Melanie Keartland
A fractional COO for companies that want to scale without losing the plot.
"Our people are our biggest asset." "Our business is built on relationships."
We say it. We mean it. And then on a Tuesday afternoon, when the stock hasn't been ordered and the spreadsheet is wrong again, we say something a lot ruder.
That gap — between what we say about work and how work actually feels — is where I spend my time.
We say it. We mean it. And then on a Tuesday afternoon, when the stock hasn't been ordered and the spreadsheet is wrong again, we say something a lot ruder.
That gap — between what we say about work and how work actually feels — is where I spend my time.
For the last decade I've been helping founders and CEOs build the operational infrastructure — systems, workflows, and teams — that lets their companies grow without grinding the humans up.
Before that I spent twenty years running technical production, theatre and festivals in places where things had to be right, had to be on time, and had to be done, with people who wouldn't tolerate being treated like interchangeable parts.
These days I work as a fractional COO: plugged in where you need structure, pulled back when you don't.
Before that I spent twenty years running technical production, theatre and festivals in places where things had to be right, had to be on time, and had to be done, with people who wouldn't tolerate being treated like interchangeable parts.
These days I work as a fractional COO: plugged in where you need structure, pulled back when you don't.
What that actually means
Fractional means you don't have to hire a full-time COO before you know what you actually need one for.
I come in at inflection points — rapid growth, getting ready for investment, implementing a new system that has the whole team quietly despairing — and I build the operational spine that lets your business run without you in the middle of every decision.
When the work lifts off, I scale back down. No padded retainer. No long-tail dependency. No empire-building on your payroll.
Fractional means you don't have to hire a full-time COO before you know what you actually need one for.
I come in at inflection points — rapid growth, getting ready for investment, implementing a new system that has the whole team quietly despairing — and I build the operational spine that lets your business run without you in the middle of every decision.
When the work lifts off, I scale back down. No padded retainer. No long-tail dependency. No empire-building on your payroll.
You know it's time to talk if:
- You're scaling faster than your processes can keep up.
- You're preparing for an investment round, a sale, or a leadership handover.
- You're rolling out new systems, workflows or org structure — and feeling the resistance.
- Your team is delivering, but the back office is held together with goodwill and duct tape.
- You suspect there's a culture problem, but can't yet tell whether it's culture or chaos.
Getting here -
I started in the theatre. But realised fairly quickly that I didn't want to compete with Liza Minnelli so I followed my engineering brain into the backstage bit — lighting design, technical direction, the choreography of making complicated things happen on cue.
I toured with the Handspring Puppet Company, Johnny Clegg, Mango Groove, and any number of international acts. You learn a lot about operations in rooms where the curtain goes up whether you're ready or not.
After an MBA at Wits Business School, with electives at Bocconi in Milan, project management of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, a stint as deputy director at the National Arts Festival and then general management at the Wits Theatre I was head-hunted to run capital campaigns for Wits University and — running underneath all of it — a growing fascination with a single question:
I toured with the Handspring Puppet Company, Johnny Clegg, Mango Groove, and any number of international acts. You learn a lot about operations in rooms where the curtain goes up whether you're ready or not.
After an MBA at Wits Business School, with electives at Bocconi in Milan, project management of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, a stint as deputy director at the National Arts Festival and then general management at the Wits Theatre I was head-hunted to run capital campaigns for Wits University and — running underneath all of it — a growing fascination with a single question:
Why are people so often miserable at work, when they've chosen to do what they do?
That question sent me on a long, meandering tour through social science, behavioural economics, neuroscience and what I call "office philosophy".
Finally it produced scale-ability, the consultancy I've been running since 2015, and the fractional COO practice that runs through it now.
That question sent me on a long, meandering tour through social science, behavioural economics, neuroscience and what I call "office philosophy".
Finally it produced scale-ability, the consultancy I've been running since 2015, and the fractional COO practice that runs through it now.
I believe -
The workplace is the right forum for this.
Therapy happens for an hour a week. Religion, if you have it, gets a morning.
Work gets most of your waking life, and its feedback loops are faster and more honest than anywhere else. Fix work and you fix a remarkable amount else.
Doing and thinking have to happen together.
I'm a builder — I like systems, Kanban boards, numbers on a dashboard — but none of it sticks without the uncomfortable, reflective bit. And insight without action is just expensive journaling.
People are designed to flourish.
Given the right structure, the right information, and enough room, almost everyone I've ever worked with wants to do good work. My job is to clear the runway.
Therapy happens for an hour a week. Religion, if you have it, gets a morning.
Work gets most of your waking life, and its feedback loops are faster and more honest than anywhere else. Fix work and you fix a remarkable amount else.
Doing and thinking have to happen together.
I'm a builder — I like systems, Kanban boards, numbers on a dashboard — but none of it sticks without the uncomfortable, reflective bit. And insight without action is just expensive journaling.
People are designed to flourish.
Given the right structure, the right information, and enough room, almost everyone I've ever worked with wants to do good work. My job is to clear the runway.
A few things that have happened on my watch
A production company in Johannesburg was on the verge of a human-resources disaster — financial targets being met, but the team disgruntled, errors mounting, and nobody had had a day off in three months. We rebuilt the unit into autonomous teams coordinating through a central Kanban board. Productivity went up 36%, hours came back to human, the team grew from 9 to 19, and the MD's first words were: "We saw an increase in productivity from day one."
A 48-person engagement at Paragon — interns to directors — that we built around a journey of personal experiments grounded in autonomy, mastery, purpose and happiness.
Self-reported engagement went up 26%, meaning up 40%, relationship quality up 33%, happiness up 40%.
One participant commented: "Vision Quest is a welcome platform that challenges people's own motivations and rekindles their passion for creating excellent work."
The Organizational Development unit at the UN during lock-down in a hybrid working arrangement needed a more collaborative and transparent approch to their day-to-day work. We took the time to understand the work, and adapt a single approach to several different projects accross the team. Carreer support team lead: "It took a few weeks for us to get used to the system, but it has paid off immensley. We see the "dividends" every day."
And, since 2015, a steadily growing book of founders and executives who needed someone to help them get out of their own way.
A 48-person engagement at Paragon — interns to directors — that we built around a journey of personal experiments grounded in autonomy, mastery, purpose and happiness.
Self-reported engagement went up 26%, meaning up 40%, relationship quality up 33%, happiness up 40%.
One participant commented: "Vision Quest is a welcome platform that challenges people's own motivations and rekindles their passion for creating excellent work."
The Organizational Development unit at the UN during lock-down in a hybrid working arrangement needed a more collaborative and transparent approch to their day-to-day work. We took the time to understand the work, and adapt a single approach to several different projects accross the team. Carreer support team lead: "It took a few weeks for us to get used to the system, but it has paid off immensley. We see the "dividends" every day."
And, since 2015, a steadily growing book of founders and executives who needed someone to help them get out of their own way.
Let's talk
If you can see what's coming for your business but don't yet have the operational scaffolding to get there, let's have a conversation. The first call is free, honest, and fairly short.
Book an intro call →
melanie@scale-ability.com · +27 82 908 1106 · Johannesburg
Book an intro call →
melanie@scale-ability.com · +27 82 908 1106 · Johannesburg
