Deconstruct programs to build better outcomes
Hugh is fascinated by three “hows.” How is it put together? How can it be taken apart? How can it be simplified to improve it? This is not about physical assets, although his engineering background certainly equips him to understand these. Rather, it’s about unpicking program complexity to “see the wood for the trees”, shape the true problem statement that might not be the one originally envisaged, and identify opportunities to deliver sustainable legacies beyond the program goals. And whether Hugh is working on major programs like Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 in the UK, or steadily climbing each of the 282 munroes where he lives in his spare time, he is, as he puts it, “very determined to get the job done.”
Stories, cultures, people: listen and learn
Hugh is clear that advising on major global programs is an intensely human discipline, shaped by culture, experience, and personal engagement. “You need to be able to build close working relationships that enable you to have honest conversations,” he says, “but you also need to be receptive to stories and learnings from both your and others’ pasts.”
Sensitivity to local language and customs plays a huge part in this, as he discovered in major change projects in Asia. But whatever and wherever the program, “what gets me up in the morning,” Hugh says, “is working with clever, dynamic people. That makes me up my game to deliver better outcomes for clients and communities, and their environments.”
Face the future, deliver social good
What, then, keeps Hugh awake at night? “I’m always thinking 25 years ahead and asking myself ‘what will change in that time that we mustn’t overlook?’” he explains. “It’s why I place so much importance not just on generating insight from facts and data, but on testing it using hypotheses.”
For Hugh, a great program delivers benefits outside the box. The UK High Speed 1 rail link he worked on, for example, helped regenerate one of the poorest parts of East London – a sustainable legacy that has changed lives. He was also able to take the learnings from the end of that program into advising the start of the next great high speed rail challenge, High Speed 2, which is set to level up the UK and deliver social good well into the future.