The Situation
You’re sitting in a workshop. Someone asks for “the Business Process Owner’s view on fit-to-standard.” Everyone turns to you.
You’re a Finance Manager. Or an Operations Lead. Or a Data Analyst. But three months ago, someone decided you’d also be responsible for defining how order-to-cash works across twelve countries.
Nobody trained you for this.
The consultants use words like “solution architecture” and “change impact assessment.” Your project manager wants you to sign off on designs you don’t fully understand. Your day job hasn’t gone anywhere. And somewhere between the Jira board and the testing spreadsheet, you’re wondering if everyone else knows what they’re doing or if they’re just better at pretending.
You’re Not the Problem. The System Is.
Organisations take capable professionals and drop them into transformation roles with no playbook, no training, and no acknowledgement that these are real jobs requiring real skills.
Business Process Owner. Data Product Owner. Change Lead. Data Migration Specialist. Programme Manager.
These aren’t titles you applied for. They’re responsibilities that got attached to you because someone needed a name in the RACI.
You’re accountable for outcomes you can’t fully control, speaking a language you weren’t taught, and expected to perform alongside people who’ve done this a hundred times before.
That’s not imposter syndrome. That’s a reasonable response to an unreasonable situation.
I’ve Been on Both Sides
I spent two decades leading transformations and advising organisations on technology-enabled change. I saw how programmes actually work. The gap between methodology and reality. The questions no one asks. The decisions that get made in corridors, not workshops.
Then I went internal. I became the person consultants were advising. I experienced what it feels like when the framework doesn’t fit, when the timeline is fiction, when you’re expected to know things nobody bothered to explain.
Most transformation content is written by consultants, for consultants. The Upshift is different. It’s practical guidance for the people who actually have to make transformation work, often while doing their real job at the same time.
I have to warn you, though.
If you subscribe, and especially if you start applying what you learn, you will:
• Walk into workshops knowing what’s expected and how to prepare
• Make design decisions with confidence, understanding the trade-offs
• Cut through consultant jargon and ask the questions that actually matter
• Navigate your transformation role without sacrificing your actual job
• Stop feeling like an imposter and start feeling like a contributor
That might make your programme sponsor nervous. It might make your consultants uncomfortable. Good work often does.
Who This Is For
Internal practitioners: Business Process Owners, Data Product Owners, Change Leads, Subject Matter Experts, and anyone else who got handed a transformation job title without a manual.
Programme delivery teams: Project Managers, Business Analysts, Data Migration Leads, and Test Managers navigating ERP, data, and AI initiatives.
Consultants who want to deliver real value: Not just billable hours, but outcomes that actually stick.
If you’ve ever been asked to “drive adoption” for a programme you didn’t design, approve a solution you don’t fully understand, or explain benefits to stakeholders who don’t want to hear the truth – this is for you.
About Roman
Roman Khromin has spent 25+ years making technology-enabled transformation actually work.
He’s worked on both sides, as a consultant at PwC, AWS, EY and Accenture, and as an internal transformation leader at major global enterprises. His programmes have delivered more than $500M in documented value across ERP, data, and AI initiatives.
Roman created The Upshift because the people who need practical transformation guidance the most, the practitioners doing the actual work, have the fewest resources written for them.
→ Full bio at romankhromin.com
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