Threadline is the independent strategic practice of Lee Parkinson.
I help organisations work through questions about direction, change and what might come next.
My work draws on more than 30 years in strategy, creativity, insight and foresight—and a few experiences that don’t fit quite so neatly on a conventional CV.
A slightly unusual route to strategy.
My route here wasn’t particularly direct.
Along the way there was the British Army, electrical engineering, advertising and creative work, before I eventually found my way into planning, strategy and foresight.
They might look like quite different worlds. They are. But looking back, they each left something useful behind.
The Army taught me discipline, strategic thinking and the difference between a strategy and a plan. Engineering taught me to think about systems, relationships and how things work together. Creative work reinforced the value of ideas, imagination and looking at a problem differently.
Strategy turned out to be where those different ways of thinking could come together.
I’ve since held senior strategy and leadership roles, worked with organisations across a wide range of sectors, and taught strategic foresight to executives and MBA students at the University of Canterbury. My work in applied foresight has also been recognised internationally.
Insatiably curious.
I’ve always been curious about what’s over the hill, around the corner and, increasingly, what happens after what happens next.
Someone once described me as a space cadet. I’m not entirely sure it was intended as a compliment.
These days, I’m quite comfortable with it.
Personally led. Built around the challenge.
Every Threadline engagement is led by me.
The truth is, the world isn’t tidy. Problems that look similar on the surface can be very different underneath. So rather than reaching for a cookie-cutter solution, the approach follows the problem and what the work actually needs.
Where specialist expertise would add value, I work with trusted independent collaborators. I’m equally comfortable working alongside a client’s existing team or their chosen specialists.
Beyond the work
I live in Geraldine, South Canterbury, with my wife Gillian and two Brussels Griffons, Martha and Edna.
Away from work, I’m usually cooking something, riding a motorcycle, reading, or disappearing down some new rabbit hole that has caught my attention.
