About me
Howdy! I’m currently helping orgs accelerate the process by which they make and learn from product / service decisions.
Want to grab a tea or have a chat? Get in touch: spencer@october.systems. You can also follow me on Mastodon or LinkedIn.
My work-life has mostly focused on exploring how humans navigate complex systems and how we can help them achieve their goals while doing so. This all started with a degree in sociology, during which I wet my toes in digital design with U of T’s Technologies for Aging Gracefully Lab. Then, I got an in-the-consulting-trenches apprenticeship in service design and design consulting at Bridgeable, before learning a bit about wrangling cultural organizational, and systemic complexity while working on energy transition in the Government of Alberta.
Through this work, I’ve built a practice around embedding in a team, helping them build a horizontal view of a problem, and then identifying both north-star, long-term solutions as well as ‘next best steps’ to accelerate learning and further decision-making. I aim to marry the clear-eyed perspective of an outsider with the trust and intimacy that comes from long-term collaboration. I typically find myself working deeply with only a couple co-conspirators a year, and more often than not, with those same folks year over year.
If you’re interested in exploring what conspiracies we might concoct together, please reach out: spencer@october.systems.
My non-work-life is pretty mundane. I have a kiddo under 3, and a dog who is something of a perpetual toddler. I live in an old, WIP house in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in a neighbourhood where they make a lot of TV shows you may have seen. I really enjoy storytelling and tabletop roleplaying games and can probably nerd out about this more than anything else. I also make a mean Jungle Bird 🍹🦜.