In a Complex World, You Still Need a Strategy
pic by Linus Nylund
If you’re someone who needs to generate work—Director, Partner, Consultant, Advisor, Self-employed professional—there’s one thing I recommend to almost everyone I work with:
Have a strategy. And make it simple enough to use.
Not a 40-slide deck or a 10-page business plan.
A single-page personal manifesto that gives you direction, energy, and a way to move when things are changing (which they almost always are).
Many people don’t do this because they figure that business development is random. You can show up, do great work, build relationships… and find that the opportunity comes from somewhere entirely unexpected—a conversation from six months ago, a client you forgot you helped, a post you nearly didn’t share.
It’s not random. It’s systemic.
As Neil Theise writes in his excellent book Notes on Complexity, we’re not separate from the systems we’re in—we’re participants in them. In complex systems, your actions affect what happens next—and what happens next affects your next move. You’re part of a living, adaptive ecosystem. Things emerge from interaction—not instruction.
The lesson for business development is huge. So much of what matters in business development can’t be forced—it grows from how you show up, how you engage, and the timing of asks and offers. And you can’t control it. Another way of saying this is that people hate to be sold to, but they like to buy. So how can you generate the conversations where people want to work with you?
What you need isn’t a rigid plan—or passive drifting. You need a strategy that helps you act with skill and consistency—so you create the conditions for good things to happen.
Here are three critical points of leverage:
Within you – What’s waiting to emerge? What are you fired up about?
Your people – Who already knows and trusts you? How can you offer them something generous, useful, and valuable?
Your signal – What can you put out into the world that creates value or provokes thought—even if you don’t know what will come of it?
When you engage in conversations to explore deeper questions about your practice, you find points of leverage—and your actions start to feel powerful, authentic, and intentional.
Meet Peter.
Peter was tired of feeling like the junior Partner. In meetings with senior colleagues and clients, he deferred. He waited to be invited in. He spoke only when spoken to.
Over time, this became a reinforcing feedback loop: his diffidence reinforced others’ view of him as reactive and junior, and reinforced his own belief that maybe he wasn’t quite up to it.
But deep down, Peter knew he had something to offer.
As we worked together, he stopped trying to meet others’ expectations—and started getting real with himself. He found language for what he wanted to say. He stopped waiting and began shaping the conversations he was part of.
He’d always thought he hated business development. Turns out, he just hated feeling small.
And that changed everything.
This isn’t about working harder. It’s about points of leverage.
Peter’s story didn’t change because he “worked harder” or “got better at selling.” It changed because he identified a point of leverage that fit his context, his values, and his future. And he became someone different, whilst still being the same person. While initially surprised, Peter’s clients and colleagues liked and respected this version of Peter better too.
You can develop your own strategy by yourself or with colleagues.
If you’d like help to design your own strategy for the year ahead using a tried and tested method, I offer a two-session process to get clear on your direction and craft a one-page strategy that’s motivating, useful, and yours to steer—your own BD compass.
You also get the guide: Design for Growth – a guide for professionals to anticipate shifts, position well, and enjoy the ride.
Get in touch if that appeals.