Easol gets you moving. HeadStarts is how.
Our evidence-based, action-oriented method for innovation under uncertainty. Built and proven over 15 years on real projects, including our own ventures, so your team reaches a straight answer and can run the next cycle without us.
HeadStarts helps you break out
New ways of thinking
Fresh strategies and tactics that keep you ahead of a market that won’t sit still.
New ways of working
Step out of the status quo and find a better way for your team to decide and deliver.
New products and services
Shape new offers, test them with real people, and take the good ones to market.
How a cycle works
A micro-experiment tied to a real decision.
We don’t run experiments because learning is nice to have. We run them because a decision that matters needs better evidence. Each cycle aligns the team, plans the smallest useful action, and turns what we learn into the next call.
01
Frame the decision
See the problem differently and agree what actually needs deciding.
02
Uncover signals earlier
Surface what matters sooner, and decide where to focus.
03
Test what you believe
Design the smallest useful experiment and learn what customers really need.
04
Build momentum
Turn evidence into a call you can defend, without pretending to be certain.
Where we help
Tailored to the decision in front of you.
Get the right people
Strategic alignment, team transformation and change, with fractional senior talent when you need it.
Fractional talent
Strategic alignment
Team transformation
Change management
Stakeholder strategy
Partnership strategy
Build the right product
From creative problem solving to proof of concept, maturing the business, customer and technology in step.
Innovation strategy
User research
Concept design
Concept development
Proof of concept
Innovation pull-through
Tell the right story
Make the case land with the people who decide, grounded in the voice of the user.
Strategic storytelling
Voice of the user
Value proposition
Market positioning
Concept visualisation
Futures thinking
The method
Balanced
We mature the business, customer and technology sides of an idea in lockstep, so what you build is viable, desirable and feasible.
Evidence-based
HeadStarts starts with what you already have. We gather the emerging evidence and align the team on an agreed way forward.
Iterative and action-oriented
Momentum comes from doing. Short cycles of alignment, planning and action leave room for what emerges along the way.
What our clients say
“I was looking for someone to come on the journey with me. Easol were like part of my own team, and advised me on what was best even when it meant less work for them, because they cared about the success of my company.”
Kimberly Abbott, Founder and CEO, Vested Impact
HeadStarts in the open
Read the method in practice.
All articles
HeadStarts
The HeadStarts Cycle: Turning Insight into Strategic Action
· The Easol Team
HeadStarts
The most common mistakes teams make when facing complexity
Complex challenges demand more than quick fixes. Discover the common mistakes teams make when navigating complexity and how approaches like experimentation, feedback, and systems thinking lead to better outcomes.
· Mike Oliver
HeadStarts
HeadStarts: The Theory Behind the Practice
· Rose-Sharon Chin
Bring us the idea you keep deferring.
We’ll tell you honestly whether HeadStarts is the right fit, and what the first cycle would look like.
Take the next step