Mike began his professional career in Information Technology. Inspired by the possibilities of digital technology and the early years of all things digital and online. A time where possibility felt infinite and world-shifting (and still is).
Growing up in a regional centre, Mike was the oddball. The weirdo. Never quite fitting in. Where being yourself was enough to be singled out, and bullying was just part of the environment. Tough, but formative.
Around other technical minds, something started to click. A realisation that there is a beauty in detail. That detail, when seen properly, comes to life in ways that feel almost like magic.
It became an obsession. Not with technology itself, but with what it could be. What it could do in human hands. A world where diverse, creative, and unique minds could see and build things others simply couldn’t.
That obsession led him across businesses, teams, and communities. Places where digital became a unifying force. Driving new economies, new wealth, new ways of working, and lives without the same boundaries as before.
Curiosity became the gravitational force. Working with people from all walks of life. Seeing creative and divergent minds up close. Often not taken seriously. Often not listened to. In a world that didn’t quite understand them.
And yet, when left to it, they created. They led. They built their own way forward and made it work.
Today, that experience sits between the old world and the new. Where leadership now operates across multiple domains. Where what we can’t see (digital systems, invisible layers, shifting environments) is shaping what we must lead.
That world needs leadership that can actually wield it.
Not conformity. Not “that’s how it’s always been done.”
But a mind that can navigate complexity, make sense of chaos, and stay curious when others default.
Mike survived the old leadership rules. He obsesses over this so you don’t have to. So you can step into your own way of thinking, build agency, and use it.
Because the leaders we need now are often the ones who never quite fit.
Mike brings close to 30 years of experience, life (with all its quirks and bumps), wisdom lived in people, business, teams, and community all over the world. Home is in a village in the middle of nowhere in Australia.
A masters degree in leadership (including original research), pastoral training in theology (did you know Mike volunteers as a motorsport chaplain), and many more certifications. See more at his LinkedIn.
At M31 we walk beside different minded leaders who are ready to lead this new world, not just survive it.
You’ll experience M31 and Mike in all kinds of different ways. On the stage, delivering a keynote, through Mike’s book, workshops. online resources, and the leadership vault (with Mikes AI digital twin Dex).
Reclaim strategic ownership
See what’s actually shaping results (even if it’s invisible)
Turn ideas and proprocessescess into leverage
Build cultures of momentum, not dependency
Stop waiting for someone else to fix it
We do it with deep expertise, decades of practice, and zero hidden agendas.
Just clarity. Confidence. Human at its core. And results that stick.
This isn’t about us being the smartest people in the room.
It’s about you finally having the tools, visibility, and support to lead what matters.
What we do is personal.
It’s grounded. It’s practical. And it’s built for the leaders who feel the shift but haven’t had the map—until now.
We don’t need to be loud to be effective. We don’t posture. We don’t oversell.
We care too deeply for that.
We know what’s at stake when digital goes wrong.
We’ve seen the burnout, the waste, the missed potential.
And we’ve watched too many brilliant leaders question their own capability—when the real issue was never them. It was the system they were expected to lead without support.
That ends here.
At first glance, Weird is the New Normal: The Unlikely Path of Leadership might seem… unexpected.
A book that reads like a quest.
A leadership guide dressed as an adventure.
A strange mix of fantasy, straight talk, diagrams, and dragons.
What does that have to do with digital leadership?
Everything.
Because the digital era isn’t linear.
It’s not predictable.
It’s full of paradox, contradiction, and complexity—and if you’re waiting for a neat, step-by-step rulebook, you’re already behind.
That’s why Mike wrote Weird is the New Normal.
It’s not just a book. It’s a manifesto, a map, and a mirror—for leaders who feel the shift but can’t always explain it. For people who know deep down that leadership today doesn’t fit the old models, but haven’t been shown what the new ones look like.
It’s for the practical.
It’s for the imaginative.
It’s for those who’ve always felt a little out of place in the corporate world but knew they had something important to bring to the table.
We lead in paradox now. It’s a Catch-22
We need to be grounded and imaginative.
We must be structured and adaptive.
We must act fast and hold space.
We must be human and digitally fluent.
Mike doesn’t just explain these paradoxes. He shows them—through stories, quests, and metaphors that sneak past the jargon and hit you right in the truth.
Because sometimes the best way to understand a world this strange… is to get a little weird yourself.
Weird is the New Normal isn’t just part of our brand.
It’s the philosophical cornerstone of everything M31 does.
It reminds us that transformation doesn’t come from more rules or more noise. It comes from clarity, imagination, and leadership that leans into the unknown with heart, strategy, and a damn good map.
This isn’t a side project.
It’s the lifeblood of our work.
When you read the book, you’re not just reading Mike’s ideas.
You’re stepping into the very mindset that powers every conversation, every strategy, every program we run at M31.
The characters might be fictional. The metaphors might be playful.
But the insight? It’s unflinchingly real.
It’s the handbook for leaders navigating uncertainty.
The anchor for those building something meaningful in a chaotic world.
And the secret weapon for anyone ready to finally lead digital—not just endure it.
The page turn.
The chapter change.
If you’ve been wondering why leadership feels so different now—or if you’ve been leading in ways that others don’t quite understand—Weird is the New Normal will feel like coming home.
And once you’ve seen the world through this lens,
you’ll never lead the same way again.
“Leadership is no longer about having all the answers. It’s about knowing which questions matter—and daring to ask them out loud.”
— Weird is the New Normal
Because the future doesn’t belong to the ones who fit in.
It belongs to the ones who see what others miss—and lead anyway.
All of Mike’s work is delivered through M31 Consulting (M & A Shenanigans Pty Ltd), the business that sits behind everything you see here. As M31 operates globally, all online resources and pricing are provided in $USD for consistency across regions. This keeps things simple, transparent, and accessible no matter where you’re engaging from (no hidden structures, just a clear way of working across borders).
Leadership, life, neurodiversity and the occasional rabbit hole. New articles from Mike, without the marketing nonsense.
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