About Ni’coel Stark

Intelligence

Smart people typically think they have the best strategies and intelligence, but we never do to the degree we assume. People create great strategies within their domain of expertise but it becomes more challenging to locate and then integrate information within other domains and systems. In order to create the most powerful strategies, we must start with the most complete and vigorous intelligence. I function as a metaphorical CIA Intelligence officer in my approach to locating the highest quality and most comprehensive intelligence. This is my first priority, which requires more sophisticated discovery, communication, and knowledge-share. More specifically, I help individuals and companies learn how to locate and leverage intelligence that is not easy to measure and is not being accounted for.

We often over-prioritize that which can be measured at the expense of that which we do not. As important as measurable data and intelligence is, typically the most powerful intelligence is that which we are not measuring. For example, the intelligence around an organization’s social and political realities. The most important and far-reaching decisions are usually made within social and political forces (within human systems) and not exclusively with spreadsheets or technical systems. Conversely, when we do make decisions exclusively based on measurable data if that data and decision cannot be integrated into the human systems that it depends on, new problems arise.

This over-commitment to hard data also puts negative pressure on the actions around prevention, integration, and human development. These are a couple of areas consistently left less examined. I’m here to capture more expansive areas of intelligence and use it to reduce downsides and compound upsides. This less typical knowledge activation creates greater short-term and long-term efficiencies. When all relevant intelligence is integrated into existing strategies and frameworks it creates altogether new advantages increasing success. This is the beginning of my work.

Perhaps the most important missing piece is the acknowledgment of how individuals are a primary source of intelligence… how each person naturally perceives, collects, and activates knowledge can support company goals in all kinds of surprising ways. I understand individuals by investigating their core personal operating systems. I use various tools and techniques to help me identify the personality types at hand. I use my years of accumulated knowledge, insights, and professional background to gain a deeper understanding of how each personality type experiences various situations — both on their own and within the context of the other personality types they work with. My principal personality tool is the Enneagram. This framework provides additional data points and salience to potential risks, natural synergies, and is a springboard of information from which to layer into strategic efforts.

Strategy

After locating the highest quality and least visible intelligence, I put that intelligence to work by designing individual, organizational, and operational strategies. These strategic designs occur at every level of the company and are created from a partnership with each individual. They are iterative and ongoing. I help individuals and companies learn how to activate multiple strategies simultaneously and learn how to integrate instead of compartmentalize. We are trained to compartmentalize as it is more efficient at the moment to focus. However, when we over-compartmentalize, we create more problems than we solve because operational and functional reality is not strictly compartmentalized.

Experience

I offer 20 years in business strategy, strategic alliances, people due diligence, human capital, executive coaching, brand building, humanizing technology, blockchain, and decentralized applications. I purchased my first Bitcoin in 2012 and built the fourth blockchain-exclusive VC fund in 2014.