Work & frameworks
How I think, and what I’ve built with it.
One framework and a few real builds. The framework is how I find the leverage in a business. The builds are what happens when the right move turns out to be a system.
The framework
LIFT
List. Isolate. Fuel. Tune. A simple, repeatable way to find the highest-leverage move in a business and act on it. It works on a whole company, a department, or a single stubborn problem.
LIFT → Leverage → Freedom
The point isn’t more tools or more activity. It’s leverage, and the freedom it buys: time back, better options, and a business that doesn’t need you in every decision.
List
Get the complete picture: problems, constraints, assets, resources and opportunities. Nothing gets solved until it’s on the table, including the things nobody likes to say out loud.
You have it when: the whole picture fits on one page and the team agrees it’s honest.
Common trap: jumping to solutions before the list is complete.
Questions to ask
- What’s actually slowing us down, not just what’s loudest?
- What do we already have that we’re not using?
- Where does everything depend on one person, tool or vendor?
Isolate
Find the highest-leverage opportunity: the one change that moves the most. Separate the symptom from the constraint behind it.
You have it when: you can name one priority and explain why it beats the others.
Common trap: trying to fix five things at once, so nothing gets fixed.
Questions to ask
- If we fixed only one thing this quarter, which would free up the most?
- Is this a cause, or a symptom of something upstream?
- What happens if we do nothing?
Fuel
Put the right resources behind that one move: attention, people, technology or capital. Sometimes that’s AI. Often it isn’t.
You have it when: the move has an owner, a budget of time or money, and a start date.
Common trap: buying technology to avoid a harder decision about people or process.
Questions to ask
- What’s the simplest thing that would work?
- Who owns this, and what do they need to stop doing?
- Are we buying a tool, or fixing a process?
Tune
Measure, refine, repeat. A system that isn’t being tuned is already drifting.
You have it when: there’s a regular moment to review results, and the list gets updated.
Common trap: calling it done after launch.
Questions to ask
- What will tell us this is working, and when will we look?
- What did we learn that changes the list?
- What’s the next constraint now that this one moved?
Where LIFT shows up
- Talks and workshops: every session is built on it.
- Advisory: strategy sessions and leadership workshops follow the four steps.
- Builds: what the Fuel step looks like when the answer is a system.
What LIFT is not
- Not a software product or a subscription.
- Not an AI pitch. AI is one possible fuel among several.
- Not a one-time audit. The T is there for a reason.
Bring LIFT to your team
As a keynote, a hands-on workshop or a private leadership session.
Selected builds
Real systems, described honestly.
No client names, and no numbers I can’t stand behind. Where something is built but not yet measured, I say so. Implementation runs through Ideation Digital.
Live application · Independent restaurants
Plates That Pay
The problem
Independent restaurant owners often price menus from rough estimates and spreadsheets. Ingredient costs move constantly, and it’s hard to see which dishes actually make money.
What it does
A working web app. Owners upload their menu and snap photos of supplier invoices. The app works out what each dish costs to make, shows which dishes are earning their place, and gives pricing guidance where margins are thin.
Status
Live and working at platesthatpay.com.
Good AI removes friction from a decision people already make. It shouldn’t add another tool to babysit.
See the app →Built · Independent insurance agency
Legacy CRM, Modern Layer
The problem
An insurance agency runs on a very old agency management system (AMS) holding about 30 years of records. Moving decades of data out of it would be slow, risky and expensive.
What was built
A connector that bridges the AMS and GoHighLevel, giving the agency modern CRM capabilities (follow-up automation, pipeline visibility, communication tracking) without migrating its data.
Scope
The AMS stays the system of record. The connector doesn’t replace it or remove every limit of an older system. It lets the two work together.
Sometimes the right answer isn’t replacing the old system. It’s making old and new work together.
Built · Contractor
Contractor Procurement System
The problem
Finding and vetting bid opportunities took roughly 8–10 hours a week of manual research.
What it does
A custom procurement intelligence system that automates opportunity discovery, screening and review. The AI model behind it can be swapped as tools and prices change.
Intended outcome
Substantially less manual research, and more consistent identification of relevant opportunities.
Measured outcome
Not measured yet. I’ll share results once there’s enough data to stand behind.
Automate the searching and sorting, so skilled people spend their time on the calls that need judgment.
Earlier work
The framework that came before LIFT
Before LIFT, I taught a three-part framework focused on getting businesses ready for AI. If you saw it in an earlier talk or article, it’s archived here with a note on how it evolved.