Re-introduction: Make Sense, Move Forward
Allow me to re-introduce myself…
For any clients and former colleagues who may have followed my site previously - varda.ie is no more. Welcome to alexmillar.ie!
I’ll continue to trade under Varda Consulting Ltd. but I’ll be working under alexmillar.ie brand going forward.
I felt that the Varda Consulting brand was putting up a subtle barrier between myself and my clients, that I was pretending to be an agency or bigger company when, in reality, Varda Consulting is just me.
I’d like to use this post to talk a little bit about my overall approach and values going forward.
Make Sense, Move Forward
Over the past number of years, I’ve found myself coming to the same realisation again and again. Most organisations don’t suffer from a lack of effort, intelligence, or ambition. What they suffer from is complexity that has quietly gone unchecked.
Processes tend to accumulate and systems get layered. Decisions are made with the best intentions, but without enough space to step back and ask whether things still make sense.
Over time, people become busy rather than effective, reactive rather than deliberate, and exhausted rather than energised.
I’ve spent over a decade working inside that reality myself across different organisations, roles, and industries. I’ve seen transformation project succeed and fail, new tools introduced with promise and then quietly abandoned, and capable people frustrated not by the work itself, but by how hard it had become to simply move things forward.
Why “Make Sense”?
Before progress is possible, things need to make sense.
In practice, this often means slowing down just enough to understand what is actually happening, what people are really doing day-to-day. It means stepping back, untangling assumptions, surfacing constraints, and clarifying what matters versus what merely ‘exists’ because it always has.
“Make Sense” is about about creating a shared understanding of you or your business, simplifying things where possible, and naming problems honestly rather than masking them with jargon or tools. It’s not about perfection or over-analysis; it’s about clarity.
Why “Move Forward”
Clarity on its own isn’t enough, though.
Many organisations and people are already good at diagnosing problems. Where they struggle is turning insight into action, especially action that is realistic and sustainable.
“Move Forward” is about momentum. It’s about making progress that is proportionate, intentional, and respectful of context. Sometimes that means small, targeted changes rather than sweeping transformation. Sometimes it means stopping something altogether. Often, it means choosing the next sensible step instead of the theoretically perfect one.
Moving forward should feel lighter, not heavier.
The Work I Care About
The focus of my work is mature digital transformation. That can be helping organisations get more value from what they already have or helping individuals achieve their personal goals. That might involve process mapping, decision support, system optimisation, coaching, or simply creating space for people to think clearly about how their business operates.
I’m not interested in complexity for its own sake, nor in selling solutions that create more work than they remove. I care about work that respects people’s time, attention, and wellbeing.
That, ultimately, is what Make Sense, Move Forward means to me.