Shape the Year Ahead (Before It Shapes You)
Staying Strategic in times of Ambiguity
If 2025 stretched your capacity and attention, you’re not alone.
High ambiguity makes planning harder, drains energy, and leaves us reacting instead of steering.
Here’s the reality:
2026 will throw a lot at you. The rate of change is only accelerating.
When uncertainty is high, it can feel like you’re being tossed by the waves instead of charting your own path.
Are you stepping into 2026 still trying to catch your breath?
This workshop addresses both personal planning and organisational rhythms as two sides of the same coin, helping individuals and groups structure their year, manage energy, and navigate uncertainty in ways that reinforce each other.
Here’s the good news:
“You can’t control the waves, but you can learn to surf” - Jon Kabat-Zinn
You can change how you plan and think about the future, giving yourself more clarity, energy, and flexibility to navigate whatever comes next.
Or as Eisenhower said:
“Plans are useless. Planning is everything”
What I Learned the Hard Way (and Why It Helps You)
In 2022, I burned out, hard.
My broken brain couldn’t hold the mountain of “maybes” anymore.
That forced me to find simpler, more sustainable ways to think, plan, and conserve energy.
Turns out, these new techniques were actually better than the over-complicated ways I had been using before. They were much simpler, while applying just enough structure to make it easier to spot areas of misalignment with others.
I’m doing much better now, thanks! And I’ve come to see that burnout as one of my greatest assets in reducing unnecessary complexity and cognitive load from organisational planning processes.
The result is the adaptive planning framework I now use with clients to navigate uncertainty with clarity and flexibility.
Since then, I’ve used these same approaches with:
Human Rights organisations navigating global upheaval
Corporate leadership teams trying to align in fast-moving tech environments
Individuals and founders wanting to plan responsibly without exhausting themselves
The techniques are simple, flexible, and they work across contexts and chaos levels. 🌀
What Happens Without a Fresh Approach
Old habits of planning can leave the year feeling like a grind: obsessing over details you don’t have control of anyway, draining energy, and struggling to pivot when reality shifts.
This refreshed approach turns that on its head creating space, clarity, and flexibility, so plans can actually support the way work and energy ebb and flow across the year.
What You’ll Experience in This Workshop
A 90-minute hands-on reset
1. The Spectrum of Futures
We’ll start by plotting potential scenarios for your year using The Spectrum of Futures - my streamlined spin on a key Futures Thinking strategy tool.
This tool allows you to sift through possibilities and guide the right type of planning for each situation, so focus and energy go where they matter most.
2. Cycles and Seasons Mapping
Next, we’ll map out your personal Seasonal Alignment Planner. Including how your energy works, organisational cycles (think “review season”, “conference season” and common crunch times) and natural seasonal changes.
Then, we’ll explore how your personal and business seasons interact to create a flexible, realistic, and energised plan for the year. You’ll see where to invest energy, where to pause, and how to flow with the rhythm of your work and life.
Bring paper and a pen, this is hands-on! 📝
What You’ll Walk Away With
Less stress and mental clutter
A technique to check alignment with others
Energy-aligned and business-informed plans that feel doable
Bonus Resources
A practical workbook to capture your planning, map your year, and apply the frameworks immediately
Next Step
Sign up to attend the workshop. Only registered attendees will receive the workbook.
Plan flexibly. Think clearly. Start 2026 on purpose, not on autopilot.
About me
I’ve transformed stalled programs into global, long-living initiatives, led software teams of 100+ across continents, and kept product portfolios on track through high-pressure crises, including the Ebola outbreak and COVID-19 work-from-home transition.
Combining these experiences from agile development, crisis management, and strategic foresight training, I help organisations become more adaptable, aligned, and calm under pressure.