guy kedar

Clarity that moves, outcomes that matter

I’m Guy Kedar – a facilitator of strategic clarity.

I help leaders and teams get unstuck: turning complexity into clarity, surfacing new perspectives, aligning on what matters, and translating visions into outcomes.

For over 20 years, I’ve supported strategic, innovation, & transformation challenges across industries — from global organisations like IKEA, Marriott, and Allianz to dozens of early-stage startups.

Previously global strategist and innovation lead at WPP, I’m now the co-founder of The Next Now — a studio that helps organisations move from vision to execution by discovering where to play and how to win.

Always curious. Occasionally contrarian. Relentlessly human.

Across organisations and sectors, the same three tensions keep returning:

1. Misalignment around priorities and direction

2. A vision that’s inspiring but not actionable

3. Teams working hard but not delivering real outcomes.

This is where I step in.

Gain Clarity, drive outcomes

  • A one-day facilitated workshop that aligns key stakeholders around shared priorities and a clear path forward.

    Through structured discussion and guided exercises, we surface challenges, uncover opportunities, and establish a unified direction.

    By the end of the day, you walk away with a strategic reset - clarity, alignment, and renewed momentum.

    Tools we may use:

    • Ecosystem mapping

    • Opportunity framing & problem reframing

    • Jobs-to-be-Done

    • Value vs Effort / Impact vs Confidence grids

    • Speedboat retrospectives

  • Over several days, we unpack your strategy - whether business, product, or marketing - explore options, surface hidden blockers, identify the key jobs worth focusing on, pressure-test assumptions, and build the shared understanding needed to move forward with confidence.

    We finish with a clear strategic focus and an actionable execution roadmap your team can use immediately.

    Tools we may use:

    • Fast-turnaround stakeholder interviews

    • Jobs-to-be-Done mapping

    • Value Proposition Canvas

    • Opportunity Solution Trees

    • Scenario exploration & backcasting

  • From one-day workshops to multi-week programs, I design and deliver hands-on sessions that help teams drive meaningful outcomes — not just outputs — and focus their energy on what truly matters.

    Taking a learning-by-doing approach, these workshops blend mindset shifts and practical methods to spark clarity, collaboration, and momentum around shared goals and measurable impact.

    Sample Modules:
    • How to create meaningful products & services
    • How to design outcome-focused workflows
    • How to de-risk innovation and make smarter bets

    Tools we may use:

    • Customer journey and pain-point mapping

    • Rapid prototyping and idea validation

    • Outcome vs. output framing

    • Opportunity-Solution trees

    • Impact-effort or confidence-value prioritisation grids

Some kind words

Guy brings rare value as a strategic advisor who helps leaders and teams shift from short-term firefighting to long-term, resilient growth - guiding product strategy within a broader end-to-end business vision.

Simone Papa, Global Head of Digital Products, Energy services and Food at IKEA

The way Guy helped align leadership, clarify vision, and rebuild team dynamics was seriously impressive and had transformative effect.

Axel Dumont, strategic advisor; former President Canada at Cossette Media

A genuine game-changer. The strategy session didn't just capture every voice; it propelled our team past siloed thinking into big-picture strategy. The outcome was clear priorities and significantly improved alignment

Christoph Pleitgen, Managing Director at the Westerwelle Foundation

Flavours of my work

  • Developing product strategies for IKEA digital

    Through a series of workshops, I helped IKEA’s Digital Food venture craft a clear vision and product portfolio strategy, giving both leadership and product team members sharper focus and alignment. Following the impact of this work, I was asked to repeat the process for IKEA’s Renewable Energy Solutions venture. Subsequent periodic workshops helped the team refocus, align, and ensure they were set up to deliver the desired objectives.

  • Securing buy-in for a new digital service portal

    The CTO of a leading German professional services firm had a vision for a new digital client service portal but struggled to secure buy-in. I led an internal discovery sprint to define the portal’s real commercial value and turned the insights into a business case and strategic narrative that reframed the portal’s role for the organisation. This clarity gave the board the confidence to approve the initiative and empowered the CTO with a mandate to move forward.

  • developing a product strategy in finance

    Helped one of Europe’s leading telecom providers develop the proposition and strategy for a new financial product. Led a team that prototyped the concept and tested both market desirability and business viability, ultimately identifying product–market fit and shaping the go-to-market strategy.

  • Unlocking Buy-In for a Global Platform Initiative

    The CIO and CTO of a global insurance group aimed to develop a unified global data platform but faced resistance from several operating companies that didn’t see its value. Through an intensive one-week sprint, I identified the root causes of the pushback and facilitated a collaborative workshop that enabled all stakeholders to co-create an aligned vision and execution strategy. This alignment unlocked momentum and set the foundation for successful implementation.

  • Driving Transformation for a Media Publisher

    Facilitated an intensive one-week sprint to help a leading Canadian publisher reshape its offering and sales strategy, strengthening its market positioning and commercial appeal amid rising digital competition. The process aligned leadership around a clear direction and equipped the organisation with a detailed, actionable roadmap to drive the required change.

  • Capability Building for High-Performing Teams

    Designed and delivered multiple workshops to upskill teams from several global leading brands, teaching methods such as Jobs to Be Done, design thinking, systems thinking, and outcome-focused workflows. These sessions helped teams identify areas of focus, uncover synergies and dependencies, and make clear decisions on the best paths forward.

Let’s talk

Whether you’d like to learn more about my work, share a challenge your or your team are facing, or explore how to get everyone aligned and moving with purpose - I’d love to connect and see how I can help.

guy kedar