PDCA Consulting
Making the Deming cycle real · helping you build the self-improving organisation
Monthly Newsletter · August 2026
Hello,
July was a month of two halves. The first week closed out a German-language ITIL 5 Foundation cohort for Aenova, then I took ten days offline in Rome, genuinely offline, no laptop, which is rarer for me than it should be. I came back to three days of ITIL 5 Foundation training for a PwC and Zurich cohort via Omnicom, an invitation to speak at PeopleCert’s ITIL Community Summit in October, and a new affiliation with Diane Faben’s “Mentors for Women” initiative.
As always, the update below is a transparent look at what’s been keeping me busy and what’s ahead. If any of it resonates with challenges in your organisation, I’d love to hear from you.
Training Delivered · July
Bookended by a well-earned break
Five days of accredited delivery either side of a ten-day holiday, spanning a German cohort and a multinational online group.
Aenova Group · via d-ploy & xprnc.it
ITIL® 5 Foundation, German cohort
Two days of delivery, 1–2 July. Quick Reference Guides and key practices slides customised for Practice Manager.
Omnicom · for PwC & Zurich
ITIL® 5 Foundation, Online
Three days, 21–23 July. Delegates from PwC teams in several countries plus Zurich, with a wide spread of experience levels.
“There has been a lot of interaction, and I’ve used plenty of examples and asked delegates to provide their own to illustrate the key points. I still feel the value chain is the hardest thing to explain and link to the management practices.”
Robert Pinnington, on the Omnicom/PwC cohort
That last point keeps coming up across cohorts: the value chain remains the part of ITIL 5 that takes the most work to land. It’s a useful reminder that the framework’s hardest ideas are often its most central ones.
Partnerships & Business Development
New conversations, and a few resumed ones
- PeopleCert, invited to a case study discussion with their PR team, and separately invited to submit a session for the ITIL Community Summit in October.
- Prospect Engine, a great conversation with the team, and real momentum on the PDCA transition and sales system project. Excited about where this is heading together.
- Diane Faben, delighted to be joining as an affiliate for Diane’s “Mentors for Women” initiative; more on this soon.
Content & Thought Leadership
A summit invitation, and staying close to the PeopleCert community
My article ITIL, AI and Service Request Management went live on the PeopleCert Community blog this month, with three more pieces in the pipeline.
The bigger news: PeopleCert has invited me to speak at the ITIL Community Summit in October, on a session provisionally titled ITIL, AI and the service request manager. I’m putting the abstract together now.
I also stayed close to the PeopleCert Ambassador community this month, joining the ITIL and PRINCE2 Ambassador Lean Coffee sessions, the webinar Beyond IT, Managing the Product and Service Duality Across the Enterprise, and two further PeopleCert webinars on AI readiness and ticket-free service. On top of that, I’ve put my name down to beta test the upcoming ITIL Managing Professional Transition eLearning course.
“Frameworks are never the goal. They’re tools in service of something larger: helping people work better together, and building organisations that improve in a way that lasts.”
Robert Pinnington, PDCA Consulting
LinkedIn Thought Leadership · July
9 posts across three series
July’s publishing ran across three threads: service management, project discipline, and programme-level thinking.
ITIL Service Management
2 Jul Same Territory, Shared Map: ITIL (Version 5) and the Cynefin Framework.
16 Jul Don’t path the cowpath.
17 Jul Holiday reading, 1954 vintage.
22 Jul Do not build from guesswork.
23 Jul Who governs the AI?
PRINCE2 Project Management
15 Jul The worst car plant in America.
19 Jul The machine meets its match.
21 Jul The third stonecutter is the one every project needs.
PRINCE2 Programme Management
20 Jul Building the cathedral.
A copy of this newsletter with links to all the posts is available on PDCAConsulting.com/blog.
What’s Coming Up
August and beyond
7
AUG
ITIL® Strategy (Version 5), Resit Exam
Retaking one module to lift my own ITIL 5 Master score, keeping my own certifications as current as the ones I teach.
7
AUG
Client Status Check, Clorient
Catching up with Henri Lindström on ongoing work.
13
AUG
EZMaster Webinar: Exploring ITIL® Version 5, Foundation
Guest speaker slot on a public introduction session, now rescheduled to 13 August.
OCT
ITIL Community Summit, Speaking Session
Submitting the abstract for “ITIL, AI and the service request manager” this week.
Work With Me
Training, consulting or a conversation
Whether you’re planning a training programme, reviewing your service management approach, or simply want to talk through a challenge, I’m happy to help. Book a free 30-minute conversation directly in my calendar.
ITIL® 5 Master
PRINCE2® Master
PRINCE2 Agile®
M_o_R®
PeopleCert Accredited Trainer
PeopleCert Ambassador 2025
Book a Free Consultation →
Robert Edward Pinnington BA(Hons), MBA
ITIL & PRINCE2 Ambassador & Master · Portfolio/Programme/Project/Service Consultancy
Banking · Outsourcing · Logistics
Im Grund 8D, 61273 Wehrheim, Germany · +49 (0) 172 5794719
www.pdcaconsulting.com
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