Operations Consultant

You've done the hard part.
I help make the next part easier.

You grew.

What got you here was talent, hard work, and a team that figured things out together. That works at the start. But at some point figuring it out together stops being enough. The team is bigger. The stakes are higher. And the things that lived in people's heads need to live somewhere else.

That's where I come in.

30+ years in operations
Cisco Systems · PMP
$40M+ revenue protected
Remote · US & Canada
The noise

You stopped noticing it.
I find it.

You know that moment when the HVAC shuts off?

It's a regular afternoon. You're at your desk, working through your list. Nothing dramatic. Just another Tuesday.

The HVAC shuts off. The office goes quiet in a way you didn't know was possible. You hadn't noticed the noise. It was just there. Always there. So constant it became invisible.

That's what operational friction feels like. Not a crisis. Just Tuesday. Every Tuesday. Your staff learns to work around it. You learn to work around it. And slowly it becomes the cost of doing business.

Your staff shouldn't have to be that good at their jobs just to get through the day. They shouldn't have to find the one person who knows before they can move forward. Putting out fires should be the exception. Not the job.

You're not juggling fewer balls. You just don't have to juggle them all at once.

Business is supposed to be hard. It doesn't have to be that hard.

How it works

I don't come in with answers.
I come in with questions.

I talk to the people setting the goals. Then I talk to the people doing the work. Those two stories are almost never the same. The gap between them is where the noise lives.

1
I listen first
I talk to you about what you're trying to do. Sometimes that's easy. Sometimes the problem is hard to put into words - you just know something isn't working. That's fine. Helping you find the words is part of the work. Then I talk to the people doing the work. Those two conversations are almost never the same. The gap between them is where the answers live.
2
I find what's creating friction
I look for the spots where things slow down, get confusing, or depend on one person to work. I keep asking questions until the picture is clear.
3
We fix it together
We build something simple that your team can follow. No complicated systems. No tools that take months to learn. Just a clear process that works.
4
I write everything down
Everything gets documented in plain language. If someone leaves, the process stays. If someone new starts, they can follow it from day one.
5
I make sure your team is comfortable
I don't just hand over a document and leave. I train your team, answer their questions, and make sure they feel confident before I go.
Who I help

Does any of this sound
like your week?

You built something real. It works. It's growing. And somewhere along the way the job became something nobody fully planned for.

Every day feels like the same day
Your team is solving the same problems they solved last week. Nobody wrote down the answer, so everyone starts from scratch every time.
You're catching all the balls
You're not dropping anything. You're just the one who has to catch everything. That's not a people problem. That's a process problem.
Someone just gave notice
And they're taking half your process with them. Everything they know lives in their head. There's no manual. There's just them.
The new software didn't fix it
You bought a new tool and the old problems came with it. The process underneath was never sorted out. The noise just moved.
James Dickson
James Dickson
Operations Consultant · PMP
30+ years in operations
Cisco Systems
Canadian National Railway
PMP Certified · 2022
BBA · 2013
About me

I'm not a consultant
who shows up with a plan.

I show up with questions.

I talk to the people setting the goals and the people doing the work. Those two conversations are almost never the same. The gap between them is where the real work begins.

I spent 30 years in operations - railway, enterprise technology, and eventually Cisco, where I ran programs across some of the largest and most complex organizations in the world. Banks. Hospitals. Government agencies. Military installations. Places where getting the process wrong had real consequences.

What I learned in all of it is the same thing every time. The work isn't broken. It's just never been properly written down. Everyone knows how things work. It just lives in people's heads. And the moment that person is unavailable - or moves on - the knowledge goes with them.

I fix that. I find what's running on tribal knowledge, write it down in plain language, and make sure your team can follow it without asking you first.

I work the way a craftsman works. I come in, I do the job properly, and I leave you with something that runs without me. That's the whole point.

Based in Illinois. Moving to Victoria BC in fall 2026. Available remotely across the US and Canada.

What I offer

I turn tribal knowledge into
easy to follow processes.

Four ways to work together. Bundles save 15% versus a la carte. And if you want your documentation to stay current after we're done, there's a lightweight monthly option for that too. All work starts with a free 20-minute call.

Complete Transformation

Everything. Full discovery, complete documentation, team training, plus process maps, quick reference cards, a new hire onboarding checklist, and two check-in calls after handoff. The most complete engagement I offer.

$20,000
fixed price
Everything included
  • Find & Fix - full discovery
  • Complete process documentation
  • Team training and Q&A
  • Process maps and flowcharts
  • Quick reference cards
  • New hire onboarding checklist
  • One decision tree
  • 30-day and 60-day check-in calls
Most popular
Full Process

Discovery, documentation, and training in one defined engagement. Includes a decision tree and a 30-day check-in call. This is what most clients need and the best value I offer.

