About Me @ Work
My favourite way of working is with people. I especially like using group-based methods with small and large teams, and working with individuals to help them think about their career plans.
Culture and values, renewal, major change, technology, process improvement and restructures have been common themes in my professional roles.
My contribution is grounded in real-world experience and contemporary know-how. I invest in ongoing professional development and I have deep, technical know-how in OD and HR (including, for my sins, Payroll). I also have process owner and process integration experience with HR and OD technology (SAP HR, SuccessFactors and Cornerstone).
I established OD Squared in 2021 after leaving an in-house Talent and Culture Head-of role – Pandemic times. At the time I was starting out in freelance consulting and contracting. This coincided with pre-doctoral studies that have now progressed to a PhD program. My research interest is Animal Rescue with a focus on interorganisational dynamics. I am currently employed in an in-house Head of OD & Capability role.
My professional associations include NIODA, GRA and OD Australia, and I am on the bench with Shilo. and Intendere. I also volunteer with Project Placed.
It won’t be a surprise that as an OD professional, I have an enduring fascination with people, culture and systems. That fascination is the basis for the selection of images displayed on this site.
Backstory
AGRICULTURAL SCIENTIST TO OD SPECIALIST
Where am I from?
I am a part of a Danish Australian family and I grew up in Sydney, Mossman (QLD), Perth and Melbourne. This meant a lot of moving and change; school, community, family connections, associations, friendships and so on – a great backdrop for a career in OD.
My family role models were resourceful and inventive, determined, and disciplined in the way a job (of any kind) was done. Dinner table conversation could take the form of a lively debate, deep enquiry and analysis, or outrageous humour. Few topics were ever really off-limits. Also a great backdrop for OD.
Agricultural Field Manager to L&D Practitioner
After a childhood and adolescence set on a veterinary career, I took a different path at university and ultimately qualified as an Agricultural Scientist and technically, a Woolclasser.
I completed a graduate program with a department store retailer (Myer), developing frontline leader and retailing skills before moving companies and taking up an agriculture sales role, repping for a German chemical manufacturer (Hoechst).
I moved into HR via Technical Training. I worked with reps from other AgChem companies to train Mallee farmers in safe chemical use and then worked with Hoechst colleagues to develop and deliver a High Performance Selling Skills course for ag chemical resellers. For a time I worked in Recruitment Consulting with Tanner Menzies, before returning to Hoechst into an L&D role.
Transition to OD (both kinds)
Hoechst AG embarked on a “Delight Your Customer” programme across its Australian business. In its pursuit of High Performance Self-Managed Teams, it trained its staff, me included, in High Performance work systems, Participative Design, Continuous Improvement and Quality Assurance methods. This blend of new know-how was applied to the redesign of the company’s Plastics operation at Altona, VIC.
After that experience, internal consulting and leadership in Org Development, via Continuous Improvement, became my career choice. I supported the divestment of the Hoechst AG business in Australia via HR due diligence, picked up my first HR technology experience in its joint venture with Clariant, and then moved to Australia Post where I worked in a variety of HR, L&D and OD start-up and project roles over a number of years. This included more work on High Performance Self-Managed Teams, workforce re-skilling and HR technology projects.
Organisation Dynamics, the other OD, became a more conscious feature of my work from the mid 2000s and its theoretical base (applied systems psychodynamics) is an ongoing research interest separate but related to my paid work.
OD Leadership and OD Consulting
I’ve increasingly worked on the establishment and renewal of OD functions in challenging environments, for example where companies have been growing fast or have been engaged in very public turnarounds. My contribution has been as an OD leader / Specialist internal or external consultant, delivering programs of work tied to broader HR and business strategy. It has included tech enablement for Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, L&D and Performance (the two SaaS technologies with which I am most familiar are SuccessFactors and Cornerstone).
From 2021 – 2023 I was engaged in external consulting and contracting in OD, and working as a consultant bid-writer, specialising in Leadership, Culture and Key Personnel responses to tenders. I am currently working in an in-house role as a Head of OD & Capability.
EDUCATION AND ACCREDITATIONS
Tertiary Education
PhD – National Institute of Organisation Dynamics (Current candidate)
Masters in Applied Science (Organisation Dynamics) – RMIT
Graduate Diploma in Applied Science (Web and Internet Computing) – RMIT
Bachelor of Business (HR and Marketing double major) – Monash University
Bachelor of Agricultural Science – University of Melbourne
Micro Credentials (issued by RMIT)
Developing AI Strategy (completing September 2026)
Data Analytics and Visualisation
Design Thinking for Innovation
Accreditations
Hogan Assessments (Completing in Sept-Oct 2026)
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Facilitator incl. AT 1-7
Prosci
Myers Briggs Type Indicator (I and II)
Team Management Systems
The Leadership Circle (Individual and Collective)
DDI Facilitator & Administrator (TSI and IM)
CCL 360 Assessment Suite
Cert IV – Project Management, Workplace Training and Assessment