PART 1 — Hitting the Ground Running: The Mastermind Experiment

Starting a new assignment is one of the toughest moments for any consultant.

You’re expected to hit the ground running, create quick wins, earn trust in a brand-new organisation and, at the same time, quietly diagnose what’s going on beneath the surface.

It’s a balancing act:
deliver fast — yet understand deeply.

At Escape, we asked ourselves a simple question:

What if no one had to do that alone?
What if we could compress weeks of insight into a single session by tapping into the collective intelligence of our network?

That question sparked our first Mastermind Experiment.

We gathered a small group of seasoned consultants – some with experience from similar organisations, others with strong cross-functional and strategic instincts – and brought them together for a focused 90-minute session.

The goal was simple:
Help a colleague understand their new environment faster and shape an early strategy with confidence.

The conversation moved quickly: diagnosis, storytelling, sharp questions, and unfiltered observations.

Patterns emerged.
Blind spots surfaced.
Clarity that normally takes weeks arrived in under an hour.

What we discovered was powerful:

• The format works.

• It accelerates understanding.

• It boosts early momentum.

• It gives consultants a stronger platform for quick wins.

We also saw ways to improve it: a sharper challenge, a physical room instead of a virtual one, and a second session later in the assignment when the real challenges become visible.

The takeaway?

Escape isn’t just a group of project professionals working in parallel.
It’s a network that can think together – quickly, intelligently, and with impact.

The Mastermind Experiment was just a test.
It may well become a new Escape ritual.