Some people work on a satellite network and decide to go to Mars. I worked on one and moved to Greyton. From here, in the Valley of Grace in South Africa’s Western Cape, I help catchments and their landowners make the water held in living land worth paying for, and I publish how it is done.
The view from orbit
I was part of the launch of Iridium, the satellite phone network that covers the whole planet, poles and oceans included [MS]. My work was systems integration for its gateways, the ground stations where the network meets the telephone systems of a particular place: the South Pacific gateway in Melbourne, the head office and North American gateway in Reston, Virginia, and the South American gateway in Mexico City [MS].
The satellites passed calls between them in orbit, and the system worked. Too few people believed they needed it, and the company went bankrupt within a year of launch; new owners and a defence contract rescued it [IC]. That taught me the first lesson of this work: supply without belief goes nowhere.
I left before the collapse. Alchemists develop a nose for these things.
As good as paper
From January 2007 to July 2010 I was Managing Director of Striata UK, building the business across the UK and continental Europe in secure document delivery for regulated industries [MS]. At Striata we worked with Barclays, HSBC, Hutchison 3G, Western Union, O2, BT, Vodafone and Bank of America [MS].
The real work was persuading banks, telecoms companies, regulators and the people receiving the documents to accept an emailed statement as good as a paper one. Even recipients found it hard at first. That was my own Bretton Woods, and the second lesson: belief holds once an institution stands behind it.
Forty years of apprenticeship
Those were two chapters in more than forty years of change management, telecommunications and systems integration, across several countries [MS]. I have also advised leaders and families privately; their names stay private.
This site marks my sixtieth birthday, and I treat it as the halfway mark. Everything before was training wheels and practice runs. This site starts the second half, and it begins with letters.
The valley
The valley is where the lessons were tested, and it remains the proof site. In September 2026 I convened the first meeting of the Ward 2 Business and Community Development Forum, with Stalin Govender of Theewaterskloof Municipality [IC]. We got parties into the room who had not spoken to each other before, and the Forum agreed five priorities and meets every two months [IC]. I have hosted four international visitors who came to see the work [MS].
The Forum’s register keeps the record of that work, including my part in it. What the valley teaches travels: the method is written for any catchment.
What others have said
Michael quickly demonstrated that he is an adept systems thinker. I’ve been impressed by his ability to simplify and clarify a complex and systemic project approach.
Tom Harper, Managing Director and Circular Economy Lead, Unusual Industries Ltd., London
Michael has a brilliantly inquiring mind. He is also courageous and committed.
Neil Crofts, Culture and Change Consultant, Co-founder, Holos Change Ltd., London
He is not only a critical voice for our times, but a collaborative force for our future.
Eli Ingraham, then CEO, Center for Partnership Systems, Massachusetts
How I work
I write with AI, openly, and publish the method that way too. The AI use page says how.
Facts on this page carry a tag: [IC] when two independent sources or an official record confirm them, [MS] when they come from my own account.