Every great golfer has a caddy – why doesn’t every serious business?
A golf caddy doesn’t play the game for you — they read the course, carry the load, suggest the right club, and give you honest advice even when you don’t want to hear it.
The best caddies have walked hundreds of courses, supported many different players, and developed the ability to quickly understand what each individual needs to perform at their best. Their value is not just what they know, but how they apply that knowledge in the moment.
Business leaders face a course that is just as complex — filled with uncertainty, difficult choices, and constantly changing conditions.
I spent many years inside large product organizations and repeatedly saw the same patterns: talented people working hard, ambitious strategies being created, and transformation programs launched — yet the fundamental obstacles remained. Too many initiatives, unclear priorities, conflicting goals, and a system that made it harder for teams to deliver true value. In many cases, the transformation itself added more complexity and overload instead of reducing them.
From taking part in several major transformation journeys, one lesson became clear: sustainable improvement does not come from blindly applying a framework, introducing a new tool, or copying someone else’s way of working. It comes from having a clear direction, continuously improving the system, learning what creates real impact, and building an organization where people are empowered to make change happen every day.
That is the role I want Business Caddy to play.
An experienced partner who walks the course with you — helping you navigate complexity, challenge assumptions, make difficult choices, and continuously improve your ability to deliver value.
The experience behind the advice
My background isn’t typical for a coach. I started my career as an engineer at Ericsson, working on development of complex hardware and software systems in telecoms. Over 16 years, I led programs involving hundreds of people across multiple countries.
I saw first-hand how traditional project models struggle under real complexity — and I started experimenting with Lean and Agile approaches long before they were mainstream, running early pilots as far back as 2005. That engineering and delivery background shapes how I think: I’m not interested in process for its own sake, I’m interested in what actually moves the needle.
As I became involved in larger transformation journeys, I repeatedly saw the same pattern: new frameworks adopted, new terminology embraced, and teams going through the motions — while the real constraints remained untouched.
Overloaded portfolios. Unclear priorities. Strategy disconnected from what teams were actually working on. Teams with little to no mandate to decide how best to solve customer and business problems. The system hadn’t changed; it had just been given a new name.
That realization shaped the next chapter of my career.
Since then, I’ve worked as an enterprise coach and advisor with some of Sweden’s and Europe’s most complex product organizations — including Scania, H&M, SEB, Northvolt, and the TRATON Group — helping leadership and teams create real flow, sharper priorities, and stronger alignment between strategy and execution.
I founded Business Caddy in 2024 because I wanted to do this work differently. As an independent boutique partner, I can go deep with a small number of clients, stay close to the real challenges, and be the kind of advisor who gives you honest feedback — not just the feedback you want to hear.
And yes — I actually play golf, and I’m chair of the junior and elite committee at Ågesta Golf Club. The caddy metaphor isn’t just a brand concept. It’s genuinely how I think about this work: I’m not here to play the game for you. I’m here to help you play it better.
— Andreas Tjernsten, Business Caddy