What happens when a long‑haul airline captain turns consultant and discovers a tool that “talks” strategy, not just presents it? That’s precisely what Barry Eustance of The Sixsess Consultancy walked into — and why he became our first “Grandmaster” user of StratNav. In this conversation with Chris Fox, he reveals how StratNav transformed his consulting practice — and why it should matter to every serious consultant and business leader.
Why This Conversation Matters
-
It’s not just a testimonial — it’s a journey from scepticism to advocacy.
-
It shows how the theory of strategy can be embodied in accessible, living software (not stuck in PowerPoint).
-
It reveals how a consultant’s competitive advantage increasingly becomes the tools they choose.
-
It gives framing and language that you — as a consultant or executive — can borrow when explaining StratNav (or any strategic tool) to clients or stakeholders.
The Backstory: Pilot → Consultant → Innovator
Barry’s background is compelling: a 50‑year aviation career, airline captain, union leader, and later a strategist working in change & transformation. He describes the transition as natural — in both aviation and business, you must chart a course, monitor, adapt, and ensure people believe in the journey.
He says:
“One of the analogies I constantly return to is flying. You’ve got to keep flying the airplane while managing the situation. The first officer may fly while the captain manages the bigger picture.”
That analogy recurs repeatedly in the conversation — and it is worth quoting because it so neatly mirrors strategic practice.
In his consulting work, Barry built a methodology called People Change Leadership, with “PEOPLE” as an acronym (People‑centric change, Empowerment, Optimisation, Purpose, Learning, Embedding). But even with that, he found the topic of how strategy elements tie together was often messy in practice.
Discovering StratNav: The “Sandpit” Experiment
Barry recounts how he discovered StratNav via #stratChat (a weekly Zoom for strategy discussion). Curious, he decided to test it in a “sandbox,” modeling an airline recapitalization strategy. He was struck by how the components of strategy (vision, mission, business model, KPIs, scenario thinking) were all linked — not just separate boxes.
He says:
“It was genius. Because I’d been searching for months — using PowerPoints and spreadsheets — but this was a four‑dimensional structural device that allowed innovation, creativity, alignment, measurement.”
That phrase, “four‑dimensional,” matters. For Barry, strategy isn’t static — it’s spatial and temporal, with models talking to each other and feeding into the next meeting or review cycle.
Clients found it awe‑inspiring. They could see strategy live, evolving, not locked in slide decks.
What Makes StratNav Distinct — Through Barry’s Lens
From the conversation, a few distinctive qualities of StratNav emerge:
| Feature | Why It Matters | Barry’s Framing / Example |
|---|---|---|
| Integrated models | Strategy tools (SWOT, PESTLE, BCG, Ansoff, Business Model Canvas, KPIs) usually live in silos. A unified structure helps avoid disjointed thinking. | “You’ve got a strategy alternative matrix without SWOT, or vice versa, but everything is talking to each other.” |
| Meeting / capture integration | Many tools leave meeting notes, actions, insights disconnected from the strategy model. That leads to loss, friction, rework. | The meeting facility + ReadAI captures minutes, actions, links them to the model, carries them forward, makes them time‑bound. |
| Always saving / real time model | No risk of “losing things” or sticker shock when you close a file. | “It’s always saving itself… you’re no more than a couple of clicks away from almost every answer.” |
| Mobile / on‑the‑go capture | Strategy ideas don’t always wait for the office. | Barry says he now carries StratNav in his pocket — ideas from midnight thoughts, team collaboration, all in sync. |
| Continuous feedback / evolution | The system not only stores but begins to assist — suggesting and stitching between meetings. | Chris describes a future where “the software is busy stitching together the ideas that came out of the first conversation, prepping you for the second.” |
In Barry’s words:
“I described StratNav as to strategy what QuickBooks is to accounting — always on, always available.”
That's a powerful positioning.
The Consultant’s Edge
One of Barry’s central claims is that there will increasingly be two types of consultants:
“Those who use StratNav and those who don’t.”
He argues that using StratNav gives structural, delivery, and credibility advantages — especially in multi‑session transformation or strategy engagements. It helps:
-
Embed discipline — clients see the rigour, not just the rhetoric.
-
Accelerate alignment — because the strategy is visible, dynamic, shared.
-
Free consultants to think — when admin, note capture, linkage is automated, the consultant can focus on insight, facilitation, challenge.
-
Create a lifetime asset — the strategy is not a slide deck that ends; it becomes the living flight deck the organisation returns to.
As Chris puts it, consultants help “worry about the process” so business leaders can focus on the insights. StratNav further automates and scaffolds that process.
Strategic Analogies That Stick
The flying analogies in the conversation are not flippant — they are functional and instructional:
-
Flight deck for your business — Barry: “You had lots of computers all talking to each other — condensing that information — and working predictively. That's the time element.”
-
Keep flying the airplane while you solve the problem — the operational must not be sacrificed when strategy is messy.
-
Fuel gauges, alternates, leakage detection — in business, you must build in real‑time metrics, contingency plans, feedback loops.
-
Quadruple dimensionality — current state, future projection, feedback loops, temporal evolution.
These analogies make strategy tangible for clients who may otherwise see it as esoteric theory. Use them. They’ll resonate.
Strategic Takeaways & Advice
Here are some takeaways, tailored for consultants, executives, and founders reading this post:
-
Stop treating strategy as slides you show. Build into your process a living, evolving model that’s co-owned by client and consultant.
-
Automate what you can so you can focus on value. Meetings, note capture, linking to models, next‑meeting prep — these are mechanical, but costly in time and lost meaning.
-
Adopt the “flight deck” mindset. Your strategy tool should give you real‑time control, feedback, and anomaly detection, not static plans.
-
Use analogies. Airline analogies are especially powerful for clients — they bridge the abstract to the concrete.
-
Invite client co‑creation. The best strategy emerges when they can see, adjust, critique, and move parts of the model.
-
Don’t neglect governance & metrics. Many strategies founder because the “fuel gauges” are missing.
-
Iterate. Fail fast. Pivot. The purpose of a strategic tool is to enable learning as you go, not lock you into some rigid plan.
Ready to Elevate Your Consulting Practice?
If you're still building strategy in PowerPoint and Excel, you're flying blind. StratNav gives you — and your clients — a real-time flight deck for strategic clarity, alignment, and impact.
Whether you're advising startups or transforming enterprises, StratNav helps you:
-
Build integrated, dynamic strategy models your clients can actually use
-
Save hours with AI-enhanced meeting capture and planning tools
-
Win client confidence with a world-class, structured process
-
Move from static slides to a living, breathing strategic platform
🎯 As Barry Eustance puts it: “There will be two types of consultants — those who use StratNav and those who don’t.”
Don't get left behind.
- Try StratNav for free today
- Book a personal demo and see it in action
- Or book a strategy call to discuss how StratNav can support your practice.
