This week, we are featuring Darren Ashby, who is a Managing Director and Partner at businessthreezero (we also recently interviewed Darren’s business partner, Kate Thompson - take a look). businessthreezero is a digital transformation consultancy in London that helps big businesses ‘reinvent at pace’ through digital.
First thing’s first - please can you give us an overview of your experience in Innovation?
I started my career in a start-up toy business, which involved in all aspects of product development from concept to manufacture. After that, I joined Cadbury. I started off managing large complex innovation programmes and then taking responsibility for improving how we delivered innovation across the global business. From there, I moved into consulting - first at EY, then at ?WhatIf! - where I worked on a mix of projects across innovation, customer experience and transformation. I left ?WhatIf! to be part of the founding team at businessthreezero. My first role was to build the consulting practice and now I focus on innovating our own offer and IP.
In your opinion, how has the service of innovation consulting changed and evolved over the last five years?
1. It’s a fragmented, highly competitive space and innovation consultancies are vulnerable to the huge, skilled freelance market out there, which is made more accessible through various platforms.
2. There is a big shift in focus towards the digitisation of everything. But, even more so, the model of how to innovate has been influenced by how developers work - the need to build this capability internally is huge, and can’t be outsourced.
3. There isn’t a lack of ideas in big firms, however genuine innovation will often challenge the assumptions of how a firm works, and few firms are good at adapting quickly enough not to stifle innovation.
To be successful in innovation consulting today, what would you say are the key skills needed? And how have these changed?
To be successful in our business you need a blend of human insight, commercial savvy and creative skills - and we look for people with a hybrid background combining diverse experiences that give them a different edge ie: start-up and corporate, big four consulting and creative agency.
Brexit. How do you think it will impact the consulting industry in the UK?
At this point who knows...but unfortunately experience tells us that uncertainty is bad for consulting. Whilst the need for our services increases, the appetite to spend can shrink, slowing down the sales cycle and making it more competitive for smaller projects.
Where do you think the world of innovation consulting is going? Who will succeed and who will fail?
Businesses need to reinvent all parts of their business front to back. They don’t have time and resources to waste. Consultancies will come under increased scrutiny, and those that can demonstrate the tangible value they deliver will succeed, both in the numbers but also in the capability they build inside their clients.
What would you say makes businessthreezero different?
We believe that reinvention happens at pace or not at all, and that requires everyone in the business feeling part of a team in a mission - crystal clear and emotionally connected to a compelling direction, empowered and skilled to accelerate change themselves - that’s our role creating a total business where meaningful change and innovation can thrive.
If you are interested in working for companies like this, then take a look at our jobs or get in touch. You can find out more about businessthreezero’s work, journey and people on their website.
