Mapmakers
and guides

We help leaders and organisations work wisely with complexity, so they can create meaningful change and innovation that takes root and endures.

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OUR STORY

At 91 Untold, we believe the most powerful potential lies beneath the surface.

Roughly 91% of an iceberg sits unseen below the waterline.

This hidden mass shapes everything above it.

For us, this is more than a metaphor. It’s a guiding principle.

It speaks to:

The unseen structures that shape behaviour inside organisations

The unrealised capability in teams, waiting to be surfaced

The untapped systemic conditions that determine whether innovation thrives or quietly disappears

We exist to help leaders see beneath the surface.

To understand the systems they’re working within. To unlock the potential that already exists but isn’t yet used. Our name is a reminder of the richness that remains untold. Not because it isn’t there, but because it hasn’t yet been brought into view.

This is the heart of systemic innovation. And it’s the heart of who we are.

Innovation and culture don't happen by force. They emerge.

Yet too often, good ideas never take root because the system isn’t ready to receive them.

We believe that organisations already have the potential for lasting, meaningful innovation. What they need is the capacity, confidence, and conditions to bring it to life.

We believe that when people think systemically, innovate purposefully, and build capability, change becomes sustainable. Organisations evolve from the inside out.

We're not traditional consultants. We don't drop in with a report and disappear.

We work as mapmakers and guides. We help you make sense of the systems you are part of and see what is really shaping how people behave and how change unfolds.

Our work blends systems thinking, human-centred innovation, and applied psychology (including NLP) to support better decisions, more aligned action, and change that actually works in the real world.

And we stay with you. Not until the project ends. Until the innovation takes root.

The

way

Make it stick
Walk alongside
Build confidence
Work with complexity
Care beyond the project

Focus on lasting capability, not just ideas.
Be a guide, not a guru.
Help people believe they can innovate.
Navigate, don’t oversimplify.
Think beyond delivery to legacy.

Leadership Team

This is how we show up. For our clients, for each other, and for the work.

Neil Almond

Chief Systemic
Innovator

Neil Almond

Chief Systemic Innovator

Neil works with leaders who sense that something in their organisation is not quite working, even when the strategy looks sound and the ideas are strong.

He helps them see what is really shaping behaviour, decision making, and change inside their system. Not just the visible processes, but the patterns of thinking, the power dynamics, the incentives, the assumptions, and the relationships that quietly determine what takes root and what does not.

Neil’s work is about making change possible by making it make sense. He acts as a mapmaker and a guide, helping people navigate complexity, clarify what matters, and design change that fits the reality they are working in rather than fighting against it.

His practice blends systems thinking, innovation strategy, and the psychology of change. It is deeply practical, grounded in lived experience, and focused on building capability that lasts. The aim is not to deliver a clever solution, but to leave people more able, more confident, and more skilful than they were before.

Neil founded 91 Untold to create the kind of innovation work he had rarely seen in practice. Work that respects complexity rather than simplifying it away. Work that treats culture and capability as central rather than secondary. Work that helps organisations grow wiser, not just faster.

Alongside this practice, Neil brings a strong foundation in both theory and application. He holds an innovation-focused MBA, for which he won the business subject prize, an MA in Coaching and Mentoring, and is completing an MSc in Systems Thinking in Practice at Cranfield University. He is one of only a handful of NLP Master Trainers in the UK and received the ANLP Award for Making a Difference using NLP in 2017.

He has facilitated innovation and strategy sessions for senior leaders across government, business, and the third sector, including sessions in 10 and 11 Downing Street, and has worked alongside figures such as Sir Richard Branson and Anita Roddick.

Sarah Smith

Chair & Steward of
Organisational Wisdom

Sarah Smith

Chair & Steward  of Organisational Wisdom

Sarah helps 91 Untold hold the long view. She brings a rare blend of research depth, practical experience, and a deeply human way of working with complexity.

Her work is centred on organisational wisdom. She explores what wise leadership looks like when decisions are uncertain, values are in tension, and the system is asking for more than a simple fix. She helps leaders step back, see the wider pattern, and act with judgement, courage, and care for the common good.

As Chair and Steward of Organisational Wisdom, Sarah is both thought partner and compass for 91 Untold. She helps us stay true to our purpose as we grow, shaping the culture we build internally and the kind of innovation we support in our clients. Her presence keeps us honest, grounded, and aligned with what really matters.

Sarah is an internationally experienced leadership coach, facilitator, researcher, and speaker, with over 20 years’ experience developing individuals, teams, and organisations across sectors including defence, life sciences, education, legal, media, retail, and housing. She has worked with organisations including Warner Bros, Sony, Rocksteady, Rolls Royce, the MoD, Defra, the Cabinet Office, and the Fire and Rescue Service.

Alongside her practice, Sarah contributes to the wider field through teaching, research, and writing. She is Contributing Editor at The Oxford Review, teaches at the University of Roehampton, and continues to work with Cranfield University as a visiting lecturer and course coach.

Her ongoing doctoral research focuses on wisdom, and she draws on positive psychology and related approaches to help leaders build the capability to navigate ambiguity, hold paradox, and make better decisions over time.

Andy Cartmell

Director of Operations
& Embodied Change

Andy Cartmell

Director of Operations & Embodied Change

Andy is the operational heart of 91 Untold. He ensures that the way we work is as thoughtful, efficient, and human as the methods we use with our clients.

He holds the space where ideas become reality. Whether he is orchestrating the rhythm of delivery or building trusted relationships across organisations, Andy makes sure innovation does not just happen. It lands, it sticks, and it grows.

What people notice most about Andy is how he shows up. He brings warmth, authenticity, and humility into complex work. He listens deeply, cares about the people involved, and breathes life into the values of 91 Untold.

Andy is at his best in complex environments where stakes are high, timelines matter, and multiple stakeholders need to move together. He helps leaders build clarity, alignment, and momentum, while staying attentive to the human dynamics that determine whether change truly embeds.

Andy brings deep experience in major programmes and operational change across infrastructure, transport, government, and energy. He has worked with organisations including EDF, Eurostar, HS1, Network Rail, Defra, Mott McDonald and O2, with senior roles spanning stakeholder engagement, planning, project controls, and risk management on complex delivery programmes.

He holds a degree in Psychology and postgraduate qualifications in holistic counselling. He is a certified ANLP certified trainer, and a full Member of the Association for Project Management (MAPM). He brings together delivery discipline and a deep understanding of people to support change that lasts.