Peeling away complexity – a visionary look at agility, simplicity, and more.

Hi, I’m Neil Walker — welcome.
This is my space to explore the real work of transformation: leading with agility, thinking in systems, and building better ways of working.
For over 30 years, I’ve helped organizations—from financial services to frontline social care—navigate complexity, adopt agile and product mindsets, and drive meaningful change that lasts. I’ve worked across the board: from coaching teams to advising execs, from recovering failing programmes to shaping new operating models.
Since the early 2000s, I’ve been writing and speaking about agile, business agility, and transformation—long before they were hashtags. I’ve shared ideas, sparked conversations, and built communities (even before Twitter became “X”).
What ties it all together? A deep belief in the power of simplicity, adaptability, and human-centered change.
Whether you’re here to learn, rethink, or just get unstuck—you’re in good company.
Latest insights
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Push Past the Status Quo: A Guide for Change Activists in Organizations
For change activists in organizations, pushing past the status quo can feel like an uphill battle. It’s easy for teams and individuals to fall into the comfort of routine, relying on the “this is how we’ve always done it” mindset.…
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The Illusion of Predictability: Navigating Uncertainty in Complex Projects
In the realm of complex projects, predictability often emerges as a top priority for executives. The allure of being able to forecast outcomes, timelines, and budgets with precision is undeniably attractive. Predictability promises control, stability, and a semblance of certainty…
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Book Recommendation: “Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders”
One of my all-time favorite reads on business agility and leadership is “Turn the Ship Around!” by L. David Marquet. This book brilliantly chronicles the true story of how Marquet, a former nuclear submarine commander, transformed the USS Santa Fe…
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Agility is a Strategy, Agile is a Tactic
I’ve been catching up on some of the conference sessions I have added to my personal Kanban over the year. One of the sessions from the recent Lean Kanban Central Europe 2015, truly caught my eye. “Turn Your Organisation Into…
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Celebrating World Usability Day 2015
World Usability Day “occurs annually to promote the values of usability, usability engineering, user-centered design, universal usability, and every user’s responsibility to ask for things that work better. The day adopts a different theme each year”. 2015 is the Ten…
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Reflecting on the Evolution of Product Design and Usability
In the mid-90s, Alan Cooper’s About Face introduced a compelling narrative on product design, one that placed the end-user experience at the heart of software development. For me, that book was pivotal, galvanizing my early views on how products should…
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Tom Peters: 20 Years Later – A Visionary Still Leading the Charge
June 2015 marks 20 years since I had the privilege of meeting Tom Peters in London, during his visit to the pioneering Usability Group at Reuters. A select few of us invited to attend his conference, which brought the book…
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