Business and human endeavors are systems… We tend to focus on snapshots of isolated parts of the system. And wonder why our deepest problems never get solved.Peter Senge
The Mission
Canvas:OS is here to inspire companies to find flow and perform at their best.
This mission is based on the belief that people are worthy of dignity, agency, and respect, regardless of their position, and that given the right conditions, anyone can become a high-performing contributor. Canvas:OS works to help companies discover those conditions by creating systems and practices that bring out the best in people.
This isn't achieved through motivational tricks, free fruit in the office, or engagement surveys, but by reshaping the systems, structures, and processes that define what we value and how we work together every day. Canvas:OS is designed to do just that, with practical tools to go beyond merely talking about change, and start taking concrete steps to unlock creativity and flow.
Values
People over process
Sustainable value over short-term results
Creative innovation over staying the course
Inviting change over setting expectations
Going deep over solving symptoms
That is, while we value things on the right, we place greater value on the left.
The Canvas Crew
Harry Tucker
Founder
Harold McPotter
Product Wizard
Daisy Dogg
Senior Pooch Partner
The Journey
The eagle-eyed among you may notice that Harry and Harold bear a striking resemblance. It may shock you to learn that they are in fact the same person! That's right, Canvas:OS is currently a one-man bootstrapped band, with Daisy Dogg as a key partner, along with my wife and 2 beautiful girls.
Having worked with software development teams over the past 10 years, I've learned many tools and practices to help them discover better ways of working together. I've also seen that the biggest performance opportunities often sit outside individual teams, with rigid budgeting processes, unclear objectives, bottlenecks, and a lack of customer connection all inhibiting the flow of work from idea to delivery.
Canvas:OS emerged from seeing a lack of targeted support for small companies to find better ways of working in complex environments. Most organisational improvement frameworks are designed for conventional corporate structures, and do little to address the systemic impediments to real change. Instead, they sprinkle the same tired management models with the latest trend to make it sound sexier, whether it's agile, digital, or AI. Or, they try to convince you that you can improve team performance in isolation from the wider system. Those who have seen both know that neither works.
Lasting improvements start small, with 'the boring stuff'. The core structures, systems, and processes we follow every day are often the biggest opportunities for improvement, not the shiny new things. When we can honestly assess whether our structures and systems help or hinder progress, then we can start to make meaningful improvements, and create an environment where performance and flow are inevitable.
Ways to Connect
