Our Story
Whishaw Enterprises is founded upon a frustration. That may sound like an odd introduction, however here's the story:
Making the tech fit:
Edward's Story
Since a young age, Edward has been adept with Tech. In his teens (in the late 1980s) he developed database systems on platforms now consigned to history, such as dBase II. He had to hard code printing capabilities, as drivers had not been created yet (this is before Windows 3.1).
Nonetheless, with perseverance and some late nights error-checking long, dot-matrix printouts of code, his software supported an archival storage business for over 10 years. Subsequent software delivered a bespoke accounting solution to a family-based nursing care business.
Whilst Edward's employment since has not focussed upon tech, he has spent his career helping others understand the systems they use and finding ways to make it work better. He now works in the Information and Technology branch of a large organisation, working from the inside-out, running a team delivering Digital Change, Transformation and Exploitation.
"Organisations often don't understand the capability of what they already have: and when new capabilities come along, they don't change their culture and behaviours. Tech solutions don't deliver benefits - people do."
User-First Approach
Bring People to the Centre of your Business
Managers have to deal with acute business risks or issues: i.e. those with a high impact that have to be made a business priority.
Your people, however, may deal with little frustrations on a day-to-day basis, week in week out: the chronic issues.
These enduring frustrations, like any chronic pain, will build and build: leading to impacts upon workforce wellbeing, or eroding the customer experience.
We help you deal with 'chronic pain'
We aim to help you target the chronic issues, whilst management can continue to deal with the acute.
A user-first approach means listening. Everyone's perceptions are important - a rift between perception and truth will likely be a symptom of a deeper problem.
Our approach to your problem will be bespoke: and it all starts with listening. There are a number of ways to then diagnose problems; one such framework looks at What, Who, How:
What are you trying to achieve?
- We would work with you to identify your business processes and how they fit together (Business Analysis), building your 'business picture' top-down and bottom-up.
- This work will identify where there are processes that are nugatory or fall short of adding value to our overall outcomes; as well as finding outcomes are poorly supported by your processes.
Who is delivering and supporting?
- We would work with your people to identify their perceptions of the business and how they view their roles and influence (Stakeholder Analysis), comparing this with the managers' view and building a 'stakeholder picture' top-down an bottom-up.
- Comparing and contrasting these views to identify where employees, stakeholders or managers feel under-valued or over-worked as a result of imbalances.
How is work done?
- Prioritising the most chronic / impacting areas, we help you unpick the detail and find alternatives: this may be as simple as delivering improved training, or it may be adjusting common processes.
- Normally there are solutions that can make more of your current tech solutions without requiring additional expenditure.
Meet the Team
We're in the process of building our company and our team: further team members will be added shortly.
Edward Whishaw
MA (Cantab) MSc (Cranfield)
Sole Trader /
becoming Company Director