Every Business Is a Design Problem
Most people treat strategy and design as separate disciplines. I spent years watching that assumption quietly wreck otherwise good companies — and that observation is what built Smlxtralarge into what it is today.
Who I Am
I'm Owen Hayes — writer, analyst, and the person who once filled an entire whiteboard mapping the decision architecture of a corner bakery, just to understand why it kept running out of croissants on Tuesdays. That kind of obsessive curiosity about how businesses actually function, not just how they're supposed to, is what drives everything I write here.
My work sits at the intersection of business thinking and design logic. I translate complex frameworks into language that's genuinely useful, whether you're running a solo consultancy or steering a mid-sized team through a pivot.
What You'll Find Here
Smlxtralarge exists because most business content is either too abstract to act on or too tactical to last. This site aims for the middle ground — practical, grounded, and honest about tradeoffs. Here's what that looks like in practice:
- Clear breakdowns of business design concepts without the jargon fog
- Analysis of real decisions, including the ones that didn't go well
- Frameworks you can adapt, not just admire from a distance
- Honest takes on trends worth your attention and ones worth skipping
A note worth making: business design carries real influence over how organizations treat people, allocate resources, and shape culture. I try to write with that weight in mind — not to moralize, but to keep the conversation grounded in consequences, not just cleverness.
If any of that sounds like what you've been looking for, I'm glad you found your way here. Start with the blog, or reach out directly — I read every message. Genuinely, thank you for being here.