIRCA-CLEAR (8) CIRCA model (18) Co-creation (4) Collaboration (8) Collaboration Tools (4) Complexity (10) Continuous Improvement (62) Continuous Learning (45) Crystal Clear (5) Cultural Catalyst (4) Culture (8) Culture Change (5) Curiosity (22) Customer centricity (4) Design Thinking (4) Digital Transformation (6) DSDM (4) Employee Engagement (4) Enterprise Social Networks (5) Future of Work (21) Ingenious Agility (5) Innovation (24) Leadership (104) Leadership Development (4) Lean (6) Lean Change (9) Lean Product (4) Methods (6) Organizational Agility (61) Organizational Change (7) People-Centric (4) Product (21) Product Mindset (8) Product Mode (4) Product thinking (4) Project Management (6) Scrum (4) Simplicity (8) Status quo (4) Strategy (4) Systemic Thinking (7) Systems Thinking (7) Value Delivery (5) VUCA (7) Workshops (4) XP (4) Yacht Racing (3)