Meet Mark

For more than 23 years I worked for Pearson across many of its education businesses, including a stint based in Hong Kong during the handover. For the last 7 years I have worked as an adviser, consultant and job-executive for a range of start-up and scale-up ed tech businesses across Europe.

What kinds of transformations have the organisations you have worked in experienced?

Most recently the businesses I have been involved with have faced the challenges associated with growth – defining business propositions that are sustainable, scaling operational systems and ensuring they have the right people as the businesses develop.

Did they navigate the transformation successfully?

In general I would say yes, but it’s important to say that a necessary part of developing new and growing businesses is having the courage to try new things and to be prepared to fail and learn. So transformation rarely goes in a straight line.

What three learnings did you take from the experiences?

First, take calculated risks and be prepared to fail and learn. Second, always ask yourself if you are giving customers what they want. Third, always ask if you have the right colleagues for present challenges (including asking the question of yourself!).

What one piece of advice would you share for those looking to navigate organisational changes?

Don’t be scared of failure.