$12,500
fixed price
Save ~15% vs. a la carte
What's included
  • Find & Fix - full discovery
  • Complete process documentation
  • Team training and Q&A
  • One decision tree
  • 30-day check-in call
A La Carte

Each service stands on its own. Start with Find & Fix and decide what makes sense from there. No commitment beyond the current phase.

From $175/hr
Individual services
  • Find & Fix · $175/hr or fixed scope
  • Write it Down · from $7,500 fixed
  • Teach it to Your Team · from $3,500 fixed
Process Maintenance

For clients who want their documentation to stay current. New staff, changed processes, new decision trees - handled on an ongoing basis. A small monthly commitment that keeps everything running the way it should.

$600
per month
4 hrs/month · $150/hr effective rate
What's covered
  • Documentation updates as processes change
  • New hire orientation support
  • Additional decision trees as needed
  • Monthly check-in call
  • Additional hours at $175/hr

Available to clients who have completed a Full Process or Complete Transformation engagement.

Good to know

Fixed prices are confirmed after the initial Find & Fix engagement, once we both understand the scope. You'll always know the number before work begins. Every engagement starts with a free 20-minute call. No pitch. I ask a few questions, you ask a few, and we figure out together what makes sense. No surprises.

Real results

Here's what the work
looks like in practice.

The best way to understand what I do is to see what happened when I did it.

Proof · What I build keeps working after I leave
Three different problems.
Same result every time.
The real test of any process is whether it runs without you.
The Software Update Program

I needed to step away from my role at Cisco for six weeks. I was running the software update program for the entire Webex platform - banks, hospitals, government agencies, military installations. I was the only person with the whole picture. I had to build something that would run without me. It did. Six weeks. Not a single call.

The Cancellation Process

A team at Cisco was losing revenue through gaps in their cancellation process. Different people made different decisions. Customers got different answers. I wrote the rules - clear enough that anyone could follow them. The revenue stopped leaking. The team ran it without me.

$8M+ revenue protected
Post-Sales Provisioning

Provisioning was handled differently by every person who touched it. Edge cases landed on senior leaders. I mapped the actual process, standardized every step, documented every exception. New people could follow it from day one. Senior leaders stopped being the answer to everything.

Zero escalations
Experience

30 years of figuring out
what actually works.

Cisco Systems
Senior Operations Leader
2020 – 2025

Led revenue lifecycle operations across a global, regulated environment. Built the decision and accountability systems that removed senior leaders from daily exception handling and protected $40M+ in revenue.

SaaS · Global Operations
Enterprise IoT
Customer Operations Lead
2009 – 2020

Built and ran customer operations for a technology platform where failures had real legal and safety consequences. Designed the systems that kept operations running when things went sideways.

10 years · High-stakes ops
Canadian National Railway
Operations & Field Leadership
1987 – 2009

22 years leading operational teams where getting it wrong had real consequences. Built the instincts and discipline that only come from working in a place where safety and compliance are non-negotiable.

22 years · Safety-critical
What people say

From people I've
worked with.

Real recommendations from colleagues at Cisco and previous roles.

"

He brought structure where there wasn't any, kept the project on track, and helped align multiple stakeholders around shared goals without overcomplicating things. He was the one people turned to for solutions that actually worked.

Tim Collins
Principal Consultant, Business Development
Worked together at Cisco · 2025
"

James is one of those rare individuals who is not only incredibly hardworking and dedicated but also an amazing leader. He genuinely cares about the people he works with and always goes above and beyond to support his team.

Simone Richards, PMP, CSM
Project Manager, Cisco
Worked together at Cisco · 2025
"

His ability to navigate complex challenges and deliver tailored solutions was instrumental in enhancing our service offerings. A person of integrity and dedication who fosters a collaborative team environment.

Jason D Mann
Senior Commercial & Product Leader
Former colleague · 2025
"

He leads by example, earning respect through his actions and clear communication. Always asking insightful questions and ensuring processes are well-documented and easy to follow. Keeps the customer at the heart of every decision.

Renee Spencer
Business Operations Manager
Worked together at Cisco · 2025
Get in touch
I find the noise.
I make it stop.

Business is supposed to be hard. It doesn't have to be that hard.

Start with a free 20-minute call. No pitch. I'll ask a few questions, you ask a few. We'll both know pretty quickly if it makes sense to work together.

Remote across the US and Canada. Short engagements. Defined scope. No surprises.

Emailjames.dickson625@outlook.com Phone779-422-2053 LinkedInjames-dickson-pmp