Case #001: An Introduction to Sleuth.

We’re new here, so best to kick off with an introduction. A little serious, a little banterful, but that’s us. We’re Sleuth. An innovation consultancy with a finely tuned instinct for sales. We are a team that is creatively strategic and strategically creative. We merge creative flair with commercial awareness to solve complex problems and unlock growth in our client’s businesses.

Our story.

The story of Sleuth — as with the story of any startup business — is one of a quest. The idea was born out of disillusionment with the advertising industry and a fascination with Sherlock Holmes. Youthful exuberance coupled with innocent naivety turned that concept into reality.

Bear in mind that we were fresh out of Red & Yellow and Vega — with only marketing and creative qualifications. At times, it felt like we were staring at an enormously complex “Where’s Wally?” puzzle — trying to figure out where our value lay. It’s a useful analogy because it captures the feeling of being absolutely — well — puzzled.

We were eager to prove ourselves, so we went out and sold what we knew. We created everything from websites, to brand identities, campaigns and explainer videos. We hustled hard and did what we could to please our clients.

The issue was that the problems we were encountering in their businesses were symptoms of much bigger issues — the types of problems that branding, advertising and marketing cannot solve.

We had the right intentions: grow our business by growing our client’s business. While that’s a ‘catchy’ marketing claim, and sounds good in theory, we knew we had to dig deeper. We had to evolve our business in order to have a commercial impact on our client’s businesses.

Our evolution.

Over the last three years of Sleuth’s existence, we’ve spoken to business owners and leaders about their business and the challenges they faced. We’ve listened to them talk about their pains, fears and frustrations. These conversations have helped us gain clarity and a heightened awareness of the value that businesses are seeking.

We realised that they weren’t necessarily after a website, a social media campaign or new brand identity, but are rather looking to achieve the desired business outcome. They were after the results of what that might bring to their business — growth. It’s as simple as that.

This realisation brought to light a hard reality: we did not have the competencies to develop the systems and processes necessary to deliver the kind of sustainable growth we wanted to help our clients achieve.

It was a bitter pill to swallow but we had to face facts. The way we were doing business was remarkably similar to agencies in an industry we were looking to shake up. So, in full commitment to our own evolution, we acquired skills — and talent — that were vital to our own business’s growth.

To balance out the creative flair that was initially at the heart of Sleuth, we brought on an industrial engineer, a business science graduate and an organisational psychologist. The addition of these people helped us imagine, design and build out the innovation consultancy we are today.

Our team.

It’s taken us a couple of years, but now we know who we are and where our value lies.

We engineer business growth through innovation. We evolve businesses through empathy and inquiry by shifting the way business leaders think and feel about their business, customer, and market.

How do we do that?

Right, so you’ve got a little taste of Sleuth. But what are we good for? How do we ‘evolve businesses?’

There’s this saying: “Assumptions are the mother of all fuck-ups.” Maybe you’ve heard it before? Regardless, it’s something that stands true within our thinking. If you do not test and validate fundamental assumptions, you’re going to end up with waste. Shit in. Shit out. Sounds harsh, but the truth is that the quality of thinking you do before you enter execution determines the quality of the end result.

We dig deeper and look further, as it’s the continual learning that fuels not only our evolution but the evolution of our clients’ businesses.

An evolution that delivers better business outcomes requires that the learnings have a sustained commercial impact within the business. They have to move the needle. This means that the teachings have to be precise, targeted and specific to the particular set of circumstances that the business may be in.

We meet a business where it is and use questioning as a framework to navigate uncertainty. Probing at the realities of the business through the application of knowledge to a particular problem. In pursuit of our inquiry, we practice intuition and empathy to guide conversations that create a shared understanding of where the business is today.

We challenge business leaders assumptions about their customer, market and industry — uncovering truths that reveal insight into their business’ current state. This allows us to break the frame and reorder our client’s mental model.

It’s about evolving from the inside out — it’s about changing not just the mental model of the leaders within the business, but the “mental model” of the business itself. Once-off projects and initiatives do not create lasting change — we’ve seen it firsthand. Our approach is about equipping our clients with the mental, emotional and systematic toolkits needed not just survive but thrive in an age of digital disruption.

Shift your thinking.

Just to be clear: no — we don’t rock fedoras and carry magnifying glasses. We do, however, love to investigate businesses and explore innovative ideas that will help them grow. We know that we are most certainly not for everyone. We don’t sit back and listen to instruction, we’re here to challenge people’s thinking — constantly. Because we know that legacy thinking is a sure path to irrelevance.

Disclaimer: we take on work that we know we can deliver real and justifiable value — we can’t, we don’t, and we won’t half-arse it. If you think you’re ready to shift your thinking and evolve your business with us, get in touch with us: hello@sleuth.africa

What can you expect from us here?

We plan to share more pieces as we continue to evolve. So, if you like a good scoop of knowledge or a little banter, feel free to give us a follow. Here are some things you can look forward to in the future.

• Helpful guides that provide a stepped approach to applying the processes, methods and principles that we’ve tested in the field with our clients. We’re all about sharing our knowledge and our learnings.
• Opinion pieces about our beliefs. We’re a pretty opinionated bunch so these articles will typically be passionate monologues.
• Anecdotes and stories from our journey as a start-up business in South Africa. We’re vulnerable, open and happy to give insight into the highs, lows, tipping and turning points in our journey.

Want to read even more about us, check out our website: sleuth.africa