Change is Inevitable, Transformation is a Choice
NOBL was founded to support ambitious and values-driven leaders in times of significant transformation.
Different By Design
“We help leaders make change.” The whole consulting industry makes that promise, but very few projects ever deliver on it. Not only because organizational change is inherently challenging, but because few clients and partners ever really attempt it in earnest.
NOBL was founded in 2014 by professionals with experience as both in-house change agents and external consultants. We knew just how low the bar had been set between clients and consultants. Instead of being measured by impact and outcomes, too many consultants measure themselves by how well a senior meeting goes, how polished a presentation looks, and how large an account grows in billings. And too few clients push back or even want real change in the first place, and merely accept that when the going gets tough, the consultants get going … to the next client.
NOBL was designed to zealously serve those rare clients who want real change and transformation. Not just more plans or slogans, but changed behaviors and business outcomes.
“You're a different breed of consulting company from who we’ve worked with in the past, turning up the good heat each week. There's no other group we’ve worked with that can do what you're doing and making the changes we're seeing across our departments.
– Business Unit Leader and Client
The Basics
NOBL is pronounced no-bell.
We are a global boutique consulting firm, founded in 2014. We have served clients in nearly every part of the world, and across almost every industry. As of last count: in eight years, we’ve conducted more than 120 client engagements, on five continents, spanning 20+ industries.
Our clients are typically either a) very large institutions such as public companies and/or multinationals, or b) well-capitalized startups (e.g. series C) experiencing hyper growth and requiring support for a sudden leap in scale and complexity.
We have teams in the US, Canada, and Australia that serve their countries and the surrounding regions.
We have been remote-first as a culture from our founding.
Today, our growing team consists of two-dozen full-time employees, as well as a large network of freelance specialists that we tap on a short-term basis for their regional or industry-based expertise.
Our full-time folks are a potent mix of organizational development experts, change management practitioners, and human-centered designers.
Our approach is informed by traditional change management, agile methodologies, human-centered design, complex systems science, and positive organizational psychology. We borrow from rich sources, but are allergic to dogma.
Our Founder
Bud Caddell, Founder & CEO
Bud grew up obsessed with technology and its potential, even serving as the Head of Technology at a venture-funded startup before he graduated high school. Bud then spent a decade building innovation labs in large companies, along with launching new products and services, only to watch most of his well-laid plans fail due to internal misalignment and dysfunction. In response, he became far more obsessed with how organizations actually change and the potential of people when they are well-supported, and left technology behind to start NOBL. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and AdAge
“NOBL is our trusted partner. You go beyond the process to get into what really makes the org tick. You engage with the less visible, human stuff that most consultants don’t go near. You’re never persuaded to take the easy route. You make us honest.”
– CMO and Client