Your company is scaling.

Your systems should too.

Operational clarity for tech scale-ups who’ve outgrown “winging it”, so decisions happen faster, teams run autonomously, and growth doesn't break everything.

Scale without becoming the bottleneck.

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The Painting Done Framework

  • Stop being the bottleneck with the Painting Done Framework

  • Set Clear Expectations in 10 mins, so your team knows exactly what “done” looks like without you in every decision.

  • Stop wasting 15 + hours a week currently lost to rework, misunderstandings, and “quick questions.”

  • Get the proven framework used by 100 + tech leaders

What’s inside

  • The 4 Painting Questions that make “done” unmissable

  • Real Before and After examples from tech teams

  • A plug-and-play template you can use with your team this week

My mission.

Help scaling tech companies replace founder-dependent chaos with clear operating systems, so decisions speed up, teams execute without you, and top talent stays.
Because well-designed ways of working create trust, belonging, and growth that scales.

How I help you work better

As you grow, complexity explodes, but clarity can scale too.

I design practical operating systems (not rigid processes or HR theatre) that let teams make decisions, collaborate, and deliver without you in every conversation.

My discovery-led approach: Bring the right people together → surface real workflow gaps → build repeatable ways of working that stick.

Result: Aligned people + systems + leadership = faster decisions, sustainable growth, no burnout.

Explore how I work

What This Looks Like in Practice

I don’t sell theory or off-the-shelf frameworks.
I design operating systems that change how people work and the results show up fast.

  • The challenge
    Leadership believed new joiners weren’t reaching productivity fast enough and weren’t adopting the desired culture.

    The insight
    This wasn’t an onboarding issue.
    When tenured creative and tech employees walked the same journey, the same gaps appeared, unclear expectations, no shared definition of “done,” and siloed ways of working. The culture leaders described didn’t match the culture people were operating inside.

    What changed
    I redesigned onboarding as a behavioural system, not an information dump:

    • Clear expectations for how work flows and decisions are made

    • Shared language for collaboration across teams

    • Human-led retrospectives embedded into cross-team rhythms

    The impact

    • Time-to-productivity reduced from 90 to 45 days

    • Silos broken between creative and tech teams

    • Higher trust, engagement, and faster client delivery

    Hard truth surfaced:
    “This isn’t a new joiner problem, it’s a systemic culture gap.

  • The challenge
    Performance conversations were inconsistent, promotions felt opaque, and leaders were stuck in escalation loops.

    The insight
    People weren’t underperforming they were navigating invisible standards. Performance was tied to individuals instead of clearly defined roles.

    What changed
    I rebuilt performance as a system people could trust:

    • Role clarity separating the person from the role

    • Transparent promotion criteria and progression standards

    • Manager capability uplift to enable autonomous decisions

    The impact

    • 25% reduction in attrition, saving rehiring and training costs

    • Fewer promotion conflicts and escalations

    • Executives freed from multi-layer sign-offs

  • The challenge
    Key stakeholder projects were stalling due to unclear ownership, senior/junior tension, and inconsistent collaboration.

    The insight
    Work wasn’t breaking down due to effort or skill, decision rights and prioritisation rules were invisible.

    What changed
    I introduced clear operating rhythms:

    • Defined prioritisation, collaboration, and communication protocols

    • Benchmarked skills and seniority expectations

    • Monthly retrospectives with a human lens to sustain change

    The impact

    • Noticeable improvements within weeks

    • Fewer drop-offs and stakeholder frustrations

    • Sustained high performance across 6 months, protecting revenue

Ways to work with me

  • Identify & Fix Critical Breakpoints in 4 Weeks.

    • Analyse your working patterns, identify bottlenecks and map out optimisation opportunities.

    • Custom backlog, a tailored plan designed for your team, including recommended tools & strategies.

    • Quick Wins immediate, high-impact changes to boost efficiency.

  • The Blueprint: Create Scalable Decisions & Delivery Infrastructure. Drafted human operating models, prioritised workflows, aligned leadership expectations.

  • Monthly tuning as systems evolve with growth.

  • Leadership habits that scale

    • Creating and sustaining psychological safety

    • Empowering inclusive decisions under pressure

    • Building allyship in day to day operations

    Best for: Behaviour change + EDI delivery, not box-ticking.

View Blueprint Details

My story

A woman with long hair smiling at the camera, wearing a black top and a necklace, with a brick wall background.

Hi, I’m Lydia,

After 15+ years leading and advising global teams through rapid growth, I noticed the same pattern repeat itself:

Companies invested heavily in product and delivery, but assumed people would simply “keep up.”

I’m AuDHD, which means I notice the unspoken rules, invisible expectations, and decision friction that quietly slow teams down and exclude capable people.

Over time, I realised these weren’t people problems.
They were system problems.

That’s why I design operating systems that help teams think, decide, and deliver without everything flowing back to leadership.

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Notes on Scaling Teams

This is for founders, operators, and people leaders navigating growth without a map.

I share what I’m seeing in real time, conversations with founders, experiments inside scaling teams, and practical reflections on how human systems succeed or fail during growth.

No spam. No fluff. Just honest insight for leaders navigating scale.

Join the conversation.